OP_102016

More documents

Recommendations

Info

52 | October 20, 2016 | The orland park prairie Sports opprairie.com Sandburg seniors recognized Eagles girls golfers honored on Senior Night Fishing D230 Club see results through Lake Sedgewick electro surveys Sandburg senior girls golfers (left to right) Sarah Gleason, Morgan Howard, Jenna Perdue and Emilyee McGiles recently concluded their final season with the high school. D.Nevels Images Soccer From Page 54 about to be win or go home. Everyone is getting ready and working harder in practice.” The Knights, who got three saves from Taylor Budzinski, picked up the offense in the second half in search of the equalizer. In the final 15 minutes, Brad Podobnik fired high off Breandan Brannigan’s cross, and Cedillo missed just wide on a header. “We had a decent amount of chances,” Central coach Sean Fahey said. “We were able to play some balls into the box, and we were just missing that finishing touch. Sometimes the ball bounces our way, and sometimes it doesn’t.” Fahey said he thought his team improved in the second half and was happy with the Knights’ defense on set pieces. “I thought we had the better of play a lot of time in the second half, and we just couldn’t get that goal,” he said. “It was a wet night, and the ball was rolling all over the place, and there were a lot of fouls. We had to defend a lot of set pieces, and we did a good job.” Fahey said he has seen glimpses of his team’s capabilities. Highlights include wins in September over Stagg and the Thornton co-op. The Knights, however, lost six of their final seven regular season games. “We have a hard-working group of kids, and they give everything they’ve got every game,” Fahey said. “They’ve earned some good wins, and hopefully they can dig down and find that again in the postseason, because there’s a lot of parity in our sectional.” Brittany Kapa, Assistant Editor Ten years ago, Consolidated High School District 230 started a bass fishing club, including students from both Andrew and Sandburg high schools. Since its inception, the club has developed its interests and now is involved with all aspects of the world of fishing, including the conservation of Lake Sedgewick’s ecosystem. John Bartgen, one of the coaches for the club, has a passion not only for the fishing but also for the education the students receive. Part of that education has included teaching the students conservation techniques, which have included electrofishing surveys — which involves using electic currents to sample fish populations — and constructing fish cribs, all in the name of keep the lake’s contents stocked for the club’s catchand-release pastime. On Oct. 11, Bartgen enlisted the help of Herman Brothers Lake and Land Management, based out of Peoria, to conduct an electrofishing survey of the lake in an event students were invited to attend. The company volunteered its time and equipment to the club to show students what electrofishing can reveal about the contents of the lake. “When people ask, ‘You’re a fishing club, what does that mean?’ It’s more than what you did with your grandfather, perhaps, when he takes his [fishing equipment] out, a bobber and a cooler of beer,” Bartgen said. “These kids are learning math; they’re learning science; they’re learning ecology and biology; they’re learning history; and they’re studying the history of the lake, and what it was used for 20-30 years ago.” This is not the first time the group has conducted electrofishing surveys in Lake Sedgewick. Two years prior, the club enlisted the help of Frank Jakubicek, a district fisheries biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, helped the club with their first venture into electrofishing. But two years ago, the conditions for the survey were less than ideal, with colder-than-normal weather and high winds. Oct. 11’s bright, sunny and temperate conditions resulted in a better survey. Electrofishing boats are outfitted with convertors that pulse small bursts of direct current, or DC, into the water, which temporarily stuns fish in the surrounding area. While the fish are only immobile for roughly 60 seconds, it is enough time to get a snapshot of the lake’s ecosystem. Key data points including a count per species, and the weight of the fish within the area are recorded to help determine the health of the lake. The analysis provides insight into the predator to prey ratio of that ecosystem, which allows the Village to adjust what species they release into the lake. “Overall, I thought it was a huge success, equal to the one we did two years ago,” Bartgen said. “It was nice to see that we caught healthy fish. The lake itself is relatively healthy and equal to what it was two years ago. That was what we expected, but it was nice to have it confirmed.” The Herman Brothers gave suggestions to the club on how to help the lake’s ecosystem immediately following the survey. The first suggestion was to increase the number of fish cribs, which are structures built by the club and previously