By Jeff Vorva
Manteno’s Alec Miller is teammates with some interesting athletes from all over the globe. Trinity Christian College’s men’s soccer roster features athletes from the United Kingdom, Brazil, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Chile and Mexico.
Miller, a senior defender, joined his international pals for a recent trip to the National Christian College Athletic Association national tournament in Kissimmee, Florida, and reached the semifinals.
The Trolls (17-7-7) qualified for the tournament as an at-large team and beat Geneva (Pennsylvania) 3-1 and Campbellsville (Kentucky) to reach the Final Four.
But the Trolls lost to an Illinois team that was in the same Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference as they are in – Judson – on penalty kicks on December 6. After a 2-2 tie forced extra play, Judson won 5-3 in the PK round.
Miller played in 13 games this year, including two in the national tournament. Through his four-year career with the Trolls, he played in 49 games with 30 starts.
Regional/sectional hoops action
Manteno Middle School’s seventh-grade girls basketball season ended in the sectional final, as the Panthers dropped a 31-25 decision to Westville Junior High on December 4 in Manteno, in Class 3A Sectional 3 play. Westville went to the state semifinals but dropped a 26-24 heartbreaker to Germantown Hills and was scheduled to play in the third-place game on December 12 at Auburn High School.
In eighth grade play, Peotone won the 3A Regional 6 Championship with a 25-21 win over Manteno. Peotone (25-1) faced host St. Joseph Middle School (12-12) in Sectional 3 action on December 11.
University Park Crete-Monee (17-6) beat Bourbonnais UGC 37-9 to win the Class 4A Regional 8 Championship and was slated to face Champaign Franklin (20-3) in Sectional 4 play at Mahomet Seymour Junior High.
Sports bits
•Beecher softball standout Alexa Gliva signed to play at Trinity Christian College.
•Beecher switched to Fan Hudl for live athletic events. They were previously on a YouTube channel.
•Manteno football star Cooper Monk made it official on signing day December 4, when he signed up with Illinois State University.
•Former Beecher boys basketball star Adyn McGinley is adjusting to the college game quite well as he popped in 25 points for the College of DuPage in a 76-62 win over Lake County on December 3.