advertisement

Elgin grad Williams helps Barry to NCAA Division II Elite Eight

Elgin High graduate Arie Williams is in the midst of his own brand of March Madness.

Williams, a junior guard, has been a contributor for the Division II Barry University (Miami, Fla.) men's basketball team this season.

Williams scored 6 points to go with 2 steals and 1 assists in Barry's recent 87-83 win over Alabama-Huntsville in the NCAA Division II South Region championship game.

The win sends Barry (26-6) to the Division II Elite Eight where it will face Lincoln Memorial in Frisco, Texas on March 23. Lincoln Memorial (Harrogate, Tenn.), ranked No. 1 in one national Division II poll, is 32-2.

Earlier, Williams had 7 points in Barry's 74-65 win in the region semifinals against Union and he also had 16 points and 3 assists in the team's 107-92 triumph over Rollins in the region opener. In that Rollins game, Williams had three 3-pointers and also shot 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Heading into the Elite Eight, Williams was averaging 8.1 points in 24 games. He also had 48 3-pointers (. 400 from 3-point line) and was shooting .744 from the free-throw line.

Ellett breaks NIU golf record: Hampshire graduate Connie Ellett recently put herself in the Northern Illinois University women's golf record book twice - and in doing so was named the Mid-American Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Week.

Ellett broke two records at the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird Invitational held earlier this month in St. George, Utah.

Ellett shot 68 (4-under par) during the final round to vault 17 spots up the leader board. That 68 broke Lori Wetzel's 69, which had stood since 1984.

"The whole day I played really solid," Ellett said. "I was calm when I played and my drives were straight. I hit all the fairways and 15 out of 18 greens and my putter was working very well. I made a lot of birdie putts when I needed to."

Ellett finished the round with 7 birdies.

"I really liked the course. It's one of the prettiest courses I've played on," she said. "I thought I hit the ball well there and that provided a good setup for me."

Ellett is pleased with how her final semester on the collegiate greens is unfolding.

"I'm playing pretty well right now," she said. "I'm hitting the ball really well this semester and that's saved me a lot of shots on the green. My approach shots are better. I'm getting better opportunities to putt. It's been 100 times better. I was averaging 33 putts last semester and now I'm around 29 or 30. That's 3 shots each round I play, which is a significant difference. Putting has been huge for me."

Ellett finished at 1-over 145 for the tournament, which established another school record for a 36-hole event, passing Nicole Jeray (1991) and Lisa Bailey (2006) who shared the record (147).

On the academic side, Ellett has a 3.91 cumulative grade-point average as she wraps up a marketing degree. After graduating this spring, Ellett is heading to Scottsdale, Ariz., to go to work for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

"Everybody starts in the same position, but I want to go the sales route eventually," she said. "At first, everybody starts out renting cars."

Ellett explained she became acquainted with Enterprise through NIU. She noted Enterprise is a sponsor of the school's sales program.

"I'm definitely excited about it," Ellett said of her post-NIU plans. "I'm going to 100 percent miss this part of my life and playing golf every day. I'll miss my parents and family and friends. But it's good to branch out and see what everything else has to offer."

After the Utah tournament, NIU has 3 tournaments remaining this spring.

"It's gone by superfast," said Ellett. "I think my parents (Doug and Sue Ellett) are having a mini-crisis. My mom has gone to two tournaments so far this semester in Arizona and Utah. They realize it's my last little stretch. They've been big supporters."

Freeman named all-American: Cary-Grove product Josh Freeman, now a senior on the Southern Illinois University men's track and field team, recently finished 7th in the country at the recent NCAA track and field indoor championships in Birmingham, Ala.

That seventh-place showing earned Freeman all-American first-team honors.

Freeman threw 63-7 to claim his third first-team all-American award (second in a row indoors).

Freeman improved on last year's eight-place showing at 61-4. He's the first SIU repeat all-American in shot put since the late 1970s.

Buddle at James Madison: South Elgin graduate Alyssa Buddle is a sophomore catcher on a James Madison University softball team that was 22-2 through midweek. In 15 games (7 starts), Buddle was hitting .333 with 7 hits in 21 at-bats. She has 3 runs scored, 1 double, 1 triple, 1 home run and 5 RBI to go with a .619 slugging percentage.

Hornick update: Andrew Hornick, a 2009 Bartlett graduate, is now coaching youth hockey in Iowa. The last two years Hornick has been a coach on the East Dubuque varsity and junior-varsity teams. He is the team's goalie coach and also one of the team's JV coaches. When he's not coaching, Hornick is a project engineer at Polo Industries in Iowa.

After earning team MVP honors with Bartlett's club team, Hornick moved onto the University of Wisconsin-Platteville where he graduated in 2014. Hornick helped Platteville to two club-league Macha tournament titles in 2013 and 2014. He was named tournament MVP and team MVP both years.

Mike Miazga has been writing about sports in the Fox Valley for more than two decades. Email him at mjm890@gmail.com.

Hampshire graduate Connie Ellett, now a senior at Northern Illinois, recently broke two Huskie women's golf records. Photo courtesy Northern Illinois University
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.