Roberts ceremony set for Friday; Ellingsworth honored

Only two men have guided the varsity football fortunes at Buffalo Grove since the high school played its first game in 1973.

Grant Blaney was No. 1 and directed the program though 1989, collecting 111 wins and the Class 6A state title in 1986.

Rich Roberts then took over as No. 2 and has 102 varsity wins at Buffalo Grove to go with the 7 when he coached Prospect.

No. 3 is out there somewhere.

Buffalo Grove will celebrate the coaching career of Roberts, who will retire in June, with a pregame ceremony Friday at 6:45 p.m.

The Bison host Prospect as the regular season concludes.

As part of the celebration, the school will recognize family, friends and former coaches and athletes from Roberts' 30-plus years of coaching and more specifically, the last 18 seasons as the head Bison coach.

The school also plans to celebrate Roberts' career throughout the evening with a variety of other activities.

Mark Schaetzlein, assistant principal for student activities at Buffalo Grove, is the contact for the celebration and can be reached at (847) 718-4018.

Former athletes interested in attending should contact Schaetzlein for more details.

Bowling

Karen Ellingsworth, who helped make Forest View High School a state powerhouse in the 1970s, was honored by the High School Bowling Coaches of Illinois (HSBCI) with selection to the inaugural Hall of Fame class.

Also recognized in the individuals class for the first HSBCI Hall of Fame was Lisa Stack (Elgin Larkin). Jim Braet of Rock Island was named in the coaches' category, and the late Charlene Bremberg was honored as a Hall of Fame administrator for her work with the IHSA.

Ellingsworth rewrote the Mid-Suburban League record books and was conference champion for three years.

She joined the Ladies Professional Bowling Tour in 1981 and spent 12 years on the circuit. Her biggest victory came at the 1984 U.S. Open in St. Louis when she defeated Lorrie Nichols.

Ellingsworth, who has 15 sanctioned 300 games and an 802 series, was elected to the Chicago Women's Bowling Hall of Fame in 2003.

For the last 19 years, she and Jeff Daggett have run the Strike Zone Pro Shop, now located inside the Brunswick Zone in Mount Prospect.

Ellingsworth also has been the head coach at Rolling Meadows since 1999.

Football

Eric Jensen (Hersey), cornerback for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, had 8 tackles against UW-Stout and 6 tackles and 2 pass breakups against UW-La Crosse.

Volleyball

Kristin Paczosa (Buffalo Grove) of Cornell College was named the Iowa Conference Volleyball Athlete of the Week for the second time.

The sophomore outside hitter set 2 school records and was named to the all-tournament team at the IIAC-MIAC Border Battle tourney in St. Paul. She broke the school's single-match record for kills with 29 in a 5-game win over Hamline and also broke the mark with 71 attack attempts in a 5-game win over Buenta Vista, in which she also had 30 digs.

• Freshman Kyrsten Becker (Rolling Meadows) of the University of St. Francis registered a season-best 25 digs in a match against Baker University (Baldwin City, Kans.). She also had 15 serve receives and 17 serves.

Swimming

Jenny Toler (Elk Grove) of the University of Nebraska opened the season against Illinois and won the 100-yard freestyle (52.91) and 200 freestyle (1:54.46) and was part of the winning 400 free relay (3:32.55).

Golf

Senior Abbie Many (Prospect) fired rounds of 77-82-80 for Northern Illinois University in the Shoot-Out at the Legends of Legends Golf Course in Franklin, Ind. "Abbie completed the fall season with a fractured back," said NIU head coach Pam Tyska. "She played really well. It was just tough to get her going after the 36-hole day."

Cross country

Mike Richardson (Buffalo Grove) of Illinois State finished eighth in 25:04 at the Bradley Invitational in Peoria. Illinois State placed second.

• John Lancaster (Palatine) of team champion North Central College finished second in the St. Olaf Pre-National Cross Country Meet in Northfield, Wis. Michael Spain (Schaumburg) finished No. 6 and Brian Lewiewicz (Schaumburg) was No. 7.

Softball

Registrations are being taken for the annual Wildcat Fastpitch Winter Softball Camp-Clinic for girls between the ages of 9 and 14.

The camp will be held at Wheeling High School, and no residency requirements are necessary.

There will be two five-week sessions held on Sunday nights between 6:30 and 8 p.m. in the field house.

Professional and college hitting and pitching instructors will participate with training in hitting, pitching, base running and defense. A coaches' clinic will be held.

Pitching will be limited to the first 20 requests.

Session 1 will run five Sunday nights (not consecutive weeks) starting Nov. 11.

Session 2 will run Sunday nights (not consecutive weeks) starting Jan. 6.

Program cost for November-December is $80. It's also $80 for January-February.

The number of participants is limited to 50, so early registration is encouraged.

Mail registration fee, along with participant's name, address, age and what session you are interested in to "Wildcat Clinics," c/o Rick McCoy, 567 Briarwood, Wheeling, Ill., 60090.

For more information, you can contact program director McCoy at (847) 520-4249 or at wcatsb@comcast.net.

Soccer

The Arlington Aces High School Boys Program Spring Season 2008 (U15-U18) will hold tryouts on Oct. 21 and 28 from 5-7 p.m. at Melas Park, Central and Busse.

Players should arrive 30 minutes early for registration. They must attend at least one tryout, but the park district suggests attending both.

The Arlington Heights Park District also is offering an academy program, which includes full-time trainer/coach from Elite Soccer.

Players who make the team will be expected to pay charges that include but are not limited to:

Park district registration fee -- $105; Elite fee program -- $385; tournament fee -- to be determined; uniform cost -- tbd; indoor training facility or gym rental fee -- tbd.

The Elite Program cost will include being professionally coached and trained by Elite Soccer, training indoors once per week during the winter and twice during the spring and competing in one tournament over Memorial Day weekend.

For questions, contact Jason Meredith, athletic supervisor, at (847) 506-7133.

The program Web site is www.ahpd.org/soccer.

• Goalkeeper Brian Byrne (Buffalo Grove) of Loyola University recorded 3 shutouts as the Ramblers beat Cleveland State 2-0, tied Detroit 0-0 and beat Butler 1-0. He now has 7 shutouts for the season, which ranks second on Loyola's all-time list.

• Scott Marlega (Conant) leads Augustana in scoring with 5 goals and 4 assists. Also at Augustana, goalie Keri Hess (Schaumburg) has 5 shutouts.