Catching up on the summer
Each year this column takes a break while school is out. Stuff still happens. Here's some of it.
Back with a vengeance
Multi-decorated Glenbard West junior Katelynne Hart, representing the Aurora Flyers Track Club, placed third in the 3,000-meter run at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships in Bloomington, Indiana, on June 17. She ran the distance in 9 minutes, 37.90 seconds. On Aug. 13 Hart repeated as Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association female distance runner of the year.
Earlier this month Neuqua Valley senior Christine Corbin earned New Wave Lacrosse's "One Heart" award, which recognizes everything from leadership and skills to integrity and willingness to help others. Playing with 15-3 Neuqua in 2018, the all-DuPage Valley Conference midfielder led the Wildcats with 50 goals and 61 ground balls.
In early July a joint venture of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, USA Wrestling and Flo Wrestling released its final 2017-18 National High School Girls Rankings. Glenbard North senior Alexis Gomez finished No. 6 at 152 pounds. According to The Open Mat, Gomez is the 14th ranked female wrestler in the Class of 2019 and has committed to wrestle at Campbellsville University in Kentucky.
Swimmer Liam Hutchinson lives in Glen Ellyn, attends Fenwick, and away from high school competes for the Wheaton Swim Club. His times in the pool suggest he'll go further.
At the National Club Swimming Association Junior Nationals in Indianapolis, July 31-Aug. 4, Hutchinson made cuts for 2016 Olympic Trials standards (2020 marks have yet to be set) with a second-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle at 1 minute, 51.60 seconds, in the 400 free at a winning 3:55.10 and in the 1,500 free at 15:48.81.
Teammate Andrew Dai of Naperville Central placed fifth in the 200 butterfly, and Wheaton Swim's Gage Ridinger (Glenbard West), Trevor Carter (Glenbard South) and Joey Yuan (Naperville North) all contributed in open events and relays.
"Every swimmer swam lifetime-best times, so it was a very successful meet for our team," said Wheaton Swim Club national group coach Bob Strube, adding that Hutchinson was named to the 2017-18 USA Swimming Scholastic All-American Team.
Alles gute
We wish 2013 Neuqua Valley graduate Griffin Shields all the best as he heads to play professional volleyball in the Bundesliga league, the top level in Germany. Shields signed a contract to play with the WWK Volleys in the Munich suburb of Herrsching.
A middle blocker at Neuqua, the 6-foot-8 Shields moved to right-side attacker at Carthage College. He earned first-team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America honors as a junior and senior, second-team as a sophomore while finishing first all-time at Carthage in points per set, second in aces and third in kills. Recuperating from injury after graduating in 2017, Shields is now ready for the Bundesliga, whose regular season runs from October through April.
A special man
Naperville Central boys water polo coach Bill Salentine, whose Redhawks won the 2017 Illinois High School Association title for the second time in three seasons, was among eight finalists for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association coach of the year for "special sports" - lacrosse, gymnastics, hockey, water polo, etc. Salentine was nominated by retired Fenwick and Sandburg coach Jim Caliendo, second all-time in Illinois boys polo victories with 729. Salentine ranks fourth and first among active coaches with 445.
Salentine did not gain the overall award for special sports at the NHSACA Convention in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Nonetheless he enjoyed the honor and was "equally honored" when he, his wife, Tami, and son, Liam, were supported at the convention by fellow Redhawks coaches Barry Baldwin, Todd Holmberg and Ed Watson.
College moves
On July 13 the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Membership Committee granted Benedictine University access to the NCAA Division II membership process.
For now Eagles athletics will compete in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, the Midwest Lacrosse Conference and the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference before joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2019-20 as the GLVC's 16th member. Benedictine's provisional Division II membership process will be a three-year transition culminating in its active membership in 2021-22.
In late July Greg McVey was hired as director of athletics and recreational programs at College of DuPage. The Carol Stream resident has been in this line of work 25 years. Most recently McVey was athletic director at Jefferson College (Missouri); he also did that job at Culver-Stockton in Missouri and was associate director of athletics at Quincy University in southwestern Illinois.
On July 16 North Central College hired Maggie McCloskey-Bax, daughter of retired Riverside-Brookfield and Montini boys basketball coach Tom McCloskey, as the 11th head coach in the history of the Cardinals' basketball program. The former Riverside-Brookfield and Loyola University star comes to North Central after assisting five seasons at Carthage College.
Also at North Central, the men's track and field team topped 106 qualifiers to earn Division III National Scholar Team of the Year for the 2018 indoor and outdoor seasons by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Cardinals' average GPA was 3.10.
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin on Aug. 15 announced that conference commissioner Chris Martin will step down after this school year, his 18th in the position. Among Martin's many achievements since he arrived in 2002 from the NCAA office in Indianapolis were the addition of Carroll College into the CCIW, men's and women's lacrosse joining the athletics roster and being the first sitting commissioner ever elected as chairman of the Division III Management Council.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
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