Wheaton High School Sports: 10 Difference-makers Coming at You This Spring

Just as the clocks moved ahead one hour this month, Wheaton’s high school sports teams also are moving forward with their spring sports schedule.

Several sports—baseball, softball, boys and girls track and field, girls soccer and boys tennis, just to name a few—will pack in a flurry of activity over the next 2-plus months (weather permitting, as always). The spring sports season culminates with state championships beginning in May and continuing through the second weekend in June.

Wheaton Patch has picked 10 athletes from either St. Francis, Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South or Wheaton Academy who will undoubtedly make some noise in their respective sports before all is said and done this spring.

Five will be featured this week; five next week (in alphabetical order). Here they are:

Darren Fill, Wheaton Co-op boys gymnastics—It’s safe to say this spring’s boys state gymnastics meet—to be held May 13-14—will once again get its Fill of the Wheaton Co-op star. At last year’s meet, Fill, a senior, took ninth overall individually—he tied for fifth in vault and was eighth on the pommel horse—while leading Wheaton Co-op to an eighth-place finish. Fill also swam on the Wheaton Co-op boys team this past winter.

Tate Fritz, Wheaton Academy baseball—Fresh off his role as a forward on the Warriors’ sectional-qualifying basketball team, Fritz now turns his attention to the diamond, where he’s even better. In 2010, the senior cracked a school-record 12 homers and drove in 68 runs while hitting .429.

Eric Luhrsen, Wheaton Warrenville South boys volleyball—Luhrsen, a senior, is the focal point for a Tigers team that has captured consecutive state championships (2008 and 2009) and second place (2010) through his first three years. The outside hitter racked up over 400 kills for coach Bill Schreier’s Tigers, who were 35-7 during 2010. Luhrsen also starred for the two-time defending Class 7A state champion Tigers football team as an offensive lineman. He’ll continue playing football at Eastern Illinois later this year.

Kelly McShea, St. Francis girls track—The Spartans’ senior star cross country runner—5th overall at the Class 3A state finals in a field where the winner broke the state record—takes her talents to the track. McShea was the seventh-place finisher at the state Class 2A track meet last year in the 1,600, and also helped the Spartans’ 4x800-meter relay team to a seventh-place finish.

Brie Pasquale, St. Francis softball—It’ll be interesting to see what Pasquale will do for an encore her junior year after taking the area by storm last season as a sophomore. She batted a whopping .558 in 2010 with 61 hits, 51 runs scored and 44 RBIs. With key players such as Pasquale, Laura Behnke, Blaine Carragher, Paige Davis, Lauren Gorski, Emily Karpinski and Taylor Ronchetto returning this spring, the Spartans will arguably be the team to beat in the Suburban Catholic Conference.