It seemed like nothing went right for the University High girls cross-country team Thursday.
“It was just one of those days,” U-High coach Bud James said.
The bus that the varsity team was supposed to take to Lake Forest for the Independent School League championship race never came, and the Maroons had to scramble to make alternate transportation arrangements. Further delayed by the rainy weather, they finally arrived in Lake Forest but it was two hours late and the girls race had already ended.
Thanks to an annual freshman retreat, however, the Maroons were still able to field a team. Frosh-soph volleyball coach Megan Janda had escorted the freshman runners from Lake Geneva, planning to meet up with the rest of the team. Senior class president Shelly Carr had also attended the retreat and provided some key leadership. When Janda discovered that the other runners hadn’t arrived, she called James and asked for his advice.
“I told her, `I think we’re good enough to compete with the people that we have at the course already, so let’s give it a shot,'” James said.
It was the first time in more than five years that the Maroons failed to win the ISL championship. Their freshmen, however, came through with a respectable second-place finish. Freshmen Hannah Shaw and Katie Beal, along with Carr, qualified for all-conference honors.
“We just came up a little bit short,” James said.
All-State runner Becky Levine would not have competed even had the team had arrived on time. She twisted her ankle during a practice run Tuesday, and James would have kept her out of the race to avoid further injury.
Chicago Latin won the team title with 22 points. Caitlin Kenny of Morgan Park Academy won the 2.5-mile race with a time of 17 minutes 5 seconds.
Kelli McElhinny.
Football
Amundsen 24, Prosser 20: Freshman Ken Stubblefield rushed for 133 yards in 29 carries and scored on a 2-yard run as the Vikings (4-3, 3-1) held on in the Public North. Rojerian Hannah ran for 76 yards and two scores in 15 attempts for Amundsen.
Lake Forest Academy 26, Delavan (Wis.) School for the Deaf 0: Larry Cowherd ran for 84 yards and three touchdowns in 11 carries.
Lane Tech 48, Young 12: Gideon Akande ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns in 15 carries to lead the Indians (6-1, 4-0) clinched the Public Illini Northeast title. Matt Slusher added two touchdown passes, while Cortez Evans and A.J. Butler contributed short TD runs.
Lincoln Park 18, Sullivan 7: Freshman quarterback David Maloy passed for 164 yards as Lincoln Park (3-4, 2-2) won in the Public North.
Marshall 24, Manley 6: Michael Armstrong threw two touchdown passes as the Commandos (7-0, 4-0) rolled in the Public Illini Northwest. Doubton Holmes accounted for two touchdowns–one on a 3-yard run and the other on a 47-yard pass play from Armstrong.
Jahmel Richard’s 1-yard TD run for Manley (4-3, 2-2) was the only blemish on Marshall’s defensive effort. Marshall held Joe Tolliver to just 37 yards rushing.
Boys soccer
Sandburg 4, Andrew 0: Tom Funk, Pete Gabrysiak, Kevin Marszalek and Al Duncan each scored for the No. 1 Eagles (17-1-1, 7-0) in the SICA West.
Lincoln-Way Central 5, Joliet 1: Matt Wieclaw, Matt O’Brien, Blake Gotkowski, Joe Ducci and Dave Brown scored for the No. 2 Knights (15-1-2, 7-1) in the SICA West. Brown also had three assists.
Hinsdale Central 3, Addison Trail 1: The No. 6 Red Devils (13-1-4) used two goals from Audrius Zinkeviciusin the first seven minutes to prevail in a West Suburban crossover match.
Libertyville 4, Lake Forest 1: Zac Francis had a goal and an assist as the No. 7 Wildcats (11-3-2, 3-0-1) won in the North Suburban Lake. Francis assisted on Brad Purtell’s goal in the 13th minute and then scored off a feed from Matt Mahoney in the 27th minute to put Libertyville up 2-0 at the break.
