D-C grad Michalski making big impact for 15-2 Benedictine
Dundee-Crown alum Allison Michalski is making a difference for a Benedictine University women's basketball team that is having an impressive season.
Benedictine, out of Lisle, is 15-2 overall and 12-0 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play to start the week. A big part of that success has come via Michalski, who is leading the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game. She's shooting .441 from the field on 256 attempts (the next closest teammate has launched 148 shots). She's also at .737 from the foul line (56 of 76). Additionally, Michalski is averaging 5.8 rebounds and has 21 steals and 13 blocks.
The 5-11 junior forward and Algonquin native had 14 points and 12 rebounds in a recent game against Dominican and also had 23 point and 8 rebounds against Aurora University.
Michalski has hit for 31 points on two occasions this season. She had 31 points on 12 of 18 shooting and 7 rebounds against Illinois Tech (in 20 minutes of action) and also hit 31 in 20 minutes of playing time to go with 8 rebounds in a game against Alverno. She's gone over the 20-point barrier in 7 games this season.
Michalski has won the NACC student-athlete of the week honor three times this season.
Whitley at UAB: Geneva product Margaret Whitley is a sophomore guard on the Division I Alabama-Birmingham women's basketball team. To start the week, Whitley has played in 19 games and is averaging 4.5 points a contest, while shooting .377 from the 3-point line (20 of 53) and .786 from the free-throw line.
A major highlight for Whitley this year was her 19-point effort in a game against the University of Alabama in Huntsville where she shot 6-for-8 from the 3-point line. She also had 13 points and shot 5-for-5 from the foul line against Tuskegee.
Marszal into MCC Hall of Fame: Cary-Grove graduate Zach Marszal will be one of four individuals inducted into the McHenry County College Athletics Department Hall of Fame on Feb. 4. The ceremony will take place between the women's and men's basketball games at about 7 p.m.
Marszal starred on the baseball field for MCC from 2013-2015. As a freshman, he finished fourth in the country in batting average at .467, earning first-team all-ISCC and second-team all-Region 4 honors.
As a sophomore, Marszal helped MCC to a 44-13 record and a No. 16 national ranking. That year he ranked 14th in the country in RBI with 65, again earning all-ISCC first-team honors, while also being named the Region 4 player of the year, a first-team all-Region 4 selection and an NJCAA third-team All-American.
He graduated from MCC with NJCAA academic All-American status and went on to attend and play baseball at North Carolina Central University. Marszal completed his bachelor's degree at Illinois State and is currently in the Chicagoland area working as a software engineer.
Locals at Augustana: A host of former area cross country runners contributed to the Augustana men's team this season. The Vikings took fifth at the CCIW championship and 14th in the Midwest regional.
Burlington Central product and Maple Park native Josh Teets, a junior, recorded the team's top finish in six of seven varsity competitions. He was selected Augustana's most valuable runner after finishing 18th at the conference meet and 58th at the regional level in Wisconsin.
Fellow Burlington Central alum Tate Henrikson (Elgin native) earned a Top 10 showing at the Coe Early Fall invite and took 10th at the Midwest Collegiate Championships. He took 23rd at the conference meet (26:32.5).
Senior Nick Harvey, also an Elgin native and Central graduate, was part of the team's top 7 runners this season.
Teets and Henrikson were team captains along with South Elgin graduate and Bartlett native Jackson Mainellis giving the Augustana captaincy a distinct Fox Valley flavor.
Allen earns player of year honor: Continuing with the Augustana theme here, Batavia grad Matt Allen was named the men's soccer team's player of the year. Allen, a senior at Augustana, finished the season with 5 goals and 14 points. He tied for the team lead in assists with four.
Allen had two assists in the team's first win of the season (3-0 against Beloit) and had the only goal of the next match on a penalty kick against Coe. He also had a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over Carroll, plus scored both goals in a win against Millikin.
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. Winter sports submissions are encouraged.