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Sports

College Athletics: Wheaton Residents Making Noise at Area Schools

Several Wheaton North, Wheaton South and Wheaton Academy products have continued their careers at four-year colleges and universities in DuPage and Will counties.

Several graduates of Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South—along with Wheaton residents who prepped at Wheaton Academy—have continued their athletic careers at a handful of area four-year colleges and universities.

Here are highlights of some of their achievements so far this spring:  

Benedictine University

Sophomore left-hander Robert Grabek, a 2009 Wheaton South grad, is 2-0 on the hill so far this season for Benedictine University’s baseball squad. Grabek owns a 3.27 ERA and has made three appearances with two starts.

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Senior Connor Langen, of Wheaton North, carded a two-round 163, good for second place on the team, at the Illinois Wesleyan Spring Invitational golf tournament April 1-2.

Wheaton resident Jess Fijolek, a junior who catches and plays third base, is hitting close to .300 for the Eagles’ softball team, which is 22-4 through April 15.

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Elmhurst College

Wheaton Warrenville South product Tracy Brtis, a senior, scored the only point for the Bluejays’ women’s track and field team at the 2011 Chicagoland Outdoor Championships track meet held April 9.

Brtis placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:12.19.

Lewis University

Graduate student Jonathan Teune, a state qualifier while a senior at Wheaton South, teams up with Jesse Hardacre at No. 3 doubles for the Flyers. They won their match to help the Flyers defeat St. Francis on April 12.

North Central College

Senior Amanda Laesch, who prepped at Wheaton North, was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin’s Track and Field Runner of the Week on April 5 following her school-record performance in the 10,000-meter run at the First Chance Invitational.

Laesch, an indoor NCAA Division III all-American, set the new school record of 35:41.35—smashing the old record by 21 seconds. Her time also is the second-fastest time in the 10,000 among all D-III runners so far in 2011.

Meanwhile, Laesch’s teammate and fellow Wheaton North graduate Sheila Walsh, also a senior, helped North Central’s 4x100-meter relay team to a second-place finish at the Chicagoland Outdoor Championship. Walsh and her teammates were clocked in 49.09.

Wheaton North’s Randal Ellison was part of the Cardinals’ 4x400-meter relay team that finished second at the Chicagoland Outdoor Championship with a time of 3:18.09. The Cardinals, who won the NCAA Division III indoor national championship earlier this year, took the Chicagoland Outdoor title for the third straight year. 

Wheaton College

Sophomore Trey Martin and freshman Justin Swider, both Wheaton North products, are starting for the Thunder baseball team this spring. Martin, who plays third base and pitches, leads Wheaton College in slugging percentage (.591), is tied for second in homers (3) and is third in batting average (.386). Pitching-wise, Martin also is the team leader in wins (3) and innings pitched (41 2/3).

Swider, who plays second base, is hitting .286.

On the softball diamond, Wheaton North product Jenna Lawrenz, a junior, plays second base and sports a .329 average, third best on on the squad.

At the Chicagoland Outdoor Championship, junior Dave McHale of Wheaton North finished seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Freshman Jake Waterman was a second-place finisher in the 1,500.

Mark Phillips, a sophomore from Wheaton (Wheaton Academy), won the 800-meter run at the North Central College First Chance meet on April 2. Waterman placed third in the 1,500.

In women’s track, Jamie Orewiler (Wheaton North), a junior, cruised to a second-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the First Chance meet. Orewiler also is an all-American soccer player at the college.

Junior Abby Mitchell, a Wheaton South alum, took fifth in the 800-meter run at the Chicagoland Outdoor Championship while the Thunder finished fourth out of 21 teams.

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