Kevin Brilliant scored with 13 minutes left to pull Lake Forest (10-4-2, 1-1-2) within 2-1. Six minutes later, Joel Gruber scored on a penalty kick to put the game away for Libertyville. Austin Yarc added an insurance goal with 30 seconds left.
Buffalo Grove 2, Conant 0: Dan Ronza assisted Mike Kurgan on his 16th goal of the season and Steve Skarren scored the other goal for the No. 8 Bison (16-1) in the Mid-Suburban crossover.
Evanston 0, Glenbrook South 0: Defender Evan Howell made a non-goalie save in the first half and wound up saving ninth-ranked Evanston from defeat in this Central Suburban South meeting. David Bartosiak had to come up with six saves of his own for the Wildkits (11-3-3, 4-0-1). Glenbrook South keeper Sean Gallagher had four saves for the Titans (8-3-6, 2-0-3).
Downers Grove South 1, West Aurora 1: Bill Whited scored the tying goal for Downers South (8-2-3).
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Fenwick 3, Brother Rice 1: Joe Nierzwicki scored two goals to lead the Friars (12-2-2, 8-1) in the Catholic League.
Naperville North 1, Naperville Central 0: Steve Jehs scored off Drew Henson’s assist with 34 minutes left in the game as the Huskies (9-3-2, 4-1) defeated their DuPage Valley rivals.
Warren 3, Antioch 1: Jerry Carranza had two unassisted goals to lift Warren (10-7-2, 1-2) in the North Suburban Lake.
Girls volleyball
Mother McAuley d. Resurrection 15-6, 15-4: Megan Griffin and Megan Knightly turned in seven kills apiece to lead the top-ranked Mighty Macs (21-3, 5-0) in the GCAC Red.
St. Charles East d. DeKalb 15-3, 15-11: The fifth-ranked Saints (20-1, 7-0) prevailed in the Upstate Eight behind Dani Nyenhuis’ eight kills and Amanda Rohrsen’s 26 assists.
Cary-Grove d. Prairie Ridge 15-11, 15-13: In the Fox Valley, the No. 7 Trojans (21-2, 10-1) defeated Prairie Ridge for the third time this season behind Cassie McLaughlin’s 11 digs, eight kills and seven blocks.
Marian Catholic d. St. Viator 15-1, 15-0: The No. 9 Spartans (18-10, 6-2) rolled in the East Suburban Catholic behind Mary Welch’s three kills.
Barrington d. Hoffman Estates 15-3, 15-5: Katie Freese had eight kills and Nellie Spencer added 23 assists as the Fillies (15-5, 8-0) cruised in the Mid-Suburban West.
Buffalo Grove d. Prospect 15-10, 15-13: Laura Chelcun had six kills and six assists to go with Gillian Falknor’s 10 assists for the Bison (12-10, 5-3) in the Mid-Suburban East.
Jacobs d. Dundee-Crown 15-6, 15-12: Tara Geegan and Susie Williams had five kills each to lead the Eagles (17-4, 6-4) in the Fox Valley.
Lake Forest d. Warren 15-7, 15-11: Taira Lehman had six kills and 13 digs to lead the Scouts in the North Suburban Lake.
Naperville North d. West Chicago 15-0, 15-5: Katie Bruzdzinski had 10 kills to help the Huskies (17-3, 7-2) cruise in the DuPage Valley.
Northside Prep d. Clemente 15-9, 15-12: Liesl Laurach’s six kills and Natalie Mazur’s three aces led Northside (17-5, 7-0) in the Public Green North.
Prosser d. Taft 15-2, 15-2: Maggie Skrabacz served nine aces and Erica Love added five kills and four aces for Prosser (12-5, 8-0) in the Public Blue.
Wheaton Warrenville South d. Glenbard East 15-3, 15-12: Nicole Wallace and Julie Gagnon had eight kills each for the Tigers (17-3, 7-2) in the DuPage Valley.