From the beginning of 2025 until the end, the stars came out around the Southwest Regional Publishing coverage area.
Teams and individuals won state titles beginning in February and running all the way through December, capping the longest prep football season ever in Illinois.
Some made history by repeating, some by winning for the first time. While there was much to celebrate at the high-school level and beyond, there also was sadness.
Here’s a look at the area’s top sports stories of 2025:
1. Another Caravan four-peat
Mount Carmel football extended its IHSA record, beating Oswego 20-3 on Dec. 3 to win its 17th state championship.
It completed the second four-peat in program history, matching the achievement of the 1988-91 teams. After capturing the previous three Class 7A titles, the Caravan moved up to win 8A behind a pair of touchdowns from quarterback Emmett Dowling on a frigid Wednesday night at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb.
That came after a winter storm forced the first postponements in football state finals history.
2. Crusaders end 44-year drought
On the same night of Mount Carmel’s four-peat, two South Side rivals separated by just a few miles met in.the Class 7A final. Brother Rice shut out St. Rita 16-0 to win its first state championship since 1981.
Quarterback CJ Gray, an Army recruit, accounted for two touchdowns for the Crusaders, who had another lockdown defensive effort led by a star trio of linemen: Illinois recruit King Liggins, Kameron McGee and Brayden Parks.
3. Trophy time for Rice basketball
Brother Rice has long been one of the South Side’s elite basketball programs, but one thing was missing from the Crusaders’ resume: a state trophy.
That ended on March 15, when Rice pushed DePaul Prep to the limit before falling 55-52 in overtime in the Class 3A title game. Citadel recruit and Southwest Regional Player of the Year Marcos Gonzales scored a game-high 24 points for the Crusaders, who finished 31-7.
4. Vidovic, Marist volleyball rule state
Marist volleyball coach Jordan Vidovic had the rare distinction of leading two different teams to state titles in the same calendar year.
Christian Teresi and Nate Toth combined for 25 kills as the RedHawks beat Glenbard West 25-20, 25-20 in the boys state final on June 7. It was the second consecutive championship for the RedHawks (40-2).
The Marist girls also repeated as champs, finishing 36-5 after beating Benet 25-18, 25-17 in the Class 4A final on Nov. 15 as Cassidy Cage had nine kills.
5. St. Laurence baseball wins first title
In his 19th season at his alma mater, coach Pete Lotus won the baseball program’s first state title with an 8-5 victory against Benet on June 14.
The Vikings (37-5) won 33 of their final 35 games after a 4-3 start and got a big game on the mound and at the plate in the final from junior Daniel Coyle, who hadn’t pitched in almost three weeks.
6. De La Salle boys soccer’s breakthrough
Two droughts ended on Nov. 8 when De La Salle edged downstate Washington 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in the Class 2A boys soccer state final.
Senior goalkeeper Jahir Anaya saved two penalty kicks in the shootout as the Meteors won the school’s first team state title in any sport and also became the Catholic League’s first boys soccer state champ.
7. Locals have their NFL moments
Lyons grad Jake Elliott set a Super Bowl record with 16 kicking points — four field goals and four PATs — in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 8.
Elliott also owns two more records for the big game: field-goal accuracy (9-for-9) and most field goals of 48 yards or more in one Super Bowl (three).
Meanwhile, former St. Rita quarterback Mike Kafka was named interim head coach of the NFL’s New York Giants on Nov. 10 following the firing of Brian Daboll.
8. More state champs
Mount Carmel’s Seth Mendoza, a Missouri recruit, became the 15th four-time state wrestling champ when he won the Class 3A 138-pound title on Feb. 22.
Also winning state wrestling titles were Marist’s Will Denny (3A 165) and Ricky Ericksen (3A 190), Mount Carmel’s Liam Kelly (3A 157) and De La Salle’s David McCarthy (1A 285).
Richards’ Ulyssa Garcia won the girls bowling state title on Feb. 22. Also earning team championships were District 230 girls wrestling on March 1 and De La Salle in unified basketball (its third in a row) on March 15.
9. Losing a legend
The Chicago baseball community was in mourning after White Sox icon and Windy City ThunderBolts manager Bobby Jenks died on July 4 following a battle with stomach cancer. He was 44.
Jenks had taken a leave of absence from the ThunderBolts in February after his cancer diagnosis.
10. Farewells
The Chicago Stars of the NWSL played their last game at Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium on Nov. 2. A tenant of the stadium from 2009-10 and again from 2016-25, the Stars will play their home games in Evanston starting next season.
Trinity Christian College’s athletic teams embarked on a farewell tour after the school announced on Nov. 4 that it will close at the end of the spring semester.