YOUTH SPORTS ROUNDUP - The Beacon News - Aurora (IL)

Soccer -- The Extreme The Extreme, a local U-12 soccer team, captured the title of National Champions Jan. 16 at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. After a season of 3v3 tournaments, the team qualified in regionals to attend the Summit Sports 2000 3v3 Soccer Shootout National Championship in Orlando.Team Extreme has two players from the Kickers Soccer Club, Brett Renner of Washington Middle School and Nicholas Sander from Jewel Middle School. Three other Extreme players, Adam Duckett, Matt Zelensek and Jaime Romero, are Oswego Panther soccer players.

On Jan. 15, the first day of tournament play, the team won three games.

In quarterfinal play Jan. 16, Extreme beat the Force from Iowa, 6-2, and extinguished the Maryland Lightning, 7-2, in a semi-final game.

Extreme won the national championship by beating GFS of Ohio, 8-2. This win earned the team an automatic return to the tournament next year to defend the title.

The U-12 players got ready for the tournament by playing and practicing with the Kickers U-15 team, coached by Tony Charielle.

The U-15 team of Ricky Alfaro, Chris Hammond, Dominic Charielle, Bill Rittierodt and Brian Baier also qualified for the tournament and finished with a 1-3 record.

Gymnastics

Excel Gymnastics Academy Excel sent 13 gymnasts to the second annual IGI Chicago Style Gymnastics Meet Feb. 11-13 at Navy Pier in Chicago.

More than 2,000 gymnasts competed.

In Level 5 (ages 9-10) competition, Brittany Bernardoni took eighth on the uneven bars.

Holly Toyton earned second on the balance beam.

Danielle Unick placed on the uneven bars (seventh) and the floor exercise (fourth). Also competing in this level were Jessica Draper, Brittany Jackson, Sarah Lundberg and Erin Wondrack.

At Level 6, Cassy Waldman competed in the age 7-9 division.

She won second places on vault and floor and placed third on the uneven bars.

She took second in the all-around.

Jessica Koval competed as a Level 6, age 12-over gymnast.

In Level 7, age 11-12, Kyle Lennox placed eighth in floor and Alyssa took sixth on floor and earned 10th all-around.

The 13-over Level 7 team placed in several events.

Candace Brooks earned third place on vault, seventh on unevens and seventh all-around, while Kayla Staake took sixth on vault and fifth on beam.

YMCA Flyers The Fox Valley Family YMCA Flyers gymnastics team hosted a four-team meet Jan. 22 in Plano.

Many local girls participated for the Flyers.

Ainsley Richards of Plano (Level 5, age 9-under) took first in all four events, earning first place all-around.

Oswego's Abby Annala, a Level 5, age 10-11 gymnast, won first place on beam and was first in all-around scoring.

Brittney Markley and Breanne Markley, both of Somonauk, took fourth and sixth places, respectively.

Brittney won the vault competition.

Both Level 5, age 12 competitors were from Yorkville.

Alison Corwin won the floor and all-around competition.

Haley Cugier won the vault and beam, taking second overall.

First-place finishes at Level 6 in its all ages division went to Anne McCurdy of Yorkville (bars), Kelsey Soris of Yorkville (vault) and Lauren Williams of Yorkville (beam). All-around, McCurdy placed second, Soris third, Williams fifth and Crystal Pinneda seventh.

Sandwich's Madison Fowler, the only Flyer to compete in the all-ages division at Level 7, took first in all events to win overall.

In Level 8, all ages, Allison Annala of Oswego won first place, Jenny Menz of Sandwich fifth.

Midwest Academy of Gymnastics The girls team from the Midwest Academy of Gymnastics in Warrenville competed Feb. 18-20 in the Buckeye 2000 Classic Meet in Columbus, Ohio. This year's meet drew 2,200 gymnasts.

Despite all the competition, the Midwest Level 7 and 8 girls brought home one gold, two silver and five bronze medals.

In the early flight division for Level 7, ages 13-over, Sarah Aarseth of Aurora won a bronze on the beam (with a score of 9.025) and a bronze for her all-around effort (36.20). Aarseth also took 10th place on floor and 13th on vault.

Tiffany Kirschke of West Chicago placed fifth on beam with a score of 9.25 and 12th on floor.

Sarah Rysell of West Chicago (Level 8, late flight division, ages 12-13) took 10th on floor.

Track and field

Aurora Sundowners The Aurora Sundowners concluded their indoor track season Feb. 26 and 27 at the National AAU Championship in Indiana.

