Area Sports Roundup | Evergreen Park athlete seeking 1M pop tabs; Mights Macs win ASICS tourney

By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer

Before he starts collecting points and rebounds, Evergreen Park senior hoops player Ulises Cardenas is collecting pop tabs.

Cardenas is on a mission to collect 1 million tabs to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.

He had as of this writing collected three pounds, and took a pair of garbage bags filled with tabs to the Ronald McDonald House across the street from Advocate Christ Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn earlier this month.

“I love to volunteer,” said Cardenas, who is also a Student Leadership volunteer and National Honor Society member. “I’ve heard great things about the Ronald McDonald House and what they do for the community. Plus, it’s close to home.”

If he hits 1 million, a leaf with his name on it will be placed on the wall of the Ronald McDonald House, which provides a place for families to stay when their children are hospitalized across the street.

Ronald McDonald House Charities has partnered with United Scrap Metal on the pop tab project. United Scrap purchases the pop tabs from the Ronald McDonald House at market rate and makes an additional charitable contribution. While the price of aluminum changes regularly, RMHC receives an average of 40-55 cents per pound collected.

Golf regional champions
The Southwest Regional Publishing area produced three regional team championships and a pair of individual champs in golf on Sept. 27 and 28.

In Class 3A, Marist won the Homewood-Flossmoor Regional with a 320. Seniors Will Schilling and Frank Bilecki and sophomore Thomas Hollowell all fired 78s, and sophomore Tommy Fidler added an 86. It was Marist’s 10^th regional or district title and first since 2013.

In 2A, Brother Rice won the St. Rita Regional with a 325. It’s the Crusaders’ eighth regional or district title.

Senior Phil Cipriani led the Crusaders a 77, juniors Thor Hock and Patrick Hermanson each had 82s, and junior Marek Chowaniec added an 84.

St. Rita’s Nathan Tracy was the medalist with a 76.

Sandburg continued its regional dominance in girls golf by taking its fifth straight on Sept. 28 by winning the Hinsdale South Regional with a 331.

Sophomore Brooke Adams was the medalist with a 74. Sophomore Katie Wehlus added an 81, senior Alyssa Jarquin had an 82 and senior Nora Murray a 94.

Sectional action was scheduled to take place on Oct. 2, after this publication’s deadline.

The IHSA state tournaments are slated to take place Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 at five sites in the Decatur and Bloomington areas.

Macs win ASICS
For the second straight season, Mother McAuley won its own ASICS Tournament, which features some of the best teams in Illinois and the United States.

Ellie White, who is heading to Michigan, had 14 kills to help the Mighty Macs beat Notre Dame (Kentucky), 25-20, 20-18, in the championship match on Sept. 30.

McAuley (21-4) beat Marist, 25-27, 25-22, 25-14, in the quarterfinals. That neighborhood rivalry matchup came nine days after Marist beat the Macs 25-20, 24-26, 25-16 in a nonconference war.

The Macs had an even tougher challenge in the semifinals as they knocked off the top seed in the tournament, previously unbeaten Devine Savior Holy Angels (Milwaukee), 25-23, 20-25 25-18.

Marist finished fifth.

Sandburg finished third place in the Silver division.