Howard keeps Irish track streak going

Thanks to a former Libertyville runner, Notre Dame extended its streak to 20 consecutive years with at least one men's track All-American.

Jack Howard earned his first All-America honor Saturday as the Notre Dame senior placed seventh in the men's 800-meter final at the NCAA Indoor Championships, held at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Howard clocked in at 1:49.48 to finish seventh.

Virginia's Robby Andrews was the top finisher in 1:48.39, followed by Oregon's Andrew Wheating in second at 1:48.40 and Penn State's Ryan Foster in third at 1:48.79.

Howard also earned his first Big East title this season and ran the then-fourth fastest time in the nation in the 800 meters at the Meyo Invitational.

Howard and the Irish open the outdoor season March 26-27 at the Arizona State and Stanford invitational meets.

Howard is not the only former Libertyville athlete participating in NCAA championships this month.

• Katie Mroz of Emory University has qualified for the NCAA Division III women's swimming and diving championships March 17-20 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the University Aquatic Center.

• Casey Herman of Calvin College will particiate in the Division III men's swimming and diving championships, also March 17-20 in Minneapolis, Minn. at the University Aquatic Center.

• Jack Danilkowicz of the University of Virginia has qualfied for the NCAA Division I wrestling finals March 18-20 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

Baseball

Troy Barton (Libertyville), a sophomore pitcher for Eastern Illinois University, entered against South Florida in the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

Eastern was ahead 11-9 and Barton faced one batter, getting a fly out for the last out of the game. As a result, EIU swept the doubleheader from South Florida.

On Sunday, Barton came in as the first relief pitcher and pitched 2 shutout innings, striking out 2 batters. Eastern Illinois eventually fell 8-5 but took the series from South Florida 2-1.

Barton now carries a 2.22 ERA, which puts him among the leaders on the EIU pitching staff. He is also one of the team leaders in opponent's batting average (.238) and ERA (3.00).

Wrestling

The University of Dubuque's Josh Terrell (Round Lake) ended his season at 26-6. He was a two-time Iowa Conference champion, three-time academic All-American and 2010 Dick Walker Most Valuable Wrestler.

Terrell was the No. 1 seed in the 165-pound weight class but was upset in the first round of the NCAA tourney. Terrell battled his way past the competition to claim third place and his third All-American honor for the Spartans.

Women's basketball

Lewis University junior forward Jenny Turpel (Johnsburg) has been named to the 2010 Daktronics All-Midwest Region Division II Women's Basketball First Team.

Turpel finished the 2009-10 season third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in scoring (17.7 per game), fourth in rebounding (8.2), fifth in blocks (0.97) and 10th in field goal percentage (51.6).

She tied for the league lead in double-doubles with 11. Turpel scored 36 points against Florida Southern to open the season and then bested that total with career-highs of 37-points and 17 rebounds against St. Joseph's on Feb. 4. The performance helped Turpel earn her second career GLVC Player of the Week Award.

• At Buffalo Grove High School, Kristin Paczosa starred in volleyball and basketball.

Not much changed in her four-year of playing sports at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

She starred in both sports, there, too.

And it's finally over.

"It went by so quick," Paczosa said. "It seems like just yesterday I was wearing the orange and blue for Coach (Tom) Dineen and Coach (Courtney) DeBolt in that gym. I can't believe it's over already."

But being involved in sports at Cornell isn't quite over.

Paczosa is serving as the athletic trainer for the Cornell softball team this spring.

It's perfect training for what she would like to do in a professional career as a physical therapist. She is currently deciding where she will spend the next three years studying that field.

"This (softball trainer) is good experience working with the other trainers and seeing the athletes day in and day out." she said.

Paczosa has been one of the finest athletes in Cornell history.

This past basketball season, as a senior co-captain, she averaged 8.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.58 assists, 2.08 steals and .75 blocked shots per game. For the second year in a row she led the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in rebounds.

She was also fifth in the conference in steals and minutes played, sixth in assists, seventh in blocked shots and 12th in 3-point baskets made.

For her career, she stands 11th in career points with 681, fourth in rebounds with 642 and she is one of only 4 players to score 600 or more points and 600-plus rebounds in a career.

In volleyball, Paczosa ended up No. 2 all time with 1,339 kills.

When she entered Buffalo Grove as a freshman, she never dreamed she'd ended up playing both sports for the next eight years.

"I was surprised I spent as much time on the varsity in both sports as I did at Buffalo Grove," she said. "It was always my dream to play college sports, but I was not sure if I was going to be good enough to compete at that level."

Paczosa, who suffered a sprained joint in her right shoulder during her freshman volleyball season and had a bout with mononucleosis her freshman year of basketball, certainly proved she belonged in the world of college sports.

• Please e-mail items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.