Following are the results:

Mariah Smith, an 8-year-old Bantam runner, finished the 55-meter dash in 9.24 for third place and finished the 200-meter dash in 34.9 for seventh. Debra Okafor continued her undefeated season by winning the 55 in 8.4 seconds.

In the 11- and 12-year-old division, Courtney Williams took 12th place in both the 55-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.

Lyndsey Taylor, a runner in the ages 13-14 division, placed seventh in the 55-meter dash with a 7.86 score and 12th in the 200 with a time of 29.64 seconds.

Janeen Corbin's time of 8.01 seconds in the 55-meter dash placed her 14th.

Hockey

Cyclones The Cyclones Squirt Bronze I hockey team played Feb. 26 and 27 in Eau Claire, Wis., where it won the Michael Hughs Memorial Tournament.

The Cyclones beat out 13 other teams from three states to win the tournament.

The Cyclones opened with a 6-0 victory over Eagan, Minn., then stopped Burnett, Wis, 13-0. In the semi-final game Feb. 27, the Cyclones defeated McDonough Manufacturing of Eau Claire, 3-2. This win advanced the Cyclones to the championship round where they beat the Eau Claire Baker Jewelers, 7-0.

Goalie Eric Vanderberg recorded 58 saves, posted three shutouts and allowed but two goals.

Jim Albrecht led Cyclone scoring with five goals and five assists.

Kevin McNally had five goals and three assists, while Mitch Reuter and Luke Jacobson each tallied three goals.

Scoring two goals each were Brent Viola, Jordan Smith, Greg Cairns, Caleb Rowe and Michael Hoscheit. Matt Coll, Mike Sinn and Joshua Puscas rounded out the scoring with a single goal each.

Anthony Pratapas added three assists.

Basketball

Washington Middle School The seventh-grade A team won 20-15 on Feb. 22 with a victory over Waldo. Lauren Miller's eight points led the scoring, while Sharina Hill and Amber Alfter each added four points.

Becca LaDew, Esther Carmona and Tiffany Knox led the scoring in the B team's 8-6 win over Waldo the same day.

The two seventh-grade teams, A and B, combined Feb. 23 to defeat Aurora Christian, 18-16. Patty Rodriguez (eight) and Christina Mercado (four) were Washington's high scorers.

The eighth-grade Red team lost a Feb. 15 game to Jefferson 34-32 in overtime.

Allie Boll had 11 points and three assists.

Laura Smith contributed five rebounds and six points, while Ashley Thomas had four steals.

The Red team moved on to beat Annunciation, 24-17, on Feb. 17. Leslie Lamont scored nine points.

Washington recorded a win Feb. 22 when the Red team toppled Waldo, 25-18. Notables on the court were Sarah Hunger with seven points and Kim Pircon with three steals and two points.

Waldo bounced back that day to defeat the eighth-grade White team, 23-14. Amber Rich scored six points.

The White team was handed a 30-22 loss by Aurora Christian on Feb. 23. Clare Reuland tallied eight rebounds.

On Feb. 24, the Red team fell 39-32 to Jewel, despite Allie Boll's 10 points.

The same day, the White team outscored Jewel 11-2 in the fourth quarter to win 19-17. DaShane Patton and Jerica Hughes provided the defense Erica Long needed to score 10 points.

St. Rita lost 32-8 to the Red team with Hunger scoring eight points and Lamont scoring six.

Holy Angels The sixth-grade Holy Angels Green No. 1 team defeated Holy Angels Gold 12-7 on Feb. 24 at Holy Angels.

High scorers for the game were Kalie May, Natalie Rowe and Jenny Wilmes with four points each.

Emily Vose, Megan Kramer and Hattie Fogerty provided defense and held Gold player Katie Murphy to four points.

St. Rita suffered a 17-7 loss Feb. 24 at the hands of the sixth-grade Holy Angels Green No. 2 team.

Scoring for Holy Angels were Megan Russe, Sarah Spaagaren and Katie Cruger with four points each.

Lauren Froelich tallied three points.

West Aurora Junior Blackhawks The West Aurora Junior Blackhawks eighth-grade basketball team raised its record to 14-3 with a 68-48 victory Feb. 26 over DeKalb, avenging a two-point loss to the same team earlier in the month.

Leading the way for the Blackhawks was Bryant Austin with 17 points and five blocked shots. Travis Brown followed with 13 points with Pete Roley and Steve Hill each added 11. Rounding out the balanced scoring were Roy Magana with eight points and Eric Hoffman with six.

