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Home » General NewsTop 10 sports stories of 2011January 1, 2012 Genoa-Kingston High SchoolOn the field, it was a year of championships and unparalleled success for some in DeKalb County. Off the field, it was a year of turbulence, full of change and unexpected events. Some of the axioms sports fans in this area knew to be true got turned on their head, or in some cases obliterated completely. Northern Illinois’ football team can’t win the big one? Kicked away by Mathew Sims. A boys soccer team can’t start its first varsity season in one of the most talent-rich small conferences in the state and hope for any success? Kicked away by Hiawatha. Then there was the inspirational. Sadly this year, it often came in the wake of unmistakable tragedy: A gun shot or a freak accident. But out of those events came a response that rallied people together in ways that still are remarkable months later. It was a different year in sports in DeKalb County, one that won’t be forgotten for a long time. 1. Motown redemption for NIU football program It was an all-consuming goal for Northern Illinois’ football team. A year after coming up one play short in the Mid-American Conference title game, a return trip to Ford Field in Detroit, one that would bring home a victory, was the only objective this season. Mission accomplished. And the Huskies did in dramatic fashion, coming back from 20-0 down Dec. 2 to beat Ohio, 23-20, on kicker Mathew Sims’ last-second 33-yard field goal. It gave the Huskies their first MAC football title since 1983 and was the largest second-half comeback in modern NIU history. Led by record-setting quarterback Chandler Harnish and first-year coach Dave Doeren, the Huskies vanquished the ghosts of MAC title games past and came home champions. “That one moment, when we were all dancing on the field together – I don’t know how you guys felt, but I felt pretty good,” Doeren said, turning to his players beside him after the victory. “That’s what it’s all about, that one single moment that you are the best. Our guys earned every second of it.” The 10-3 Huskies accepted a bid to the GoDaddy.com Bowl, which will be played Jan. 8 against Arkansas State in Mobile, Ala. 2. Devon Butler shooting shocks NIU, football teamThe night of April 5 was supposed to be a relaxing one for NIU linebacker Devon Butler. He headed to a friend’s apartment to hang out and play some video games. But a botched drug deal earlier in the day that Butler had no knowledge of ended in gunfire. One of the bullets penetrated a window and struck Butler on the right side of his back. Rushed first to Kishwaukee Community Hospital and then airlifted to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Butler underwent emergency surgery to remove bullet fragments. He spent the next few days in critical condition, not knowing if he would survive. Two weeks later, Butler left the hospital on his way to a full recovery. The shooting shocked NIU and has been a part of an increasing trend of violence in DeKalb. Richard Van Arsdale III and Mark Orozco were charged in the shooting and are awaiting trial. Butler redshirted last season, but amazingly was back in pads for practice in early December.
Kaneland’s baseball team never had won so much as a regional title in school history. The Knights endured heartbreaks, blowouts and everything in-between, but their trophy case remained empty. Until 2011. Riding the arm and bat of Daily Chronicle Baseball Player of the Year Bobby Thorson, the fielding of outfielder Jake Razo, a healthy Sam Komel and a lineup that got big hit after big hit, the Knights won their final 13 games, culminating in June in an 11-3 win against Oak Forest for the Class 3A state title. Thorson dominated at the plate (.417 average, .787 slugging percentage, 12 doubles, eight home runs, 51 RBI) and on the mound (7-3, 0.83 ERA, 76 strikeouts) throughout the season, coming through with two RBI in the state title victory. Jovial first-base coach Jim Smedley offered players his rationale about their final weekend of the season when the team arrived in Joliet for the semifinals, one that proved to be correct by the end of the weekend: “Might as well win the thing since we’re here.” 4. Harnish’s historical season What didn’t Chandler Harnish accomplish his senior season? The most accomplished dual-threat quarterback in the country took aim at every quarterback record in NIU’s history books in leading the Huskies to the MAC title. Harnish was named the Vern Smith Leadership Award winner (MAC MVP). He owns or shares 24 career records and passed the legendary George Bork for most touchdowns responsible for and touchdown passes this season. Harnish became only the 10th player in NCAA FBS history to have 200 passing and 200 rushing yards in the same game when he completed 14 of 27 passes for 203 yards and ran for 229 yards on 14 carries Oct. 15 against Western Michigan. With the GoDaddy.com Bowl upcoming Jan. 8, Harnish has his sights set on two records. A win, and the senior class goes out as the first class in NIU history to leave with 35 victories. If Harnish can rush for 118 yards and pass for 58, he will become the first player in FBS history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,500 in the same season.