placed in the lake. The club had constructed roughly 75-100 cribs of 5-gallon buckets, concrete and flexible tubing. These cribs give smaller fish a habitat to grow. The second thing the Herman Brothers advised was to stop stocking walleye in the lake. The past two surveys did not record the species within the lake. While they could still live in the lake, the lack of the species’ presence means the lake does not support the living conditions for that fish. Bartgen said that this would free up some resources to stock more predatory tiger muskies in the lake, which would in turn help control the panfish species. Joe Skvarla, a senior at Andrew High School, has been with the bass fishing club his entire tenure at Andrew and was the only student to attend both electrofishing surveys. Two years ago, Skvarla was on the boat with Jakubicek, but this year he decided to take his own boat on the lake and shadow the Herman Brothers’ boat to get an outside perspective of the electrofishing process. “When you’re on your own boat, you get to see how they break down the lake,” Skvarla said. Skvarla added that it can be difficult to see exactly what is going on from the boat when electrofishing, especially if weather conditions are bad, like they were two years ago. Skvarla estimates that the club has easily put in 24 hours worth of work into constructing the fish cribs for the lake, but that hard work has paid off. The data results from two years ago revealed that 67 percent of the bass within the lake were more than 12 inches in length, meaning the fish had survived its first winter and had reached sexual maturity, enabling the fish to reproduce and keep the lake stocked via reproduction. “My first reaction — I was really really impressed with the group of kids they had there,” Nate Herman said. Herman and his brother Justin would take four students at a time on the boat for approximately 10-15 minutes per group. The Hermans would talk to the students about lake management, the fish population and answer any questions they had while on the boat. “All of our kids love to fish, but to see them take an interest in a conservation project, which is to some degree totally unrelated to why they joined the club ... is great to see,” Bartgen said.
opprairie.com Sports the orland park prairie | October 20, 2016 | 53 Girls Volleyball Eagles best Lockport to keep SWSC Blue title hopes alive The Porters take Sandburg to three sets Randy Whalen Freelance Reporter Sandburg was looking to solidify another girls volleyball conference title. Lockport Township was looking to play spoiler and throw its hat into the ring for a conference championship, as well. When all was said and done, the old guard looked to be on its way to an eighth straight SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division championship. That is because Anna Jonynas came up huge, especially down the stretch, as Sandburg held off the Porters for a 25-14, 23-25, 25- 18 victory Oct. 11 in Orland Park. The win put the Eagles (19-9, 3-0) a match closer to capturing at least a share of another SWSC Blue crown. A victory at Bolingbrook [Oct. 18] or at home over Homewood-Flossmoor [Oct. 20] would clinch at least a tie, and a sweep of the two would give them the outright title. “It’s always on our mind,” Jonynas said of winning the conference title. “It’s part of our culture. We just want to keep our [conference] streak going and push as hard as we can to be the best team that we can be.” Jonynas — an outside hitter and the only senior starter for the Eagles — finished with 13 kills, five blocks and six digs. She combined for 8 “It’s always on our mind. It’s part of our culture. We just want to keep our [conference] streak going and push as hard as we can to be the best team that we can be.” Anna Jonynas — Sandburg girls volleyball player, on trying to win a conference title kills and blocks in the final set. The Porters held early leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in Set 3, but then Jonynas went to work. She smacked a kill to tie it at 3-3 and added another one two points later. Sophomore middle hitter Lauren Mizera added an ace in what became a 6-0 run that put Sandburg ahead for good at 8-3. Although the Porters came back with four straight points, they could never tie it. Ahead 10-9, the Eagles embarked on another run, this one a 7-0 one that included four Lockport errors to go ahead 17-9. But those pesky Porters kept hanging in there, going on a 6-1 spurt, which included an ace by junior defensive specialist Shae O’Neil (16 digs), to close the score to 18-15. A kill into the deep right corner, however, by sophomore outside hitter Erica Staunton (9 kills) restored the Sandburg advantage to four points. It also did something else. It rotated Jonynas back to the front row. So even though Lockport junior right side hitter JoDee Kovanda (9 kills) slammed a kill to cut the lead to 19-16, Jonynas was able to get back to where she wanted to be. From the front row, she had a block, a tip for a kill