The outdoor high school boys and girls track and field meets will start Friday and Saturday, weather-permitting. Batavia High School will be host to the Les Hodge meet Friday. The meet is named after a long-time Batavia and Tri-City sports writer. The late Les Hodge covered sports in all three seasons, however, he loved track and field, so it is fitting Batavia would perpetuate his memory with a meet in his honor and in his memory. He loved the amateur athletics aspects of high school and he was an advocate for his Batavia community. Coaches should let their athletes at the meet know something about Les Hodge.
County, conference, and special track and field meets later in the Spring will offer good competition. Many years ago high school track and field in high schools were the main events in the Spring. That was prior to baseball and softball in many schools. Now Spring sports include tennis, lacrosse, volleyball, and water polo. Everybody in the pool. There is something for everyone in Spring sports and participation in many schools surpass 50%, which is good for the athletes in their teen years.
• Although there is understood focus in college basketball in the Final Four in both men’s and women’s, Friday through Monday, quietly both the DuPaul University men and Northwestern University women continued their seasons with victories. DePaul started the week in the championship best of three series in the CBI (College Basketball Invitational). DePaul fell Monday in game one to host South Florida, 63-61, was set to play Wednesday in game two at DePaul and took aim to play game three Friday. Northwestern’s women were in the semifinals this week in the Women’s NIT (National Invitational Tournament) at James Madison Wednesday. A victory would mean a championship game Saturday against either TCU or Arizona.
• Last, and not least, in the men’s NIT championship Lipscomb, with freshman Aurora Christian High School graduate, Jake Wolfe, a top reserve guard at the school in Nashville, Tenn., will play in Madison Square Garden Thursday, April 4.
• In the women’s college basketball Elite Eight, all four games were the No. 1 seeded teams playing the No. 2 seeded teams. Two No. 1 teams prevailed and two No. 2 teams advanced to Friday’s Final Four. No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Stanford, 84-68, and No. 1 Baylor defeated Iowa, 85-53. No. 2 Oregon upended No. 1 Mississippi State, 88-84, and No. 2 University of Connecticut, the UConn Huskies, defeated No. 1 Louisville, 80-73. The record-setting consecutive Final Four appearance by UConn has reached 12 years.
• In spite of missing the Final Four by one game, Iowa, nonetheless, had a great season. On the starting five was guard Kathleen Doyle, a 5-8 junior guard from Benet Academy, the top player in the Illinois her senior season. She will have one more season.
• Noteworthy: The men’s Division II National champion Northwest Missouri State ended 38-0
• Thursday, April 4 is the opening day for the Kane County Cougars in the Class A Midwest Baseball League against Clinton for two games in two days.