Wisconsin’s Liking joins a select group
A St. Charles East High School graduate made history on Friday …
Liking the result
University of Wisconsin graduate student Bob Liking became the fourth man to win four individual Big Ten Conference cross country titles, Nov. 1 at the University of Illinois Orange & Blue Golf Course in Savoy.
Setting a new meet record with a personal-best time of 22 minutes, 47.3 seconds over 8 kilometers, Liking joined Olympians Craig Virgin of Illinois, Bob Kennedy of Indiana and Kevin Sullivan of Michigan as the Big Ten’s only four-time winners.
“I’m very honored to be part of that list,” Liking told Big Ten Network analyst Declan Murray after leading Wisconsin to its seventh straight Big Ten title over newcomers Washington and Oregon, which won the women’s team title.
“I was pretty nervous for this one, just because I didn’t want to blow up and get three and not get a fourth. It was just awesome, I’m so excited,” said Liking, whose Badgers team also featured 25th-place finisher Micah Wilson (St. Charles East).
The first 22 men running on the flat course surpassed the existing record of 23:12.1 set in 2015 by Purdue’s Matt McClintock at the Sydney Marovitz Golf Course on Chicago’s lakefront.
Moving up from 12th place at 1,000 meters, Liking took the lead at about the 4-kilometer mark, and had a 5K split time of 14:20 before he made a big move.
Over the next 2,000 meters Liking put 12 seconds of distance between he and eventual second-place finisher Michael Mireles of UCLA.
Liking’s concern was the “world-class” runners from the new Big Ten additions from the West Coast.
“I guess my worst nightmare was just it would come to a kick and I wouldn’t be able to do it. I just wanted to go out there and if I lost, I lost, but I knew I was going to put it all out there,” the All-American told Murray.
“Yeah, it was a good day.”
Another record setter
With 2 goals in a 7-1 men’s soccer victory Oct. 30 over Benedictine University, Aurora University senior forward Enrique Gonzalez (Downers Grove South) set the Eagles’ goals record, with 60.
Tying Chase Corricelli’s mark of 59 goals early in the second half, the record-setting score came at the 61 minute mark after a shifty move and assist by freshman midfielder Josue Roman (Glenbard East). At 20 goals on the season entering Sunday’s match against St. Norbert, Gonzalez was three away from his own program record of 23 from 2023, shared with Terry Rock at Aurora in 1980.
Killing it
Madison Buckley (Kaneland), a junior at Ball State, on Oct. 28 was named Mid-American Conference offensive player of the week in women’s volleyball. In a two-match sweep against Northern Illinois the 6-foot-2 opposite hitter led all MAC players with a .595 attack percentage and was fourth with 4.33 kills per set.
Doing the job
Following Army’s 45-28 win over East Carolina on Oct. 19, Black Knights offensive guard Paolo Gennarelli (St. Charles North) earned the Outland Trophy national player of the week by the Football Writers Association of America. Pro Football Focus graded Gennarelli at 88.5 against East Carolina, best among Football Bowl Subdivision guards and a top-five mark for any offensive lineman that week.
Pierce nets notice
Caden Pierce (Glenbard West), a junior forward on Princeton’s men’s basketball team, was named among 20 finalists for the Naismith “Starting 5” power forward of the year preseason watch list. And The Bracketeer, which follows college basketball, named Pierce a preseason first-team All-American among players in “non-power” conferences.
The reining Ivy League player of the year, last season Pierce averaged 16.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and made 55% of his field goal attempts and 77% of his free throws.