Wheeling to honor retiring May on Friday
Mike Caringella, one of the coaching deans in the Mid-Suburban East softball ranks, has high praise for Wheeling assistant principal of student activities Steve May.
"Steve has always been a huge supporter of our softball program," Caringella said. "He makes sure we always have what we need. He keeps a positive outlook on all our programs."
May has possessed that uplifting outlook his entire career.
He is retiring at the end of the school year and will be recognized on Friday at the Wildcats' final home football game of the season for service to athletics.
After the game, a gathering for May will take place from approximately 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Armand's in downtown Arlington Heights. Pizza will be provided and a cash bar available.
For more than 35 years, May has been contributing to the success and achievements of students in the Chicago suburbs.
He taught English and coached for a year at Crystal Lake Central High School before spending the next eight years at Winston Park Junior High School in Palatine where he was the girls and boys basketball and wrestling coach.
In 1996, he became the dean of students and basketball coach at Prospect.
Since 2001, May has been an assistant principal of student activities at Wheeling, and was twice awarded the principal's award.
He created the Wheeling Athletic Hall of Fame and a student spirit group called "The Cat Pack."
May has served on the IHSA Athletic Advisory Board and the ad hoc transfer student policy committee. He served one year as a nonvoting member of the IHSA board of directors.
Among his duties with the Illinois Athletic Directors Association, May has been president, state conference program and registration chair, and division representative.
Arlington Stallions
A number of the Arlington Stallions alumni are making their mark in college rugby programs across the country.
The list includes Max Derry (Wheeling/Univ. of Colorado), Bobby Barratta (Hersey/Univ. of Maryland), Willis Goodwin (Rolling Meadows/John Carroll Univ), Vince Carso and Spencer Krueger (Hersey/Ohio State University), Connor O'Brien (Carmel/Michigan State Univ), Matt Moroniak (Hersey/Illinois State) and Jon Toriumi (Buffalo Grove/Univ. of Illinois).
Signup day for the Stallions' spring 2020 competitive season is Saturday, Jan. 11 at Camelot Park in Arlington Heights.
Rugby
Alabama junior wing Thomas Platt (Hersey) scored a try in the first half of the match for the Crimson Tide against South Carolina. Alabama went on to win 39-5.
Football
Butler receiver Johnny O'Shea (Palatine) has caught 11 passes for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. The former Pirates all-area standout is a redshirt freshman in Indianapolis.
Men's golf
Oakton Community College sophomore Nzelu "NZ" Maitha (Schaumburg) became the school's first male golfer to win the NJCAA Region IV Tournament.
Maitha played lights out in the tournament held at the Prairie View Golf Course in Byron, posting a 76 average finishing as medalist among more than 60 golfers from Illinois.
With his first-place performance, he earned the right to represent the Oakton Owls in the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship scheduled for May 19-22, 2020 at the Twins Hill Country Club in Joplin, MO.
This marks the fifth time in six years an Oakton male golfer has qualified for nationals.
"The key to my success was staying in the present and just having fun," said Maitha in a news release from the school. "When I get too serious, I'm apt to make more mistakes. I just took it one shot at a time. The greens were fast and long on the course but I knew if I just played my game, the score would take care of itself."
"He did what was expected of him and went in as the favorite," said Owls 12th-year head coach Louis Walker. Competing at nationals last year, NZ knows what to anticipate and how to handle the pressure. He just keeps getting better and took care of business."
Maitha also cemented his place in Oakton history completing the "trifecta" of being named to the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference All-Conference team, NJCAA Region IV Tournament All-Region team and qualifying for nationals in the same season. This is the second year in a row Maitha has accomplished this rare feat.
Earlier this year, he took home more hardware as the ISCC Male Golfer of the Year. In conference play, Mathia had the lowest average (76) of all golfers.
Oakton freshman Nate Dunker (Prospect) finished just half a stroke behind to earn recognition as an all-conference player.
"This just continues the tradition with Oakton golf," Walker says. "Having a medalist in both region and conference play is something you don't see too often. Players like NZ and Nate are not only great golfers but outstanding young men who are stellar representatives of the college and the community."
Women's tennis
Millikin's Katie Cooper (Prospect) won her singles match 6-3, 6-4 when the Big Blue lost to Carroll College.
Wheeling feeder
The Wheeling High School Feeder basketball tryouts for boys are Sundays, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 in the main gym at Wheeling High School. Fifth and sixth graders are from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Seventh and eighth graders are 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Attendance at both tryouts is recommended. Please arrive 15 minutes early to register. Contact juniorcats5678@gmail.com with questions.
Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com