College achievers: First semester highlights
Now for the semiannual roll call of local graduates excelling at the next level...
Mike Lee, Benet Class of 2005 and a Notre Dame graduate, gets the stadium treatment Saturday. In his third bout as a professional boxer, Lee (2-0) takes on Keith Debow (0-2-1) in a four-round light-heavyweight fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Lee-Debow, on the undercard of the super-welterweight world title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, will be streamed live at 7 p.m. Saturday on TopRank.com.
Michigan State sophomore kicker Dan Conroy (Wheaton Warrenville South) has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award for the nation's top collegiate place-kicker. A first-team midseason All-America by CBS Sports.com, Conroy has converted 14 of 15 field goals and all 37 extra-point attempts.
Augustana senior outside hitter Courtney Jungnickel (Naperville Central) earned first-team honors in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, capping her collegiate career with Augie records for service aces, second in kills and digs.
CCIW winner Carthage College junior outside hitter Michelle Madeja (Neuqua Valley) won player of the year honors. Millikin soph setter Brittany Cardot (Glenbard East) also made the first team.
North Central College's Amanda Laesch (Wheaton North) earned her fourth all-CCIW cross country honor with her best finish yet winning the conference championship Nov. 3 in Rock Island. Laesch, a five-time CCIW runner of the week this season, was the Cardinals' first individual champ since 2006 and won the race by 57 seconds.
Entering Augustana's Division III women's soccer playoff opener against Carleton (Minn.) on Friday at Wheaton College, All-America junior goalkeeper Kayla Radloff had a goals-against average of 0.48 with a season record of 13-1-5.
Northwestern defensive tackle Kevin Watt (Glenbard West) is a first-team academic all-District V pick by ESPN The Magazine. The academic all-Big Ten junior earned Wildcats defensive player of the week honors for his game against Purdue. The 265-pound redhead has made 19 tackles, 4 for loss.
Illinois State soccer forward Jessica Carlson (Hinsdale South) earned her second straight all-Missouri Valley Conference first-team honor. Twice the MVC's offensive player of the week, Carlson's 11 game-winning goals through Nov. 5 were the best in Redbirds history; she's still a junior. She's No. 2 in Redbirds history with 21 goals, 12 assists and 54 points and was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District V women's soccer team.
Judson College has reigned atop the National Christian College Athletic Association men's soccer rankings nearly all season. West Chicago resident Steve Burke is the Eagles' coach and the NAIA leader in career victories. Burke's son Corey (Wheaton Academy) is a junior midfielder. Judson seeks its 21st conference title this week.
Concordia soccer player and junior special education major James Zinni (Lake Park) was a second-team selection for the CoSIDA/ESPN all-academic District V team.
North Central College junior Joe Antonacci (Neuqua Valley) got the same thing in football. He's a triple threat pursuing degrees in accounting, economics and finance.
On Sept. 24, Aurora University junior cross country runner Mark Sulkin (York) ran a time of 26 minutes, 30 seconds to match the program record held by Drew Schmitt (Batavia). Unfortunately for Sulkin, Schmitt dropped his time to 26.03.4. Still, a month later at the Northern Athletics Conference Championships Sulkin earned all-conference honors, as did Krystal Eskridge (Glenbard East) on the women's side.
Brown sophomore football player Mark Kachmer (St. Francis) leads the Bears with 119.7 all-purpose yards per game. Kachmer has run for a team-high 406 yards, returned kickoffs for 329 and caught 14 passes for 103 yards. He's scored a team-high 7 touchdowns including a 91-yard kickoff return in a 33-30 two-overtime win over Stony Brook.
Rose-Hulman junior Nick Schneider (Neuqua Valley) has converted 28 of 31 extra points entering the Engineers' season finale Saturday against Earlham. The two-time Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference special teams player of the week now has 107 career extra points, shattering the prior program record of 91.
Aurora University senior golfer Dave Pecorella (Glenbard West) was named to the Northern Athletics Conference Men's Golf all-sportsmanship team.
Illinois two-time senior volleyball All-America Laura DeBruler (Downers Grove North) suffered a season-ending ACL tear Oct. 9 while tallying the 1,833rd kill of career. She ranks first at Illinois in kills and attacks (4,806) and seventh in digs (1,117). Four days after her injury she was named one of 10 finalists for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for volleyball.
In Illinois women's soccer, midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo (Waubonsie Valley) was named the Big Ten freshman of the year as well as a first-team selection. She tallied 27 points on 11 goals and 5 assists, leading the Big Ten in goals and points. Her 4 goals against Purdue set an Illini record and tied for most goals, 3, in a half.
At noon Saturday at the University of Chicago's Stagg Field, the host Maroons play Washington University (Mo.) for their first University Athletic Association football title since 2005. Chicago (7-2, 2-0) loads up with local guys Francis Adarkwa and Nate Williams (WW South), Emmett Carrier and Mike Wuest (Benet), Brian Duffy (Glenbard South), Dex McAuley (Downers North) and Marty Detmer (Glenbard West).
Washington (7-2, 2-0), seeking its first conference title since 2004, counters with Jim O'Brien (WW South), Kyle Larkin (Hinsdale Central), Nick Diehl (Downers North) and the Sufranski brothers from St. Francis, David and Danny.
The leading ground gainers for each team are former high school teammates: Adarkwa with 528 yards rushing, 9 touchdowns; O'Brien with 781 yards, 7 touchdowns.