UMSL hall of fame softball team boasts local products
Two former Mid-Suburban League softball stars can now say they played for a hall of fame collegiate team.
The University of Missouri-St. Louis softball team was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame three weeks ago.
Wheeling graduate Sara Kern and Palatine alumnus Ryan Logan were sophomores on the team when it was ranked No. 1 in the final Division II regular-season poll.
Coached by Brian Levin, the 2015 softball team captured its third straight Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Super Regional, finishing with a program second-best 48 wins.
They set a school record with a 19-game win streak and posted their third straight 40-win season.
During Kern and Logan's four years at UMSL, the Tritons went 192-40 and reached the NCAA tournament all four seasons. Those teams also crowd the Triton record book for most wins, most conference wins, and longest winning streaks.
Kern, a three-time all-stater at Wheeling, started in 175 games as a Triton. Her 13 home runs in 2016 tied her for seventh all-time on the UMSL leaderboard while her 23 career home runs are eighth on that list.
Logan, also a three-time all-stater at Palatine, started in all 62 games her junior year, batting .313 with 47 hits, 9 doubles, 3 triples and 5 home runs.
As a senior, Logan batted .326 with 15 doubles, 2 triples and 3 homers.
Women's swimming
University of Findlay (Ohio) junior Sarah Miles, a graduate of Hoffman Estates High School, wrapped up her 2019-20 season with a flourish at the Great Midwest and Mountain East conference meet at Canton, Ohio.
Miles stepped to the podium five times, including once with a relay team.
The meet for Miles began with a seventh-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 10:48.87, nearly 46 seconds faster than her seed time.
In the 200 freestyle, she finished eighth at 1:57.66. Miles was fourth in the 100 backstroke, going 59.34 seconds. Later in that session, she helped the Oilers to a third-place medal by swimming the third leg and rallying the Oilers from fifth to third.
She saved her best for the 200 backstroke on the meet's final day. In the prelims, she swam a 2:06.83, winning her heat and shaving more than five seconds off her seed time.
In the evening's final, she finished third with a time of 2:06.61, earning a medal. In all, Miles piled up 98 points for the Oilers, whose women finished second overall in the meet.
Congrats to Swiderski
Daily Herald correspondent Greg Swiderski will be inducted to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame media wing in May.
Women's track
Fremd senior Emma Odle plans on running for the Augustana track and field and cross country programs.
Odle's personal three-mile cross country best came at last fall's IHSA Class 3A State championship at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
She ran an 18:03.61 to finish 71st individually and help the Vikings place 14th in the team standings. She finished 14th at the Mid-Suburban West meet, 19th at the Prospect regional and 51st at the Hoffman Estates sectional.
Odle's bests in track include a 2:22.79 at 800 meters outdoors and a 5:37.52 in the mile and a 12:07.16 over 3,200 meters indoors. All were achieved during her junior season.
She is an all-academic senior athlete at Fremd, planning on an Augustana major in communication sciences.
Men's volleyball
Lewis redshirt junior TJ Murray (Barrington) finished with 3 kills as the fifth-ranked Flyers (10-4, 3-1) swept Quincy for their third straight win at Neil Carey Arena.
Women's lacrosse
Conant senior Giana "Gigi" Scimeca plans to play for Augustana women's lacrosse coach C.J. Holder's. The 5-foot-4 defense snared 24 ground balls and had 2 assists for coach Eric Jacobsen's Conant squad (12-11) as a junior.
An honor roll member who also competed in basketball at Conant, Scimeca is planning on an Augustana major in psychology.
Scimeca joins a Viking program that has posted a 113-37 record during its first eight seasons of play.