York football schedule filled with tough competition
Dukes open season at state quarterfinalist New Trier.
 

By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The York football team will see no shortage of tough competition right out of the gates this season.
The Dukes will play three of their first four games against teams that advanced to the second round or further in the 2014 playoffs.
York kicks off the 2015 season on Friday Aug. 28 in Winnetka against a New Trier team that went 10-2 last year and advanced to the state quarterfinals in Class 8A (losing to eventual champion Stevenson). New Trier is new to York’s schedule this season.
The Dukes then host Leyden on Friday Sept. 4 in one of their two West Suburban Conference crossover games against teams from the Gold Division. Leyden went 2-7 last season.
York again hits the road on Saturday, Sept. 12 to face defending WSC Silver Division champion Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn for a 1 p.m. matinee game. Glenbard West went 12-1 and reached the 8A semifinals last season (also losing to Stevenson).
The Dukes return home for their second WSC Silver game on Friday, Sept. 18 against a Hinsdale Central team that went 8-3 overall in 2014 and finished 5-1 in the conference.
The annual game against Willowbrook takes place Sept. 25 in Villa Park. Willowbrook finished 2-7 last season. York won last year’s meeting by a 42-7 count.
On Oct. 2, York returns home for its third conference game against Oak Park-River Forest, another 2014 playoff qualifier. The Huskies went 7-3 and 4-2 in WSC Silver play last season.
York heads to Hillside on Friday night Oct. 9 to face Proviso West. The Dukes defeated Proviso West 39-21 last year. Proviso finished 2-7 in 2014.
The Dukes then head to Downers Grove to take on Downers Grove North on Oct. 16. Downers North was 3-6 a year ago.
York, which plays four home regular-season games, wraps up the WSC Silver and regular seasons on Oct. 23 at home against a Lyons Township team that also made the playoffs. Lyons went 5-5 last season.
The Dukes will face five teams on their schedule this year that made the state playoffs. York finished 4-5 in 2014.

York 2015 Football Schedule
Date                Opponent                                          Time
Aug. 28           At New Trier                                   7:30 p.m.
Sept. 4            Leyden (home)                              7:30 p.m.
Sept. 12         At Glenbard West                                1 p.m.
Sept. 18         Hinsdale Central (home)              7:30 p.m.
Sept. 25         At Willowbrook                                7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2             Oak Park-River Forest (home)      7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9             At Proviso West                                7:30 p.m.
Oct. 16          At Downers Grove North                  7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23          Lyons Township (home)                   7:30 p.m.

IC Catholic Prep girls volleyball competitive in summer leagues
Knights had a record turnout for youth camps.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The IC Catholic Prep girls volleyball team went toe-to-toe with some of the area’s larger schools this summer.
The Knights took part in a pair of summer leagues at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora. IC played in a Tuesday and a Thursday night league.
“The summer league went well,” said IC coach Nancy D’Amore. “We finished in the top third of teams in the Tuesday night league, which is a very good finish for us. A lot of the schools we face there are the bigger public schools from the far western suburbs. It’s nice to get a chance to play against those bigger programs. For us, our girls are able to try out different things and we can be a little looser in terms of lineups and trying different people next to each other. When the season starts we’ll know a lot about where people are and we can focus in on things right from Day 1.”
IC made it to the top bracket in the Thursday night league at Great Lakes.
“I tell them all the time in some of these matches they are going up against some of the best hitters in the state and they are holding their own,” said D’Amore. “That’s a good sign. It exposes your weaknesses a lot faster and the girls get a good idea of the things we need to work on and they get a better understanding of what’s going on much quicker. We’re playing teams where their front line is 6-2 across and they have great defenders. You have to be able to run your offense and put good defense on the floor in those situations and we were able to do that.”
D’Amore saw plenty of positives throughout the time she had with her kids in the summer.
“I’m still not 100 percent sure where we are going to land in terms of lineups,” she said. “We have some returning girls who have experience and are strong players and good leaders. Hopefully they will spark us. We know our conference is pretty tough across the board with teams like Glenbard South and Wheaton Academy. We know we are going to have to step up to play every night in conference.”
D’Amore noted IC returns five players who saw regular rotation action last year in Claudia Koch, Tess Reardon, Katie Harvey, Kerry Mulligan and Katie Hendricks.
“We were able to move the puzzle pieces around and see what combos work,” said D’Amore. “When we come back in a couple weeks the girls will continue to focus and work hard. They are excited and ready to go, but first they get to enjoy a break after a lot of volleyball.”
IC also ran its usual high school camp and its youth camps, which drew strong numbers.
“We had a record number of kids in the youth camps,” said D’Amore. “We have over 200 kids participating in 110-plus hours of camps in three weeks.”
IC opened the 2015 season with the start of fall practice earlier this week.

