Schaumburg grad Spain runs to honors for North Central
North Central College's Michael Spain has been selected as the Midwest region runner of the year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The 2008 cross country All-American, who ran at Schaumburg High School, finished no worse than seventh in his seven races this fall.
He won individual honors at the Elmhurst Early Bird Invitational and the Midwest regional.
The junior claimed two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin runner of the week awards during the season and was named CCIW All-Conference after finishing second at the conference meet.
Spain crossed the finish line in 24:17 for the 8,000-meter course (five miles) at the NCAA Midwest regional, becoming the first Cardinal since 2000 to win the individual title.
In the NCAA Division III men's cross country championships at Highland Park Golf Course last Saturday, Spain placed second in 25:32.2.
"It was a tough race," Spain said. "I didn't want to do anything stupid and risk anything. I like hills, so I made a move going up the hill in the last mile (to move into second place) and decided to see how long I could keep it up."
Volleyball
Kaitlyn Gallagher (Palatine) was named to the MCC all conference women's volleyball first team. Gallagher, a 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter and captain for St. Ambrose, has been instrumental leading her team to a berth in the NAIA national volleyball tournament with a 35-7 record.
Women's soccer
Junior defender Jenna Samp (Palatine), a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, was named to her first WIAC all-conference team. She helped lead the Warhawks' defense that allowed an average of 1.25 goals per game and a 12.9 shot percentage. Samp was named WIAC defensive player of the week twice this season.
• The Augustana women's soccer team had its best record (20-2-1) in school history, and freshmen Rachel Lenke (Prospect) and Bridget McDermott (Prospect) were contributors. Lenke, the 2009 Mid-Suburban League East player of the year, scored 4 goals while playing 15 games at midfield and forward. Freshman goalie McDermott played four games and collected 6 saves.
Football
Freshman Matt Holmes (Wheeling) saw his first varsity action at quarterback for Millikin. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran for 40 yards on 14 carries in the Big Blue's season-ending loss to Augustana.
At one point in the second half, both quarterbacks were freshmen from the MSL as Matt Rossi (Palatine) was seeing action for Augustana.
• Beloit College was rewarded for its first 6-win season since 2002 with 13 players being named to the 2009 all-Midwest Conference team.
Tony Baratti (Prospect) earned a second straight first-team honor. The junior linebacker eclipsed the 100-tackles mark for the second straight season, leading the league at 11.4 per game.
He was also third in the conference in forced fumbles. Baratti is just the third Buccaneer with 300-plus career tackles and enters his senior season third on the career list with 324. In addition to his first-team all-MWC honor in 2008, he was honorable mention in 2007.
Joe Goldufsky (Stevenson), a senior defensive lineman, earned the Ed DeGeorge Award, given each year to the player who contributes the most to the team. A three-year captain, Goldufsky finished his career with 178 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He was named to the 2009 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team and will be honored during halftime festivities at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
One of the coaches' awards was presented to Brian Liewergen (Elk Grove), a senior offensive lineman.
• Illinois Wesleyan's Travis Brubaker (Hersey) ran for 2 touchdowns in a 41-35 double overtime victory over Wabash.
• Michael Egebrecht (Buffalo Grove) was named first team all-conference in the Northern Athletics League. He ended the season with 56 catches for 1,023 yards, averaging 102.3 yards per game.
Hockey
Colin Van Hauter, a 15-year old sophomore who plays hockey for his high school team called PREP (Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove and Prospect), is from Elk Grove. When he was 14, he was asked to play for a junior team located in Tampa Bay, Fla.
Youth soccer
Rosie Pettenuzzo of Arlington Heights and Alexa Ben of Schaumburg, both members of the U-14 girls Sockers Team were invited to the ID2 National Camp in Dallas, Texas, Nov. 12-15.
Men's soccer
The Madison 56ers of the National Premiere League boasted the most players - five - on the 14-member regional all-star team. Goalkeeper Jon Szafranski (Fremd) was one of them. He was an honorable-mention all-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference pick as a senior at NCAA Division III St. Mary's.
Men's swimming
The Carthage College men's swimming team (2-2 dual-meet record) finished second at the Wabash College Patrick Woehnker Invitational, as junior Bob Pellican (Hersey) took third place in the 200 backstroke (2:01.32).
Women's rugby
Undefeated No. 4 ranked Army, led by Fly Half, Cadet Corporal Kaitlyn Kelly (St. Viator), hosted undefeated top-ranked Brown for the top seed in the Northern Rugby League playoffs to qualify for the national championships. Army put on a terrific goal-line stand to secure a 17-12 win, earning the top seed in the tournament as well as the No. l ranking. Army defeated Hamilton 58-0 in the quarterfinals, beat Syracuse 46-0 in the semifinals and Brown 36-10 for the championship. The Black Knights will be the No. 1 seed in the national championships next spring.
Basketball
When his University of Chicago team won the Midwest Classic over the weekend by defeating Rose-Hulman 79-60 and Earlham 84-71, Jake Pancratz (Schaumburg) was named to the all-tournament team. Pancratz collected 24 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
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