Cook delivers winning leap for Lewis
Warren graduate Amber Cook turned in the best long jump among those in the Great Lake Valley Conference and it did not go unnoticed.
The Lewis University senior Amber Cook (Warren) was named an athlete of the week in the GLVC for her performance, which helped the Flyers to the Cardinal Classic title at North Central College.
Cook won the long jump with a career-best and NCAA Provisional mark of 19 feet (5.79m).
The jump placed her 18th overall nationally.
"Amber is very motivated to maximize her senior year," said coach Dana Schwarting in the school's news release. "She put in the work last summer and now it is paying off."
• Augustana sophomore Emily Webster (Lakes) finished eighth in the shot put with a toss of 38-¾ at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships in Naperville.
Men's track
Augustana sophomore Kevin Barbian (Libertyville) won shot put with a toss of 51 feet, one-quarter inch at College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships helping the Vikings to their first conference title.
Vikings sophomore Kyle Hucker (Wauconda) took seventh in the 400 (50.20).
Men's swimming
Wisconsin-Stevens Point senior Kyle McNair (Lake Zurich) has been selected the recipient of the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Max Sparger Men's Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete Award.
McNair maintains a 3.58 grade-point average and is majoring in GIS and human geography, while minoring in sociology. He is a three-time selection to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and been recognized on UW-Stevens Point's Honor Roll, including high honors.
A two-time team captain, McNair helped the Pointers win their 17th straight WIAC title this season as a member of the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay teams.
At last year's conference meet, he registered third-place finishes in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, while participating on the second-place 800 freestyle relay. McNair was a national qualifier in 2015 in the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay.
McNair has been involved with UW-Stevens Point's Student Athletic Advisory Committee and worked on campus as a member of the grounds crew.
Boys hockey
The Lake Zurich-Mundelein-Wauconda varsity boys hockey team earned their spot in the Platinum Varsity championship with 2 wins and a tie in the North Central Conference playoff games.
LZMW rolled past Cary-Grove 5-1 with strong goaltending from Jake Breitenreiter and Josselin Juras sharing time in the net. Brett Parola had 2 goals while Zach Zentz, Sebastian Medina and Mikey Nieckula each had one.
Zentz scored on a power-play goal with assists from Nick Hollander and Sergei Vorobiov.
On the following day, LZMW tied Crystal Lake 2-2.
LZMW was tested early with the Predators scoring twice in the first period.
Despite being outshot, the Predators' defense and terrific saves from their goalie Clint Billimack kept LZMW off the scoreboard until 13:52 of the second period.
That's when Alex Pighini tipped in a rebound off a shot from Jack Kekstadt.
Still down a goal and with time running out, LZMW pulled its goalie only to take a penalty negating their man advantage.
Nevertheless, with 51 seconds left in the third period, LZMW's Remi Mueller found the back of the net with the game-tying goal that made the final 2-2.
Finally, against PREP Black, Mikey Nieckula led the scoring for LZMW with two goals. Sergei Vorobiov, Nick Seminaro, Jared Honda (on a penalty shot) and Tyler Krasavage also added goals to clinch the LZMW team's berth in the conference championship game.
Breitenreiter and Juras shared the 6-0 shutout in the net.
Men's basketball
Carthage College sophomore forward Brad Kruse (Lake Zurich) was named third-team All-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.
Kruse played in all 25 games this year for the Red Men and made 23 starts.
He averaged 7.7 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds. Kruse scored in double figures five times with a career-high 19 points at North Park.
Kruse pulled down 10 or more rebounds four times, including a career-high 12 boards against North Park and Wheaton College.
Kruse was named Illinois Basketball Coaches Association honorable mention all-state in 2013-14, as well as first-team All-North Suburban Conference and Daily Herald all-area.
He is a double major in accounting and finance at Carthage. His father, Fred Kruse, played basketball at North Park and was named first-team All-CCIW in both 1982 and 1983.
• Augustana senior forward Brandon Motzel (Carmel HS, Buffalo Grove) was named to the second team of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin all-conference team.
The 6-foot-7 Motzel moved into the starting lineup at the start of conference play and averaged 10.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in CCIW action. He was fifth in the league in rebounding, second in offensive rebounds (2.64 per game) and field goal percentage (. 652) and third in blocked shots (1.29 bpg).
On the season, Motzel leads the Vikings in field goal percentage (. 645) and blocked shots (28) and currently ranks fourth in both categories (. 583 and 79, respectively) on the school's career lists.
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com