Prep sports: May 2008 Archives

Benet will play St. Ignatius on Sunday morning in the IHSLA B Lacrosse Cup at Toyota Park. This is the Redwings doing a rendition of the school song after their 13-3 semifinal win over Mundelein on Thursday.

I'm not sure what Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum's reaction was when he found out that his fourth-seeded Redhawks will meet No. 6 Plainfield South in the Bolingbrook Sectional final at 9 a.m. on Saturday, but I would've groaned.

This clip is a highlight reel of the Naperville North boys lacrosse season set to some angst-ridden music. The Huskies went 7-1 in the DuPage II Conference, thanks to first team all-conference selections Joe Krentz (attack) and Pat Bassett (midfield), and second teamers Casey Domek (defense) and Ben Domyancic (attack).

I'm a big believer in "the hump" - that imaginary mental obstacle that gets in the way of teams usually on the losing end of a rivalry for consecutive games. Some people might say, "Whatever. If you're talented enough, you'll win." I disagree. Something happens to even the most talented squads when they encounter "the hump." It's not easy to explain, but you can almost taste the feeling of inevitability that favors the winning team. Call it a mental haze, but the longer consecutive losses continue, the thicker it becomes.

I've only gotten to witness the clearing of that haze three times in my sports writing career: 1) When Waubonsie Valley football beat Neuqua Valley last season; 2) When Illinois football beat Wisconsin in Big Ten play; and 3) When Naperville Central softball pulled out a 2-0 victory over Plainfield Central on Wednesday to advance to their first sectional title game since 1989. Some rivalries go back and forth and I'll admit that having balance is special and probably more satisfying for fans, but in my mind nothing beats clearing "the hump."

A few days ago, I wrote a blog on the DuPage Valley, Upstate Eight and East Suburban Catholic all-conference lists. I've gotten a couple of emails because I goofed up and made some readers think that the entire lists would appear after clicking on the link. But all I actually posted were the picks from our area teams. Since there is no way to link to the DVC and UEC, because for some reason it is beyond those conferences to maintain useful websites, I have typed up the complete list. I've also provided a link to the complete ESCC list. Just click on the link below and enjoy.

Naperville Central junior pitcher Natalie Wunderlich made an interesting comment following Saturday's 3-0 regional title victory over Downers Grove North. When asked what she thought about facing top-seeded Plainfield Central in the Bolingbrook Sectional semifinals, Wunderlich said her team is smarter than the one that fell to the Wildcats 1-0 on April 29. And you know what? I think she's on to something.

The DuPage Valley, Upstate Eight and East Suburban Catholic Conferences announced their all-conference lists this week. For a complete list, just click the link below.

LISLE - Bryan Roberts walked off the mound to a swarm of teammates and pounding fists, then tossed his glove to the grass, Benet's plan executed to perfection.

Wheaton Warrenville South had several representatives in the Benet stands on Thursday in Lisle, though most seemed to have left by the time the game nearly flipped over in the seventh inning. By this point, they have to know the Redwings fairly well.

Baseball belongs in the spring, and moving it to the fall, as other media outlets have suggested, would cripple the sport. Are there any plans to tweak the schedule? Anthony Holman, an IHSA assistant executive director who oversees baseball, explains in an e-mail how that process could work:

As if Neuqua Valley cross country star Chris Derrick didn't do enough already, he's moonlighting as a blogger every other Tuesday for The Final Sprint. Check out his first entry, an amusing story about an epic run.

Benet has hired Gene Heidkamp as its boys basketball coach, the school announced Monday.

The school looked within the East Suburban Catholic Conference to replace Marty Gaughan, who resigned from the position he held for 19 seasons in late March. Heidkamp has coached at St. Patrick and Nazareth for the past 15 years and is a graduate of St. Patrick and St. Norbert College.

Look for more details later at napersun.com.

Is that Green Day? Naperville Central's Keith Lage won two state titles and four total medals at the boys gymnastics championships last week. This is how it looks and sounds with choppy audio. Or is that my computer?

Monika Jakutyte's track and field career has been hampered by injuries - a pulled back this season and torn hamstring last spring - but the senior overcame those hinderances to secure the state title in the high jump at Saturday's Class AA girls track and field meet at EIU.

Jakutyte didn't need a personal-best to win the event with a mark of 5-3, but considering all that she's gone through over the last four years, the victory couldn't have been more satisfying.

