Fiona Crane said that even as a young age, she was fast.
“I was blessed with some speed,” she said. “It helps me a little bit. Where I lack in power, I pretty much have always had speed.”
You don’t have to convince opponents of that.
The St. Xavier junior outfielder who lives in Evergreen Park and attended Mother McAuley was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Year thanks in part to her speed.
After the regular season and CCAC Tournament, Crane had the school record with 69 stolen bases (shattering the old mark of 43) and 66 runs (topping the old mark of 61).
She opened this week with a .519 batting average, a .574 on-base percentage and 20 RBIs. She was a three-time CCAC player of the Week.
Crane played two years at Northern Illinois and played in 75 games — starting 48 in two season — and hit .167 with 17 stolen bases.
She said she injured her shoulder and that helped lead her to SXU, which is just a few blocks from her home.
It hasn’t taken long for her to blend in with the Cougars.
“I’m a leadoff hitter and when I get on, I try to get into scoring position,” she said. “The girl behind me [Aubrey Wroble] is an insane bunter and I know if I can get to second base, Aubrey is going to get a bunt down and I’ll be at third and she will be at first.”
The Cougars (36-6) were scheduled to open play May 12 in the Ashland, Oregon, bracket of the first round of the NAIA National Tournament.
Also on the diamond, the Cougars baseball team (31-22) was scheduled to open play in the Lawrenceville, Georgia, on May 12 in the opening round bracket of the NAIA nationals.
SXU wins big awards
It’s been a successful year for spring sports at St. Xavier and big awards have been earned in May.
California native Matt Pennala, a senior hitter who helped lead the Cougars to second place in the NAIA National Men’s Volleyball Tournament on May 2, was named the NAIA Player of the Year by the league while Andres Velez joined him on the All-America first team.
SXU’s Tom Ryan was named National Coach of the Year.
SXU baseball grad student hurler Jimmy Fairley was named the CCAC Pitcher of the Year.
On the softball team, aside from Crane’s CCAC Player of the Year honor, Evergreen Park’s Lily Strand was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year.
Payton Antkiewicz was named Freshman of the Year and Erin Mollohan was tabbed as the CCAC Coach of the Year.
Ram tough in badminton
The Reavis doubles team of senior Jocelyn Diaz and Jimena Serna took third place in the Naperville North Sectional and will be the lone area representative in the IHSA state meet May 16-17 at DeKalb.
The duo’s triumph comes off the heels of the Rams winning the South Suburban Conference title, breaking a string of 13 straight league titles by TF South.
On the track
Area girls track and field stars shined during conference meets last week.
At the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Meet, De La Salle sophomore Aniya Hamilton swept the hurdles with times of 15.84 seconds in the 100s and 47.81 in the 300s.
At the Chicagoland Christian Conference Championships, Chicago Christian’s Kihra Moes was a double winner in the 800 (2:34.3) and 3,200 (12:26.30).
No-hitter combo
Cory Les didn’t get the win. And he didn’t get the save.
But the St. Laurence baseball pitcher on May 10 picked up an important out in a 9-0 Catholic League win over Mount Carmel.
He came into the game in the seventh inning with two out and preserved a no-hitter. Jimmy Benson threw 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball but had to leave because he hit pitch count limit.