St. Charles’ Hulsey leads Aurora to ninth straight conference title
There’s something special going on with the Aurora University men’s golf team.
The Spartans on Oct. 13 won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference title by 31 strokes over runner-up St. Norbert at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.
Coach Justin Wyeth’s Aurora squad, ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division III, has won the NACC title nine consecutive years.
Jackson Hulsey, a senior from St. Charles who was homeschooled as a high school student, won his second straight NACC title. Over the three rounds at Blackwolf Run he shot 1-over par, scoring a tournament-best 4-under 68 in the final round on the strength of six birdies.
Ranked No. 12 individually in Division III, Hulsey finished first or in a first-place tie in three of the six tournaments in which he competed this fall.
Hulsey won NACC men’s golfer of the week honors earlier this season after his opening round 7-under par 65 at the Carthage Firebird Fall Classic tied the Aurora University and NACC single-round aggregate scoring mark.
Sweet swinger
The Northern Illinois University men’s golf fall slate ends this weekend in Vero Beach, Fla. Huskies redshirt freshman Devin Swoyer (Hinsdale Central) got in under the wire with a Mid-American Conference golfer of the week award, announced Oct. 17. After shooting an even-par 72 in the first round of the Purdue Fall Invitational, Swoyer went 1-under and 2-under the next two rounds to finish the tournament at 3-under. Overall he earned a tie for fifth place. Swoyer is the first Huskies freshman in two years to place in the top five at a 54-hole tournament.
Offensive explosion
In women’s soccer, as a sophomore in 2024 Taylor University’s Eliza Luttrell (Metea Valley) recorded all of 8 points. This fall the junior forward is headed toward all-conference honors in the Crossroads League. Through 14 games, all starts, Luttrell led the Trojans with 10 goals, 8 assists and 28 points. After scoring five goals in two games earlier this season — including 3 goals on 3 shots against Cornerstone — on Sept. 16 Luttrell became Taylor’s first women’s soccer player to be named offensive player of the week by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Luttrell has helped Taylor (11-2-1) improve to a No. 16 ranking in the NAIA entering Saturday’s game against Mount Vernon Nazarene.
Owls strike
Scoring 3 unanswered goals in the second half, Oakton College secured the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference men’s soccer title with a 5-1 victory over Elgin Community College, Tuesday in Des Plaines. Freshman midfielder Stefan Zelenovic (Maine South) had a goal and an assist for the Owls, who got goals from five players. Oakton coach Steve Brody also got goals from freshmen Diego Morales (Mundelein), David Wroton (Prospect), Geraldo Ramirez (Wheeling), and Ismet Bojku (Niles North). Sophomore striker Gio Siviero (Prospect) assisted on a goal.
Hoopsters to watch
The Missouri Valley Conference last week issued its women’s and men’s basketball players to watch.
Among them were Ben Schwieger (Waubonsie Valley), a 6-foot-8 swingman at the University of Northern Iowa. A mad dunker who transferred from Loyola Chicago after his sophomore year, Schwieger averaged 9.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists last season for the Panthers.
The women’s list included Indiana State’s Amerie Flowers (Hinsdale South) and Evansville’s Kylee Norkus (Neuqua Valley). Flowers, a sophomore guard, averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds last season. Norkus, also a sophomore guard, averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1 steal, but after only four games, all starts, suffered a knee injury that knocked her out of the rest of the season.