By Mike Walsh Correspondent Screaming and cheering parents and friends expressing their staunch support for their bowlers. Teammates fervently hoping for an opportunity to advance to sectional competition next weekend. For good measure, not one but two gender-reveal parties getting ready to begin a few lanes away. Quite a vibrant atmosphere for a freshman bowler…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The area collected three sectional cheerleading championships and head into the state competition with a head of steam. Sandburg, Marist and Shepard came out of sectional competition with trophies and will compete in the IHSA state finals, to be held Friday and Saturday at Grossinger Arena at Illinois State University…
Read MoreBy Randy Whalen Correspondent For Stagg, it’s a first. For Sandburg, it’s a return trip. Both teams survived the Plainfield North Sectional at Town & Country Lanes in Joliet to advance to the state tournament. The finals will be Friday, Jan. 27, and Saturday, Jan. 28, at St. Claire Bowl in Fairview Heights. The Chargers,…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Stagg boys bowling team had never won a postseason tournament. That changed Jan. 14, thanks in part to a sensational postseason debut by Noah Jones. In the second game of the Oak Lawn Regional at Palos Lanes, Jones rolled a 300. He wasn’t perfect the rest of the way,…
Read MoreBy Mike Walsh Correspondent One of the top performers at the recent three-day House of Champions Invitational held at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis natatorium was UIC women’s swimmer Taira Juronis. Juronis, a Stagg graduate, won the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:16.49, nearly two seconds faster than the second-place swimmer. Juronis also bested her…
Read MoreBy Randy Whalen Correspondent The return of Connor Williams and a fast start provided Stagg hope for its first back-to-back wins in nearly a month. A stifling Lockport defense and a slow finish thwarted that possibility. The Chargers scored only 13 points over the final 23:44 of the game and fell to the Porters, 43-31,…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The plaudits keep coming for retired St. Rita football coach Todd Kuska. Kuska, a former player with the Mustangs and head coach for 25 years, has been named to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame class of 2023. Kuska racked up a 215-93 career mark, which…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Most of the holiday basketball tournaments have not even started, but the IHSA has already released its 2023 postseason assignments. For some area schools, the placements into some sectionals are not exactly gifts from Santa. Area teams Reavis, Brother Rice, Hubbard, Marist, St. Rita, Oak Lawn, Sandburg, Shepard and Stagg…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Oak Lawn got a jump on the rest of the area basketball world when its girls holiday tournament opened for business Dec. 10. Most area boys and girls holiday basketball tournaments take place the week before or the week after Christmas. But Oak Lawn has a tradition of hosting its…
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Thome sweet Thome: Nazareth baseball defeats Hall of Famer Jim Thome’s alma mater
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Nazareth baseball team took a road trip to the middle of Illinois and improved its record to 7-0 on March 23 by beating Limestone, 6-0. Limestone is the alma mater of former White Sox player and Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Thome, who is an assistant coach for the…
Chicago Catholic League greats headed to Hall of Fame
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent A handful of area stars will be inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The list features Kevin Bracken (St. Laurence, wrestling), Kevin Carberry (St. Rita, football), Matt Macievic (De La Salle, cross county and track), Mike McGrew (Mount Carmel, football), Dan Nicholson (Brother Rice, football) and…
Fire II tops Chicago City, advances to to second round of Hunt Open Cup
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Fire II picked up a late invitation to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and beat Chicago City, 6-0, on March 20 in front of an announced crowd of 810 at SeatGeek Stadium. Defender Giovanni Granda and midfielder Vitaliy Hlyut each made their professional debut and scored their first…
Red Stars top Seattle, open season with two wins for first time in franchise history
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year’s last-place finish notwithstanding, the Chicago Red Stars have had a pretty rich history of success. The franchise has seven NWSL playoff appearances and has finished runner-up twice (2019, 2021), and prior to 2022 had finished no lower than fourth in the league ‘s regular season standings for six consecutive…
