Senior Lake County all-stars to play at Waukegan
Ready for some spring hoops?
The top caliber prep players from Lake County are once again ready to show their skills at the eighth annual Lake County Senior Girls and Boys Shootout on Thursday, April 20 at the Waukegan High School.
"We are very excited about this years game" said coordinator Fred Fleming. "We moved the game to Waukegan High School this year, due to schedule conflict with the College of Lake County."
Fleming believes this year's event will include some of the strongest games with a lot of state's top recruits.
"Waukegan's Carson Newsome (UW-Milwaukee signee), Zion's Rod Henry Hays (Northern Illinois signee) and Stevenson's Justin Smith (Indiana signee) will definitely bring some excitement to this years boys game," Fleming said.
"On the girls side we have Grayslake North's Sidney Lovitsch (St. Xavier recruit), Libertyville's Claire Keefe (DePauw University signee) and the dynamic twin play of Antioch's Ashley and Amy Reiser, who will lead a very exciting/talented girls game this year."
Fleming said this year was one of the toughest the committee had in selecting the girls team.
"Lake County is full with a plethora of really good girl players this year," he said. "This is our eighth year sponsoring this game and my partner (Dwayne Springs) and I cannot believe the continued support we get from the coaches, players and fans in Lake County year after year. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed with the activities we have planned this year."
The event will featuring a coed 3-point shootout and the popular Slam Dunk competition.
The girls game is at 6 p.m. and the boys at 8 p.m. Admission is $5.
This game will be played under IHSA guidelines and rules.
Here are the rosters:
The East boys team is coached by Aaron Simpson (North Chicago coach and DePaul University alum): Reece Eldridge ((Antioch), Simone Hinton (North Chicago), Terrell Greer (North Chicago), Jalen Ray (Zion-Benton), Rod Henry Hays (Zion-Benton), Marquis Henry (Zion-Benton), Justin McMann (Lake Forest), Kyle Rohr (Lakes), Ian Haflinger (Lakes), Michael Bens (Lake Zurich), Declan O'Connor (Warren), Juwan Perry (Warren), Brian Julien (Carmel), John Barr (Carmel), Harrison Bach (Libertyville)
The West boys team is coached by Akeem Springs (Waukegan coach and University of Minnesota alum): Sidney Goodman (Grayslake Central), Willie Herenton (Stevenson), Justin Smith (Stevenson), Carson Newsome (Waukegan), Deshawn Davidson (Waukegan), Kalen Mays (Waukegan), KD Woods (Waukegan), Chris Harris (Lake Forest Academy), John Kerr (Grant), Ben Kusiak (Grant), Zach Zuligoski (Round Lake), Chris Mariella (Vernon Hills), Jarod Stonis (Wauconda), Kyle Drobnik (Wauconda), Jamal Thomas (Grayslake North).
The West girls team is coached by Syerra Cunningham (Zion Benton and Illinois-Springfield alum): Niquera Short (Zion), Brielle Johnson (Waukegan), Lindsay Brust (Grayslake Central), Amanda Larson (Grayslake Central,) Erika Gallimore (Antioch), Amy Reiser (Antioch), Ashley Reiser (Antioch), Claire Keefe (Libertyville), Riley Weis (Libertyville), Caroline Frea (Libertyville), Daija Pruitt (Carmel).
The East girls team is coached by Alyssa Phillips (Warren and William Penn alum): Ashley Richardson (Stevenson), Madison Wicklund (Stevenson), Becky Bahlmann (Vernon Hills), Rebekah Foley (Warren), Natalie Iacopetti (Lakes), Emely Martinez (Round Lake), Sarah Ouimet (Mundelein), Katie Rossetti (Wauconda), Sarah Zellmann (Lakes), Delaney Williams (Lake Forest).
Men's tennis
Wheaton College sophomore Joshua Cheng (Stevenson) earned a win at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 6-2 and teamed with Andrew Bristol for a victory at No. 3 doubles when the Thunder opened its 2017 conference season with a 9-0 win at Augustana.