IC Catholic Prep announces fall sports tryout schedules

Elmhurst Explosion baseball teams fare well.

By Mike Miazga

Correspondent

IC Catholic Prep has announced tryout information for the upcoming fall sports season.

Each student-athlete (sophomore, junior and senior) must complete an IHSA athletic physical and submit it to the ICCP athletic office before he or she can participate in any school-sponsored event or practice.

Incoming freshmen are covered by the school physical completed for entrance to ICCP, but still must sign waiver forms.

Physical forms can be downloaded from the “other forms” section of the IHSA website at www.ihsa.org or on the ICCP athletic website at http://il.8to18.com/ic.

The school notes all student-athletes will be registering this year for their respective sports online. Concussion and waiver forms will be completed as part of the online registration process. Click the “Registration” icon on the school’s athletic website.

For boys and girls cross country, coach Jeff Fredrickson will meet all interested and returning runners at the gym parking lot on Aug. 12 at 8 a.m. for the first practice. Athletes should be prepared to run.

ICCP football coach Bill Krefft will conduct the first practice of the season on Aug. 10 at 3:30 p.m. at Plunkett Field/Lewis Stadium. These times include double-session practices. A practice schedule will be posted on the athletic website under “Football.”

For golf, coach Don Sujack will meet all interested and returning golfers Aug. 12 at 7:30 a.m. in the high school cafeteria followed by practice at a local driving range. Be sure to bring golf clubs. Transportation to and from the driving range will be via the ICCP activity bus, which will return before 11 a.m. It is expected practices will occur at that same time until the start of school.

For girls volleyball and head coach Nancy D’Amore, practices will begin Aug. 12. A practice schedule will be posted on the school athletic website under “Volleyball.”

Girls tennis coach Julie Hurt will begin practices Aug. 12. Go to the school athletic website and click “Tennis” for more information.

Boys soccer coach Tod Privett kicks off the season with practice on Aug. 12 at 3:30 p.m. at Plunkett Athletic Complex. Athletes should come prepared with shin guards.

Elmhurst Explosion 10U wins league title

The Elmhurst Explosion 10U traveling baseball team won the WSBL championship in the 10U National division.

The Explosion downed Wheaton Briarcliff 5-2 in the championship game.

Team members include: Jack Braun, Jack Harrison, Kevin Cushing, Jack Carroll, PJ Wisniewski, Jason Meyers, Sean Fitzgerald, Aidan Hill, Trey Manchester, Joey Pagni, Jack Burns and Adam Hardek. The team is coached by John Carroll, Kevin Fitzgerald and Jim Pagni.

Elmhurst Explosion 14U second in playoffs

The Elmhurst Explosion 14U travel baseball team placed second in the WSBL 14U National division playoffs.

The team includes: Tim Bowbin, Ethan Chael, Kellan Gilmartin, Brendan Hill, Jared Kinney, Ryan Kosowski, Christopher Lee, John Milling, Danny Pierotti, William Rand, Wade Ross and Troy Siranovic. The team is coached by Ryan Ross, Brendan Hill, Vic Chael and Tony Pierotti.