Lacrosse, football offer opportunities to showcase talent
Every sport is getting into the showcase act.
Young athletes get the opportunity to display their talents in front of talent scouts from professional or college teams.
Lacrosse has joined the evaluation club.
True Lacrosse and the Chicago Machine will partner for the Chicago Showcase on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 18-19 at the Max McCook Athletic Facility in McCook, Ill. This is the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
The showcase is limited to the first 250 players and will put the athletes in front of the best NCAA Division III lacrosse programs.
Players must be nominated by their coach to qualify, and all participants must sign up as individuals. Cost is $350.
Registration will close on Friday, Jan. 9.
For more information or to sign up, go to truelacrosse.com.
Football
Kevin Foley (Libertyville) finished his career at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by being named all-conference free safety in the Boyd Division of the New England Football Conference. He finished his career with 35 starts in 38 games over four years and 5 interceptions, and he led the team in tackles the past two seasons. He will graduate in June in Environmental Engineering and enter graduate school at MIT.
The Lake County College Football Night is set for Wednesday, Dec. 10 from 7-9:30 p.m. in the main gym at Libertyville High School.
Last year this college fair involved over 45 college coaches and their staffs from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa. Over 90 colleges and high schools have been invited this year.
Junior or senior football players from any area school, along with their parents, are invited to attend.
The evening is for interested players to meet and talk with prospective college coaches and school representatives.
Players may bring video tapes and resumes.
For questions, contact Libertyville head football coach Randy Kuceyeski at (847) 327-7068.
Basketball
Melissa Gorski (Buffalo Grove) of Monmouth College is off to a good start with 19 points against Eureka College, 17 against Augustana, 16 against North Park, 14 against Central and 25 points and 14 rebounds against Rockford College. She is 11 away from becoming only the sixth woman in Monmouth history to score 1,000 points.
• Freshman Luke Fabrizius (Hersey) of Dayton is 8-for-21 on 3-point shots for Dayton through six games. He had 9 points in 19 minutes off the bench against Bethune-Cookman and 9 in 12 minutes against Mercer.
• Ricky Kolze (Fremd) had 24 points for Loras College against the University of Chicago. Brian Centella (Grayslake) had 16 points for Loras and the winning basket in the second overtime. In the same game Matt Corning (Mundelein) had 20 points and Jake Pancratz (Schaumburg) 12 for Chicago. Corning scored 18 and Pancratz 16 against Augustana with Alex Washington (Wheeling) contributing 13 for Augustana.
Soccer
Senior Brian Byrne (Buffalo Grove) completed an impressive career as a college goalkeeper with two strong seasons at Loyola University Chicago after starting at Lewis University.
As a junior at Loyola, Byrne played every minute and set a new single-season record with 10 shutouts. This past season, he stopped that mark with 12 shutouts. The 22 for a career also sets a new Loyola record.
Bryne ranks 16th in the country in goals-against average at 0.608.
The Ramblers finished the season 12-6-4, winning the Horizon League tournament title with Bryne on the all-tourney team and then getting edged by Northwestern on penalty kicks in the NCAA tournament.
• Forward Scott Wallner (Buffalo Grove) of Augustana College was a first-team all-conference selection in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Named to the second team were goalkeeper Andy Connor (Carmel) and midfielder Chris Fidlow (Carmel) of Carthage.
Volleyball
Sophomore Annie Fesl (Hersey) of Cincinnati was named second-team All-Big East and will play in the NCAA tournament game Friday against Western Kentucky at the University of Illinois.
Jennifer Berwanger (Lake Zurich) of Southern Illinois University earned a spot on the Missouri Valley's all-conference team. The sophomore outside hitter led the team in kills this season, averaging 3.64 kills per set and digs with 4.06 per set. She started all 29 matches for the Salukis and posted a .233 hitting percentage. She also received MVC scholar-athlete honors.
Hockey
The Fremd High School Hockey Club is celebrating its 35th anniversary and will host its fifth annual alumni game on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. at the West Meadows Ice Arena, 3939 Winnetka Avenue, Rolling Meadows.
There is no cost to participate but full equipment is required. Friends and family are invited to attend, and there is no admission charge.
The players will gather at the Donkey Inn for pizza after the game.
RSVP to Dawn Chambers by Dec. 10 at (847) 359-2596 or e-mail to chambers06@comcast.net.
• Johnny Griggs (Barrington) is playing goalie for the Pembroke (Ontario) Lumber Kings. The Junior A team is ranked No. 2 in Canada. Griggs leads the league with a 1.85 goals-against average.
Fencing
Devin Zayas won the Open Senior Mixed Saber with Darek Koman in second, and Adam Barbanell captured second in the Open Senior Mixed Foil on Sunday at the Illinois Fencers Club Open in Mount Prospect.
For more information on the club, go to www.illinoisfencersclub.org.
Wrestling
Sophomore Micky Spiwak (Lake Zurich) of Cornell College in Iowa won the 125-pound weight class in the Coe College Turkey Open, boosting his record to 7-2.
Changing hands
There's a change coming to this weekly column because of my retirement.
Starting today, items for Sports Notes should be sent only to prepsports@dailyherald.com or faxed to (847) 427-1173. And, please, no phone calls to the sports department with those items. Anyone who handles this notes column in the future for Cook and Lake counties has access to the prepsports e-mail and also the sports fax. Thanks for contributing to these notes columns through the years. I needed your help.I hope you have a happy and healthy holiday season.