BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW November 2, 2012
RIVERSIDE — Coming into the 2012 postseason, Hinsdale South was looking to rekindle some of the magic that led it to the supersectionals in 2010, and forget about last year’s early exit in the regional final. Continue reading
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW November 2, 2012
BENSENVILLE — Some coaches love their sport so much they remain at the same school for many years and end up seeing sons and daughters of athletes they used to coach. Continue reading
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW October 29, 2012
BENSENVILLE — When a new season arises, every high school team has the same goal: to make the state playoffs and — if they’re lucky — the finals. Continue reading
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW October 25, 2012
ELMWOOD PARK — For years, the cross country teams at Elmwood Park always had wanted to do what other schools had the chance to: the opportunity to host a postseason meet.
On Saturday that opportunity finally arose and the Tigers took full advantage, as the boys won the Class 2A regional meet and the girls finished third.
“Winning while hosting was fantastic,” Elmwood Park coach John Kingsmill said. “Because it was essentially a home meet, a lot of parents were able to attend, as were alumni. It was a community effort to make this happen.”
In previous years, Kingsmill said they had not been able to host for reasons such as lack of support staff and location, amongst other reasons. But this year that all changed. When the IHSA threatened to cancel the regional because nobody stepped up to host, Elmwood Park got the event it always had wanted.
“It was great because right after that was decided, both Lake View and St. Patrick both came to us and helped us with getting all the tags and pinning them to all the runners,” Kingsmill said.
For junior captain Juan Amadore, it meant a little more though.
“It was a great privilege,” he said. “It’s always great to race in front of your fans, it gives you a bigger drive. We know the course and that helped a long ways in winning,
“We have to give it up for coach. Because of him all these people (alumni, parents, neighbors) came out. They all love him and would do anything for him. It really wasn’t a shock so many people came.”
What made the win more sweet for the boys was that their squad does not feature any seniors.
“Normally you want to go with the experienced ones, because they’ve developed physically and are at peak shape,” Kingsmill said. “This year, the strength of the boys team is our youth.”
Amadore, who has been in the program for three years but is in his first year on the varsity, was honored when he was named a captain by Kingsmill earlier this season.
“I always try to encourage them and tell them the be ready for the race,” Amadore said. “It’s a big responsibility to represent the school and we always need to be mentally ready.”
The Tigers will have to be mentally ready when they compete for the sectional crown Saturday. One of their opponents will be Jones Prep of the Chicago Public League. Jones, a small school in the South Loop, is ranked No. 16 in the country and the top 2A school in the state.
“We’ve already made a listing of who the runners are going to be, how they’ve done against each other in previous meets and who they have to watch for next weekend,” Kingsmill said.
The Tigers boys team had three runners finish in the top five, including Ricky Wojcik, who won with a time of 16 minutes, 12 seconds. Rocco Lepore (16:49) and Lucas Kieffer (16:56) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The girls team grabbed third behind Resurrection and Trinity. Bridget Ziegler finished second in 19:38, just three seconds behind champion Elizabeth Molina of Lake View. Kelly Scanlon’s time of 20:08 gave her a fifth-place finish.
Link to story: http://bit.ly/Ttksqe
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW October 25, 2012
CHICAGO — For most high school athletes, the goal is to be good enough to make varsity.
But to make varsity with your twin? Not many things better than that.
That’s the case for twins Mati and Misia Szelazek, freshmen cross country runners at Leyden this fall.
“It’s fun having him there,’’ said Misia. “He’s always supportive of me in my events. He’s competitive, but that’s what keeps me going.’’
For some freshmen, the pressure of making varsity in the first year can be too much to bear and might be a struggle to handle it. It was different for the Szelazeks, however. Misia was on the girls varsity team from the first day of the season, while Mati was elevated to the boys varsity for the first home meet, against Downers South on Sept. 10.
“The coaches put me in the meet because another runner was absent and I have been running on varsity since then,’’ said Mati. “I did feel pressure because I was just thrown in there.’’
Both seem to put pressure on themselves, though. Whether it be Mati feeling he let his team down because his time, as the sixth runner, couldn’t break the tie with Elmwood Park and give the Lions a win. Or it’s Misia feeling the expectations of having to succeed as the only freshman on the roster from the start of the season.
It wasn’t always that way though. Both Szelazeks started running cross country in fifth grade. At first they didn’t enjoy much success, which Misia admits now led to some tears. But it didn’t keep them from becoming their best.
“We always loved running and we were good at most other sports, so we knew if we worked at it, we could make it this far,” Misia said. “Going to the Leyden camps since fifth grade helped too. The people knew us here, we knew the coaches already, so it wasn’t as hard of a transition.’’
While Mati agrees with his sister, he’s also found another thing that has helped ease the transition: his teammates.
“The older members are more calm and composed so I don’t feel rushed,” he said. “They’re there to cheer you on. ‘Good job’ is the best advice you can get from anybody.’’
The Szelazeks and the rest of the Eagles will run at the Niles West sectional on Saturday.
Link to story: http://bit.ly/Su2unK
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW October 5, 2012
Sept. 26, 2011 will be a day that will always stick out in Barrington offensive lineman Mason Darrow’s mind.
That night, the fourth week of the regular season, Darrow went down with a season-ending foot injury in the team’s 37-14 win over Wheeling. Continue reading
Glenbrook South junior Caroline Ryba, considered one of the top 70 tennis players in her class nationally, suffered a hamstring injury toward the beginning of club season in the winter. Continue reading
By Michael Wojtychiw – Contributor September 20, 2012
FRANKLIN PARK — Knute Rockne once said, “A coach’s greatest asset is his sense of responsibility — the reliance placed on him by his players.” Continue reading
BY Mike Wojtychiw February 6, 2012
Contributor
After ending the dual season last year at the Notre Dame Regional, New Trier knew that some things would have to change if the Trevians were going to resume winning regional crowns, as they had the previous three years. Continue reading
Michael Wojtychiw 