LZ’s Handrahan will stick with lacrosse at Augustana

Emily Handrahan will enter her senior season at Lake Zurich as a three-time letter winner for Bears lacrosse coach Julie Bryniczka.

Handrahan will also begin her fourth season without having to worry about making her college choice.

The standout athlete has announced that she will be continuing her lacrosse career at Augustana.

The 5-foot-6 midfielder and a 2012 team captain was among the state’s leaders in several statistical categories a year ago. Handrahan led the state with 47 forced turnovers in regular season play.

She also ranked fourth in Illinois with 63 regular season goals,

ninth with 78 points and 3.50 goals per game, and 19th with 53 ground balls.

Handrahan scored a season-high 7 goals in a win over Stevenson.

Including postseason play, Handrahan’s totals included 64 goals, 16 assists, 80 points, 56 ground balls, 50 forced turnovers and 20 draws controlled for the Bears who finished 13-7.

As a sophomore, Handrahan tied for 11th in the state with 24 caused turnovers. She also scored 13 goals, had three assists and controlled 23 ground balls and 12 draws.

At the club level, Handrahan competes for coach Emily Cochran’s Lakeshore Lacrosse and is a three-time team MVP.

She is a high honor roll member at Lake Zurich and is anticipating a pre-physical therapy major at Augustana.

Handrahan joins a Viking program that is embarking on its first season of intercollegiate competition this spring. Chosen as the school’s first head coach, Sara Tisdale comes to Augustana after leading the club program at Michigan State University the last two years as its head coach. She played collegiately at Central Michigan University, graduating in 2006.

Women’s track

Junior Sarahbeth Jones (Warren) enjoyed an outstanding meet at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin indoor track and field championship in Naperville.

Jones won an individual event (the 3000), had a leg on a winning relay team (distance medley) and ran the second fastest indoor mile in school history.

She started her impressive weekend on Friday when she anchored the distance medley team to victory with a time of 12:13.73. That broke the former record of 12:15.63.

Jones won the 3000 on Saturday with a time of 10:21.38 and took second in the mile in 5:01.91.

Thanks in large part to Jones’ effort, Augustana finished sixth in the team standings with 54 points. Illinois Wesleyan won with 163 points.

Lacrosse

Augustana freshman Ty Benson (Libertyville) has forced 5 turnovers for the Vikings, who are off to a 2-0 start with wins over Millsaps (17-3) and Jacksonville, Miss. and Huntingdon (11-2) in Montgomery, Ala.

With a 2-0 start, the Vikings hold down the 12th spot in LaxPower.com’s Division III power ratings. Currently 97 teams have begun their 2012 seasons and are ranked. Another 92 programs have not played their first games and are not yet included in the rankings.

Figure skating

Tomoki Hiwatashi, a Thomas Jefferson Elementary sixth-grader who trains at the DuPage Figure Skating Club near Chicago, made it into Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” in the Feb 20 issue.

Hiwatashi won the intermediate men’s gold at the U.S. junior championships in East Lansing, Mich., for his second straight national title. He was first in the short program and the free skate, where he scored 66.56 points in a routine that included two triple Salchows (102.34 points overall). A two-time Upper Great Lakes regional champion, Tomoki won the juvenile boys’ gold last year.

Volleyball clinic

The Zebras of Northern Illinois (ZONI) volleyball officials’ organization will be holding the 11th Whistle for a Cause Clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, at Niles West High School in Skokie.

Proceeds will be used to purchase volleyball equipment for area high schools that lack even the most basic equipment, such as balls and nets, for their volleyball programs.

Since the initial event in 1997, the Clinic has raised over $22,000 for a variety of causes related to high school athletics. In recent years, clinic proceeds have benefitted local high school volleyball programs as well as three New Orleans high schools devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Money has also been donated to assist families with medical issues. These have included seriously ill children of volleyball officials and coaches, high school volleyball players, other high school athletes, and the family of a volleyball player killed in the Columbine tragedy in Colorado.

In addition to money raised for purchases and equipment distributor contributions, many local high schools have donated their gently-used equipment to other schools that are in need.

The cost of the clinic is $20 for those who register before March 2. After that date, the cost is $30. Additional donations are welcome.

For more information and to register, please visit the ZONI web site, http://www.zoni.org . Or contact Ed Vesely (eveselyvb@gmail.com) or Nancy Nester (njn51@hotmail.com).

ZONI is a high school volleyball officials’ organization in the Chicago area. Its goals include recruiting and mentoring new officials, developing officiating skills, promoting good sportsmanship, and encouraging advancement in official ratings and member evaluations

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