Oak Park coach Jack Kaiser`s lineup card for the first game of a recent double-header didn`t include the name of junior third baseman Jim Donovan, who was taking the SAT. Earlier, several Huskies were missing because they were taking the ACT. ”That`s what you get when you have smart kids,” Kaiser said. . . . Oak Park left-hander Jason Klonoski has committed verbally to play for Arizona next season. Klonoski, an unbeaten pitcher hitting more than .500, hopes his telephone will stop ringing. ”It`s been tough, trying to concentrate on this (the baseball season) and in school with all that going on,” Klonoski said. He wears a brace on his right leg after missing nearly two weeks with a strained knee. He shut out Downers Grove North on two hits Thursday, his first pitching assignment since the injury. . . . Lemont (20-4) wrapped up the Northeast Conference championship Wednesday with an 8-5 victory over Elmwood Park. Junior Jim Duda is hitting .423 with 32 RBIs and 22 runs scored. ”He`s the No. 1 reason why we`re where we are,” said coach J.C. Malitzke. Lemont is seeded No. 1 in the Lemont Class A regional, which opens Tuesday. Lemont plays Thursday against Willibrord Catholic or University High. Quarterfinal games are Thursday. Semifinals begin at 10 a.m. Saturday. Championship games are at 4 p.m. May 20. . . . Kennedy (28-0), the Chicago area`s only undefeated team, has three regular-season games left. Public League playoffs begin May 20.
SOFTBALL
Ridgewood (18-0) opens in the Class A regionals at home Thursday against the winner of Tuesday`s game between Latin and Driscoll. Saturday`s semifinals and Monday`s title game are at Wheaton Christian. Ridgewood, an independent, is led by center-fielder Patti Menconi, first basemen-pitchers Karen D`Amato and Tricia Fischer, catcher Joann McGovern and shortstop Cindy Field. . . . R- B (20-2, 11-1) took over first place in the Des Plaines Valley League Thursday when a single by junior pitcher Michelle Gordey became a two-run homer after being misplayed in the Morton West outfield. It broke a 5-5 tie in the fifth inning and gave R-B a 7-5 victory. ”I was just trying to hit the ball,”
Gordey said of her only hit in the game. ”Once it got past her (Liz Bogdanovic), I knew I had a chance to go all the way. I saw it go by her and I just ran.”
BOYS` TRACK
York coach Joe Newton called Jim White`s performance in Saturday`s West Suburban Conference meet ”the best I`ve seen in 29 years at York.” White won the 3,200 in 9 minutes 26 seconds, finished second to teammate Paul Taira in the 800, won the 1,600 in 4:23.35 and ran a 48.8-second leg on the second-place 1,600 relay. White could have won the 800 in a record time, but stepped aside for Taira`s record 1:53.25. ”We were going to be under the record and I wanted him in the books,” said White, who is not in the conference record books. ”The only thing that counted was points.” White tried to let teammate Bob Berger take first in the 1,600, but Berger declined. ”He got mad at me,” White said. Berger was later disqualified for cutting off Proviso West`s Kurt Mueller. Berger protested, but Newton, whose team won the meet, took it in stride. ”It was one of my guys who called it. What am I going to do, fire him?” Newton said. At this weekend`s sectional, White could run the same events. ”I`ll just have to see what happens in all the other meets,” Newton said. ”I`ll have to read the papers Monday. We could spread him if we didn`t have all those prelims. There is a danger, absolutely. We have to be very careful. I don`t know what we`re going to do.” . . . If Andre Love of St. Joseph is able to compete in the York sectional ”he will long jump,” said St. Joseph coach Tony Manfre, ”but he`s had a problem with a hamstring muscle and we`ve been taking it slow all season.” Love was a finalist in the long jump at last year`s state meet. Love jumped 20 feet at the East Suburban Catholic Conference meet. ”He just did it to give us some points in the meet,” Manfre said. . . . Mt. Carmel`s Harold Leonard set a 400-meter Catholic League record of 47.4. He also won the 200 in 21.0. St. Ignatius`
Mike Sawyer ran a 10.3 in the 100. . . . Maine West`s Dean Starkey is the latest pole vaulter to clear 16-0, Friday in the Central Suburban League South Division meet. Sterling`s Mike Murray went 16-1 last month. . . . Elk Grove`s Steve Miller is the first 3,200 runner under 9:10 this year. His 9:06.92 at Friday`s Mid-Suburban League meet is well under the 9:12.9 belonging to York`s White.
