Huskies AD Smith earns top award
Few things are better than a trip to San Diego during December in the Midwest.
One would be picking up a national award during your stay, the plum situation Naperville North athletic director Doug Smith has earned for himself.
Smith, in his sixth year as the Huskies' AD after 20 years in similar posts at Woodstock and Monmouth, will receive a National Federation of State High School Association Citation on Dec. 16 at the National Conference of High School Directors of Athletics.
Smith is one of eight athletic directors nationwide to win the annual award. He was nominated by the Illinois Athletic Directors Association for his contributions to interscholastic athletics and will represent the region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.
"It's probably one of the higher awards you can receive in our profession," said Smith, whose wife, Nancy, is education manager at the Naper Settlement.
He would know. A certified master athletic administrator, Smith was the IADA Outstanding Athletic Director of the Year in 1993-94 and 1994-95, and earned the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Distinguished Service Award in 2001.
Of the things he's done, the former cancer patient said he's probably the proudest of the Hoops for Healing boys basketball tournament he began at Woodstock and brought to Naperville North.
Hosted concurrently by Naperville North and Oswego in one tourney and by Woodstock and Belvidere in another, it now involves 16 schools in community service.
Smith, who started as a teacher and coach at East Peoria High School, said he was humbled upon hearing he was to receive the NFHS Citation. He sees his job as a team effort.
"I don't see it as an individual award," he said. "I've been fortunate enough during my career to be associated with great coaches and quality athletes along the way.
"I accept this award on behalf of the quality people I've worked with over the 26 years."
It just gets better
The banquet honoring the Daily Herald All-Area Football Team for DuPage County was held at the Lisle Hilton on Monday. Among the 50 All-Area players and 18 players of the week was Glenbard West running back Bryant Venson.
After the banquet Bryant's mother, Tammie, said the day before her older son, Brandon, had committed to play football at Illinois State University.
A redshirt freshman receiver at the College of DuPage last season, 6-foot-4, 220-pound Brandon Venson broke a school record with 56 receptions for 514 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Weekend pass
With the blessing of her teachers Lake Park senior Lindsay Flanagan will blow off Friday classes.
"The teachers are excited because it's nationals," Flanagan said, meaning the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, Saturday in San Diego.
Along with Neuqua Valley's Danny Pawola and York's Steve Sulkin, Flanagan will be among 40 boys and 40 girls competing in the 30th running of the Foot Locker.
Flanagan comes off a fifth-place finish at last weekend's Nike Cross Nationals, her time of 17 minutes, 50.3 seconds over the 5-kilometer course in Portland enabling her to far surpass her goal.
"I was really happy. I didn't really know what to expect, so I just wanted to get in the top 25," said Flanagan, who won Class 3A state cross country and placed second in the Class AA 3,200-meter run last spring. In the 2008 Nike Indoor National 3,200 she finished eighth.
It was an outstanding day in Portland for the locals. Boys from York and Naperville North finished second and third, respectively, in the team standings behind North Spokane, Wash.
Individually, York's Jordan Hebert and Sulkin finished eighth and 14th, respectively, while Naperville North's Kyle Gibson and David McWilliams placed a respective 18th and 30th. The girls team from Geneva finished 17th.
Last year at Nike, Neuqua Valley graduate Chris Derrick's overall championship led the Wildcats to the boys team title.
The start of Flanagan's race last weekend in Portland wasn't great, as she got stuck in the pack. Though unsatisfied with her first mile, she thought it helped later down a course that included hay bale hurdles and man-made hills.
"I had more energy," she said.
A strained inner thigh kept Flanagan from competing in either national race in 2007. Saturday in San Diego she just hopes to go out and do her best. Again.
"I'd like to come in top-25 again. That'd be awesome," she said.
"This one's not for teams, so it's going to be really intense."
doberhelman@dailyherald.com