St. Laurence's Kathleen Martin gets off a shot against Hinsdale South in the Class 3A St. Ignatius Sectional on Feb. 22 in Chicago. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Area Sports Roundup | St. Laurence girls hoops has benchmark season
By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
The St. Laurence girls basketball team’s historic season came to a close with a 42-29 loss to Hinsdale South at the Class 3A St. Ignatius Sectional on Feb. 22, but the Vikings hit some milestone’s in former Marist and Saint Xavier star Claire Austin’s first year as coach. The Vikings:
• played in a sectional title game for the first time in program history (inaugural season was 2017-2018)
• tied a program record with 22 wins
• knocked off Hyde Park, the St. Ignatius Sectional’s No. 1 seed, 48-46 in the semifinals
St. Laurence’s leading scorer is freshman Aaliyah Flores and its leading rebounder is sophomore Sara Burzycki, the latter who is a resident of Palos Heights.
Austin said her first year was all she expected it to be, and for that she thanked Vikings seniors Kathleen Martin, Clara Allision, Ariana Vaitkeviciute and Evelyn Mata.
“I told them a thousand times they made this year as easy as it could have been transition-wise for me,” Austin said. “I really could not have done it without those seniors. They bought into everything our coaching staff brought, so I couldn’t be any more grateful than I am.”
St. Laurence sophomore guard Sara Burzycki, of Palos Heights, helped the Vikings to arguably the program’s best season in its seven years of existence. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Still in the game
Former Stagg pitcher T.J. McFarland signed a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitched a scoreless inning in his first exhibition game with his new team.
The 34-year-old left-handed middle reliever made his major league debut with Baltimore in 2013 and has also been with Arizona, Oakland, Washington, St. Louis and the New York Mets.
He has a career 24-16 record with a 4.14 ERA in 474 innings.
Quite a connection
Joe Trost, a Chicago area organizer of major high school sports events and recognitions as well as charity events, claims there is an interesting connection between two area state wrestling champions.
Marist’s Will Denny and Tolono Unity’s Hunter Eastin both won IHSA state titles in Champaign on Feb. 17.
According to Trost, the athletes’ mothers were competitive cheerleading teammates in high school, and Eastin’s grandfather coached Denny’s father, Jon, when the latter was in high school.
Sports bits
• Richards softball coach Julie Folliard was named the Illinois Softball Coaches Association Class 3A Sectional Coach of the Year for the 2023 season.
• The Illinois Softball Coaches Association has released its preseason state rankings. Marist is ranked first in Class 4A and Richards is eighth in 3A.
• Lyons’ renovated softball field will be known as Baker Field in honor of Stacy Ann Baker, an alum who donated $2 million toward education and athletics.
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