Hayes adds Boomers to announcing resumé

The new voice of the Schaumburg Boomers games will be familiar to anyone who's listened in during Harper College sports events lately.

Steve Hayes, who has worked the public address system during various Hawks athletic events for the last two years, will be making his Frontier League debut Friday as the Boomers face the Windy City Thunderbolts.

"I'm always fired up going into games," Hayes said of opening night. "Boomers games are fun."

Hayes was chosen from a pool of 10 finalists who met with Boomers director of entertainment Murphy Row in hopes of landing the position.

"I feel fortunate that I was chosen," Hayes said.

Though this is Hayes' first experience with minor-league baseball, he's got a deep background across a wide range of sports. He's handled announcing work from youth level to high school and even NJCAA events.

"Every game is fun," said Hayes. "I enjoy what I do."

Postseason honors: Before capturing the NJCAA Division III 5,000- and 10,000-meter championships, Harper sophomore Adam Brauer was named Central Region male track athlete of the year.

Entering the national meet, the Palatine alum was ranked first at 10,000 meters. Amongst NJCAA Divsion III men, he was also ranked second in the steeplechase and 5,000 meters.

Sophomore Laith Kanan (Palatine) was named the Central Region men's field athlete of the year. Kanan was ranked first in the hammer throw and third in both the shot put and discus.

• Ali Gutt was named Central Region women's track athlete of the year. The freshman from Schaumburg won the 1,500- and 800-meter titles at the recently completed NJCAA Division III national championships.

• The Harper coaching staff took home some hardware as well, as head coach Renee Zellner captured her second Central Region men's coach of the year award. First-year assistant coach Dan Lowry was named the Central Region men's assistant coach of the year.

• Freshman Paul Kramolisch was named to the Divsion III, Region IV all-region second team in baseball. The 6-foot-3 outfielder finished the season hitting .309 with 8 RBI. He also earned second team all-conference honors after hitting .333 against North Central Community College Conference foes and showed his worth on the mound as well, with a team-best 3.86 ERA over 23⅓ innings.