and then ripped another kill to start a 4-1 run for a 23-17 lead. The Porters saved a point, but then served into the net. Moments later, a kill by Staunton ended it. “I’m always itching to get back in the front row, so I can get kills and everything,” Jonynas said. “We did a good job pulling through, even though we got stuck at some points. We really wanted to win, especially on home court.” In the match, junior defensive specialist Lauren Gausselin (13 digs), freshman libero Rachel Krasowski (10 digs) and junior setter Maureen Imrie (24 assists) all contributed for the Eagles. “We had a couple of players unable to play due to various reasons, so it was nice to see someone like sophomore Erica Staunton step up and play big in the biggest moments of the match,” Sandburg coach David Vales said. “I thought, aside from two plays, our back row defense was as good as it’s been. Lauren Gausselin and Rachel Krasowski are starting to work well together, and [sophomore setter/defensive specialist] Rachel Defries had a nice match.” Although Lockport had early leads of 3-1 and 5-3, the first set was all Sandburg. Ahead 7-6, the Eagles took charge with a 10-2 burst that featured aces by Defries and Jonynas. Imrie ended the opener with a quick kill. “We knew the first score was not indicative of how good Lockport is this year,” Vales said. “As coaches, we try to warn players, but I think our age comes through at times. All three of our matches in conference [through last week] have gone three. That’s a testament to how solid the SWSC Blue is, but thinking as a coach, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to seal the deal against Lincoln-Way East and Lockport in two.” True to form, the Eagles could not seal the deal in the second set, which featured 10 ties and four lead changes. Still, Sandburg looked in control when a 4-0 run, which included another ace by Defries to go ahead 17-14. Later a Staunton kill gave the Eagles a 20-16 lead. Trailing 21-18, the Porters put together a 4-0 run — capped by an ace from O’Neil — to take a 22-21 lead. A Staunton kill knotted it at 22-22, but kills from Kovanda and junior middle hitter Bri Orlowski (4 blocks) gave Lockport a 24-22 lead. After a long rally, junior outside hitter Margaret Colby saved a set point for Sandburg with a kill, but the Porters ended it as an over-the-shoulder save by Orlowski fell in for a kill. “They were really tough,” Krasowski said of Lockport. “They have a good offense. After that second game, we used the energy of the crowd we had and the huge hits we had and pushed through. [On defense,] we had to focus on everything and not let the ball hit the ground.” Senior outside hitter Serene Jones (9 kills), senior setter Bella Cosentino (14 assists) and junior libero Emma Sweeney (18 digs) also came up big for Lockport. The two teams met earlier in the season. That was on Aug. 26, in the opening match of the Plainfield North Invite. There, Sandburg won 25-16, 25-19. “We need to get the mentality that no ball touches the ground,” Kovanda said of last week’s match against the Eagles. “The second game, we had that mentality. We’ve come a long way. When they beat us in two, we got down on ourselves and kept making mistakes. We executed a lot more and dug a lot more here.” Lockport’s last victory over Sandburg was 25-23, 25-22 on Oct. 16, 2008, in Orland Park. That helped give the Porters their oneand-only SWSC Blue title. Before that, their last conference championship was in 2000, when they won the SICA West. Just 17 months before Lockport’s last win over the Eagles, current Porters volleyball coach Nick Mraz was a student at Sandburg, and the 2007 graduate was winding down his senior volleyball season. His coach when he played for the Eagles was none other than Vales. “Nick and I go way back to a boys’ team that was not suppose to accomplish much,” Vales said of Mraz helping to spur the 2007 Sandburg boys team. “Nick led us to a regional championship, a sectional semifinal win over Providence and within a couple of points of pulling another huge upset in the championship. He’s the ultimate competitor, and he’s got his girls starting to believe his system.” In his second season as girls coach, Mraz certainly has the Porters on track this fall. They are on pace to reach 20 victories again after going 14-23 the past two years. So he certainly has brought a change of attitude. “Sandburg is a great team,” Mraz said. “They were putting the ball way against us, but I was very happy with how we bounced back. The girls knew how big [this past week’s] match was and how big it would be to win, but we didn’t treat it different than any other match. “I don’t think it would have been stealing one if we had come in and pulled it out. We have the talent to do good things.” visit us online at www.opprairie.com
Page 2 and 3: 2 | October 20, 2016 | The orland p
Page 10 and 11: 10 | October 20, 2016 | The orland
Page 56: Orland Park’s Hometown Newspaper

OP_102016

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?