Southtowners: Sheriff’s Department lauds D230 volunteers, MVCC Hall adds 3, more

Southtowners: Sheriff’s Department lauds D230 volunteers, MVCC Hall adds 3, more

Moraine Valley Athletics Hall of Fame adds three

Two former athletes and one retired coach were the latest group inducted into the Moraine Valley Community College Athletics Hall of Fame in February. The sixth class of inductees included 16-year cross country coach Mark Horstmeyer, women’s volleyball player Kara Kentner and women’s basketball player Sharnita Lloyd.

Horstmeyer was hired at the college as the director of college and community relations in 1999 and restarted the cross country program which he led from 2000 until his retirement in 2016, earning five Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year honors for the women’s program and one for the men. He also earned four NJCAA Region 4 Coach of the Year awards for the women and one for the men.

Kentner played on the Moraine Valley volleyball team in fall 2012 and 2013. In her freshman year, she helped her team go undefeated, grabbing Skyway Conference and NJCAA Region 4 championships, was ranked as high as fifth nationally for her hitting percentage and was named to the All-Region and All-Conference first teams, named Skyway Player of the Year and received a nod to the NJCAA All-America Division II first team. In her sophomore year, Kentner helped her team earn back-to-back conference and region championships. The team finished eighth at nationals where she was named to the NJCAA Championship All-Tournament Team. She added to her accolades by being named to the 2013 American Volleyball Coaches Association Two Year College All-America second team, NJCAA All-America Division II first team for the second time, All-Region team, All-Conference first team, Conference Player of the Year and was NJCAA Player of the Week.

Lloyd was on Moraine Valley’s women’s basketball team between 2008 and 2010. She helped both her teams earn Skyway Conference championships. In her sophomore year, Lloyd was named to the All-Region 4 and All-Conference first teams, All-Region Championship Tournament team, Region 4 Player of the Year, Conference Player of the Year and NJCAA Division II All-America first team. At the end of her tenure, Lloyd was the third leading scorer in the program’s history with a season record of 526 points.

District 230 students lauded by Sheriff’s Department

Nearly 80 Consolidated High School District 230 students from Sandburg, Stagg and Andrew provided a minimum of 100 hours of voluntary, unpaid community service and qualified for the Sheriff’s Office Commitment to Service Award. This award is given to residents of Cook County, grades 9-12, who have provided meaningful volunteer service to their communities from September 2022 to August 2023.

While District 230 has a 25-hour community service graduation requirement, the Service Award requires a minimum of 100 hours, above and beyond hours served as a school requirement.

Winners included Andrew’s Zaid Adi (185.5 hours), Lucia Cannonito (131.25), Michelle Cordova (385.5), Rimonda Gerges (203.75), Luke Herzic (289), August Jakubauskaite (194), Erin Kammerzell (207), Mohammed Mustafa (488.5), Hailey Parke (440) and Katrin Rafael (265.75); Sandburg’s Dania Al-Hayek (193), Mohammad Atiya (319), Sophia Bonaminio (563), Brianna Borgman (373), Hatice Caliskan (154), Leah Colby (161), Leah Conway (149), Kenya Cooley (291), Kiera Delaney (173), Hannah Dvorak (287), Anthony Edelen (142), Gianna Elizondo (165), Nicholas Elizondo (125), Isabella Escobedo (191), Cayla Evans (266), Christiana Floerke (126), Sarah George (159), Zena Issa (140), Christine Jaeger (362), Jack Johnson (134), Edward Joy (187), Riley Kelly (130), Ella Ko (186), Leila Lakkis (184), Ashley Lawler (172), Addison Manning (142), Quinn McElligott (127), Ayah Mehyar (142), Hamza Mishal (135), Sara Niedziela (165), Maura O’Connor (177), Taran Polavarapu (220), Reese Rodriquez (252), Samantha Rose (478), Zuzanna Skiba (134), Courtney Stevenson (1,272), Matthew Swais (126), Harrison Weidemiller (226), Nathalia Wyszomirski (153) and Paige Zikmund (301); and Stagg’s Maryam Alaani (233.5), Bana Barham (439), Tala Barham (422), Samaher Eljubeh (175.5), Danya Hasan (236), Mohammed Ismail (136), Ilianna Jurevis (158), Nikolaos Kounavis (182), Natalia Mazurek (352.25), Shahd Mohammad (590), Cecilia Pescetto (343.5), Pilar Pescetto (125), Hiba Saada (176), Sereen Salem (264), Karolina Sliwa (256.5), Ruth Thrall (121), Gabriella Vazzana (303.5) and Abigail Zemgulis (277).

St. Alphonsus/St. Patrick School wins Scholastic Bowl

Students at St. Alphonsus/St. Patrick School in Lemont recently earned first and fourth place finishes during the 2024 Nazareth Academy Scholastic Bowl. (St. Alphonsus/St. Patrick)

St. Alphonsus/St. Patrick School recently earned first and fourth place finishes during the 2024 Nazareth Academy Scholastic Bowl.

Lilah Kloeckner, Ian Novak, Jakob Cepon and Adam Curley placed first and Lucy Palumbo, Dominic Anzalone, Brady O’Hara and Lucas Schikor took fourth.

Bremen students awarded QuestBridge match scholarships

Bremen students Talea Carter and Sebastian Bocanegra Macias were both awarded full, four-year QuestBridge National College Match Scholarships.

Carter’s scholarship award was matched to Northwestern University. Carter will major in theater starting this fall. Macias’ scholarship award was matched to Wesleyan University Macias will major in either molecular biology or mathematics beginning this fall.

Homewood’s Butler garners all-conference for UW-Whitewater

Homewood’s Jermaine Butler, a member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team, was one of six Warhawks who earned All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors by finishing the top two of his respective weight class at the 2024 WIAC Championship.

Butler, who served as UW-Whitewater’s representative on the All-Sportsmanship Team this season, finished as the WIAC runner-up at 157 pounds.

Mokena’s McCurdy named to American International College AD 3.0 Club

Hunter McCurdy was inducted into the American International College Athletic Director’s 3.0 Club for the fall 2023 semester.

Clark University fall dean’s list

Burbank: Caroline H. Cragg; Mokena: Layne A. Stevens; Oak Lawn: Stella C. Chinchilla

Send news to communitynews@southtownstar.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *