Little Bro's revenge
You may have experienced this yourself: Big brother begrudgingly lets little brother play ball with him. Mom said so. Little brother is rewarded with a merciless pounding.
Benet senior John Schulz was one of those little brothers. He's got the last laugh, particularly since he grew to 5-foot-10, 250 pounds and runs 40 yards in 4.85 seconds.
Speed like that from a defensive lineman made Valparaiso's football staff take notice. Schulz, older brother of Redwings sophomore girls track star McKinzie Schulz, will go there to play next fall.
Older brothers Eric and Roman played at Georgetown and Butler, respectively. They had their day in the sun.
Eric, a former defensive end, blocked two field goals in a Georgetown win. Roman, an all-Pioneer League back, once recorded touchdowns rushing, receiving and passing.
It's John's turn now.
"They made sure they pushed me around a little," he said. "Now they don't like me playing because they're older and I'm still in football shape. The tables have turned."
Welcome back jacks
Glenbard North graduate Sarah Bryers, a senior softball player at Illinois, returned north for a doubleheader Tuesday against Illinois-Chicago.
The latitude did her good. In the opener Bryers went 3-for-3 with a school-record 7 runs batted in, with 2 home runs, including her first career grand slam.
The center fielder went 2-for-4 in the second game to help the Illini to the sweep.
Waiver runner
It took an IHSA waiver for Lake Park junior Lindsay Flanagan to run at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Landover, Md. She rewarded the IHSA's faith with a day to remember.
Flanagan's seventh-place time of 10 minutes, 39.35 seconds in the 2-mile run moved her to 13th place on the Dyestat.com national girls indoor list this season.
"I really think it was the competition, just having all those people there from other states, never having run against them before," said Flanagan, who a week prior at Proviso West had run 3,200 meters in 10:46, which ranks ninth nationally.
Once the waiver came through -- Waubonsie Valley's Shakeia Pinnick needed one, too; she finished second in the pentathlon and fifth in the 800 at the NIN -- Lake Park distance coach Harvey Braus and Lindsay's mother, Becky, saw a goal achieved.
"I didn't know what was going to happen, but I hoped to go under 10:40," Flanagan said. "I was really happy when I did."
Walk the Walk
Hinsdale Central's Character Counts organization on April 6 is hosting the first annual "Walk the Walk for Autism" to raise awareness and funds for Charlie's Gift Autism Center, an after-school program at the Hinsdale Community House.
Red Devils boys track coach Jim Kupres wanted his athletes to be involved, so they'll each try to raise a minimum of $50 and help out along the course.
Willing to walk the walk himself, Kupres used a link from the USA Track and Field Web site to plot the course, a 5-kilometer stretch beginning and ending at Hinsdale Central, 55th and Grant streets.
"There's so many walkathons, we wanted to do one that's in the community," he said.
Registration for Walk the Walk for Autism begins at 7 a.m. April 6, at the school, with the walk starting at 8 a.m.