It was the third win in a row for the Thunder, which improved to 8-5 overall.
Mayer wins Swartz
Augustana senior Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) was named a winner of the Jack Swartz Award for the winter sports season. Mayer was the starting point guard on the basketball team for the past four years.
The Jack Swartz Award is given to one male and one female athlete at the end of each athletic season. The honor is given by the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and each of the eight schools in the league are allowed to pick their own representatives. The only requirement is that the winners must earn a varsity letter in his/her sport and have a grade-point average of at least 3.50. The award is named after the late Jack Swartz, who served as the Commissioner of the CCIW until his death in 1998.
Mayer is a two-sport standout for the Vikings. Besides her duty as the point guard on the basketball team, she is also a standout midfielder for the Augustana lacrosse program. This past year she helped lead the women's basketball program to a 17-9 overall record, the most victories since 1992-93 and the first CCIW Tournament berth since 2003. Mayer started all 26 games and ended up leading the team in assists with 86 while averaging 7.5 points and 1.7 rebounds. She also had 24 steals.
She finished her career in second place on the Vikings' all-time assist list with 356 and she is 23rd in career steals (109) and 25th in scoring (699 points).
She also has been a standout in women's lacrosse and a year ago she was the "Most Outstanding Defensive Player" in the CCIW. She ranks in the top 10 in six different career categories. She is third in draw controls (127), fourth in caused turnovers (81), fourth in ground balls (121), sixth in assists (55), sixth in total points (175) and seventh in goals scored (119).
Mayer's free position goal with 56.5 seconds left in the first overtime lifted Augustana to a 12-11 win over Illinois Wesleyan this past Saturday at Thorson-Lucken Field. The Vikings logged the program's 31st consecutive conference victory to improve to 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW.
Mayer is a psychology major with a 3.69 grade-point average and is the daughter of John and Kim Mayer of Lake Forest.
Softball
Carthage freshman Brooke Sefcik (Wauconda) was 2-for-4 against North Park, driving in both runs in a 2-1 victory. Her second hit was the game-winner in the tenth inning.
Men's track
Augustana junior Kevin Barbian (Libertyville) took third place in the shot put (51-1½) as the Vikings took second place at the Ashton May Invitational at Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Barbian also took fifth in the discus with a heave of 143-1.
Baseball
Illinois redshirt sophomore Quinten Sefcik (Carmel Catholic) picked up his third win of the season against Indiana State. He got the call from the bullpen in the third inning due to an injury to the starter. He pitched 3⅓ innings, allowing 1 run.
Trautwein to speak
A very important message of awareness and support for mental health issues will be delivered by former major league baseball pitcher John Trautwein, who played for Barrington High School hall of fame coach Kirby Smith.
Trautwein will tell his story on Wednesday as part of the Illinois State University Speaker Series at Redbird Arena beginning at 8 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, with parking available in lots adjacent to the arena. This presentation is sponsored by the President's Office, Illinois State Athletics and State Farm.
By telling the story about losing his teenage son, Will, to suicide in 2010, Trautwein focuses on what he learned as a grieving parent who was unaware of the issues that faced his child and still burden millions of teens today. He and his wife, Susie, have become a positive force for change through the Will To Live Foundation, a nonprofit they created after losing Will during his freshman year of high school. More than $1 million has been raised through the organization to prevent teen suicide by raising awareness and education about mental health.
A native of the Chicago area and now president of the global IT company, Source Support Services, headquartered in the Atlanta, Georgia area, Trautwein's passion is to raise teen suicide awareness. One solution he promotes is to create "life teammate bonds" between the people in one's lives that are there for each other to provide love and hope.
The work of Trautwein and his wife has garnered national media attention and accolades. In 2011, they received President George H.W. Bush's Daily Point of Light Award for their foundation work and their ability to turn the tragedy of their son's death into a positive message that inspires others. Their story has also been shared through Trautwein's book, My Living Will - A Father's Story of Loss & Hope.
Please let us know
Lake County sports fans, please send news items about former local prep athletes excelling in college athletics to jleusch@dailyherald.com.