It's not my best," she said. "... It's OK. It's not what I wanted (heightwise). It took four years to win it, but I did it."

Join us in congratulating Monika on her state title by clicking on the comment link above.

After taking a pair of games from rival Naperville Central on Thursday, Naperville North can win the DuPage Valley Conference baseball title outright with another victory against the Redhawks today.

If the Huskies do claim the DVC title - is it the kind of momentum-builder that can help them dethrone defending state champ Neuqua Valley and win a sectional title?

The IHSA released its broadcast schedule on Monday for IHSAradio.com for the spring championships. Boys and girls track and field, girls soccer, baseball and softball will get the royal treatment.

Track and Field coverage will begin on Friday, May 16 with a recap of opening day results beginning at 4:30 pm central time. The network will then continue on Saturday, May 17 with live coverage of the final day of competition beginning at 11:00 am central time.

Spring sports coverage will then conclude with full coverage of Class 1A and 2A boys baseball and girls softball on May 30-31, to be followed by the 3A and 4A tournaments for both sports on June 6 and 7.

Any by royal treatment, I mean the state finals will be broadcast on the Internet to an audience of the six people who care enough to listen, but don't care enough to go to the game.

But either way, boys volleyball and girls and boys water polo, tough luck, the IHSA deems you too unimportant to waste audio archive space.

Ultimate Frisbee as an entity hasn't been around all that long; it was established in 1969. But the sport has plenty of colorful traditions. Jimmy Selleck, Wheaton Warrenville South's coach of 11 years, enlightened me on some of Ultimate's well-meaning quirks.

"At the end of every match, whether you win or lose, traditionally you go over to the opposing team and you sing to them a song that you've made up to compliment them on their play," Selleck said. "It's always picking out something positive. It could be poetry, it could be a song, it could be rap. It's a lot of fun, so that's bizarre.

The attire in the sport can get rather ... creative.

"And you get some where guys will pull their shorts down and they'll have a Frisbee taped over their yank, and then they'll dance and run around you and give you a group hug," said Selleck, who grew up playing the sport in Michigan. He said Ultimate is much more mainstream in the Northeast. "It's just fun and good spirit. It's also wacky in the sense of the costumes and uniforms. They're very serious around here (in Illinois), and they are serious at the collegiate level. But there's always that sense of wackiness where you have guys who could potentially wear underwear on their head.

"We go up to Madison Mudbath (a tournament in Wisconsin). They might wear tie-dye-color socks, (or have) Wacky designs and wacky sayings on their uniforms. Just poking funs on themselves, just kind of atypical athletic behavior sometimes."

Fresh off his conference championship in the long jump at the CCIW outdoor meet, Neuqua Valley graduate and Cathage College sophomore Buzzy Brown will be in Naperville on Friday for the Dr. Keeler Invitational.

Brown won his conference title with a leap of 23-feet, four inches at North Park University in Chicago. The Red Men placed third.

The Keeler Invitational begins at 3 p.m. at North Central College's Bendetti-Wherli Stadium.

Naperville Central girls soccer earned its 400th varsity victory with a 4-0 win over Glenbard East on Tuesday.

Casey Short, Hillary Scott, Kelly Blumberg and Jackie Renn each scored and keeper Krissy Many made one save to earn the shutout for the Redhawks (6-0-0 DVC).

Join us in offering our congratulations to coach Ed Watson and the entire Central girls soccer program.

The National Federation of State High School Associations announced this week that instant replay will not be an option for high school basketball in state tournament games.

After much discussion, the committee voted against the use of instant replay to review specific situations during state tournaments. Three proposals were considered by the committee this year after three states had last-second shots in championship games.

"The committee discussed the issue extensively, but there was very little support for implementing video review at the high school level," Struckhoff said. "Some felt the use of video to review officials' decisions is against the philosophy of high school sports. Others said that video review doesn't always provide a conclusive decision, and the equipment would not be consistently available in facilities throughout the country. The committee also felt it would be difficult for officials to officiate without replay throughout the season and then be expected to use it at a state championship."

The NFHS did make two significant rule changes: the rebounding spots closest to the hoop will now be empty to reduce fouling per a pilot program in Georgia; the head coach, not the player, will now be given a technical foul for a player with an illegal uniform.

Rules changes for wrestling and swimming were also announced.

I've seen a lot of high school wrestling in my time, but I've never seen a backflip. Now I never will thanks to the killjoy association NFHS.