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46 | May 16, 2019 | the frankfort station sports frankfortstation.com HOF pick ‘special’ for Martin STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor Longtime Lincoln-Way East girls basketball coach Jim Martin has always felt a bond with his fellow coaches, so earning admiration from those within the profession means a bit more than getting it from outsiders. That’s why Martin was so touched when he heard he’d been chosen for the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the hall in a May 4 ceremony in Normal. “It was a special night,” Martin said. “It was very nice recognition from my coaching peers. These are the basketball coaches, so these are the guys you’ve worked with, coached against. To be recognized by them makes you feel respected and that you’ve done some good in the coaching world. “When I started out of college in 1981 coaching junior high basketball, who would have ever thought that 38 years later I’d be inducted into a Hall of Fame?” Martin, a Frankfort resident, was the only girls basketball coach in Lincoln- Way East history until he retired in June last year and was replaced by his longtime assistant, Jim Nair. After coaching boys for nearly 20 years with stops at Fenwick, Stevenson, Oak Lawn and Riverside-Brookfield, Martin – who became an assistant girls coach under Don Hayes at Lincoln- Way in 1998 – was tabbed to start the girls program at East in 2001. He had originally applied for the East boys job, which went to Rich Kolimas. “I would have hired Rich Jim Martin was the first coach of the Lincoln-Way East girls basketball program and won 341 games in 17 seasons. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO Kolimas over me, too,” Martin said. “Then they asked me to start the girls program at East. It was basketball. I didn’t see it as any different because it was girls. I taught it the same way, coached it the same way. “The girls have a few more pasta parties and things like that, but other than that, we did everything the same.” Martin’s East teams had immediate success, with future WNBA player Jenna Rubino [McCormick] starring on the first edition of the Griffins, who went 19-8. Rubino McCormick, who lives in Frankfort, followed Martin into coaching and had a stint as head coach at Shepard. “Coach Martin was kind of the foundation for my knowledge of the game,” she said. “He was such an offensive-minded coach. He really understood how to put people in position to be successful offensively. “I learned a lot from him as a player and as a coach. I’ve always appreciated how he doesn’t settle. He always pushed you to your full potential.” Martin continued to win throughout his 17 seasons at East, going 341-153. The Griffins won 20 or more games 10 times, including in nine of Martin’s final 11 years – they won 18 and 19 in the other two. East won nine regional titles under Martin. “I had a great first group of girls and the program kind of blossomed from there,” Martin said. “You start out with Jenna Rubino, the Scheifelbein twins [Courtney and Kristina]. Then you have players like Kersten Magrum and Taylor Johnson. “Having kids like that doesn’t hurt you. I was very fortunate to have great players.” Martin also credited his assistant coaches. Nair coached with him on the lower levels at Lincoln- Way, became his assistant at East, left to become the head coach at North when it opened, then assisted Martin again at East after North closed. “I was very fortunate to have Jim Nair until he went to North,” Martin said. “All the other coaches I had with me through my time were fantastic and I couldn’t have done it without them. I had a great administration that was very supportive of me, too.” East athletic director Mark Vander Kooi said the administrators appreciated Martin not only for his coaching abilities, but his skills as a guidance counselor and for who he is as a person. “He’s this kind, nurturing guidance counselor, but then when he got on the court, he was a very fierce competitor and obviously very successful,” Vander Kooi said. “He’s just a tremendous person, and a great example of what high school educators should be about.” For Martin, the Hall of Fame induction served as an opportunity for stories to be told and many great memories to come back to the forefront of his mind. He especially enjoyed sharing the moment with his wife, Cari, and children Michael and Sarah. “My family was very supportive,” he said. “I lost a lot of time. My son played basketball and I missed some of his games. My daughter was in music and I may have missed a concert here and there. “My wife gave a lot. She’s an amazing coach’s wife. She loves basketball, she understood how much it meant to me and she supported it. My kids are adults now and we’re sharing our time together. It was great to have them there for the induction.” Martin said retirement has been good to him so far. Of course, he still spends plenty of time at East sporting events. “Stepping back from the game, I miss it, but I’ve had an enjoyable year watching games, sitting in the stands, watching people coach, and trying to be a mentor if I can in any way,” he said. high school highlights The rest of the week in high school sports Boys track and field Four conference champs for Griffins Fard Farrakhan had a personal-best high jump of 6 feet, 6 inches to win the SouthWest Suburban Blue title on May 8. He helped Lincoln-Way East (125 points) finish third in a tight race for the team title, behind Homewood-Flossmoor (133.5) and Lockport (128). Other champions for the Griffins were Brett Gardner in the 1,600 (4:26.88), John Kruzel in the discus (164-4.5) and Julian Bendy in the pole vault (12-2). Farrakhan also had a pair of runner-up finishes, in the long jump (21-7.75) and triple jump (45-7). Baseball 3-1 week for Griffins Cole Kirschsieper fired a three-hit complete game shutout as Lincoln-Way East knocked off Joliet Catholic 1-0 on Friday, May 10 in a battle of two of the state’s top teams. Ryan McCoy drove in the lone run. The Griffins also beat Burlington Central 7-4 on Saturday, May 11, and split a pair of games with Stagg – falling 2-1 on May 6 and winning 13-6 on May 8. Girls soccer Lincoln-Way East 2, Bradley-Bourbonnais 1 Lucy Clayton and Kayleigh Hanlon each scored a goal as the Griffins topped SouthWest Suburban Red champion Bradley-Bourbonnais on May 7. Lincoln-Way East 1, Plainfield Central 1 Brooke Johnston scored for the Griffins in the tie on May 9. Boys volleyball Lincoln-Way East d. Bolingbrook 25-19, 25-14 Wil McPhillips had 11 kills in the May 9 win. Trevor Lewis added six kills and 12 assists, and Danny Pacini had 15 digs. Boys lacrosse Lincoln-Way co-op 13, Dunlap 5 Vince Grunert had four goals in the Saturday, May 11 contest to lead Lincoln-Way (14-3, 9-0) to the road win, which sealed its second straight conference championship. Girls lacrosse Lincoln-Way co-op 25, Downers Grove co-op 13 Caroline Behrens scored eight goals and Erika Ho added five as Lincoln-Way stayed undefeated, improving to 13-0.