College Football | Marian (Indiana) and St. Francis highlight Saint Xavier 2024 home slate
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Saint Xavier has released its 2024 football schedule, which has the Cougars opening the season in Michigan. SXU will travel to the Detroit suburb of Southfield to play Lawrence Tech on Sept. 7 in a Mid-States Football Association crossover. The Cougars’ home opener kicks off at noon on Sept. 14 when…
Morton College women’s hoops takes fifth in nation
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent For the second year in a row, the Morton College women’s basketball team finished fifth in the country. The Panthers closed out the 2023-24 campaign in Joplin, Missouri, with a 75-67 victory over Iowa Western on March 23 in the consolation championship game at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. It…
Boys Volleyball | Marist tops Lockport for Gold at RedHawks Invite
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist enjoys getting its season going by hosting a tournament that is now in its 20th year. They had a good time again this season, going unbeaten over five matches in two days to win the Marist RedHawks Invitational for the sixth consecutive time. The RedHawks ended the tournament with a…
Thome sweet Thome: Nazareth baseball defeats Hall of Famer Jim Thome’s alma mater
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Nazareth baseball team took a road trip to the middle of Illinois and improved its record to 7-0 on March 23 by beating Limestone, 6-0. Limestone is the alma mater of former White Sox player and Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Thome, who is an assistant coach for the…
Chicago Catholic League greats headed to Hall of Fame
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent A handful of area stars will be inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The list features Kevin Bracken (St. Laurence, wrestling), Kevin Carberry (St. Rita, football), Matt Macievic (De La Salle, cross county and track), Mike McGrew (Mount Carmel, football), Dan Nicholson (Brother Rice, football) and…
Fire II tops Chicago City, advances to to second round of Hunt Open Cup
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Fire II picked up a late invitation to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and beat Chicago City, 6-0, on March 20 in front of an announced crowd of 810 at SeatGeek Stadium. Defender Giovanni Granda and midfielder Vitaliy Hlyut each made their professional debut and scored their first…
Red Stars top Seattle, open season with two wins for first time in franchise history
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year’s last-place finish notwithstanding, the Chicago Red Stars have had a pretty rich history of success. The franchise has seven NWSL playoff appearances and has finished runner-up twice (2019, 2021), and prior to 2022 had finished no lower than fourth in the league ‘s regular season standings for six consecutive…
College Football | Marian (Indiana) and St. Francis highlight Saint Xavier 2024 home slate
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Saint Xavier has released its 2024 football schedule, which has the Cougars opening the season in Michigan. SXU will travel to the Detroit suburb of Southfield to play Lawrence Tech on Sept. 7 in a Mid-States Football Association crossover. The Cougars’ home opener kicks off at noon on Sept. 14 when…
Morton College women’s hoops takes fifth in nation
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent For the second year in a row, the Morton College women’s basketball team finished fifth in the country. The Panthers closed out the 2023-24 campaign in Joplin, Missouri, with a 75-67 victory over Iowa Western on March 23 in the consolation championship game at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. It…
Boys Volleyball | Marist tops Lockport for Gold at RedHawks Invite
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist enjoys getting its season going by hosting a tournament that is now in its 20th year. They had a good time again this season, going unbeaten over five matches in two days to win the Marist RedHawks Invitational for the sixth consecutive time. The RedHawks ended the tournament with a…
City wants to buy armory at MDW
. Has been vacant since 2017 . By Tim Hadac For decades, it served military purposes, as well as Chicago’s gateway for Presidents stopping off in the city. But the Army National Guard Midway Armory, 5400 W. 63rd St., has been mostly vacant since 2017, when the Illinois Army National Guard ceased operations there and…
A successful career serving thousands
. By Tim Hadac Editor Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound (708)-496-0265 . Most folks work for years at their jobs, expecting and receiving little fanfare, then retire quietly. Garfield Ridge resident Mary Ellen Fox planned to retire from her 30-year job in the City Clerk’s Office quietly; and she did, earlier this year. But co-worker Jim…