Willert in soccer spotlight; Wheeling sets Hall of Fame date

Grand Valley State University has been on an NCAA Division II sports high.

The Allendale, Mich., school reached the semifinals of the Division II football tournament, finishing with a 12-1 record, and also the Final Four of the women's soccer championship, finishing 21-1-1.

Kourtney Willert (Conant) was a part of that soccer excitement as she completed an outstanding career.

A four-year varsity starter, she had a key role on a defense that was nationally ranked all four seasons.

Grand Valley State was 59-6-2 over the past three seasons with the only loss in 2007 to Tampa in the Final Four. They also lost in the 2006 national title game to Metro State of Colorado to finish 19-2-1.

In her college career, Willert was a Daktronics first team All-American honoree, and she also earned all-conference recognition for three years.

• Colleen Wagner (Rolling Meadows) of Hannibal-LaGrange College (Hannibal, Mo.) was named to the American Midwest Conference first team. She anchored the defense from the stopper position and helped her team win its second straight AMC Conference Tournament Play-In Championship.

"Colleen is the epitome for what it means to leave it all on the field," said coach Jason Nichols.

Wagner, a junior, was named defensive player of the year by her teammates.

• Kristin Rukhaberlen (Hoffman Estates), forward-midfielder for Elgin Community College, capped an outstanding season by being named to the NJCAA All-American honorable mention team. She ranked 14th among the NJCAA Division I scoring leaders, playing in 17 games and scoring 27 goals with 5 assists.

• Freshman Martina Pettenuzzo (Prospect) of the University of Buffalo was named the team's Rookie of the Year. She made key contributions to the Bulls' defense in her first year and had a .750 shot-on-goal percentage, highest on the team.

Wheeling ceremony

Mark Newman, Kristen Stoudt-Hill, Jim Nagel, Keith Vernon and Bob Schulze.

The second class of the Wheeling High School Athletics Hall of Fame will be inducted on Friday, Feb. 1 at halftime of the boys basketball game with Rolling Meadows.

The ceremony should begin at approximately 8 p.m.

A reception will be held in the cafeteria after the game.

Background on each Hall of Famer will appear in the Daily Herald closer to the ceremony.

For more information on the event, contact Steve May, assistant principal for student activities, at (847) 718-7018 or e-mail steve.may@d214.org.

The first class of Wheeling Hall of Famers featured Pat Ritchie, E. E. "Bus" Ormsbee, Jack Bastable, Dana Miroballi and John Peterson.

Basketball

Justin Gray (Prospect) was named Athlete of the Week at Concordia University Chicago. He had 33 points against Dominican University and 26 against Rockford College.

• Jonny Reibel (Hoffman Estates) of 6-0 Rollins College scored 22 points and handed out 9 assists in an 81-67 victory over previously unbeaten Warner Southern. Craig Reichel (Schaumburg) of Rollins had a season-high 10 rebounds.

• Kayla Ming (Grayslake) of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside scored 27 points against the Robert Morris Eagles. She was 7-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-8 from 3-point range. She also was 9-for-10 at the free-throw line and had 4 assists and a steal.

True freshman Brittany Hogen (Hersey) came off the bench in the second half and scored 11 points.

• Alex Washington (Wheeling) scored 13 points for No. 10 Augustana College in a victory over St. Ambrose.

• Gabrielle Cottrell (Prospect) hit four 3-pointers and had 14 points and 7 rebounds as Manhattan College opened its conference season with a 57-52 win over Siena College.

• Melissa Gorski (Buffalo Grove) of Monmouth College scored 22 points against both Grinnell and Augustana. She also had 13 rebounds against Grinnell and 12 boards and 5 assists against Augustana.

She was named Performer of the Week in the Midwest Conference.

• Kristin Paczosa (Buffalo Grove) had her first career double-double at Cornell College with 11 points and 13 rebounds against Mount Mercy. She also had 2 blocks and a steal.

In the same game, Charlotte Milas (Rolling Meadows) had 11 points and 2 rebounds and Melanie Duplessis (Warren) scored 15 points with 4 assists.

In a win over Mount Mary, Paczosa had 19 points, 12 rebounds and a block and then scored 12 points with 6 rebounds against Silver Lake. Milas had 10 points.

• Beth Lucas (Hersey) of Lake Forest had 12 points against Lawrence and led the team in assists (4) and steals (5) against Beloit. Sherrie Dubinski (Hersey) paced the team in assists (4) against Lawrence.

• The Hersey Feeder Basketball tryouts will be held at Hersey High School on Dec. 15-16 in the East Gym. Tryouts are open to boys in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

6th grade -- 12-1:45 p.m. each day.

7th grade -- 2-3:45 p.m. each day.

8th grade -- 4-5:45 p.m. each day.

Park at the rear of the school and enter the door nearest the tennis courts.

For questions, contact Tom Garms at (847) 253-9758.

Wrestling

Kyle Katz (Maine West) of Elmhurst College finished third at 157 pounds in the Wisconsin Open Wrestling Tournament that was hosted by Wisconsin-Parkside and attracted 20 colleges. Also for Elmhurst, Charlie Curran (Hersey) was fourth at 141 pounds and Rob Lejman (Conant) was sixth at 141.

Track and field

Junior Sharon Fritz (Rolling Meadows) of Marquette placed second in the triple jump (36-6¼) and third in the 60-meter dash (8.10) at the Notre Dame Blue and Gold Invitational. Both marks are her indoor personal records and rank 10th and 8th best all-time at Marquette.

Softball

The Rolling Meadows Mustangs' 14U softball team is looking for one or two girls to complete its roster on a highly competitive team. To be eligible, players must be 14 or younger on Jan. 1, 2008.

For more information, call Bill Suchecki at (847) 259-1236 or e-mail to bigdogslug@comcast.net.

Baseball

The Indians' travel baseball team, which will play its home games in Des Plaines, is looking for athletes to play on its 11U team. Players must be age 11 or younger on April 30, 2008.

For more information, call Bill Dwoinen at (708) 878-3487 or e-mail at dwoinen@gmail.com.

• The Des Plaines Travelers need two more quality players for their 13U squad.

For more information, contact Rich Moozakis at (847) 827-3946 or moozakis@msn.com.

• TSA Northwest Sports Academy is offering several programs for baseball players hoping to improve their skills so they can enjoy the game.

There will be high school pre-season training camps, pitching and hitting clinics, fundamentals camps and strength, conditioning, speed and agility clinics.

Team America 2008 is planning tournaments and sightseeing in Italy and Sicily July 20-30. A few positions are open on the International Travel Baseball teams (14U and 16U).

Contact peter@tsanorthwest.com to schedule a private tryout.

For information on the camps and clinics, e-mail info@tsanorthwest.com or call (847) 279-3934.