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the New Lenox Patriot | July 21, 2016 | 15
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Andrew baseball to trade
bats for golf clubs
When Mark Gierhahn
graduated from Andrew High
School in 1980, the Thunderbolts’
baseball field consisted
of a makeshift backstop that
was essentially a snow fence
and a pair of benches that
served as the dugouts.
Today, the T-Bolts’ home
field boasts an outfield fence,
recently renovated infield,
a new drainage system and
a warning track of crimson
stone.
“It’s one of the best fields
in the area, if not the state,”
Gierhahn said.
Many of those improvements
are thanks to the continued
success of one event:
the annual Friends of Andrew
Baseball golf outing.
“The event has raised
over $100,000 in the last 10
years,” Gierhahn said. “All
of the proceeds go right back
to the baseball program.”
This year’s event is set
to tee off at 2:30 p.m. Aug.
6 at George W. Dunne Golf
Course in Oak Forest. The
event, which is for those 21
and older, will be capped at
144 golfers. Those interested
in registering can contact
Gierhahn at 4gierfam@com
cast.net or visit www.friend
sofandrewbaseball.com.
In addition to the golf,
attendees also will receive
lunch courtesy of Winston’s
Market, dinner provided by
Gatto’s and a plethora of raffles
in which to participate.
The event started in 2005
with roughly 20 people participating
and this past year
reached the maximum number
of 144, Gierhahn said.
“We are hoping for another
great turnout and event this
year,” Gierhahn said. “The
event is the baseball program’s
major fundraiser and
has done so much to benefit
Andrew baseball.”
Reporting by Michael Gilbert,
Editor. For more, visit
TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
High school senior from
Orland Park starts tutoring
service
Seventeen-year-old Priya
Sharma is all about preparing
students for success.
The Orland Park teen —
who is to be a senior this
coming fall at the Illinois
Mathematics and Science
Academy in Aurora — created
a tutoring service that
helps area children and
young adults with their academics.
“I wanted to basically help
as much as I could in the Orland
Park community,” Sharma
said. “I realized that a lot
of students would sometimes
struggle in school, and they
wouldn’t really know it, or
their parents could see it but
they didn’t really know what
to do.”
Priya and her mother,
Meera, said the most
important aspect about Next
Level Prep — the name
of her daughter’s tutoring
service — is that the service
is free, which affords any
student in grades K-12 the
opportunity to learn, review
and practice necessary sets
of skills in math, science and
reading.
“A lot of tutoring services,
businesses and companies
cost a lot of money, and that
really stop[s] the parent,”
Priya said.
Priya said she was not too
concerned about people not
taking her and her service
seriously because of her
young age. In fact, the only
thing she worried about was
making sure people saw her
fliers, wherever they may be
hung.
“I put on there [that]
I go to IMSA, [and] I’m
still a high school senior,”
Priya said of her advertisements.
“I think they liked it
more, because I had experience.”
For more information on
Next Level Prep, visit www.
psnextlevel.simplesite.com.
Reporting by F. Amanda
Tugade, Assistant Editor. For
more, visit OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE Lockport Legend
Meyer qualifies for
National Junior Olympic
Championships
Coming off a Class 3A
state championship in the
shot put this past spring,
John Meyer Jr. is not resting
on that accomplishment.
He is competing at the
highest level this summer
during the USA Track &
Field National Junior Olympics
Championships, which
are scheduled July 25-31 at
Sacramento State University
in California. Meyer is to
compete July 27 and 28.
Meyer — who won the
championship in both the
shot put and discus in the 15-
to 16-year-old division this
past year — qualified in the
17- to 18-year-old division
this year.
The 16-year-old Lockport
Township student can compete
in the 17- to 18-yearold
division for the next two
years, too.
“I’m the young one in the
group,” Meyer said. “But
once you get up in this age
group, you can compete
against anyone that’s still in
high school. To make it to
nationals, I had to finish in
the Top 5.”
At the USA Track & Field
regional at Ball State University
in Muncie, Indiana,
Meyer won the shot put July
9 with a distance of 62 feet
and 3 1/2 inches. The next
day, he placed second in the
discus with a toss of 169-1.
Competing against 17- and
18-year-olds had no effect on
Meyer’s nerves, he said.
“After being at state [the
past two years], I just go in
and have nothing to lose,”
he said. “I just focus on the
form and go throw.”
Reporting by Randy Whalen,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit LockportLegend.com.
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