Libertyville grad Gietzen makes BYU's Hall of Fame
Former Libertyville High School standout golfer Pam Miller Gietzen was recently inducted into the Brigham Young University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Gietzen tied for third in the first IHSA girls golf state tournament (1976), shooting a two-day total of 178, just 2 strokes behind champion Ann Atwood of Bloomington High School (176).
The 1976 Libertyville graduate became an NCAA All American before joining the LPGA in 1980.
She was one of four former All-Americans and a national coach of the year inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame.
The others were Sherald W. James (cross country/track coach), Ianeta Le'i (softball), Michaela Mannova (cross country and track), and Mike Wall (volleyball).
They were formally inducted during a ceremony hosted by the Cougar Club at the Marriott Center this past Friday.
The five were also honored during a special halftime presentation at the BYU -Toledo football game last Friday.
As a member of the BYU women's golf team from 1976-80, Gietzen won a school-record eight collegiate career golf tournaments, including the 1980 AIAW Region VII Championship in Fort Collins, Colorado.
She led the Cougars to their first Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national tournament appearance in 1979, where she finished 11th.
The previous year, Gietzen became the first BYU women's golfer to be named Intermountain Athletic Conference All-Region, as well as only the second Cougar to individually qualify for the AIAW National Tournament, where she finished 32nd.
Gietzen played in three-straight AIAW National Tournaments (1978-1980) and was named an AIAW First Team all-American in 1980.
She became the first BYU female golfer to receive All-America honors.
Gietzen established several records at BYU including the lowest single-round score (67), which she held for 31 years (1978-2009), and the record for the lowest four-round total (304), which she held for 29 years (1978-2007).
After graduating from BYU in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Gietzen continued her golf career.
She finished second at the prestigious U.S. Women's Public Links (Publinx) Amateur in 1980 and was ranked among the top-10 amateurs by Golf Digest before earning her LPGA Tour card in 1981.
In 1982, Gietzen had three top-five finishes on the LPGA Tour and finished runner-up for the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year award. She continued playing professionally on the LPGA Tour until 1985.
After retiring from professional golf, Gietzen became even more involved with her community.
She created after-school programs at Faith Lutheran School in Sugarland, Texas.
She married Bruce Gietzen, a former KTVX sportscaster. The couple settled in Houston, where their daughter, Jennifer, was born.
Gietzen currently resides in Athens, Georgia, where she continues to enjoy golf, as well as playing competitive tennis.
She currently works as a front office administrative assistant at Athens' University Surgical Vascular.
She enjoys having Jennifer living nearby, in Atlanta, where she works as a graphic artist and web designer.
Women's volleyball
Rhode Island senior Layne Self (Lake Zurich) put down 13 kills with only 1 error as the Rams (9-7, 4-0 in the Atlantic Conference) extended their winning streak to five matches with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 win at George Washington. The Rams have not lost a set in conference play.
Men's soccer
Carthage (8-3) got back to its winning ways in its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener, posting a 2-1 overtime decision over North Central (2-6-1).
The match went into overtime where in the 99th minute sophomore Zach Schoffstall (Fremd) plated a ball over the Cardinals back line onto the foot of senior Austin Bitta (Libertyville), who finessed a ball over the keeper for the sudden-victory goal.
"I was really happy for Austin being able to score the game-winner after the keeper read him on a PK earlier in the game that probably seals the deal," said Carthage coach Steve Domin on the school's website. "Zach Schoffstall did a great job spreading the ball around all afternoon and he was able to skirt a ball over to Bitta behind their back line giving Bitta the dangerous look at goal." Domin also said that sophomores Adrian Herrera (Palatine resident) and Giles Phillips (Barrington) made key contributions in the match.
Junior Lady Blue Devils
The Jr. Lady Blue Devils basketball program try outs for girls in fifth through eighth grade residing in Warren Township's District 121 are Oct. 25 and 27 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Woodland Middle School in Gurnee.
Players should attend both evenings. There is no fee to tryout, but a parent/guardian must register their children the night of the tryouts at the gym. For additional information regarding this program contact Ron Dorsey at 847-599-3758 or rdorsey@gurneeparkdistrict.com.
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