The Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) recently named the Dick Durrant Academic Athlete of the Year award winners for 2019-2020. Waubonsee Community College earned four of the five co-winners of this prestigious award, given annually to the male and female student-athletes in the ISCC who attain the highest grade point average (GPA) after completing four semesters of college work.
Baseball players Tyler Venditti , a pitcher from Geneva High School, and Carter Wardell, a middle infielder from Metea Valley High School in Aurora, along with two-sport student-athlete player Riane Tomsa, of Newark, and women’s tennis player Hailey Wilcox, of Geneva, all earned this distinction. The quartet brings the Chiefs’ total to 32 student-athletes who have earned this honor since the inception of the award in 1979. In addition, 39 sophomores and 43 freshmen Waubonsee student-athletes achieved ISCC All-Academic status for the 2019-2020 school year.
The award is named after Mr. Dick Durrant, who was an outstanding teacher, coach and athletic director at Elgin Community College from 1961 through 1985. Durrant championed the philosophy of academic as well as athletic excellence while at Elgin. Coach Durrant was known for his concern for students, his sense of fair play and his attitude of education before athletics.
Venditti, a pitcher from Geneva High School, finished the school year with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Although the Chiefs’ season was cut short after just two games due to the coronavirus pandemic, in their opening game the right-handed hurler tossed a five-inning one-hit shutout in a 14-0 victory at Sauk Valley Community College. As a freshman Venditti posted a 3-3 record in 14 appearances, striking out 47 batters over 38 and a third innings.
Wardell, a middle infielder from Metea Valley High School in Aurora, compiled a 4.0 GPA. The freshman went three for seven (.429) with four runs scored and a run batted in, and reached base in five of his nine plate appearances in the Chiefs’ two games for a .556 on-base percentage.
Tomsa, a Newark High School graduate, also maintained a 4.0 GPA while serving as a defensive specialist on the volleyball squad and as a point guard on the basketball team. The sophomore was second on the team with 574 digs, and registered 36 serving aces and 43 assists in helping the Chiefs’ volleyball team reach the 2019 NJCAA Division II National Tournament. On the basketball court Tomsa started nearly half the Chiefs’ games, and averaged six points, seven rebounds and three assists in conference contests.
Wilcox, a freshman from Geneva, finished with a 4.0 GPA while helping the Chiefs win seven out of their final nine matches of the 2019 season. She played primarily as coach Douglas Passett’s number one singles player, and teamed up with Elizabeth Egerman to form the Chiefs’ number one doubles duo.
—Waubonsee Community College