All they wanted was a chance to play. Boys soccer players from Hiawatha lobbied the school for years for permission to field a team. They knew they had the athletes to compete, they just wanted to prove it on the field. But even the Hawks didn’t expect the type of season they had their first year on the varsity level. Hiawatha won the regular season Little Ten Conference title and advanced to the LTC tournament championship game on its way to a 15-4 season. Led by sophomore midfielder Reyman Solis (29 goals, 15 assists) and all-LTC defender Ed Canchola, the Hawks stunned the area with speedy play and quick-strike ability. Hiawatha made a statement that the Hawks aren’t to be taken lightly in the future. 6. Cogs come together Belvidere North wrestler Heriberto “Eddie” Avila had enjoyed some success in his first season on the mats. His life changed forever in a match against Genoa-Kingston’s Sean McIntyre on Jan. 12. A freak result of a single-leg takedown snapped Avila’s tibia and fibula and dislocated his knee. After three surgeries in three days, Avila’s left leg was amputated from the knee down. Fortunately, the story didn’t end there. G-K students and staff and members of the Genoa and Kingston communities raised more than $6,000 to help the Avila family with medical costs. The school presented a check to the Avila family in a surprise ceremony at G-K in February. “I don’t want your injury to be what links us, these two schools,” G-K athletic director Dirk Campbell told Eddie during the presentation. “I want your hope and your courage and your heart and how much we admire that to be what links us. OK?” “You got it,” Eddie said. 7. IHSA’s sweeping changes The IHSA long has tried to deal with two main issues regarding postseason competition – the multiplier for private schools and classification for all schools and sports – separately. In June, it announced widespread changes to both. The IHSA switched its postseason classification policy from an overall class cutoff to a sport-by-sport cutoff in an effort to divide the classes evenly. Locally, the biggest changes came for DeKalb High School. A school that for years had been on the border of the highest two classes, DeKalb saw some sports move down a class while others stayed in the highest one. Some of those teams saw a spike in postseason success. At the same time, Genoa-Kingston saw a few of its teams move up a class. As for the multiplier, there now is an automatic waiver of the multiplier for each non-boundary school if it has not won a state trophy, qualified for the state final tournament, won a sectional, or won a regional two or more times. Track teams that have finished second or third in a sectional two or more times or football teams that have won a first-round playoff game do not get the waiver.
Lake Kwaza was sick, running a fever and dealing with a sore throat on the morning of the Class 2A state track and field finals last spring. Kwaza, a junior at Sycamore, came home with four state medals. She took second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, took seventh in the 400 and was a part of the sixth-place 4x100 relay team. She has amassed eight medals at the state meet in three years. Kwaza has committed to run for Iowa next fall.
After a dismal 35-83 record in four seasons, including a 19-44 record in Mid-American Conference play, NIU fired men’s basketball coach Ricardo Patton in March and hired Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery. Patton’s best MAC record in his four seasons was 6-10, and attendance continued to dip at the Convocation Center. Montgomery brought in a heralded recruiting class, better Chicago ties than NIU enjoyed under Patton and plenty of buzz after only a few months on the job.
DeKalb senior gymnast Jessica Morreale finished second in the all-around, uneven bars and balance beam at the state gymnastics meet in February. This was the first year since the 1980s that DeKalb had a gymnastics program, and the team was coached by Jessica’s dad, Andy Morreale. “It was a lot of fun [competing at high school state],” Jessica Morreale said. “It was a good experience. It’s a lot more like college meets [than club], so that’s great.” In the summer, Morreale was a High School National all-around, bars and floor champion, earning All-American status.
