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Catchings earns WNBA title, honor
Updated: November 1, 2012 7:34PM
Former Stevenson High School standout Tamika Catchings was named WNBA Finals MVP after she led her Indiana Fever to the championship with an 87-78 Game 4 victory against the Minnesota Lynx on Oct. 21 in Indianapolis. She averaged 22.3 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists in the finals.
Although this was her first WNBA title, Catchings has tasted plenty of success in her career.
Now an 11-year WNBA veteran, Catchings spent the first two years of her high school career at Stevenson. She led Stevenson to a Class AA state title in her sophomore season and was later named the 1995 Ms. Basketball of Illinois, the first sophomore ever to win the award.
Catchings also won an NCAA championship at Tennessee in 1998 and went on to win three Olympic gold medals.
Libertyville graduate Jessica Price has been a big contributor to the Florida State women’s soccer team’s season-long success. The senior forward scored her second goal of the season against Boston College on Oct. 18 and sits at fourth on the team in scoring with 10 points. On Oct. 25, Price’s Seminoles earned the top seed in the ACC Women’s Soccer Championship.
The Illinois Wesleyan men’s soccer team fell to Wheaton College on Oct. 21 in Bloomington, Ill., but Wesleyan senior Kyle Gorgol tallied his eighth goal of the season for the Titans. The Hinsdale South graduate finished the game with two shots and one shot on goal. Through 15 games, Gorgol leads the Titans in points (19), shots (41) and shots on goal (25). He also has two game-winning goals and two penalty kicks.
Several local high school graduates were recently recognized for their superb play for the Oakton Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams.
From Niles North, freshmen Berina Gradjan and Angela Jones earned women’s first team all-region and first team all-conference honors, while sophomore Caitlin Nikitow earned second team all-conference honors.
From Niles West, freshman Jacqeline Cardenas earned women’s first team all-conference honors, while sophomore Daniel Niedzielski earned men’s first team all-region and first team all-conference honors.
Sophomore Jasmina Markovic, a Maine East alumna, earned women’s first team all-region and first team all-conference honors.
Freshman Jamal Banton, an Evanston alumnus, earned men’s first team all-region and first team all-conference honors.
And sophomore Arnoldo Reyes, a Leyden alumnus, also earned men’s first team all-conference honors.
