HH_092018

36 | September 20, 2018 | The Homer Horizon sports
homerhorizon.com
Girls Cross Country
Porters place fourth at Libertyville Invite
Girls Volleyball
Gary Larsen
Freelance Reporter
The Lockport girls cross
country team traveled north
this past weekend, placing
fourth in the 16-team Libertyville
Invitational.
Lockport’s Kate Wojcikiewicz
entered her senior season
of cross country with
the obvious desire to run the
best times of her high school
career. As a team leader, she
also wants to help the Porters
to do even better than
the Top-25 finish in Class 3A
that they managed last year.
But her main goal for this
season goes beyond team or
individual performance.
“This summer, I made sure
we did a lot of team bonding
stuff, because I wanted girls
to fall in love with cross
country the way I fell in love
with it,” Wojcikiewicz said.
“That was kind of my goal.
“We did a lot of trips together
and stuff, just to make
sure everyone is friends and
This Week In...
Porters Varsity
Athletics
Football
■Sept. ■ 21 at Andrew, 7:15 p.m.
Boys Golf
■Sept. ■ 21 at Will County
Invite, 11:30 a.m. at Inwood
Golf Course
■Sept. ■ 25 at SWSC
Conference Meet, 8 a.m. at
Coyote Run
Girls Golf
■Sept. ■ 26 at SWSC
Conference Meet, 8 a.m.
Girls Tennis
■Sept. ■ 25 host Bolingbrook,
4:30 p.m.
Boys Soccer
■Sept. ■ 20 host Lincoln-Way
Central, 4:30 p.m.
■Sept. ■ 22 at Lincoln-Way
Lockport’s Josephine Bober (left) and Anna Kozak push
each other Saturday, Sept. 15, during the Libertyville
Invitational. Gary Larsen/22nd Century Media
everyone is having a fun
time. The races are hard but
you get to hang out with your
friends, and that’s special.”
Lockport coach Regan
Cronholm appreciates everything
Wojcikiewicz gives
her.
“She’s a leader,” Cronholm
said. “I can always
count on her. She knows how
to talk to the girls during the
races to encourage them and
West, 10:45 a.m.
■Sept. ■ 25 at Homewood-
Flossmoor, 4:30 p.m.
Girls Swimming
■Sept. ■ 20 host Homewood-
Flossmoor, 5 p.m.
■Sept. ■ 21 at Downers Grove
North Invite (Diving), 5 p.m.
■Sept. ■ 22 at Downers Grove
North Invite (Swimming), 9 a.m.
■Sept. ■ 25 host Lincoln-Way
West, 5 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
■Sept. ■ 20 at Thornton, 5:30
p.m.
■Sept. ■ 25 host Thornwood,
5:30 p.m.
■Sept. ■ 26 host Minooka,
5:30 p.m.
Girls Cross Country
■Sept. ■ 22 at Palatine
Invitational, 9 a.m. at Deer
Grove East Forest Preserve
get them going. And as a
runner, she’s been in the top
seven all three years so far.
She’s a battler.”
The Porters were led by
Wojcikiewicz’s ninth-place
finish. Teammates Anna Kozak,
Josephine Bober, Abby
Kozak, Alexandra Skibicki,
and Samantha Weisner all
finished in the Top 30 among
the field of 141 runners.
“They ran exactly how
high school highlights
The rest of the week in high school sports
Girls Volleyball
Lockport takes second at
Oak Lawn Invite
Jill Hook was named to
the All-Tournament Team at
the Oak Lawn Invite, leading
the Porters to a secondplace
finish on Saturday,
Sept. 15. The Porters took
care of Stagg 25-19, 25-14
in the semis before losing a
tightly contested championship
match to Lincoln-Way
Central by a score of 25-17,
23-25, 23-25.
they were planning on running,”
Cronholm said.
“They stayed in a pack until
the mile and then broke off a
little bit.
“I’m pleased with their
performances today. We’ve
had a different top seven almost
every race and that’s
cool to see.”
Wojcikiewicz is a veteran
of the hilly course at Adler
Park.
“There’s one hill here
that’s definitely difficult. It’s
kind of a grind to get up,”
Wojcikiewicz said. “But
this is my fourth time running
here. I tried to stay focused
and I wanted to give
it one more good run on this
course.
“The team worked really
hard today. There’s a really
good team atmosphere. We
went out together through
the (first) mile, we were
talking, and then I split off
from them there. But I know
they’re all working hard in
every race.”
Boys Golf
Lockport 152, Lincoln-Way
East 160
Eric Gasienica shot an
even par 36 to lead the Porters
to a win over the Griffins
Thursday, Sept. 13, securing
a 12-0 record in dual meets
this season. Brody McCarthy
and John Elsen finished
with scores of 38, while
Brandon Burdick and Mason
Kuhn shot 40s for Lockport.
Lockport 156, Morris 184
Nolan and John Weis each
shot 38 to help Lockport to
the victory Sept. 10. The trio
of Eric Gasienica, Mason
Kuhn and VJ Greci each had
scores of 40 to round out the
scoring for the Porters.
Compiled by Contributing
Editor Max Lapthorne, max@
lockportlegend.com.
Porters (left to right) Nadia Goich, Rebecca Oldendorf and
Taylor Morgan celebrate a point Thursday, Sept. 13, during
a matchup against Lincoln-Way West in New Lenox. James
Sanchez/22nd Century Media
Familiarity breeding
success for Porters
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
There were no doughnuts
for the Lockport Township
girls volleyball team, and
that was fine with Jill Hook.
When the senior libero
stepped back to serve set
point for LTHS in the opener
against Lincoln-Way West,
she didn’t want to miss.
“I was kind of nervous,”
Hook said of trying for set
point. “If it’s game point, and
I miss [the serve], then I owe
the team a dozen doughnuts;
it’s just a fun thing we do as
a team. It was close but hit
the top of the net and trickled
over.”
The set-winning ace was
one of four for Hook as the
Porters prevailed 25-17, 25-
16 over West in a SouthWest
Suburban Conference crossover
on Thursday, Sept. 13,
in New Lenox.
Hook had 14 digs, as
well, to help lead a balanced
Lockport (7-5) attack. Junior
outside hitter Morgan
Schmutzler (4 kills, 6 digs),
sophomore middle blocker
Nadia Goich (4.5 blocks, 2
kills) and junior opposite
side hitter Becca Oldendorf
(3 blocks) also contributed
for the Porters, who are finding
their stride after opening
the season with four losses
in their first seven matches.
“Ever since we beat Andrew
in three, we’ve been
playing really good volleyball,”
Lockport coach Nick
Mraz said. “Plainfield Central
was a battle, and [against
West], for the most part we
were pretty clean. Our chemistry
has been much better
since the opening weekend.
That’s what the season is for,
so you have to get competitive
matches early on. We’re
really distributing the ball to
all of our hitters, and they’re
all a threat.”
Ahead 15-12 in Set 2, the
Porters put it away with a
7-1 spurt. Junior opposite
side hitter Hannah Knippenberg
teamed with Goich on a
nice block as Lockport dominated
at the net. The Warriors
returned a ball wide on
match point.
“I think it’s all coming together,
and we’re starting to
push all the way through,”
Knippenberg said of the
team. “I feel like we’ve progressed
through the season,
that we’ve just been doing
better and better. As long as
we keep pushing, we’ll be
fine.”