frankfortstation.com sports the frankfort station | May 16, 2019 | 47 fastbreak MArk Korosa/22nd century media 1st and 3 Three Athletes to watch in state events this week 1. Taylor Wright Wright (above), the senior leader of a young LW East track team, qualified for state in the 400 meters and long jump, and as part of the 1,600 relay team. 2. Katie Sciarini Sciarini will also compete in three events at state. She has the state’s top time in the 300 hurdles, and also advanced in the 100 hurdles and on the 1,600 relay team. 3. Adam Hudson Hudson, the leading scorer on the LW East boys water polo team, had four goals in the sectional final win. He looks to lead the Griffins to their first state trophy. Water Polo Four-peat: Griffins boys roll to fourth straight sectional title LW East girls come up short against Knights STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor Lincoln-Way East’s boys water polo team didn’t just win the Lincoln-Way West Sectional. The Griffins dominated it. East won all three of its games by double digits, including a 17-6 rout of Andrew in the sectional championship game on Saturday, May 11. “It’s always good to play well when it matters,” senior Adam Hudson said. “We were out here to prove a point and show what we’re bringing to state.” The Griffins (22-8), making their fourth straight appearance at state, are set to take on New Trier (21- 12) in a quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 17 at Stevenson. Hudson led East with four goals and fellow senior Ryan Kilpatrick added three. Gabe Dirienzo, Noah Schor, Patrick Rossetto and Bryce Wyma scored two goals apiece while Jacob Falejczyk and Jayden Lott each scored once. Max Gilmore made nine saves. “Our bench has been really deep this year so it’s nice to be able to rely on those guys,” Hudson said. Lincoln-Way East celebrates in the pool after its 17-6 win over Andrew in the Lincoln- Way West Sectional championship game on Saturday, May 11. JE<strong>FF</strong> VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA “We had a lot of players getting involved.” The Griffins led 4-1 after a quarter and 9-3 by halftime. After Andrew (17-11) pulled within 5-2 early in the second, East reeled off four straight goals as Hudson connected before Kilpatrick scored two in a row and Schor made it 9-2. “I think this is the best we’ve played all season,” Kilpatrick said. The Griffins’ offense was lights-out throughout the sectional as East beat Stagg 22-2 in the May 9 quarterfinal and routed Lincoln-Way Central 25-8 in a semifinal on Friday, May 10. “One thing we needed to try to connect on was our offense,” East coach Ryan Lodes said. “We’ve struggled a bit to score, but we had it all going this week. “We understand that we’ve gotten to this point because it’s the buy-in from everybody, from guys coming off the bench to guys we just pulled up from JV. We have 19 on the roster and the 19 are all pushing each other.” The Griffins got goals from seven different players in the second half as they cruised to the victory. The state quarterfinal appearance will be the seventh in program history. East has yet to win a game at state. “We just need to keep on playing how we’ve been playing and hopefully we get something out of it,” Kilpatrick said. “It’d mean a lot to go up there and get a win.” The Griffins will find themselves in a new position as they will go into their quarterfinal as the higher-ranked team. East is ranked No. 10 by illpolo.com. New Trier, which was seeded third in its sectional, is No. 14. “We’ll be ready,” Lodes said. “We’re going to play our game up there and I think that’s our remedy. The past years we’ve gone up there and played other peoples’ games.” Bringing home a state trophy would be the next major step for a program that’s had so much success locally in recent years. “These guys have the opportunity to do it and it’s on them now,” Lodes said. “These guys have seen that you have to fight for it, and I think they know more so than any other team we’ve had how to do that.” LW Central pulls away late to knock off LW East girls The Griffins’ girls team could not get back to state for the second straight season, falling 11-8 to Lincoln-Way Central in the sectional championship game. Senior Megan Cales scored five goals to lead the Knights (22-5), who are set to take on Naperville North (30-3) in a state quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16. Mady Athos and Madi Jager added two goals each, while Sierra Maze and Anna Bethke each scored once. Cali Burns paced Lincoln-Way East (19-10- 1) with three goals. Tina Winter scored twice, while Jordan Bruni and Emma Hernandez each had a goal. Burns’ third goal, with 1:10 left in the third quarter, tied the game 6-6. Athos, though, sent the Knights into the fourth quarter with momentum when she scored from outside with just 24 seconds to go in the third. She then scored early in the fourth, putting in a rebound after Jackie Mc- Guire’s shot was saved. The Griffins beat Andrew 14-2 and Homewood-Flossmoor 15-4 to reach the finals. LISTEN UP “To be recognized by them makes you feel respected and that you’ve done some good in the coaching world.’” Jim Martin - Longtime Lincoln-Way East girls basketball coach, on being inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame after a successful 17-year career with the Griffins Tune In Girls Soccer, 5 p.m., Friday, May 17 Lincoln-Way Central Regional final • The championship game of the regional, which may include the Knights and Griffins. Index 43 - Athlete of the Week 42 - This Week In FASTBREAK is compiled by Sports Editor Steve Millar, s.millar@22ndcm.com.
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