Who had the top performances of the 2024-25 IHSA school year?
With the 2024-25 IHSA school year in the book, it’s time to look back at months of excellence in the Daily Herald coverage area.
This week’s High Five honors the top performances from the past 10 months among our 80-plus area schools.
5. Luke Smith Addison Trail
The list of outstanding players in the history of Blazers’ boys basketball is a long one, including recently-named head coach Cory Little, an all-state player in 1997.
But Smith, a point guard who will play at Elmhurst University next season, topped them all.
In a West Suburban Gold game against Proviso East, Smith scored a program-record 46 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished 11 assists in an 88-79 victory.
Smith graduated as the program’s career leader in points, rebounds and steals.
4. Coco Urlacher, Fremd
The St. Mary’s commit willed her team into the Class 4A girls basketball title game with a stunning performance in the semifinals against defending champion Loyola.
Urlacher scored 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting with 17 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes in an 80-74 double-overtime victory. She saved Fremd’s season by making a turnaround, fadeaway 3-pointer as time expired to send the game to a second overtime.
3. Jameson Purcell, Maine South
The rising junior quarterback already boasts 25 scholarship offers from Power 4 programs such as Oregon, Georgia and Indiana.
He showed why in the opening round of the Class 8A football playoffs, a 49-42 victory over Naperville North where the Hawks built a 49-28 third-quarter lead.
Purcell completed 39 of 52 passes for 513 yards and 6 touchdowns.
2. Mia Sirois, Barrington
If not for (see below), Sirois would be a clear No. 1 based on her bookend performances in the fall and spring.
The sophomore broke the IHSA girls cross country 3-mile course record at Detweiller Park in Peoria by winning the Class 3A state title with a time of 15:53.40.
Last month in Charleston, Sirois broke the Class 3A record in the 3,200 meters with a state title time of 10:01.12.
1. Hinsdale Central
The Red Devils dominating the boys swimming and diving state meet is nothing new — this year they won their 21st championship.
But what they did on Feb. 28 in the state meet prelims was remarkable.
The 200-yard medley relay team of seniors Henry Guo and Josh Bey, junior Matt Vatev and sophomore Luke Vatev broke an NFHS national record set in 2022 by a high school team from Carmel, Ind.
The quartet swam the race in 1:26.75, breaking the previous record by .13 seconds.