Maine South Sports Roundup: Eckhart Doubles Up At Sectional Championships

Boys Track and Field: With 500 meters to go in the 1600, senior Dave Eckhart looked strong and smooth. After New Trier’s Tommy King had broken out in front by 20 meters early on, Eckhart and two others had caught up.

But over the last lap, King eventually pulled away and New Trier’s Leland Later outkicked Eckhart at the finish to put the Maine South distance star in third place.

Eckhart may not have had the finishing kick, but his third-place mile – run in 4:16.76 -- capped an impressive distance double. Earlier in the day, Eckhart crushed the 3200 field in 9:12.44 to take first place by almost seven seconds.

Eckhart was one of three individual athletes from Maine South to advance to the state championships after last week’s IHSA Class 3A Skokie Sectional. Michal Filipczak won the 800 (1:54.13) while Nick Wisniewski took home the title in the pole vault (14-06).

The 4x400 relay team of Tom Fritz, Mike Azzaro, Andrew Terenzio and Filipczak capped the meet with a win as well (3:20.18).

Although the majority of its team points came from the four event victories, Maine South finished fourth as a team at the Skokie Sectional with 54 team points. Niles North won the event with 104 points.

Baseball: With the playoffs right around the corner, Maine South is picking a good time to peak. The Hawks went 4-1 last week, reeling off four wins in a row after a 6-2 loss to Glenbrook South on May 16.

With six solid innings from pitcher Rocky Saazedra, Maine South beat Rolling Meadows, 10-3, the following day. The Hawks’ roll continued with a 2-1 win in a rematch with Glenbrook South. John Forsythe scattered seven hits over seven innings to get the win. Jimmy Frankos’ two-run double was the difference offensively.

Maine South closed out its week with wins over Highland Park and St. Ignatius.

Girls Soccer: Maine South did what was expected and took home a regional championship on Friday. After easily dispatching of Von Steuben, 7-0, in the semifinal on Wednesday, Maine South put Niles North away with a 3-1 victory.

Carli Pappas, Allison Cottrell and Jenny DiCola all scored in the regional championship game for Maine South.

Girls Track and Field: Freshman Emily Leonard finished 16th in the 3200 (11:22.7) at the state championships last weekend.  

Boys Volleyball: The Hawks edged out Evanston, 30-28, 25-22, in two tightly contested games on May 18. Spencer Groessl had 9 kills and 4 aces to lead Maine South (20-10, 8-2).

Boys Soccer: Maine South’s senior goalie Richard Balek signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Culver-Stockton next season.

Football: Quarterback Matt Alviti has been busy preparing for next year’s football season. He was recently invited to try out for one of the elite football training camps in the country.

SCOREBOARD WATCHING:

Softball:

Resurrection 6, Maine South 5