Naperville North and Nebraska graduate Corey McKeon will attend the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' rookie mini-camp on Thursday as an unsigned free agent.

McKeon is trying to become the sixth Naperville native to currently play in the NFL, three of whom in Chris Brown, Justin McCareins and Glenn Earl already hail from his father's North program . The others are Central grad Owen Daniels and Neuqua grad O.J. Oshinowo.

What makes the North program so good at producing NFL-caliber players, or is it just a coincidence?

Waubonsie Valley had pushed Ian Krol well past 100 pitches on Thursday in Naperville, and the Neuqua Valley ace didn't return to the mound for the seventh inning.

The Warriors hadn't generated an extra-base hit, and already struck out 11 times. It was now up to Rob Skowronski to protect a 1-0 lead.

So it's no surprise defending state champ Waubonsie Valley was named to No. 1 seed in its own girls soccer sectional on Wednesday night.

Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley and Benet took the next three slots while Naperville North was the No. 7 seed.

Geneva was the fifth seed followed by Batavia at No. 6. Plainfield Central rounded out the top eight.

Would you have voted these seeds any differently?

Bad Kermit over at hirejimessian.com is betting that the Cubs will undearchieve in the run-scoring department this season and asks the question, "Will the Cubs score fewer runs than the Naperville Central Redhawks?" So far, the Redhawks are trailing 63 percent to 37 percent in the poll. What do you think? To vote, click here.

The IHSA announced on Tuesday the creation of a Sportsperson of the Year Award that will honor seven people each year "for their outstanding sportsmanship during interscholastic competition."

It took almost another two full sentences in the press release to plug the title sponsor.

There are five criteria listed that potential good sports awardees need to own, but three are boing so I will skip to the two that caught me eye.

-- Student shall not have EVER been ejected from a high school contest.

-- Student must have a minimum of a 2.5/4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

Nothing against all you C students out there, but I find it interesting that the IHSA is willing to dip that far down in the GPA scale just to find someone who hasn't been ejected.

Each school can nominate one student-athlete as long as that school participates in the IHSA's sportsmanship program.

What I think is important to make clear is that it is possible to book the Add A. Tude mascot for your next high school event for the low-low rate of $25. Silly mascots rule.

The entry deadline is May 16. The award will be given out June 2 along with $500 to the winners courtesy of the sponsorship deal. I guess it's a "scholarship" or something like that, but what's up with an amateur athletic body handing out cash?

Neuqua Valley senior Chris Derrick shattered the national record for a high school only 5K race on Saturday at the 41st annual Arcadia Invitational, a prestigious track and field meet in California.

Derrick finished with a blistering 60-second last lap with the capacity crowd on its feet screaming to pass Illinois legend Craig Virgin on the all time list. Derrick took nearly 30 seconds off the the previous national record for a HS-only 5k -- 14:24.89 by Ryan Deak of Smoky Hill Aurora CO at Mt. SAC in 2004.

There is a seven-minute video at dyestat.com that shows highlights of the race.

Naperville Central's Evan Thayer won the mile and helped the Redhawks win the 3,200-meter relay on Saturday at the John Bell Invitational while recovering from a sinus infection the Sun-Times reported.

Thayer said he made his move with half a lap left and was running in about third place.

"I wanted to see what I had left and I went out slow," Thayer said. "I felt pretty tired but I wanted to work my way up and work through it. [Usually] you find that with 200 meters to go you're in a good position to race someone."

About a month ago, we learned that Neuqua Valley senior Chris Derrick was named to the IHSA All-State Academic Team and that Waubonsie Valley's Mark Homan, Naperville Central's Steve Couch and Benet's Sarah Clark were given honorable mention.

The IHSA let us know on March 18 that these athletes were amazing students, needing a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater after their seventh semester. On Friday, the IHSA let us know that again, seemingly posting the exact same notice.

If you look at the IHSA homepage right now, you can see both of the notices listed. But there isn't anything about the court case with the Illinois press the IHSA settled this week.

Wonder why this is hidden? The poster contest from this week is there, but not the only major announcement since the drug testing policy on March 17. Anyway...

I don't have screen grabs figured out yet, so while it lasts take a look at March 18 and see if there is anything different with April 11. Derrick, Homan, Couch and Clark are on both lists.

Maybe somebody took a semester off. Maybe somebody who works at the IHSA has kid who is a really smart athlete.

UPDATE: I just checked both the all-state team and the honorable mention list on both links and they identical. This seems to be a glitch.

AURORA - Waubonsie Valley could exhale around 6:52 p.m., when Chris Galovic walked off the mound to shake coach Dan Fezzuoglio's hand near the third-base line.

Waubonsie lost 26 games last year, and a few games just like this already this season. But with two on and two outs, and clinging to a one-run lead, the Warriors did not come undone.

After 19 years, Marty Gaughan has resigned from his position as Benet boys basketball coach, the school announced Tuesday, though he will remain in Lisle as assistant athletic director.

The job began to consume too much of his time, Gaughan said over the phone on Tuesday, and he will now be free to watch his son Brian, a graduating Benet senior, play Division III basketball next season at Loras College (Iowa).

Gaughan, 46, will be part of the search committee to find his replacement. He said he expects the school to name the new coach by early May. Look in Wednesday's print edition for more information.