Area Sports Roundup: Sandburg sports flying high; 14 area teams to play in soccer showcase

By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer

Even by Sandburg’s standards, this was a big sports weekend for the Orland Park school.

Eagles freshman cross country phenom Lindsey Gerhardstein took first place at the Mike Kuharic Invitational at Lyons and is emerging as a star in the making.

Aimee Crnich and Elysa Corcoran finished first and second in diving at the Niles West Early Bird Invitational, while the medley relay team of Samantha Barry, Maya Dobry, Julia Barry and Annie Driscoll won first place in the pool.

The girls tennis team won the Ottawa Invitational, with all singles players and doubles team advancing to the title matches.

The boys soccer team was victorious in a shootout over Naperville Central and beat Bartlett, 2-0, in the Best of the West Tournament. Ben Lyons and Sebastion Burzynski netted goals in the Bartlett battle.

Jillian Cosler’s amazing nine-hole round of 31 helped the girls golf team win the eight-team Lincoln-Way Central Invitational.

Oh, and 2021 grad Lily Nevin, a former member of the Sandburg competitive cheerleading squad, made the Notre Dame cheerleading team and was on the sidelines for the Irish loss to Ohio State on Sept. 3.

Huge soccer showcase

Fourteen area boys soccer teams will take part in one of the biggest showcases in the country starting Saturday. The 104-team Bodyarmor Sports Series opens play at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

There won’t be a single tournament champion. Instead, there will be 13 champs. The tourney format is broken up into 13 brackets of eight teams each.

Lyons will be playing in one division. Solorio and St. Laurence are in another. Stagg and Marist will participate in a bracket. Shepard and Brother Rice are in a division. Riverside-Brookfield will try to win a bracket title. Curie is playing in one of the divisions. De La Salle is also in a separate division as is Kelly.

Three area teams are also in one division, as Back of the Yards plays St. Rita in the opening round and Nazareth is in the same division.

The second round takes place Sunday. The championships will be played Sept. 18.

For scheduling information, visit bodyarmorseries.org.

This is a new format and new sponsorship run by the organizers of the old PepsiCo Challenge.

Ritter wins again

Saint Xavier sophomore volleyball player Kaleigh Ritter was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Setter of the Week on Aug. 30.

Ritter, a setter, won the award six times during the 2021 season en route to being named the CCAC Freshman of the Year.

Ritter totaled 133 assists in 11 sets over three matches for the Cougars. She averaged 12.09 assists per set and 44.3 assists per match. She also averaged a double-double with 36 digs, along with eight service aces, six kills and four blocks at the Lourdes University Gray Wolf Invite in Sylvania, Ohio.

Ready for hoops

Saint Xavier’s men’s basketball team released its home schedule for 2022-23 and the Cougars host Governor’s State on Nov. 9. They have 13 games including a Dec. 31 battle with Goshen to help usher out 2022.

A Giant captain

Former Nazareth and Notre Dame star Julian Love has been selected a team captain for the New York Giants this season. He is one of 10 captains named on a list that includes running back Saquon Barkley and placekicker Graham Gano.

Sanchez signs

Sophia Sanchez of St. Laurence has verbally committed to Western Illinois University on a softball scholarship. Sanchez had the lone hit — a double — in the Vikings 1-0 loss to St Ignatius in the Class 3A Rosemont Supersectional last spring.

Good first impression

Former Oak Lawn girls basketball standout Mia Kennelly is now a freshman at St. Francis (Illinois). During offseason workouts, she beat the rest of the team in a physical challenge by planking for five minutes.