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Locals star for Waubonsee baseball

Here's one final college achiever roll call for the 2013-14 sports year ...

For a second-straight season Waubonsee Community College's baseball team reached the final four of the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament. Flush with local graduates such as P.J. O'Brien (St. Charles North), Jarret Clark (Batavia), Tyler Heinle (Kaneland), Dan Berendt (Geneva), Pete Bowe (Marmion) and P.J. Holbrook (West Aurora), the Chiefs' 39 wins broke last year's school record of 38 and they finished fourth in the country following the third-place finish in 2013. After 37 years as head coach, retiring Dave Randall finished with 895 wins, second among all NJCAA Division III coaches.

Once they were rivals. Now both sophomores at Loyola, Jake Mazanke (St. Charles East) and Peter Archibald (Geneva) secured all-conference finishes in the 800-meter run at the Missouri Valley Conference track championship in Carbondale. Mazanke finished fifth, Archibald eighth.

On the women's side of the MVC, Wichita State junior Shanice Andrews (West Aurora) placed second in triple jump at 40 feet, 8¾ inches. Loyola sophomore Sydney Stuenkel (St. Charles North) finished an all-conference fifth in the 1,500 meter run, sixth in the 5,000.

If it's track, it's David Voland (Batavia). We mentioned him last week for his second-place (and school record) 400-meter hurdles finish and anchor position in a second-place 1,600 relay at the Division III national meet. This week the Augustana junior, an eight-time all-American, was named to his district all-Academic team a second straight year and was Augustana's male CCIW Jack Schwartz Award winner for academics. The math major with a 3.80 grade-point average also shared Augie's MVP award for male track athletes.

And ... Voland shared the Vikings' most inspirational award with senior sprinter Jay Graffagna (Geneva). Along with former Batavia teammate Jacob Benner and others, Voland has been named a captain for the 2014-15 squad.

Speaking of Augustana, lacrosse midfielder Jesse Nagelberg (St. Charles East), a junior who is the program's career leader in goals and assists, was a second-team pick in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference.

It's a tough nut to crack with North Central College atop CCIW women's track and field, but we might also expect an improved Augustana women's track team over the next couple seasons. The Vikings named nine athletes as "most improved" - including sophomore Annie Martines (St. Charles East), who stands a good chance of being the squad's No. 1 hurdler next year.

Northern Illinois junior gymnast Morgan Johnson (Kaneland) was a finalist for the "Huskie Pride" award at the athletic department's annual Victors Awards on April 29. Also nominated for "Staff Excellence" - Judy Santacaterina, aunt of current linebacker Michael and quarterback recruit Daniel, of Geneva.

She's from Wheaton, but as a St. Francis graduate some readers may be familiar with Michigan State volleyball player Kristen Kelsay.

On May 12, the Detroit Athletic Club honored Kelsay as its athlete of the year. A three-year team captain and two-time Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner, she led the Spartans to consecutive Division I Sweet Sixteen appearances and finished among MSU's career top eight in matches played, sets and assists. Among many academic and humanitarian causes, the MSU Student Advisory Council president and psychology major made the dean's list every semester and was named Academic all-American as a senior. Winner of the university's Provost and Community Service and Leadership awards, Kelsay was featured in the commercial campaign, "Faces of the Big Ten."

Also in last week but another St. Francis graduate, Illinois State's Kelly McShea was honored with the Missouri Valley Conference Leadership & Service Award.

This one's a little different. In the third annual Hope for Haitians 5-kilometer run in Geneva on May 10, the female winner was Aurora University sophomore Taylore Anderson (Geneva), in 20 minutes, 5 seconds. The male winner was Geneva's Brian Ahern. They each received handmade tin-art medallions from Haiti.

Presented by Food for the Poor, based in Florida, proceeds of the event raised by Anderson, Ahern and more than 400 other runners will provide a year's worth of school supplies and tuition, uniforms, socks and shoes to 200 Haitian children.

That's an achievement.

High school achiever

Batavia senior volleyball player Audrey Faulhaber, headed to St. Olaf College in Minnesota as a setter, has been chosen as the recipient of the Amateur Athletic Union's High School Sullivan Award.

