RoundTable Teams Have a Smashing Season

The Evanston RoundTable was the proud and grateful sponsor this year of two teams of the Evanston Baseball and Softball Association.

The Knights of the Evanston RoundTable, composed of third- and fourth-grade girls, start playoffs tonight, June 25. The Evanston RoundTable Farm League team, composed of seven-year-olds, will play its last game on July 5. TheRoundTable congratulates all team-members on their season.

ETHS Coach Given Lifetime Achievement Award

Dale Leibforth, head girls lacrosse coach at Evanston Township High School, was awarded the Illinois High School Women's Lacrosse Association's (IHSWLA) Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday June 8 for his work as one of the founding members of girls lacrosse in Illinois and his continuing efforts on behalf of the sport at ETHS, Lakeshore Lacrosse (youth program), IHSWLA and USLacrosse.

Girls lacrosse began at ETHS in the spring of 1997 when a group of girls got together to play informal scrimmages. The following year, 25 girls came out to form two teams. Dale was coach of the JVs and a varsity assistant. He became head coach in 2001, and the program has grown to include over 80 girls a year with four teams.

Representing ETHS, Dale helped form the IHSWLA along with seven other schools: Barrington, Glenbrook South, Lake Forest High School, Lane Tech, Libertyville, Loyola Academy and New Trier. There are currently 35 teams in the association. ETHS teams have never placed lower than 6th place in the state, and each year many members go on to compete at the college level.

While girls lacrosse is considered an "emerging sport" by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), Dale expects is will only be a matter of time before it becomes a fully sanctioned sport. Each year, more and more schools are fielding teams. The Northwestern University women's lacrosse program, national champions for four consecutive years, has brought a lot of attention to the sport in the Midwest. Many ETHS players play with the NU club program in the fall and winter.

Record Turnout for Ninth Annual Race Against Hate

Photo courtesy of George Rfoertner

A record 2,415 participants in this year's Ricky Byrdsong Memorial 5K Race Against Hate on June 22 completed the 5K run/walk and youth mile, an increase of more than 200 people from last year. Participants included Ricky Byrdsong's widow, Sherialyn, their three children,and racers from all over the Chicagolandand as far away as Sheffield, England and Munich, Germany.

"Of course we're all here because Ricky's not," said Sherialyn Byrdsong. "We're here to declare that violence is not the answer, and that racism and hatred cannot be tolerated. I am so thankful to the YWCA for continuing this Race in honor of all Ricky worked for in his life." Ms. Byrdsong presented awards to the top finishers and teams, as well as to the winner of the Race Against Hate K-8 Banner Contest, Alicia Valadez.

Top Finishers
The top overall male finisher was Jordan Horwitz of Evanston, with a time of 15:50. Matthew Marol, 16:34, and Michael Jacques, 17:04, also from Evanston, placed second and third. The top three female finishers were Alona Banai of Oak Park, 18:49, followed by Olivia Aranda of Rockford, 18:59, and April Likhite of Evanston, 19:18.

The top male masters finisher (over 40) was Daniel Maram of Evanston, 18:38, at 16th overall; the top female was Kara Pellaton of Wilmette, 20:26, at 53rd overall.

The top three boys (14 and under) were Matt Cook of Lake Villa, 19:57, Nick Killeen of Wilmette, 20:26, and Kevin Doyle of Evanston, 20:45. The top three girls (14 and under) were Jessica Ackerman of Wilmette, 21:34, Courtney Ackerman of Wilmette, 22:18, and Amanda Weidner of Evanston, 22:51.

Complete results can be found on the YWCA's website, www.ywca.org/evanston.

Team Challenge
Numerous corporate and open teams also participated in the race. Largest corporate running and walking teams were from AON Corporation. Fastest corporate 5K running team was Sidley and Austin and fastest open 5K running team was Evanston Cross-Country Club. Largest open 5K running team and largest Youth Mile teams were from the YWCA Flying Fish, largest open 5K walking team and largest and fastest 18 and under 5K teams were from Baker Demonstration School. Additional participating teams were: Northwestern Athletics, Evanston Arts Council, King Lab Girls Running Club, Evanston Unitarian Church, All For One, Evanston Day Nursery, Mesirow Financial, and Chiaravalle Montessori School.

Ability League Gives Disabled Youth Soccer Opportunity

By Brian Cleary

A new traveling soccer league is offering youth with disabilities a nurturing environment to develop their skills and to play soccer. The home field for the Evanston team is James Park.

The Eclipse Select Soccer Club has teamed up with the National Sports Center for the Disabled and Greater Lakes Adaptive Sports Association to create the Ability Soccer League. "The intention of the program is to give children with disabilities the opportunity to play soccer," says League coordinator Sarah Uyenishi. "The National Sports Center has been working with soccer clubs in places such as Denver, Kansas City and Chicago to build and develop this program."

So far the League has four teams in the Chicago land area: Evanston, Geneva, Hanson Park-Chicago and Libertyville. Players, ages 6 - 18, with physical disabilities who are ambulatory may compete. Both boys and girls are able to play. This past spring was the league's inaugural season.

The Ability Soccer League attempts to accommodate players and their families as much as possible, and is run on a more "casual" basis than the Eclipse Select Soccer Club. The first season lasted six weeks and consisted of a weekly Saturday meeting for either a game or a practice. In the first three sessions, players practiced at their home fields. The remaining sessions were held at one of the four locations for actual games. Each team fields up to five players for a game. If a team has enough players, they play as a team. Otherwise, they combine with players from other teams and play. The season ended this year on June 14. In keeping with the goal of keeping the games casual, no statistics are kept.

" The League provided [my son] with the opportunity to play soccer and develop his skills in an accepting, nurturing environment, with the same quality coaches as other competitive leagues," said Birdy Holtzmueller, whose son played for the Evanston team. "My son more consistently plays up to his potential in this group than in other venues, both because the playing field is more level and because the coaches are so encouraging."

"The League has just started in our area, so we really are working hard to get the word out there and let people know about it," said Coach Uyenishi. "We would really like to develop this program into something bigger and better in the future." This season Ability League had a total of 17 children registered.

For more information contact Coach Uyenishi or Scott Dameron through the Eclipse Select Website, www.eclipseselect.org.

Track Meet Results

33rd ANNUAL
EVANSTON/SKOKIE SCHOOL DISTRICT 65

Link to “RON RISCH” INVITATIONAL TRACK & FIELD MEET (PDF)