GIRLS` TRACK
Willowbrook`s Nadine Wille hadn`t run longer than the 100 before this season. At Saturday`s Glenbard West sectional, she won the 400 in 57.4 seconds. She also ran 57.8s on the winning 800 medley relay (1:49.6) and the second-place 1,600 relay (4:04.2). All three were school records. ”She`s an incredible runner,” said her coach Margo Miller. ”I always thought the 400 was a really long race and I didn`t think I could make it,” said Wille, a sophomore. . . . Watching the Glenbard West meet Saturday was Eileen Slowikowski of Hinsdale South, now running for Loyola. ”This brings back some bad memories for me,” said Slowikowski, who was sick for last year`s meet and fell short of qualifying in the 800. She placed in the 800 at the state meet as a sophomore and a junior. . . . Shelly McBride of Crete-Monee will run the 800 and 1,600, and probably the 1,600 relay in the state meet, coach Steve Currins said. McBride won the 800 in a record 2:07.3 last year and has the best Class AA times in the 800 and 1,600 this season. . . . The Public League qualifying meet Friday took nearly five hours to complete. The 400 relay had to be rerun after officials found the teams had not been seeded properly. It took nearly 12 minutes to run off three heats of the 200 low hurdles, and the finish of the 100 was in doubt for nearly 15 minutes. Mechelene Holder of Young was first in the 400 at 58.4, despite running from the eighth lane in the slowest heat. Her coach forgot to list her qualifying time, so she got the worst lane in the worst heat. . . . Luther South won the Lisle Class A sectional for the fourth straight time, beating Lisle 46-41 1/2. The two schools tied for first last year. Luther South`s Monique Odom won both hurdle races (15.2 and 31.8) and ran on the winning 400 relay.
TENNIS
Who will be the No. 1 seed in singles for the state meet May 23-25 at Hersey High School? Maine West`s Nick Barone, the winner at the Hersey Invitational, could claim the spot, but he lost to New Trier`s Chip McColl 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 Saturday in the finals of the Central Suburban League South Division meet at Maine West. Barone hasn`t beaten McColl this year. The sectionals are Friday and Saturday. . . . Two-time defending state champion Mike Morrison of Deerfield won the CSL North title Saturday at Highland Park 6-4, 6-2 over Highland Park`s Mike Bernstein. Morrison appears to be the top seed, despite losses at the Homewood-Flossmoor and Hersey invitationals. . . . Then there`s West Aurora`s Jack Salerno. He played won one of the better matches of the day 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over Lake Park`s Tony Cruz in the Upstate Eight finals Saturday at West Aurora. Salerno will be seeded in the top four at state. His only defeat of the season came in the Hersey Invitational finals, when leg cramps forced him to default to Barone in the third set.
GYMNASTICS
Homewood-Flossmoor coach Mark Watman kept saying how good his Vikings were. They proved it Saturday night with a 144.7-144.6 victory over sectional host Hinsdale Central. ”I`m not surprised,” Watman said. ”I`m just disappointed that we didn`t win convincingly.” Homewood-Flossmoor joined Adison Trail (151.15) and Rolling Meadows (144.7) as automatic state qualifiers. At-large berths went to Hinsdale Central, Conant (146.75), Niles North (145.5), Libertyville (144.55) and Glenbard East (143.3). Addison Trail became the first team to top 150 points this year. Since 1977, the Blazers have captured state titles in 1977 and `78, and from 1980-82. They finished third at state in `83 and second last year. ”Lots of teams are grouped up,” said Conant coach Ed Raymond. ”Addison just kind of stands out. If they put it all together at state (Friday and Saturday at Forest View), it`s no contest. There`s just something about Addison when they get to state. I don`t know why.”
