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Sports

Who's On Downers Grove's Prep Spring Sports Honor Roll?

Patch highlights the top performances of local high school athletes during the recently concluded spring season.

Just as schools have released their spring semester academic honor rolls, Patch has released its spring sports honor roll for Downers Grove high schools: Downers North, Downers South and Downers Grove residents who attend Benet Academy.

The recently concluded 2011 spring sports season was one that turned out to be chock-full of top-notch performances.

Here is the honor roll, in alphabetical order, along with five honorable mentions:

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Nick Burdi, senior, Downers South baseball—One of the most dominant pitchers in the Chicago area, Burdi takes his mid-90 mph fastball to Louisville this fall. Burdi, drafted by the Minnesota Twins earlier this month in the 24th round, averaged over 1 ½ strikeouts per inning this season and went 7-1.

Downers North girls 4x800 relay team— The Trojans’ squad, consisting of senior Gabriella Efferin (see entry below), sophomores Gabrielle Hesslau and Jillian Kothanek, and freshman Stephanie Urbancik, had the 11th fastest time nationally in this event, according to ESPN Rise’s dyestat.com rankings. The quartet lived up to its billing at the 3A meet, racing to a state championship in a time of 9:09.61. With three of their four runners returning next season, the Trojans will be in the hunt for a second straight state title in this event.

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Gabriella Efferin, senior, Downers North girls track—As previously noted, Efferin was part of the state champion 4x800 relay team (she ran the third leg). She also motored to a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter final for all-state honors.

Tori Franklin, senior, Downers South girls track—Franklin wasn’t able to defend the state triple jump title she won as a junior, but she ended her standout career by finishing second this spring. Franklin also won an all-state medal in an event she had never competed in prior to this season—the 400-meter run (third place). In addition, Franklin was part of the Mustangs’ state runner-up 4x400 relay team along with senior Melissa Radek, junior Rebecca Stearns and sophomore Samantha Baeten.

Marissa Mersch, senior, Downers South softball—Mersch ended a spectacular career just two hits short of the state’s all-time record for career hits. She’s No. 2 all-time in career doubles, as well. Mersch, who continues her softball career at Wisconsin, batted a whopping .575 this spring with six homers and 43 RBIs—all from the leadoff spot.

The Ryndak sisters, Downers North softball—Kendall, a senior, and Dale, a freshman, gave foes fits whether they were standing in the pitcher’s circle or digging into the batter’s box. They for 30 of the team’s school-record 32 victories in 2011 (17 wins for Kendall; 13 for Dale) and both posted ERAs under 1.00. Kendall belted seven homers, while Dale smacked five. Kendall will be playing college softball at Lindenwood University. And Dale? Well, opponents get to face her for three more years.

Luke Schubert, senior, Downers North boys gymnastics—What a way to cap a career. Schubert led the Trojans to at state—and with it, the school’s first boys gymnastics team trophy—by placing in four events. He earned all-state on the horizontal bar (sixth), the still rings (seventh), vault (eighth) and the parallel bars (ninth).

Allyson Staats, senior, Benet softball—Clearly, this Downers Grove resident was the catalyst behind Benet’s march to its first appearance at the state softball tournament in school history (the Redwings finished in the state). A workhorse on the mound, she established a new school record for most pitching victories in a single season with 29 and piled up 222 strikeouts in 264 2/3 innings with a 1.48 ERA. At bat, Staats hit .397 and was second on the team in RBIs (34).

Matt Wivinis, senior, Downers South baseball—Perhaps overshadowed at times by teammate Nick Burdi’s brilliance on the mound, Wivinis was arguably the best all-around baseball player in DuPage County this spring. Wivinis batted .442 with 37 RBIs—both team-highs—and hit five home runs. The Kansas State recruit was a formidable No. 2 pitcher in the Mustangs’ rotation, sporting a 2.75 ERA with four victories.

Anne Yahiro, junior, Benet girls track—Yahiro, a Downers Grove resident, earned her second all-state medal in as many years in the Class 3A triple jump. After placing eighth as a sophomore, Yahiro jumped up to fifth this time around.

Honorable mention

Sam Kull, senior, Downers South boys volleyball—Kull, an all-West Suburban Gold pick, helped lead the Mustangs to a sectional semifinal appearance and a WSG title with solid totals in kills, service aces and block-kills.

Maeve McGuire, sophomore, Benet softball—The sky’s the limit for McGuire, a Downers Grove resident who led the teams in runs (49) and doubles (26), tied for the team lead in homers (five), hit .469 (second on the team) and was one double shy of equaling the all-time state record for most two-base hits in a single season (she had 26 doubles; the state record is 27).

 Greg Petty, senior, Downers North boys volleyball—Petty will join his brother, Jay, on the Lewis University volleyball team for the 2012 season after piling up over 340 kills for the Trojans in 2011 and exhibiting great all-around skills.

Melissa Radek, senior, Downers South girls track—Radek not only was part of the Mustangs’ 4x400 relay team, she also captured all-state honors in the 300 low hurdles with a fourth-place finish.

Luke Wychocki, senior, Downers North boys gymnastics—Wychocki complemented Schubert’s performance at state with an eighth-place finish on the horizontal bars while tying for seventh place on the pommel horse.

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