Here's a final chance to catch up with college achievers
We're in the homestretch of the high school sports season. Here's what some local collegiates did in theirs ...
Andrea "Andi" Beal, a St. Charles North graduate, was a freshman starter on the Kankakee Community College women's softball team that won the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II softball championship on May 16, 5-1 over East Central (Mississippi) Community College, in Clinton, Mississippi. The infielder/outfielder played in 47 games for the 45-6 Lady Cavaliers, batting .320 with 26 runs batted in, 17 stolen bases, 49 runs scored, an on-base percentage of .407 and a slugging average of .507. Beal helped Kankakee close the season on a 12-game win streak which propelled it to a 17th straight national tournament under hall of fame coach Dennis Clark.
Beal's former teammate, Northwestern softball player Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles North), was named the Big Ten's freshman of the year. She ended the conference season ranked first in steals with 18, second in runs (32), third in batting (.456) and fourth in hits (36). Overall she hit .394 with team highs of 69 hits, 50 runs scored and 28 stolen bases in 32 attempts.
Taylor Russell (St. Charles North), a senior designated player at University of Indianapolis, was named a second-team All-America selection by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. The Greyhound's career leader in home runs and runs batted in smashed 14 homers this season with 65 RBI, 43 runs scored, 11 doubles and a .330 batting average. The nursing major also earned Academic All-District honors. Twin sister Sydney Russell, an outfielder, hit .337 with 46 runs, 13 doubles and 28 RBI, and together they helped 48-15 Indianapolis advance to an elimination game of the DII championship.
This must be the St. Charles North section. Ball State senior outfielder Loren Cihlar, also a former North Star and Academic All-District pick, helped the 34-25 Cardinals win a fourth straight Mid-American Conference West Division title. Hitting in 22 straight games during the season, Cihlar finished with a .328 average, 47 runs scored and 14 stolen bases. In her four-year career she stole 43 bases in 52 attempts.
Now here's something somewhat different: Hope College senior designated player Julie Sobieski (St. Charles East) earned an Academic All-District nod as well. The public accounting major, second-team all-regional, hit .402 with 8 home runs and 37 RBI for the 29-11 Flying Dutch.
Illinois Wesleyan senior John Munyon out of - guess where - St. Charles North was among three teammates who shared the Titans' most valuable pitcher award this spring. In 11 appearances this spring Munyon went 4-3 with a 3.31 earned run average. A third-team all-region pick by D3 baseball.com and first-team pick in the College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin, Munyon ranks among Wesleyan's top 10 in career strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings, earned run average, appearances and saves.
Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Max Porter (St. Francis) was his team's most valuable defensive player, causing a team-high 24 turnovers and winning 66 of 128 faceoffs. He was a first-team pick in the CCIW. Sophomore goalkeeper Steven Laduzinsky (Geneva) won the program's Titan Award for spirit, dedication and competitive attitude.
Freshman catcher Delaney Olinger (St. Charles North) won Wesleyan's softball version of the Titan Award - the Gwen Meyer Spirit Award for team support, effort and self-motivation.
The baseball team at Webster University in St. Louis returned to the DIII World Series, its third appearance in four seasons, before being ousted in the semifinals on Tuesday. Freshman second baseman Mike Golich (West Aurora) started in 42 games for the 34-15 Gorloks, earning second-team honors in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference. Golich was third on the club with a .366 batting average and ranked fourth in hits, runs and total bases, third in stolen bases.
Augustana junior catcher John Swiderski (Geneva) bagged a second-team all-CCIW honor, after hitting .341 with a team-high 3 triples, 42 RBI and a .519 slugging percentage.
Penn sophomore pitcher Jake Cousins (Wheaton Academy) was a second-team All-Ivy League selection. The 6-foot-4 right-hander went 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA with 3 complete games and 33 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched. In his last start, a 2-0 win over Columbia, he threw a complete-game, 1-hit shutout with six strikeouts to earn D1baseball.com Mid-Major Top Performer and Big 5 pitcher of the week.
There was Kane County flair at the top of the Judson University baseball statistics. Junior infielder Luke Rojas (St. Charles East) led the 40-20 Eagles with a .380 batting average, 216 at bats and 82 hits, cracking 21 doubles and scoring 52 runs, second on the club. The leader in runs scored with 65, Tony Rallo, was a senior infielder from St. Charles East. He drove in 41 runs with team highs of 9 home runs and a .581 slugging percentage. Freshman infielder Andrew Siegler (Batavia) maximized his opportunities, hitting .324 in 34 at bats.
Illinois State senior golfer Haley Guyton (Kaneland) was an honorable-mention selection to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team. A marketing major with a 3.62 cumulative GPA, Guyton competed in all 28 rounds for the Redbirds over 2014-15, and finished in 19th place in the MVC tournament. Based on these performances, it's likely Guyton will earn a third straight selection as a Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar.
Junior hurdler and sprinter Annie Martines (St. Charles East) shared most-valuable honors for Augustana women's track, and has been named a 2015-16 co-captain. A Division III national qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles, Martines ran it in 1 minute, 1.84 seconds at Augustana's Twilight Qualifier, .28 seconds from the program record. That was the race which got her to the national meet, and she was the Qualifier's only 400-meter entrant, a tough way to run a fast time. It was the highlight of the last home meet of 44-year Augustana head coach Fred Whiteside.
On the men's side, senior David Voland (Batavia) concluded his outstanding collegiate career sharing the Vikings' MVP award. Spanning indoor and outdoor seasons Voland earned nine All-America selections and won 11 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin titles. At the recent NCAA Outdoor Championship he finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at 50.86 seconds, breaking his own school record. He also anchored a third-place 1,600 relay. His relay won at the Drake Relays, too. As well, on May 6 Voland became Augustana's 34th student-athlete to be awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship, after earning Division III Academic All-District honors with a 3.83 grade-point average in math and education. Voland was voted the most inspirational member of Augustana's men's track team.
Aurora University sophomore Lisa Rodriguez (Aurora Central Catholic) ran the third leg of the Spartans' 400-meter relay that earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish at the Division III women's national track and field championship. She also helped set a meet record in that event at the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference championship as the Aurora women won for a fourth consecutive year. The Spartans men, getting individual victories by Matt Meyers (Aurora Central), Mark Rudelich (Batavia) and a relay win by Kyle Kazar (Aurora Christian), repeated as NACC champs, the first men's team to do so. These achievements helped Aurora University earn the NACC All-Sports Award for the 2014-15 athletic year.
Augustana senior attack Colin Haley (St. Charles East) received Augustana men's lacrosse "Hard Hat" award for his toughness on the field. In Augie's first season in the CCIW it won the league, and Haley ended the year with 12 goals and 14 assists. He ended his college career ranking second in program assists, third in ground balls and fourth in shots, goals and points.
Here's a good one to end with. Wheaton College senior Noah Anthony (Wheaton Academy) was a key player for the Thunder men's soccer team's march to a Division III runner-up spot. In the spring he played golf, and in his last college round shot a 2-under-par 70 at The Rail in Springfield to place 13th overall at the CCIW tournament.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
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