FS_121318

36 | December 13, 2018 | The frankfort station sports
frankfortstation.com
Going Places
Trio of LW volleyball players unite at Wesleyan
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
Anyone from the Lincoln-
Way area who ventured 100
miles or so to see an Illinois
Wesleyan womens volleyball
match this fall saw some
familiar faces.
That’s because the Titans
not only had a trio of players
from Frankfort and Mokena,
all three of them stood out
with fantastic seasons this
fall.
Those players were:
Rachel Burkman, a 2015
Lincoln-Way North graduate;
Madi Corey, a 2018
Lincoln-Way East grad;
and Leah Seielstad, who
graduated in 2015 from
Lincoln-Way East. They all
played key roles in helping
to guide Wesleyan to
a 27-6 record this season,
and a College Conference
of Illinois and Wisconsin
championship.
While they’re all from the
same area and ended up at
the same school for college,
it wasn’t by design.
“It’s kind of crazy how
we all went full circle,”
Seielstad said. “I knew Rachel
back in high school.
We played on the same
club team together for a
couple years at Ultimate
and against each other at
East and North. But then
we got to know each other
more in college, and then
Madi joined the team this
year, too. It was super cool
to have three people who
live five minutes from each
other back home be able
to play together two hours
away. I loved playing with
all of them this season.”
The feeling was mutual, as
Burkman and Seielstad enjoyed
their most successful
season in this, their senior
year.
“We talked about how we
Madi Corey (left), recorded a team-high 37 service aces in
her freshman year at Wesleyan, while Leah Seielstad was
named to First Team All Conference.
both liked the school,” said
Burkman of her and Seielstad
discussing Wesleyan
before they committed there.
“We’re both nursing majors,
but that [fact that they were
from the same area] wasn’t a
deciding factor. I decided to
go to commit first.”
For Corey, who played for
two years at North before it
closed and then went to East,
playing with local players
wasn’t the deciding factor,
but it also helped.
“They were both seniors
when I started at Lincoln-
Way,” Corey said of her two
older teammates. “I knew
they were from the Lincoln-
Way area and I looked up to
them. When I came to Wesleyan
it was a whole shift
in perspective. I had looked
up to them, now I was playing
on the same court as
them.”
Corey played very well as
a freshman setter, as she appeared
in 32 of the Titans 33
matches. She recorded 513
assists, 122 digs, 12 kills and
had a team-high 37 service
aces. That helped her to be
chosen to the Second Team
of College Conference of
Illinois and Wisconsin All-
Conference team. Her time
at East prepared her for college.
“When I came to East [as
a junior] there was a lot of
competition,” Corey said.
“By my senior year, I was
able to run a 5-1 offense, and
playing for the Griffins gave
me a lot of mental toughness
and helped me get to this
next level.”
This season was special
for many reasons. Wesleyan
won its first outright conference
title since 1997 and had
a 22-match winning streak at
the end of the season, which
ended in a four-set loss to
Aurora University in the Regional
Final at the University
of Chicago’s Ratner Center
on Nov. 11. But it was the
Rachel Burkman (left) class of 2015 at Lincoln-Way North, and
Madi Corey, class of 2018 at Lincoln-Way East, both ended
up at Wesleyan College along with another former Lincoln-
Way East grad Leah Seielstad, class of 2015. All three women
factored prominently in Wesleyan’s deepest NCAA Division III
title run this past November. Photos submitted
Titans deepest advancement
into the NCAA Division III
tournament in school history.
Along the way, Seielstad
had her own success story.
After playing on the JV team
her junior year, she appeared
in all 33 matches this season
in running a 6-2 offense with
Corey. Seielstad recorded
725 assists, 264 digs, 15
kills and 20 services aces in
being named to First Team
All-Conference.
“We all got so close and
bonded,” Seielstad said of
this season success. “Since
Rachel and I are going to be
nurses, we joke that we’re
going to follow each other
there, too.”
Playing at outside hitter,
Burkman boomed to her
best season ever this fall.
She played in every match,
put down 426 kills, had 20
assists, 29 service aces, 363
digs and finished with a
team-high of 13 solo blocks.
She was elected to District 7
Academic All-District team
and on the ballot for Academic
All-American. She
had numerous All-Tournament
team honors, was First
Team All-Conference and
was named to First Team
American Volleyball Coaches
Association All-Midwest
Region squad.
“I tore my ACL at the end
of my freshman year and
just felt stronger a full two
years after my recovery,”
Burkman said of this seasons
success. “Plus we had
a really strong senior class.
When I was at Lincoln-Way
North as a senior, Madi was
a freshman. It was great to
have her on the same court
here at Wesleyan. It was all
pretty awesome.”
This Week In...
Griffins Varsity
Athletics
Boys Basketball
■Dec. ■ 14 - host Sandburg,
6:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 15 - host Lyons
Township, 2:30 p.m.
Boys Bowling
■Dec. ■ 15 - at Lincoln-Way
Cup, 9 a.m.
Girls Bowling
■Dec. ■ 13 - at Bolingbrook,
4:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 15 - at Lincoln-Way
Cup, 9 a.m.
Wrestling
■Dec. ■ 13 - host Sandburg,
5 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 14 - at Lockport, 5
p.m.
Boys Swimming and
Diving
■Dec. ■ 14 - at Neuqua Valley
Invite, 5:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 15 - at Neuqua Valley
Invite, 10 a.m.
Girls Competitive Dance
■Dec. ■ 16 - at Stagg Dance
Competition, TBA
swimming
From Page 39
“This is a fun meet and it’s
about as fun as it gets,” East
coach Steve Anderson said
of the matchup. “Not only
did Bryce break the two pool
records, but Mason [Rhode]
was also all over it for us in
the breaststroke and fly. I’m
always excited for the season
and these are big times
for this early in the season.
With both of our teams being
good it’s going to make for
an exciting sectional.”
While this meet was obviously
very exciting and
the two teams will be in the
same sectional, they don’t
have long to wait to see each
other again. That’s because
this Friday and Saturday,
Dec. 14 and 15, they are both
at Neuqua Valley Invite.