Elk Grove sets aside a day for Scholten
Last October, toward the end of the girls volleyball season, Conant High school paid tribute to Peggy Scholten, who is retiring after 37 seasons as Cougars girls volleyball coach.
One of the ways she was honored was by the re-naming of the long-running Early Bird Classic to the "Peggy Scholten Invite."
Two months later, Scholten had something else named for her - a day.
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson and the village trustees issued a proclamation at the December Elk Grove Village Board meeting honoring Scholten by proclaiming Tuesday, Dec. 17 "Peggy Scholten Day" in Elk Grove Village.
Scholten is one of two Elk Grove Village residents inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame.
The other Elk Grove inductee happens to be in the same house.
Peggy's husband, Steve, was inducted in the Coaches Basketball Hall of Fame as an official in 2013.
Peggy was inducted into the Illinois Coaches Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2003.
While coaching girls and boys volleyball at Conant, she racked up 656 victories and brought girls to take a district championship, Mid Suburban League South and West division championships, 12 regional championships, two wins as sectional finalists and a Sweet 16 sectional championship in 2003.
Softball
Charleston Southern freshman Amanda Matsumoto (Fremd) has been selected as the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Softball Player of the Week for games played the opening weekend of the 2014 softball season.
Matsumoto batted .545 (6-for-11) with a .545 on-base percentage, 5 runs and 5 stolen bases to help Charleston Southern to a 3-0-1 record.
The freshman started her career with a triple, RBI and run scored in the Buccaneers' 5-1 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore. She added another hit, a run and a stolen base in the 2-1 win against UNC-Wilmington.
In CSU's second meeting of the weekend with UMES, Matsumoto recorded her first career multi-hit game (2-for-3) while adding 3 stolen bases and 2 runs. She followed that up with another 2-for-3 game at the plate with a run scored in a 5-5 tie against Elon.
Men's track
Wisconsin-Plattville's Matt Smaga (Fremd) was one of 228 men to earn 2013 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic honors.
Smaga is a social science/history education major with a 3.43 GPA. He was the Pioneers' third best finisher with a 29th-place finish.
Honorees must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or greater and must have finished among the top 25 percent of finishers at their respective regional championships.
Wrestling
Elmhurst senior Danny Vargas (Wheeling) was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Wrestler of the Week.
Vargas, a Special Education major, helped the Bluejays earn a 29-17 win over 26th-ranked Augustana. Competing in the heavyweight division, Vargas pinned John Schraidt at 5:24. Elmhurst erased a 14-0 deficit in picking up the victory.
Pro basketball
For the third consecutive game, a guard for the Bloomington Flex scored 30 or more points in a divisional win.
But unlike the past two games when Chris Singletary hit the mark in lopsided road wins, this time it was Chris McClellan (Wheeling) coming to the rescue in a nail-biter at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
McClellan scored his career-high 30 points in leading a come-from-behind win over the Indianapolis Diesels, 95-89. The Flex trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and by 13 to start out the second.
McClellan added 5 rebounds to go with his 30 points.
Baseball
Evansville freshman Jimmy Ward (Hoffman Estates) pitched 3 innings in relief in a 10-7 win over Lipscomb.
The right-hander gave up 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out one and walking none against 12 batters in three innings.
Men's basketball
Washington University in St. Louis senior guard Alan Aboona (St. Viator) scored 29 and 30 points in a pair of wins against Brandeis and New York University.
Against Brandeis, Aboona connected on six 3-point baskets and was 10-of-10 from the free throw line against Brandies.
He connected on five 3-point point baskets with 5 and 5 rebounds against New York.
Aboona played in his 100th game for Washington and he made his 155th 3-point basket which puts him fifth on all-time list. He went over the 900-point mark for his career.
Washington won the UAA conference for a record third time in a row and secured an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Team of the week
The Chicago Sky announced that the Maine West girls' varsity basketball team has been selected as the fifth "High School Team of the Week" for 2014.
The Warriors took second place in the Central Suburban North and have a record of 15-11.
Aside from being competitive on court, the team participates in many additional activities at their school and in their local community. Their goal is working together to ensure they give their best effort possible whether they are playing basketball or volunteering at a local charity.
Team members come together with members from their school for a school wide fundraiser each year. This event raises money to support various organizations such as ALS, Rise International, American Cancer Society and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This year the Make a Wish Foundation will be the recipient of their donation.
Each year the basketball team also orchestrates a "miracle minute" in every homeroom class.
Players collect money for one minute at the beginning of class and donate it to a deserving person or family.
The girls also work with the Friends Connect club at their school. The athletes work with special needs students to help them complete projects and activities during and after school.
As a Chicago Sky "High School Team of the Week" award winner, the girls are invited to enjoy a Chicago Sky game, where they will have the opportunity to watch the world's best female basketball players.
During the game, they will be honored on court.
All teams that compete in IHSA 1A, 2A, 3A or 4A competitions are eligible to win a weekly honor. Nominations from parents, coaches, school faculty members and players are welcome and should be completed on the Chicago Sky website (www.chicagosky.net) through March 12.
At the end of the 10-week program each weekly winning team will be entered to win the "High School Team of the Year" award for 2014. The winner, determined through online voting, will be announced at halftime at a 2014 Chicago Sky game.
TEAMMSL
TEAMMSL basketball spring league begins in March. Teammsl is not AAU. It is a program that focuses on the individual skill sets of the players through the mastery of fundamentals, muscle memory, and improving athleticism through low-impact plyometrics. TEAMMSL is committed to working with any player who feeds into a Mid-Suburban League school or anyone headed to St. Viator.
Third through eighth grade boys will play at Harper Community College from March 11 to May 8 (6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.).
There will be three divisions based on age and ability.
Camp details and registration for both programs can be found at www.teammsl.com/
Women's cross country
Augustana junior Becca Sund (Palatine) was one of 308 women's cross country runners in NCAA Division III who garnered individual recognition in 2013.
She earned All-Academic honors from the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association. Her Augustana team was also given team recognition.
Sund also shared the co-Most Valuable Runner award for Augustana in 2013. Sund began her junior campaign finishing third place at the Fighting Bee Opener, one spot behind Bacon, and then ran to an individual title at the Bradley Intercollegiate Invitational, edging out her co-MVP by one spot. In the 33-team Brissman-Lundeen Invitational on Sept. 27, she galloped to a 12th place finish at her home meet on the Saukie Golf Course in a race which hosted 415 runners.
She followed that up with a fifth-place performance at the 29-team Wisconsin Lutheran Invitational the following week.
She was the team's top runner at the CCIW Championships placing eighth and then again at the NCAA Midwest Regional, finishing 26th overall.
Sund is a math major with a 3.97 grade point average. Augustana's team had a cumulative 3.10 grade point average and was selected along with 214 other schools for All-Academic team honors.
Men's swimming
Carthage freshman Jamey Hill (Hersey) was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (53.24) at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin swimming & diving championship at the RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie, Wis.
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.