Annunciation The fifth-grade White team from Annunciation made a comeback Feb. 26 against St. Joseph.

With Annunciation trailing 13-10 with 13 seconds remaining, Tatiana Jackson stole the ball, drove the length of the court weaving between defenders to score at the buzzer.

Fouled on the play, she nailed the bonus free throw with no time showing to tie the scored at 13 and send the game into overtime.

In the OT, Genna Mickey scored the only basket off an offensive rebound to give Annunciation the 15-13 win.

Other Vikings' scorers included Amanda Meyer, Kara Bohr and Katie Tappan.

Annunciation's sixth-grade White team beat St. Mary's of Plano, 27-13, on Feb. 23 at St. Peter's. Annunciation had a balanced win with contributions from all seven players.

Erin Frank scored nine points, Colette Kuk eight and Lauren Bohr six.

In league tier play, the seventh-grade Annunciation White team played St. Rita Feb. 23 and fell by a 23-17 score.

St. Rita played with just five players and won with clutch shooting and court hustle.

The Vikings were led by Katie Fowler's 11 points and six rebounds.

The Annunciation girls participated in the St. Joseph Invitational Tournament Feb. 25-27. The Vikings took on St. Pat's of St. Charles and fell, 48-35. Sarah Vlakancic, Meghan Brown and Sarah Bock led the Viking effort.

Annunciation played Cross Lutheran and prevailed 35-34 in overtime. Brown scored the tying basket and Bock scored five points in OT including the winning free throw.

Ryanne Axelson led the offensive attack with 11 points and Brown scored 10 points.

Vlakancic and Fowler each had 12 rebounds to lead that effort.

In the afternoon game, the Vikings played host St. Joseph's and won a hard-fought 41-32 victory over the Hillmen.

All 14 Vikings participated. Vlakancic, Bock and Axelson each scored eight points.

Vlakancic also grabbed 19 rebounds while Brown helped with nine.

On Feb. 27, Annunciation took on St. Pat's for the championship and lost a 32-20 battle.

On Feb. 12, the Annunciation seventh-grade Blue team defeated Holy Angels White, 25-8. Sarah Vlakancic led in both scoring and rebounding with 12 points and 22 rebounds.

Meghan Brown and Sarah Bock helped out with rebounds, pulling down eight and 10, respectively.

The Blue team suffered a 29-17 loss Feb. 23 to St. Joseph.

The Vikings could not hold an 16-8 first-half lead, with St. Joe's staying tough and pulling ahead in the final seconds of the game.

Bock led the team in scoring with 14 points, and Vlacancic grabbed 20 rebounds.

Also contributing to the team were Ryanne Axelson and Amanda Patricoski with four points each.

Jewel Middle School Jewel's seventh-grade Red team defeated Jefferson, 26-14, on Feb. 22 in North Aurora.

Rachel Warren scored 12 points, while Rachael Cherry and Jennifer Burken each added six.

Kristin Kostrzewa's 12 points secured the Blue team a 19-16 victory Feb. 24 over Simmons.

Beth Bellott helped the win with five points.

Swimming

YMCA Sharks The Aurora YMCA Sharks swam at Neuqua Valley High School Feb. 11 to 13 in a meet hosted by BR Ryall.

The Sharks swam and placed in many events.

Those who finished in the top three include: Boys 8 and under: Eric Ahlden -- first: 100 IM, 25 free, 25 breast, 25 fly; second: 25 back.

Justin Reppy -- third: 50 free.

Boys 9 and 10: Mark Ritchie -- second: 100 breast.

Girls 9 and 10: Kelsey White -- third: 100 breast.

Carly Murray -- third: 100 back.

Sara Stoneburg -- second: 100 back, 50 free, 100 IM, 100 free. Kimberly Engen -- third: 50 breast.

Girls 10 and under: Sara Stoneburg -- first: 200 free; second: 50 fly.

Boys 11 and 12: Andy Long -- first: 100 breast; second: 50 breast.

Brett Bromann -- third: 50 free.

Girls 11 and 12: Chelsea Giuffre -- third: 50 fly.

Extreme soccer team members won a national championship in Florida. Pictured, front row from left, are Nicholas Sander, Matt Zelensek, Jaime Romero, Adam Duckett and Brett Renner. Coaches are Jim Romero, Brad Duckett and Jim Zelensek.