4. Harnish’s historical season What didn’t Chandler Harnish accomplish his senior season? The most accomplished dual-threat quarterback in the country took aim at every quarterback record in NIU’s history books in leading the Huskies to the MAC title. Harnish was named the Vern Smith Leadership Award winner (MAC MVP). He owns or shares 24 career records and passed the legendary George Bork for most touchdowns responsible for and touchdown passes this season. Harnish became only the 10th player in NCAA FBS history to have 200 passing and 200 rushing yards in the same game when he completed 14 of 27 passes for 203 yards and ran for 229 yards on 14 carries Oct. 15 against Western Michigan. With the GoDaddy.com Bowl upcoming Jan. 8, Harnish has his sights set on two records. A win, and the senior class goes out as the first class in NIU history to leave with 35 victories. If Harnish can rush for 118 yards and pass for 58, he will become the first player in FBS history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,500 in the same season.
All they wanted was a chance to play. Boys soccer players from Hiawatha lobbied the school for years for permission to field a team. They knew they had the athletes to compete, they just wanted to prove it on the field. But even the Hawks didn’t expect the type of season they had their first year on the varsity level. Hiawatha won the regular season Little Ten Conference title and advanced to the LTC tournament championship game on its way to a 15-4 season. Led by sophomore midfielder Reyman Solis (29 goals, 15 assists) and all-LTC defender Ed Canchola, the Hawks stunned the area with speedy play and quick-strike ability. Hiawatha made a statement that the Hawks aren’t to be taken lightly in the future. 6. Cogs come together Belvidere North wrestler Heriberto “Eddie” Avila had enjoyed some success in his first season on the mats. His life changed forever in a match against Genoa-Kingston’s Sean McIntyre on Jan. 12. A freak result of a single-leg takedown snapped Avila’s tibia and fibula and dislocated his knee. After three surgeries in three days, Avila’s left leg was amputated from the knee down. Fortunately, the story didn’t end there. G-K students and staff and members of the Genoa and Kingston communities raised more than $6,000 to help the Avila family with medical costs. The school presented a check to the Avila family in a surprise ceremony at G-K in February. “I don’t want your injury to be what links us, these two schools,” G-K athletic director Dirk Campbell told Eddie during the presentation. “I want your hope and your courage and your heart and how much we admire that to be what links us. OK?” “You got it,” Eddie said. 7. IHSA’s sweeping changes The IHSA long has tried to deal with two main issues regarding postseason competition – the multiplier for private schools and classification for all schools and sports – separately. In June, it announced widespread changes to both. The IHSA switched its postseason classification policy from an overall class cutoff to a sport-by-sport cutoff in an effort to divide the classes evenly. Locally, the biggest changes came for DeKalb High School. A school that for years had been on the border of the highest two classes, DeKalb saw some sports move down a class while others stayed in the highest one. Some of those teams saw a spike in postseason success. At the same time, Genoa-Kingston saw a few of its teams move up a class. As for the multiplier, there now is an automatic waiver of the multiplier for each non-boundary school if it has not won a state trophy, qualified for the state final tournament, won a sectional, or won a regional two or more times. Track teams that have finished second or third in a sectional two or more times or football teams that have won a first-round playoff game do not get the waiver.
Lake Kwaza was sick, running a fever and dealing with a sore throat on the morning of the Class 2A state track and field finals last spring. Kwaza, a junior at Sycamore, came home with four state medals. She took second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, took seventh in the 400 and was a part of the sixth-place 4x100 relay team. She has amassed eight medals at the state meet in three years. Kwaza has committed to run for Iowa next fall.
After a dismal 35-83 record in four seasons, including a 19-44 record in Mid-American Conference play, NIU fired men’s basketball coach Ricardo Patton in March and hired Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery. Patton’s best MAC record in his four seasons was 6-10, and attendance continued to dip at the Convocation Center. Montgomery brought in a heralded recruiting class, better Chicago ties than NIU enjoyed under Patton and plenty of buzz after only a few months on the job.
DeKalb senior gymnast Jessica Morreale finished second in the all-around, uneven bars and balance beam at the state gymnastics meet in February. This was the first year since the 1980s that DeKalb had a gymnastics program, and the team was coached by Jessica’s dad, Andy Morreale. “It was a lot of fun [competing at high school state],” Jessica Morreale said. “It was a good experience. It’s a lot more like college meets [than club], so that’s great.” In the summer, Morreale was a High School National all-around, bars and floor champion, earning All-American status.
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