With each passing year, it seems more and more that at the high school level, to be the best, you don’t necessarily have to beat the best.
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This would be true in sports such as soccer, gymnastics, tennis and even golf. In those sports some of the best student-athletes opt to play for a club team or go off by themselves to play rather than wear the uniform of the high school they attend. That somewhat dilutes the quality of play at IHSA competitions..
A good example is current University of Texas golf star Doug Ghim.
As a freshman at Buffalo Grove, he finished in a tie for third at the IHSA state tournament, on -shot behind the winner. But his next three years of high school, he honed his golf skills away from the school teamt.
At Warren, Dennis Nevolo won the IHSA state title in boys tennis as a sophomore in 2006, and he then continued his pursuit of tennis excellence away from Warren, never playing at the prep level again.
These days, Nevolo’s trying to carve out a career as a pro tennis player. The University of Illinois grad now plays in small pro tournaments hoping to move up in the rankings to be positioned to play in bigger pro events.
This year, Warren has again been bitten in tennis, this time on the girls side, as senior star Karyna Bihel is not playing for the Blue Devilsl.
Last year, Bihel finished fifth in the state tournament, which was won by then-senior Brienne Minor of Carmel, who is now at the University of Michigan.
In the most recent USTA player rankings, in the Chicago area, Minor is the top player in the 18-under girls division.
Bella Lorenzini was second to Minor in last fall’s state tourney and she’s second on the USTA list. She’s a junior at Hinsdale Central.
Bihel currently is No. 10 on the USTA list. Naperville Central senior Tiffany Chen, the 2013 IHSA champ who was third at state last year, is fourth on the USTA list.
Public League football’s on the rise: Though not necessarily ready to take on perennial powers Maine South or Montini just yet, it’s clear that the level of football in the Chicago Public League is better in 2015 than it was in 2012.
Here are the numbers: In 2012, Chicago Public League teams were a combined 3-32 during Week 1 of that football season when playing against teams not from the CPL.
This past weekend, the record was 6-21.
In 2012, the winners were King over a St. Joseph program that went 1-8, Young over at St. Ignatius team that finished 3-7, and Kenwood over a T.F. North team that wound up 1-8.
Last weekend, the schools that lost to CPL teams were Rich East (7-4 last year), Fenwick (7-5), Ridgewood (5-4), Oak Lawn (3-6), Maine East (1-8), and Roosevelt (1-8) from Gary, Ind.
That does not mean that there aren’t blowout wins to be had by scheduling Chicago teams, with Woodstock North’s 73-0 win over UIC Prep and Geneseo’s 62-0 victory over South Shore being prime examples.
What it does mean is that the days of a school calling the Public League to schedule a sure win is more of an iffy proposition than it was in the past.
This Saturday, North Chicago will host Robeson from the Public League at 2 p.m. Last week, Robeson lost to Public League rival Julian 12-0. On Friday, Carmel (0-1) will play Phillips (1-0), which finished second in last year’s Class 4A playoffs.
Last week, Harlan from the CPL forfeited its scheduled game at Deerfield.
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