HO_062719

homerhorizon.com sports
the homer horizon | June 27, 2019 | 35
Athlete of the Week
10 Questions
with Donny Wallace
Donny Wallace will be a senior
at Lockport Township this fall.
He is a guard on the basketball
team.
How much were you and
the team looking forward
to going up to a shootout
in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
last weekend?
We were really looking forward
to it. We played really well
there last season, and that got us
off to a good start to the season.
These weekend shootouts really
give us a nice preview for the
season.
When did you start playing
basketball?
I started playing in the third
grade, but I really got into it in
the sixth grade. That’s when I
started playing for the Lockport
Thunder. One of my teammates,
Jake Kaczmarek, was on a team
and his dad, Kevin Kaczmarek,
was the coach. That’s what really
got me going.
Do you play any other
sports?
I actually played football here
at Lockport my sophomore year
and baseball my freshman year.
Baseball was my sport. I played
it my whole life. But I got tired
of it in high school, and I got cut
from the team my sophomore
year. So, ever since then, it’s
been all basketball.
What is it about the sport
of basketball that makes it
the game for you?
I really like those aggressive
moments. Those gritty plays that
you do well for the team. Plus,
those clutch moments at the end
of the games are the best.
How did you like it last
season when you played
a pair of games back at
Lockport Central?
I loved playing at “The Pit.”
It’s great with the fans looking
down on you. It gets the fans involved,
and there’s an amazing
energy in there.
You have your own Twitter
page called Donny’s
Disciples, but you are not
the one behind it. What is
the story there?
Yes, my teammate Tommy
Ferriter runs it. It all started as a
joke junior year. Tommy would
tell me how to pose for a picture
and put it on there. But now I
get people coming up to me and
telling me they are a fan, and
that they follow it [as of June
20, it had 117 followers]. I don’t
even have a Twitter account. I
just Google it to read the comments.
What do you do to pump
yourself up before a game?
Actually, I just like to stay
loose and not really pump myself
up. I like to talk to my teammates,
crack jokes and just have
fun with the guys.
What have you learned
from Lockport boys
basketball coach Brett
Hespell?
The biggest thing is that you
are part of a team. That playing
basketball is just part of it. You
not only want to become a better
basketball player, but you also
want to become a better person.
Photo submitted
He really stresses that. We have
guest speakers every Monday,
and we want to become a better
man on and off the court. We
want to be uncommon.
Are you planning to play
basketball next year at
college?
No, I’m looking for the academic
side. My No. 1 goal is to
go to Notre Dame for finance. I
went for a visit there at the start
of June, and it was awesome.
But I will still probably play intramurals
there. I love the game.
What is the best thing
about being an athlete at
Lockport?
It’s really just being a part of
a family and having the guys at
our side. Just being with your
teammates is great. The coaches
are all really good, too, and create
a bond.
Interview by Freelance Reporter
Randy Whalen
Oak Prairie the site for
cross country clinic
Two-day August event
for high school juniors
and seniors, parents
Staff Report
football
From Page 39
other good juniors, too,” Czart
said. “We have a lot of good receivers
making good catches. It
should be a smooth transition on
offense, not a lot of changes in
the system.
“Defensively, we will be doing
a few new things. There, we have
a lot of guys competing for a lot
of positions and some new defensive
coaches.”
Voulgaris, whose dad, Spiro,
quarterbacked the Porters to
their first-ever playoff win, a
21-14 victory over visiting East
Moline United in the opening
round of the Class 6A playoffs
in 1985, is glad to have Czart in
charge.
Former Lockport Township
High School cross country coach
Keith Reed, who is now director
of Age Group Development
for the AAU and New Zealand’s
track coach, will host a free
cross country clinic for all boys
and girls runners who are juniors
and seniors in high school
across Will County and their
parents.
The event is to be held Aug. 2
and 3 at Oak Prairie Junior High,
located at 15161 S. Gougar
Road in Homer Glen. On Aug.
2, doors open at 6:30 p.m., with
clinics starting after the keynote
speaker, who is Al Carius, head
cross country and track coach
at North Central College in Naperville.
Carius has won over 38
national titles, with 22 of them
in cross country. Jeff DeGraw,
cross country coach at Joliet Junior
College, will also be in attendance,
as will two-time state
champion Larry Thompson, who
is slated to speak on Aug. 3.
The clinic runs from 7-9 p.m.
on Aug. 2 and from 8 am.-2 p.m.
on Aug. 3.
The clinic features a multitude
of guest speakers, including
nine state champion coaches at
the high school and junior high
levels in the Midwest, a panel
of orthopedic doctors, physical
therapist, nutritionist, sport
psychologists, trainers, individual
state champions and special
guests John MacDonald, a 2018
NCAA cross country national
champion, as well as 2016 Rio
de Janeiro Olympic silver medalist
Nick Willis.
Also in attendance will be Jim
Knudsen and his son, Soren,
who both won state titles in cross
country.
The event will have door prizes
and gifts, as well. RSVPs are
needed by July 29.
A program syllabus is available
by emailing reedklreed67@
aol.com.
“I love coach Czart,” Voulgaris
said. “He’s a great guy.”
He also believes the Porters
have the makings of a really good
team.
“We all push each other to
work hard,” Voulgaris said. “I like
where we are at. We’re all brothers
on the team. We have six home
games this season, and it’s going
to be a lot of fun.”
Czart could not agree more.
“I’ve liked what I’ve seen with
our guys competing against the
other kids,” Czart said of the
7-on-7’s. “I like to know how
they match up. We are looking
to go to a couple of more
of them [this] week. Then, we
will take the week of July 4 off
before coming back for a couple
more weeks of camp after
that.”