Good sounds at St. Francis; catching up with Alec Lyons

St. Francis Pep Band director Bob Mamminga, a 2002 Batavia graduate, continues to unfurl wrinkles to one of the best bands you’ll see and hear at a high school basketball game.

He’s included vocalists for the past four years, male singers the first two years and female singers the last two. Mamminga said he’s mainly sent them to volleyball games but he’s started having them sing at basketball games.

At St. Francis’ boys basketball victory last Friday over Aurora Christian, seniors Julia Murphy and Anna Jurich and junior Dylan Zito — each residents of Wayne — all stepped up to the microphone, sometimes together on harmony.

The multigenerational catalog ranged from as far back as Fleetwood Mac and Bon Jovi to as fresh as Adele, Arcade Fire and Muse. The girls all sang better than Dylan — Bob, that is, not Zito.

Mamminga added that the Spartans Pep Band played as guests at Wheaton College during the men’s basketball game last Saturday against North Central College.

Let’s guess: “Thunder Road”? “You Love the Thunder”? “Thunderstruck”?

They could do it all.

Sammi!

Geneva graduate and Notre Dame freshman soccer player Sammi Scofield last week was chosen as one of 24 players for United States Soccer’s Under-23 Women’s National Team. The women are currently training in Sarasota, Fla. Lucky dogs.

A defender who can also play midfield, Scofield rolled into South Bend last fall after being named to the Women’s Premier Soccer League All-Championship Team as a member of the Chicago Red Stars. She started 12 games for the Fighting Irish and played in all 21.

The 2011 Illinois State Scholar sufficiently impressed Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum — who was named the U-23 head coach on Jan. 9 — that he made her both the only Illinois selection and the sole 19-year-old on the national team. A four-year starting basketball player and 2011 All-Area pick at Geneva who played club soccer with Eclipse Select, Scofield is among 10 defensive players on the U.S. U23 squad.

Catching up with ... Alec Lyons

Shutting his physics book for the night before hitting it hard again for Thursday’s final exam, Batavia senior Alec Lyons on Tuesday merrily answered questions while riding with buddy Matthew Baker in Austin Higgins’ Saturn. The three friends #8212; whose parents all knew their whereabouts #8212; headed to Baker#146;s house, probably to play the Madden video football game. Appropriate, because Bulldogs football coach Dennis Piron had compared Batavia#146;s offensive schemes to #147;Madden 2012.#148; The 6-foot-2, 245-pound Lyons led Batavia in touchdowns with 13, all on the ground. Giving recruiters at Western Illinois, Indiana State, North Dakota State and Winona State some nice options, the three-year starter, a Football Coaches Association honorable-mention Class 6A all-stater, played a variety of defensive positions to finish as Batavia#146;s career solo tackles leader, with 153. He#146;s moved on to wrestling, where he was 10-4 at heavyweight entering Thursday#146;s match at Wheaton North. The middle child of three including Batavia sophomore Laura, Lyons said he won his weight class as a freshman and a sophomore, then held out his junior year to concentrate on football training. A huge part of Batavia football#146;s first undefeated regular season in its 100-year history, Lyons said the commitment he and his teammates gave in the off-season #147;paid off 100 percent.#148;

Q: What was your favorite moment in a football game?

A: My favorite time of a game is when you#146;re on the field and it#146;s third-and-short, fourth-and-short. You just know that you#146;re within three, four yards and that we#146;re going to score #8212; because I have complete faith in the linemen. They#146;re going to do what we need to do. They#146;re big boys.

Q: As a freshman you started a couple games on the defensive line. How was that?

A: That was a very good experience. The seniors, they really took me under their wing. Some of them were mean to me, but I just kind of stood my ground, or tried to. There were a couple of seniors who definitely impacted my life, some of the captains. And the offensive linemen, they were the guys who took me under their wings.

My first game was at St. Charles East and their size averaged probably like 6-4, 290. They were some big dudes. I was, like, shaking in my boots. But I got a decent amount of playing time in all of the games.

Q: You came in at essentially the same height and weight as you are now. How#146;d you manage that?

A: Over the years I#146;ve just gained muscle and lost fat, starting from my freshman year. I#146;ve basically just gotten bigger and progressed into my body more.

Q: You played under two different head coaches, Mike Gaspari and Dennis Piron. How did they differ?

A: The coaches differed tremendously. Coach Gaspari, he#146;s a great coach. I mean, he#146;s in the (Illinois High School Football Coaches Association) Hall of Fame for a reason. He knows to to run a practice correctly and knows what tempo we should be in. He knows we don#146;t have to smash our heads in all day, because that#146;s what we#146;re going to be doing (in games).

Coach Piron, he#146;s a good head coach. He makes sure everybody#146;s in the weight room, makes sure everybody#146;s doing what we need to do or else they#146;re not going to play football. And that#146;s the path Batavia needs to take, starting with our 12-1 season.

Q: On to wrestling. At 245 pounds you#146;re closer to the 220-pounders than to the 285-pound heavyweight class. That#146;s got to be tough.

A: The bad thing about being a light guy is when those fat guys get on top of you it#146;s hard to get them off.

Q: What#146;s been your toughest match this season?

A: My second match of the season I wrestled the No. 1 ranked guy in the state (DeLaSalle heavyweight James Buss). Going into the match I didn#146;t really get worked up. Obviously I was nervous. I just wanted to get it over with. My coach swore that I pinned him. Apparently not.

Q: Does it help or hurt to get angry in the ring?

A: I don#146;t get angry. My dad (Tim, a firefighter) never gets angry. Most of my friends have never seen me angry. It takes a lot to get me to that point.

In wrestling, no (anger doesn#146;t help); in football, yeah. I#146;ve gotten to that point. Football#146;s like running into people. Wrestling isn#146;t my first sport. That#146;s why I like football a lot, because it#146;s head-to-head contact. I play rugby a little bit, too, and rugby#146;s like football without pads and that#146;s a lot of fun, too.

Q: What did you learn about yourself through football?

A: I#146;ve learned a lot about the path that you choose. You either choose to go down the right path or you choose the wrong path. If you stick with the guys that you know are going to be there every day in the weight room then you#146;re going to get stuff done, you#146;re going to be headed in the right direction.

Q: I#146;ve got a son named Alex and get a little peeved when people mistakenly call him Alec. Does it work like that for you, too?

A: People call me Alex a lot of the time, especially people that don#146;t know me that well. I don#146;t really care. I just tell them it#146;s Alec. It doesn#146;t bug me too much.

Q: I always ask this question: What#146;s a problem you#146;d like to see changed?

A: I think communication is a big issue that we have. Everybody#146;s got iPhones. I would be happy if everybody #8212; if I #8212; just had a crappy, old phone. You can text, but you should just call people and not worry about everything else. It#146;s bad with some people.

Q: What#146;s something people don#146;t know about you?

A: A lot of people, at my school for example, a lot of people think I#146;m like a big bad (guy). They#146;re, like, scared of me, they think I#146;m a bully. And if you talk to me, I#146;m a nice guy.

On the up-and-up

On Jan. 9 the Illinois High School Association board of directors conducted their monthly meeting in their Bloomington headquarters.

Among the items discussed was an update on the IHSA#146;s Performance-Enhancing Drug Testing Program, delivered by IHSA assistant executive director Kurt Gibson.

Of the 278 athletes from 26 member schools who were tested thus far in the 2011-12 school year, there were zero positive tests.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com