Three members of Willowbrook’s girls track and field team joined three Glenbard East athletes in earning state-meet berths at Friday’s IHSA Class 3A sectional at York High School in Elmhurst. The top two finishers in each event at the state’s track and field sectionals qualified for the upcoming state meet, which begins on Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. All athletes who met qualifying standards also secured trips to the state meet. Senior Colleen Krawczykowski of Willowbrook earned her fourth straight state-meet berth in the long jump with a sectional victory in that event. Krawczykowski sailed 17 feet, 81/2 inches in her best jump at the sectional. She beat the runner-up by two inches. Friday’s victory marked Krawczykowski's third sectional title in the long jump. She also claimed first-place finishes in that event as a freshman in 2010, and as a junior last season. Krawczykowski finished fourth in the long jump at the 2010 state meet with an effort that covered 17 feet, 9 inches. She did not advance to the finals of the long jump at the 2011 and 2012 state meets. Krawczykowski earned a state-meet berth in another event—the 300-meter low hurdles—with a second-place finish at Friday’s sectional. She completed the final in 47.09 seconds. Junior Molly Krawczykowski—Colleen’s younger sister—advanced to the state meet for the third straight year by meeting the qualifying standard in the 800-meter run. She finished fourth in Friday’s 800-meter final, posting a time of 2 minutes, 15.63 seconds. Krawczykowski qualified for the state meet in the same event last season. She qualified in the 1,600-meter run as a freshman in 2011. Junior Taylor Burton provided the Warriors with a state-meet berth in the 400-meter dash with her second-place time of 59.86 seconds in Friday’s sectional finals. Wheaton North senior Emma Grisanzio edged Burton in the final with her winning time of 59.44 seconds. Glenbard East freshman Lindsay Graham punched her ticket for the state meet with her sectional performance in the 3,200-meter run. Graham finished fourth in the highly competitive race with a finishing time of 10 minutes, 41.92 seconds. Glenbard West junior Madeline Perez, the reigning IHSA Class 3A cross country state champion, won the race in 10:21.82—more than one minute under the state-qualifying standard of 11:22.04. A total of seven athletes at the York sectional ran state-qualifying times in the 3,200-meter run. Graham shaved about one second off her own school-record time in the 3,200-meter run at Friday’s sectional. Eight days earlier, Graham won the 3,200-meter title at the DuPage Valley Conference Meet. She won that race in 10:42.90. That time eclipsed Graham’s previous school-record time of 10:47.71, which she set at an April 26 meet in Wheaton. Graham delivered an all-state performance in the IHSA Class 3A state cross country meet in November when she earned a 20th-place finish in the 3-mile final. Sophomore Angela Kerndl of the Rams turned in a state-qualifying performance in the 100-meter high hurdles at Friday’s sectional. Kerndl raced to a second-place finish in the sectional final, which she completed in 15.91 seconds. Senior Jessica Spera of Wheaton Warrenville South won the sectional title with her time of 15.51 seconds. Senior Jamie Gradishar of the Rams qualified for the state meet in the pole vault for the second straight year. Gradishar cleared 10 feet, 6 inches during Friday’s sectional to claim a third-place finish. The state-qualifying standard is 10 feet, 3 inches. Gradishar qualified for last year’s state meet by clearing 10-3 at the 2012 Lake Park Sectional. Montini will send two individuals and one relay team to this week’s IHSA Class 2A state meet at Eastern Illinois University. Senior Theresa Connelly qualified for the state meet by winning the 800-meter run at Friday’s Class 2A Glenbard South Sectional in Glen Ellyn. Connelly won the 800-meter final in 2 minutes, 26.16 seconds. Connelly also anchored the Broncos’ state-qualifying 4 x 800-meter relay team that claimed second at the sectional with a time of 9 minutes, 43.96 seconds. Junior Brittany Fisher and seniors Catherine Kitz and Gianna Gentile joined Connelly on the relay team. Freshman Gianna Salzbrunn added a state-meet berth in the 300-meter low hurdles with her third-place time of 47.61 seconds—which came in under the Class 2A qualifying standard of 47.84 seconds.
