By Bobby Narang West Aurora High School senior Victoria Spagnola was a household name before she had even stepped on to the track in her freshman season. Her older sister, Emma, was the most decorated athlete in program history, which put pressure on the younger Spagnola to achieve similar results.
By Bobby Narang Naperville North High School made program history on many levels in the final week of the water polo season. The Huskies set a new standard in the girls program by capturing their first water polo State championship with a victory over Stevenson, 15-6, Saturday at Fenwick High
By Bobby Narang West Aurora High School girls soccer coach Laura Wagley is seeking to build a consistent winner. Aurora Central Catholic (ACC) first-year coach Enrique Anaya is attempting to keep his program on the same level, or better, than previous coach, Kristy Kane. Both programs clashed in a rare
By Bobby Narang Through his illustrious coaching career, Nazareth High School baseball coach, Lee Milano, has enjoyed many special moments. He took over the Nazareth program in 1999-2000 after his brother, Bill, left to take over the Maine South program. Since inheriting the program, Lee Milano put his own stamp
By Bobby Narang The DuPage County high school football season turned out to be a short, but memorable one. With the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) shortening the season to six games and electing not to have a playoff because of the coronavirus pandemic, the this year’s Spring season definitely
By Bobby Narang Marmion Academy head wrestling coach Nathan Fitzenreider is not bothered by a shortened season. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) moved wrestling into the new Summer season. At a time when most wrestlers would be resting their bodies, or playing a Spring
By Bobby Narang Ron Muhitch decided it was finally time to end his long and illustrious football coaching career. After spending 41 seasons on the sidelines at Wheaton Central and Wheaton Warrenville South High Schools, Muhitch announced his retirement Monday afternoon. He guided the Tigers into State prominence, by winning
By Bobby Narang York High School head football coach Mike Fitzgerald clearly understood the importance of a comeback victory. Entering the final weeks of his third season at York, Fitzgerald is in the key stage of his program development period. Recent history hasn’t been kind to the Dukes’ program. Despite
By Bobby Narang Naperville North High School senior football running back, Lontrez Duckworth, made numerous eye-catching runs against Metea Valley Saturday. After rushing for 34 yards on his first carry against the Mustangs, Duckworth never slowed down. He ran for a career-best 209 yards and scored five rushing touchdowns in
By Bobby Narang Aurora Christian High School recent graduate Ethan Hampton is making a name for himself in college football. And he’s yet to officially throw a pass. Hampton made a difficult decision to enroll early at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in January rather than finish his senior season at
By Bobby Narang Northern Illinois University head football coach, Thomas Hammock, kicked off Spring practice by discussing the upcoming season. The former Northern Illinois star running back enters a pivotal year in his head coaching tenure after the Huskies lost all six of their games last season in the condensed
By Bobby Narang Benet Academy High School boys basketball head coach Gene Heidkamp made sure to take his time walking off the court Friday. The Redwings were one of the small group of boys and girls basketball teams to finish the truncated 2021 season March 12. The official end of
By Bobby Narang The Rashon Burno era officially tipped off Monday afternoon. The former DePaul University guard was named the new Northern Illinois University (NIU) men’s basketball head coach Saturday afternoon. Burno, who coached three years at Marmion Academy in Aurora, 2007-2010, was officially introduced Monday during a press conference.
By Bobby Narang In a year full of surprises, Waubonsie Valley High School boys basketball head coach, Jason Mead, delivered his own surprise. Monday, Feb. 22, in the middle of a shortened six-week season, Mead announced his resignation as head coach of the varsity program effective at the end of
By Bobby Narang With basketball in full force throughout the state, the biggest underlying issue for high schools team is making sure the season runs its course. Several teams in the state have experienced “shutdowns” because of cases of COVID-19. Many regions experienced upticks following Super Bowl Sunday parties, which
By Bobby Narang Basketball is back. After a long absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that stretched into early February, high school basketball was back in full force in Illinois last week. Although some teams had trouble scheduling games at the last minute, several teams played multiple games in a
By Bobby Narang The green light was given for the start of the high school basketball season last week. In a shocking turn of events, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced that boys and girls basketball could start immediately with practices and run until March 13 for games with
By Bobby Narang Nearly a month after Christmas, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) delivered a very belated, but pleasing gift to high school athletes. Just when the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly was set to end some sports, in particular football and boys and girls basketball, the IHSA reversed course and
By Bobby Narang While sports rages on in neighboring states, the high school athletes Illinois continue to remain in limbo. At least, after several months of back-and-forth discussions and delays, there was a small dose of positive news in the middle of this month. Since November 17, 2020 high school
By Bobby Narang Almost like a soccer game without a winner, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) had its long-awaited meeting with the representatives of governor JB Pritkzer and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) January 6. But there was no winner in the most recent battle to restart
