Wiener’s swimming career soars at Lewis

Bryan Wiener started swimming as a freshman at Mundelein High School in order to keep in shape for baseball.

Now he shapes up as one of the top swimmers for Lewis University in Romeoville.

Wiener won seven events to help the Flyers defeat William Jewell 218-130 last month at the Mabee Center Pool.

Wiener won the 100-meter backstroke, beating the pool record of 57.29 set in 1981. He won the 50-meter freestyle (24.16) and the 200-meter backstroke (2:10.05).

Wiener was part of the winning 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1:48.92. And he was part of the first-place 200-meter freestyle relay (1:37.49).

More recently, the Flyers had a record-setting first day at the Carthage College Classic.

Wiener was part of the 400-yard medley relay quartet that took first-place and set a Lewis school record with a time of 3:27.62, erasing the 3:29.63 time set in 2004.

The lead 100-yard backstroke leg of the relay handled by Wiener also achieved an NCAA “B” cut and broke the Lewis school-record with a time of 49.79.

Wiener’s swim replaced Lapustin’s time of 50.16, set on March 10, 2006.

Lewis won the two-day Carthage College Classic, scoring 1536 points for the first-place finish out of six teams.

In the 200-yard medley relay, Wiener’s team finished first with a time of 1:33.76 which broke the Lewis school record of 1:35.63 set by Michael Lapustin, Matt Petrizzo, Jervgenijis Pesins and Josh Rogers in 2004.

Wiener also achieved NCAA ‘B’ cut when he posted a time of 21.06 in the 50-yard freestyle. He broke his own record of 49.79 in the 100-yard backstroke with a first-place time of 49.29.

Wiener was Mundelein High School’s “Male Athlete of the Year” for 2011-12.

Women’s swimming

Towson University’s Melanie Rowland (Vernon Hills) competed in the 100 butterfly, 200 backstroke, and 200 butterfly in the AT&T USA Swimming Winter National Championships at the University of Texas.

Her best finish was 18th place in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.10, which is an in-season, unrested best time for her.

Her current times in multiple events place her near the top of the Colonial Athletic Association this season. The conference championships will begin at the end of February.

Ÿ Senior Emma Regnier (Grayslake North) was the lone individual double winner for Augustana at the Pioneer Classic last Grinnell, Iowa.

She won the 100 butterfly in 56.86 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.71. She was also second in the 200 individual medley in 2:24.17.

Baseball

Lewis University head baseball coach Tim McDonough has announced that Wauconda High School senior James Holub has committed to playing for the Flyers in 2014.

As a junior for Wauconda, Holub (6-foot-5 pitcher) was 7-1 record while striking out 62 in 42 innings pitched as he helped the squad to a 21-13 record and a regional tournament berth.

This past summer, Holub and averaged 1.5 strikeouts-per-inning and had a 4-1 record with the McHenry County Hurricanes.

“James was someone Sobkowiak (Lewis pitching coach recruiting coordinator Scott) saw and was really impressed with his projectability on the mound,” McDonough said. “We feel he has the ability to be a right-handed power arm for us and pitch meaningful innings.”

Women’s volleyball

Lewis junior Amy Choi received honorable mention accolades for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II all-American team.

Choi, a 5-foot-6 libero from Vernon Hills, posted 583 total digs, averaging 5.55 digs per set, which is second overall in the GLVC.

A 2012 All-Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division honoree, Choi had 18 service aces and 70 assists in 105 sets of action. She was recently named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team and the All-Midwest Region Daktronics Volleyball second team (Nov. 27). This is her first AVCA all-American appearance.

Ÿ Southern Illinois freshman middle blocker Taylor Pippen (Carmel) was named to the Missouri Valley Conference all-freshman team as well as the MVC all-tournament team.

She started 29 of 30 matches, slamming 236 kills and helping the Salukis (21-9, 11-7) post their first 20-win campaign since 2002.

Men’s basketball

Augustana senior center Brandon Kunz (Lake Zurich) is averaging 11.1 points and 7.1 rebounds while hitting .592 from the field and .714 from the free throw line. The Vikings are off to a 6-1 start.

Men’ soccer

Carthage senior midfielder Drew Liogas (Warren) was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Central Region second team.

Liogas scored 6 goals with 4 assists.

Football

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology sophomore left tackle Nick Buchta (Lake Zurich) earned Capital One NCAA Division III Football Academic all-American honors.

Buchta captured second-team accolades for his efforts in the classroom and as a member of the football squad over the past two years.

He becomes the 98th Academic all-American in Rose-Hulman athletics history and claimed the 31st football award.

At least one Rose-Hulman student-athlete has earned Academic all-American honors for the last 27 years, the sixth longest streak among all NCAA Division I, II or III institutions.

Buchta appeared in nine games with six starts for the Fightin’ Engineers this season. He provided blocks that allowed senior Kyle Kovach to become the career rushing leader at Rose-Hulman and also offered blocks in a career-high 342-yard passing effort by Mitch Snyder against Bluffton.

In the classroom, Buchta completed his freshman year with a 4.00 grade-point average as a mechanical engineering major.

Rose-Hulman finished 5-5 overall on the gridiron this fall to establish a new program record with an eighth consecutive season at .500 or above.

Men’s soccer

Concordia (Wi.) senior Kyle Sytsma (Antioch) earned numerous accolades in his four years in the Northern Athletic Conference.

Sytsma finished his career with 37 goals and 20 assists (2009-2012) giving him 94 points and placing him eighth all-time in the NAC.

He was awarded first-team all-conference for the third year in a row.

His five game-winning goals were tops in the NAC and he shares the career record of 12 game-winners since the inception of the conference in 2006.

Sytsma was also awarded the team MVP an unprecedented three times in a row and he was captain twice.

He was recently chosen for the 36-member All-Central team in the Midwest for Divison III schools (out of 40 schools) for the second year running.

Locally, he plays for the Chicago Kickers first team and the U-23 team out of Lake Villa.

Men’s track and field

Grinnell senior Kevin Pflaum of Lincolnshirewas named the winner of the 2012 Roy W. LeClere award.

The LeClere Award is presented to the Midwest Conference male student-athlete who posted the highest grade-point average during his junior year, while lettering in at least two league sports.

Pflaum is the fourth Pioneer to win the award in the last five years.

He is a biology major who participates in indoor and outdoor track and field for the Pioneers, Pflaum is among the Pioneers’ all-time top-10 in a pair of events.

He ranks seventh in the hammer throw with an effort of 107-9 and tenth in the weight throw at 37-½.

Pflaum is a four-time Academic all-conference selection for the Pioneers.

Ÿ Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173.