Sports Extras
Oak Park and River Forest graduate Mike Ptack earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Ptack, who graduated from OPRF in 2004, earned his first All-America honor of his career by placing fifth in the nation in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Ptack finished the event in a career best time of 9:09.19, breaking his own school record at Elmhurst College in the event by more than eight seconds.
McInerney earns
top honors in region
OPRF graduate Tim McInerney, a member of the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team, earned All-Central Region honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association. The senior centerfielder was selected to the second team of the ABCA/Rawlings all-region squads.
McInerney was second on the team with a .360 batting average and scored a team-high 58 runs, the second most in an Illinois Wesleyan season. His 18 doubles tied for fifth most in an IWU season.
The Titans finished 33-11 overall and advanced to the NCAA Division III regional for the fourth time in the last five years. IWU went 18-3 to win the CCIW regular season title.
Concordia announces
new b-ball coach
Concordia University Chicago announced the appointment of Joshua Steffen as head coach for the women’s basketball team.
Steffen takes over for Tamlyn Tills, who accepted the head coach’s position at Lake Forest College following the 2007-08 season.
Steffen comes to River Forest after coaching the women’s basketball team at sister school Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the past four and a half years. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant under Greg Rehberg before moving into the interim head coach’s position in January of 2004. Ironically, his first win came against the Cougars in that year’s Concordia Invitational Tournament.
Steffen became the full-time head coach at Concordia Ann Arbor prior to the 2004-05 campaign and led the team for the next four seasons, increasing the Cardinals’ win total each year. He will inherit a Cougar team that is coming off of a 17-10 season, the third-best in Concordia Chicago history, a 13-5 finish in the Northern Athletics Conference, and an appearance in the conference tournament semifinals.
Lacrosse camps
Lacrosse America is again holding camps in Oak Park and River Forest this summer.
The staff will instruct boys and girls in stick handling, dodging, shooting and defense. Both beginners and experienced players will learn from individual instruction, game situation drills and scrimmages.
Emphasis in games will be on skill development, teamwork, sportsmanship, and equal playing time during intra-squad scrimmages. All participants will receive a T-shirt.
Loaner equipment will be provided by Lacrosse America. Session 1 begins June 16 at Centennial Park, while Session 2 starts July 21 at Taylor Park.
For more information, go to lacrosseamerica.com.
Swim lessons
Fenwick High School is offering swim lessons for children ages 5 and up. The program offers two week lessons, Mon.- Thur. for 45 minutes. Session 1 is June 16-26; Session 2 is June 30-July 10; and Session 3 is July 14-24.
For more information, call Dave Perry at 386-0127 ext 195.
