St. Edward grad Mattas going low for NIU

St. Edward product Michael Mattas has been tearing it up on the links of late.

Mattas, now a senior on the Northern Illinois University men's golf team, recently shot a career-best 66 to finish play at the Loyola Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.

Mattas shot under par in all three rounds of the tournament, shooting a 1-under 71 in the opener and a 2-under 70 during the second round of play.

The 66 allowed Mattas to skyrocket up the leaderboard five spots in the final round. The masterpiece included 4 birdies, 1 eagle and no bogeys. It was Mattas' best round at NIU, surpassing the 68 he carded in the second round of the 2017 Northern Intercollegiate.

Mattas finished the tournament with a 54-hole score of 9-under 207. He finished two strokes behind the individual champion Roberto Nieves of Delaware for his best career finish and 54-hole score.

"Mike certainly had the best week of his collegiate career," NIU coach John Carlson said. "Our team relied on him and he came through. His round (the 66) propelled us to one of the best rounds we've had all year."

Martens at St. Ambrose: Kaneland graduate Jamie Martens just finished her sophomore season as a member of the St. Ambrose University women's basketball team in Davenport, Iowa.

St. Ambrose lost in the conference tournament 89-80 in double overtime to Indiana-South Bend in a battle of 4-5 seeds (St. Ambrose was the No. 5 seed). Martens had 10 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in that contest, playing 48 of a possible 50 minutes.

For the season, Martens, the daughter of former East Aurora boys basketball coach Scott Martens, averaged 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game in an average of 26.8 minutes per game. Martens shot .479 from the field, .448 from the 3-point line and .867 from the free-throw line. Martens earned all-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference honorable mention accolades.

Ringel at McHenry: Addie Ringel, who was a teammate of Martens at Kaneland on the Knights' 22-7, Sweet 16 team before transferring and graduating from Harvest Christian helping the Lions reach the Elite Eight, just finished her career at McHenry College.

As a freshman at McHenry, Ringel led the team in rebounds and blocked shots. She set the team record for blocks in a game with 10 and in a season with 110. She helped the Scots to a 22-10 record losing in the Region IV championship.

As a sophomore, Ringel was named co-captain. In her first game against Madison College she completed a triple double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks. For the season she averaged 9 points, 9 rebounds and 4.4 blocks, and McHenry finished 24-5 record and 10-0 in conference. She broke her own school record with 12 blocks in a game and 128 blocks in a season.

Named Illinois Skyway All-Conference and NJCAA All-Region IV, Ringel has six NAIA offers for next year.

Hurley at SIU: Cary-Grove product Ricky Hurley recently was named a Missouri Valley Conference field athlete of the week for his performance at the EIU Friday Night Special meet.

Hurley won the male MVC field athlete of the week honor after taking first in the weight throw at 64-4, which was his best mark of the season. Hurley's mark moved him to 58th overall on the NCAA performance list, in addition to moving him to the top spot on the MVC performance list for the event.

Hurley then won the 2020 MVC men's weight throw title with a season-best mark of 66-6 1/2 at the MVC championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Fox River Grove native, who took third in the event at the conference championships last year, bested his nearest competitor by less than 3 inches.

Hurley becomes the 16th Saluki to win the conference title and the program's sixth straight, dating back to 2015.

In winning the weight throw, Hurley earned all-MVC accolades.

Heinzer wins honor: Kaneland product Allison Heinzer recently was named to the Midwest all-region team by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Heinzer, who runs for the Lewis University women's track and field team in Romeoville, earned that honor in the 200 and 400 dash and as part of the 1,600 relay. Heinzer ran 24.39 (converted from 24.76 for track size) at the recent GLVC championships. That time was a season-best. Her time in the 200 tied for second in the region at the time and 17th in NCAA Division II. Her time in the 400 was the third-fastest at the time and 22nd nationally. In order to qualify for the honor, an athlete had to earn a Top 5 position in their respective events in the Midwest region and/or a top three positions as a relay team member.

Ortiz at ISU: Geneva alum Tori Ortiz earned a trifecta of all-Missouri Valley Conference accolades at the recent MVC women's indoor track and field championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Ortiz, a sophomore at Illinois State, took second in the 400 with a personal-best time of 55.75. That time ranks No. 7 in the ISU record books. She also took third in the 200 with a time of 24.80 and earned another all-MVC honor as part of the Redbirds' 1,600 relay team that placed third with a time of 3:46.14.

Ortiz helped Illinois State win its third MVC indoor title in a row, breaking a conference record with 190.16 points on the second day of competition. With the win, Illinois State has won a Valley-best 12 indoor titles.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com. Spring sports submissions are encouraged, as well as final winter ones.