Local girls go National to enjoy success on the track
To win the girls pentathlon at the Nike Indoor Nationals last weekend in Boston, Waubonsie Valley senior Shakeia Pinnick needed to beat Michigan's Ariel Roberts by 15 seconds in the 800-meter run.
On a national level, that's hard to do.
Pinnick overcame Roberts' 212-point lead in the pentathlon with an 800 time of 2 minutes, 15.09 seconds, topping Roberts' 2:31.89 by more than 16 seconds.
That grabbed first place with 3,627 points in the five-event pentathlon for the future Arizona State multi-events specialist. Pinnick also finished second in the pentathlon 60 hurdles, third in high jump, fourth in long jump.
"We had been at the track for 11 hours when she ran that race," stated her mother, Deidre, in an e-mail from Boston. "Crazy."
Benet's McKinzie Schulz blazed an All-America finish in the open 800, placing sixth at 2:13.40, then joined Alison Cesarz, Kaileen Healy and Katie Porada in a 19th-place 1,600 relay that broke Benet's indoor school record.
"It was a good feeling, just being with that caliber of people," Schulz said of her All-America honor. "It was good motivation for the rest of the season to come."
In the NIN 4-mile relay, Hinsdale Central's Graylin Harrison, Roey Hines, Elaine Kuckertz and Heather Stevens finished ninth, while in high jump Lake Park's Amanda Rafidia tied for 10th.
Rafidia's Lancers teammate, University of Washington-bound Lindsay Flanagan, picked up a third All-America honor with a fourth-place finish in the 2-mile run. Her time of 10: 27.79 ranks second all-time indoors for the event, according to Dyestat Illinois.
A cautionary tale
Aurora University will screen a documentary film about steroid use, "Bigger, Faster, Stronger," on Monday. Reservations are required by calling (630) 844-5615.
Battling for a good cause
A girls soccer doubleheader Wednesday at North Central College pits teams from both sides of Naperville Community Unit School District.
At 5 p.m. Neuqua Valley opens its season against Naperville North, to be followed by Waubonsie Valley against Naperville Central.
An effort toward breast cancer awareness, all four teams will be wearing special jerseys, and all proceeds will go toward breast cancer research.
Raffle tickets will be sold for various prizes, as well as tickets for the Kicks Against Breast Cancer women's collegiate soccer invitational April 26 at Soldier Field.
Hotshots
Congratulations to Timothy Christian sophomore Mark Penczak and Immaculate Conception junior Caleb Hamilton for making it downstate to compete in the Class 2A Three-Point Showdown.
Qualifying out of 4A is Tom Benton of Downers North. You can spot Tom by the two whitish patches in his otherwise brown hair. He didn't see a ghost or get struck by lightning. The senior has said the spots have always been there, follicle equivalents of a birthmark.
Downers North also produces the only local in the slam dunk competition, Kameron Norton. Kam could probably stuff a basketball two-handed while blindfolded. Hmm...
Better late than never
We were remiss to rush this to the presses: Retired Glenbard East wrestling coach Dave Eberhard has been selected to the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.
And former Benet coach Sue Vodrazka, who made winning East Suburban Catholic Conference (and West Suburban Catholic Conference) girls tennis championships a habit, was inducted into the ESCC Hall of Fame on March 12.
Also Benet's first girls basketball coach, in 19 years coaching Redwings tennis Vodrazka went 294-72 in dual matches with 13 conference titles.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com