From among thousands of athletes playing different sports nationwide, one female and one male winner are chosen. For Faulhaber, that means a $10,000 scholarship and a free trip to Disney World in Florida, where she'll be recognized in an ESPN ceremony on June 28.

Of course, the AAU liked her play for the 18-and-under Silver squad at Club Fusion-South, in Batavia. But the award also salutes character, sportsmanship and leadership, and in this vein Faulhaber shined with an event she undertook last summer.

Athletes Against Hunger, which Batavia volleyball coach Lori Trippi-Payne said involved the entire Bulldogs volleyball program and youth campers, collected more than 1,200 items for the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry. Trippi-Payne said this time Faulhaber plans to recruit Batavia's tennis and soccer teams for round two, once she returns from the Disney/ESPN shindig.

On the volleyball court for the Bulldogs, Faulhaber owns the top two single-season assists marks in program history, 745 assists this past season and 715 as a junior. A three-year varsity player and two-year starting setter, Faulhaber ranks fourth all-time in career assists and second all-time in setting consistency at 95.5 percent. If the AAU likes a well-rounded athlete, Faulhaber displayed that last fall by leading Batavia in aces and service points.

All-State pride

You say the prep track and field season is over? Not till Erik Miller and Tyler Maryanski say it is.

The 16th annual Senior Spotlight Meet features Class 3A high jump runner-up Miller, of St. Charles North, and fifth-place Maryanski, of Marmion, plus a batch of other top senior male and female tracksters in a competition against some of the top seniors from Iowa and Wisconsin. It'll be held June 14 at Joliet West with field events starting at 10:30 a.m.

The female lineup has yet to be released, but at least among boys the high jump looks to be top-flight. Along with Miller, who matched his personal-best of 6 feet, 10 inches in Charleston, and Maryanski, with a PR of 6-11, are Plainfield North's Manny Bofah, seventh in 3A; Palatine's Adam Poklop, 10th; and state champ Jonathan Wells of Grant. He went 7 feet downstate, 7-2 indoors in March, and will threaten the Senior Spotlight record of 7 feet set in 2004 by Iowa's Jeron Van Maanen.

Former high school and college high jumper Andy Preuss, the retired Glenbard South boys coach and past president of the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association who lives in Batavia, is among the Illinois coaches. More info can be had at itccca.com.

Master class

We don't typically don't tout youth clinics in this space, but with Waubonsee Community College's 30th annual hitting camp we make an exception.

Boys and girls ages 8-14 could do lots worse than learning hitting and pitching from aforementioned Chiefs coach Dave Randall, some of whose qualifications are listed above, and longtime pitcher whisperer Mark Lindo.

Lindo, for years Naperville North's baseball pitching coach, is a member of a hall of fame or four, including the Illinois high school coaching association halls for both baseball and basketball. Before heading to Naperville North as teacher, head boys basketball coach and baseball assistant, Lindo led Aurora Central Catholic to the 1983 Class A baseball title.

The hitting and pitching camps (that's for baseball and fastpitch softball), held one right after the other, run June 9-12 at Waubonsee in Sugar Grove. For all the specifics and registration visit waubonseetickets.com.

Final shout-out

Following up the story of May 23, here's a reminder on the first John Barton Memorial Golf Outing, July 19 at Bliss Creek Golf Course in Sugar Grove.

Proceeds from the golf and/or dinner outing will be split between the beloved late Geneva teacher and coach's preference of the Jimmy V Cancer Research Foundation with the other half devoted to Vikings baseball coach Matt Hahn, whose 12-year-old son, Drew, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Those interested can pick up registration and information either at Geneva athletic director Jim Kafer's office or email the man behind the mission, former Vikings football coach Jerry Auchstetter, at auchstetter@comcast.net.

While we're at it, one final, last-minute nod to the fifth annual golf outing to support Kaneland boys basketball, Saturday also at Bliss Creek. Hopefully Knights coach Brian Johnson isn't too swamped at brian.johnson@kaneland.org.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Three coaches enter Geneva Hall of Fame

Former Geneva High basketball coach John Barton dies

Barton left legacy on, off court at Geneva

First Barton Golf Outing will raise money for cancer research

So many college achievers, so little time

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