OP_050417

52 | May 4, 2017 | The orland park prairie sports
opprairie.com
Sports Briefs
Orland Park roller hockey
player’s number retired
Nathan Sablich, of Orland
Park — also known simply
as “Nate” or “Nate Dog” —
recently played his final game
for Illinois State University’s
roller hockey program. The
fourth-yaer senior goalie for
the past four seasons has been
the only starting goalie for
both ISU roller hockey teams
(D-II and D-III), having to
play sometimes in five-plus
games in a day. In his college
career, he racked up more
than 100 games played, more
than 3,000 minutes played
and more than 2,000 saves,
making him the program’s
all-time leader in all of those
categories, according to the
program’s Instagram feed.
He made the national tournament
two times. As a sign
of respect, the team said no
one else will wear his No. 22
again. Following that honor,
he received a Redbird Leadership
Award, recognizing his
perseverance, commitment
and spirit, according to the organization’s
Facebook page.
Providence Catholic studentathletes
from Orland commit
to colleges
Providence Catholic
Wednesday, May 3, was to
recognize student-athletes
on their decisions to continue
their athletic careers in
college. Among them were
the following Orland Parkers
expected to sign Letters
of Intent.
Lauren Bird was to commit
to Indiana University to
continue her cheerleading
career.
Allyssa Demma was to
commit to Carroll University
to continue her softball
career on an academic scholarship.
Lexi Vennetti was to commit
to Indiana University to
continue her cheerleading
career.
Compiled by Editor Bill Jones,
bill@opprairie.com.
Boys Track and Field
Sandburg places sixth in field of 17 at own invite
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Area track and field teams
found success in several
events against top-level talent
in the state at Sandburg’s
Pete Struck Invitational.
Sandburg took sixth place,
Tinley Park placed 11th and
Andrew finished 14th at the
17-team invite Friday, April
28, in Orland Park.
Downers Grove North
and Hinsdale Central tied
for first place with 69 points
each. Crete-Monee was
third with 65 points, before
a significant drop to fourth
place’s 44 points.
The Top 6 finishers in each
event scored team points and
medaled. Sandburg had seven
individuals or relay teams
who medaled.
Eleven of the 17 teams
won at least one event, and
no team won more than three.
“There’s a lot of great
meets out there with maybe
more state placers or teams,
but this invite is always balanced,”
Sandburg coach Joe
Nemeth said. “It’s not like
it’s distance heavy or sprint
heavy or only competitive in
field events. It’s spread out.
That’s what makes it exciting.”
Sandburg’s 43 points were
one point behind Thornridge
and T.F. South, which tied
for fourth place with 44.
The Eagles’ 1,600-meter
relay team ran the 10thfastest
time in school history
and their fastest since a 3
minute and 25.25 seconds at
the 2014 sectional. Marvin
Agwomoh, Leo Espino, Peter
Demogerontas and Dylan
Jacobs ran a 3:26.22 to take
second in the final event of
the night.
Sandburg grad drafted in third
round by Los Angeles Chargers
Bill Jones, Editor
Orland Parker Dan Feeney
is a member of the Los Angeles
Chargers.
With the 71st overall pick
in the third round of the 2017
NFL Draft, the Chargers selected
the 6-foot-4, 305-pound
guard out of Indiana University.
Feeney played as an offensive
and defensive tackle
at Sandburg High School. In
college, he served as a twotime
captain for the Hoosiers,
becoming just the fourth player
in program history to earn
First Team All-America status
twice and only the third to earn
First Team honors in back-toback
seasons, according to
the Indiana Athletics site. He
started 41 games of his college
career at right guard and
the final five at right tackle,
allowing only two sacks in
3,355 snaps.
In 2016, he told The Orland
Park Prairie his success starts
with his work ethic in practices.
“Keep practicing as hard
as you can and treat each
practice like it is game day,”
Feeney said. “If you practice
as hard as you play, it should
be a little bit easier out there,
I think.
“I give it all I’ve got in
practice.”
His NFL Scouting Combine
metrics reportedly were 5.24
seconds in the 40-yard dash,
26 reps for the bench press, 28
inches in the vertical jump and
101 inches in the broad jump.
Jacobs, the final runner,
took the lead against Thornridge
at the second-to-last
turn, but he was overtaken
by the final turn. Thornridge
(3:24.93) won by 1.29 seconds.
“That was an exciting way
to close the day,” Nemeth
said. “For Dylan to come
back from several strides to
get the lead late was great
after he had just run the
1,600.”
Jacobs and Martin Skucas
finished first and third in the
1,600 run. Jacobs’ win in
a season-best 4:16.87 was
Sandburg’s lone event win.
Skucas crossed the line in
4:22.40.
“It’s the first time this
season (Jacobs has) run that
fresh without any other races
before that,” Nemeth said.
“He usually runs something
else prior, but we held him
out of those races to see
where he was at. It was a
great night for him and for
distance running, in terms of
the weather.”
Ayo Abiona placed third
in the long jump, while competing
in the event for the
first time in over a month after
injuring a hamstring. His
jump of 21 feet, 10 inches
was 9 inches shorter than the
first-place jump of 22-7 by
Crete-Monee’s Jamal Safo.
“This was the first time,
including practices, that I
did a full-out jump,” Abiona
said. “My approach was OK.
My push-off was OK. My
landing was OK. I usually
get more power on my pushoff,
but when you haven’t
jumped in a while you have
to work back to it.
“The biggest thing with
competing in three events is
I’m fine, in terms of no pain,
and had a good range of motion.”
Demogerontas, Nico
Calderon, Sam Rodriguez
and Connor Devlin took second
in the 3,200 relay with
a time of 8:14.11. They finished
6.42 seconds behind
Thornridge (8:07.69).
The 400 relay team of
Loluwa Osilaja, Agwomoh,
Espino and Abiona placed
fourth with a time of 43.48
seconds.
Xander Furmanek took
sixth in the 3,200 run with a
time of 10:02.85.
“Today was great to see
all these state-quality guys,”
Abiona said. “It was huge
for our confidence, especially
in the [1,600], to see
we’re ready and know we
can compete against this
level of competition.”
Orland Park native Dan Feeney, who recently was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers,
earned plenty of recognition for his play at Indiana University. Photo submitted