Warriors post six home wins in six days; Rams win third straight DVC series
The Willowbrook baseball team closed out its West Suburban Gold Conference season by sweeping a three-game series against Leyden. The Warriors began the series with Saturday’s doubleheader victory in Villa Park. Senior Dave Cericola pitched a complete game in a 3-0 win in the opener. Junior Jake Cady delivered another complete game in the second contest—an 8-1 Willowbrook victory. The Warriors completed the sweep with Monday’s 7-3 victory over the Eagles in Northlake. The win, which extended Willowbrook’s winning streak to eight games, gave the team an overall season record of 19-9. The Warriors finished the conference season with an 11-7 mark. Willowbrook began last week with a 1-0 conference win over Downers Grove South in Villa Park on May 6. One day later, the Warriors earned an 8-2 conference home win over Proviso East. The team’s momentum continued with Thursday’s 4-3 home victory over Glenbard West. Willowbrook won its fourth home game in five days when it defeated York 6-1 on Friday. Junior Matt Gasiamis was the winning pitcher against Proviso East. He struck out nine batters and allowed two hits over seven innings. The Warriors scored the winning run against Glenbard West when senior Gabe Gage was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior Mike Rothmund at senior Cal Moltzan both singled earlier in the inning. Senior Rob Huette, who pitched 21/3 scoreless innings in relief, claimed the victory. Junior Jeremy Knable allowed four hits and one walk over seven innings in Friday’s victory over York. Cady helped Willowbrook to a quick 2-0 lead with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the first inning. The Warriors, who are 9-1 in the month of May, will close out the regular season with this week’s non-conference games at Oak Park/River Forest and Bolingbrook, as well as Saturday’s doubleheader at Lincoln-Way Central. Willowbrook will begin the IHSA Class 4A post-season with a May 22 game against York at the Schaumburg Regional.
Glenbard East The Rams fell to 11-20 overall and 7-12 in the DuPage Valley Conference following Monday’s 5-1 loss to West Aurora in Lombard. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Glenbard East loaded the bases with two outs. The Rams were unable to score in the inning. The visiting Blackhawks then scored three insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Seniors Mike Hansen and Troy Huber handled the pitching duties for Glenbard East. Hansen started the game and worked five innings,while Huber worked the last two innings. The Rams will finish up their conference schedule with two more games against West Aurora this week. They will play a non-conference game at Glenbard South on Friday. Glenbard East entered the series against West Aurora having won two of three games in its previous three conference series. The Rams won two of three against Naperville North in late April. They then won two of three against West Chicago during the first week in May. Senior Nick Vichio fired a complete-game shutout in the Rams’ 6-0 win over the Wildcats on May 3. Senior D.J. Spears allowed one run and four hits over seven innings one day later in Glenbard East’s 7-1 win. The strong pitching of Hansen and senior Danny Ryan led the Rams to a 3-2 win over Wheaton Warrenville South on May 8. Vichio lashed four hits and drove in three runs in Thursday’s 9-6 win over the Tigers. Ryan added three hits and two runs batted in, while Spears provided two hits and two RBIs. Glenbard East could not complete the sweep against Wheaton Warrenville South, which won a 4-3 decision in Friday’s series finale. Spears tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning. The Tigers scored the winning run on a hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Greg Ludwig had two hits and drove in a run for the Rams. Glenbard East will open the IHSA Class 4A post-season with Monday’s home game against Conant. A victory would propel the Rams to a battle against St. Charles East at the Geneva Regional on May 22. If the Rams beat Conant and St. Charles East, they will meet Geneva or Glenbard West in the regional final on May 25. “We can definitely make a run in the tournament,” said Glenbard East coach Joel Pelland after Monday’s game. “If we play our game, we can compete with anybody.”
Firebirds Soccer Club tryouts begin this weekend
The Lombard Firebirds Soccer Club—a competitive traveling soccer club for boys and girls in second grade (U-8) through high school (U-19)—is about to hold open tryouts for the 2013-14 soccer year. The upcoming tryouts will take place at Lombard Common on the open field along Grace Street. The first tryouts take place on Saturday, May 18. To register for the club’s upcoming tryouts, or for more information, visit the Firebirds’ Web site at www.FirebirdsSC.com, call James Chivilo at 630-247-2373, or e-mail Whitney O’Brien at whitneyob@comcast.net.
