High school sports roundup: Alex Janicki wins twice as Lyons Township takes gymnastics invite

HINSDALE – In an early season invite that featured some of the top programs in the state, Alex Janicki won two events and Lyons Township’s boys gymnastics team took home the title at the Hinsdale Central invite March 17.

The Lions scored a 153.253 to hold off Fremd (147.20) and Hinsdale Central (146.450) for the title.

Janicki won floor exercise (9.4) and parallel bars (9.0). He also was in the top five on horizontal bar (third, 8.3) and vault (tied for fourth, 8.9) as he placed third in the all-around (50.253).

Nick Perez (second on pommel horse, 8.9), Finn Dowling (third on rings, 8.725; tied for fifth on parallel bars, 8.4), Marty Lanigan (tied for fourth on horizontal bar, 8.2), John Quinlan (tied for fifth on floor, 9.1), Luke Szczesniak (sixth on pommel horse, 7.9) and Matt Hurd (tied for fifth on parallel bars, 8.4; sixth on rings, 8.625) also had strong showings for Lyons Township.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Fenwick

Two 3-pointers followed by two free throws late in overtime propelled Morgan Park to a 69-67 win over Fenwick in the Class 3A state championship game March 18 at Carver Arena in Peoria.

DJ Steward knocked down two free throws for Fenwick (30-5) to tie the game at 59-59 in overtime before Morgan Park’s Nimari Burnett connected on a 3-pointer that gave the Mustangs the lead for good.

AJ Nixon hit a trey that cut the Friars’ deficit to 64-62 before another Burnett 3-pointer pushed Morgan Park’s lead to five points. Nixon hit from three again with 16 seconds left, but with Fenwick forced to foul to stop the clock, Cam Irvin connected on a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go to all but seal the win.

Fenwick led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter and 27-25 at the half. Mike O’Laughlin sank a free throw with 29 seconds left in regulation to draw the Friars even at 55-55 and force overtime.

Steward was 10 of 10 from the field and 4 of 4 at the foul line on his way to a game-high 26 points. Nixon finished with 14 while Jacob Keller and Damari Nixon had eight points apiece.

The Friars led for more than 29 minutes in their 67-52 win against Bloomington in a state semifinal March 17. Steward scored 23 points and Jamal Nixon had 18 as 13 Fenwick players saw action.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Lyons Township

LT had six event wins as it took home the team title at the West Suburban Silver meet March 17 at Proviso West.

Antwane Thigpen was a winner in both the 55-meter dash (6.47 seconds) and the 200 dash (22.50). He also anchored Rob Hatch, Reggie Terrell and Thomas Saggau on the victorious 4x200 relay (1:32.26).

The 4x400 relay of Xavier Armand, Griffin Vizgrida, Corey Klein and Hatch won in 3:28.77, while Vince Zona won the 1,600 run in 4:21.90.

Saggau won triple jump with a mark of 44 feet, 9 inches.

The Lions scored 125 points to finish ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (118).

Morton

Anthony Cruz won pole vault with a mark of 11 feet, Dominick Lopez was second in the 400-meter dash (54.97 seconds), and Daquan Travis was second in the 55 high hurdles (8.25 seconds) at the West Suburban Gold meet at Addison Trail on March 17.

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Lyons Township

After recently setting a school indoor record in the shot put with a mark of 40 feet, 4 inches, Sunsiree Phipps won the event at the West Suburban Silver meet at York on March 17 with a throw of 38 feet.

Emma Fink also was a field event champion, winning the high jump (5-1).

Sonia Slusarczyk earned a runner-up finish in the 300-meter dash (42.66 seconds), while Cara Paliakas (5:10.80 in the 1,600 run) and Sarah Barcelona (10:59.01 in the 3,200 run) also had second-place efforts.

The runner-up Lions scored 89.5 points, finishing behind champion Downers Grove North (93.5) and ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (86).

Morton

Morton had three event wins and two runner-up finishes at the West Suburban Gold meet March 18.

Jada Paul-Emile cleared 5 feet to win high jump, while Nija Redmond was a winner in both the 300-meter dash (43.41 seconds) and 400 (1:01.68).

Claudia Rodriguez had a mark of 16 feet, 10 inches for second in long jump. Areli Herrera was second in pole vault with a height of 7-6.

The Mustangs scored 117 points and finished second to Downers Grove South (173).

Riverside Brookfield

Tara Janney clocked a 5:52.21 for fourth place in the 1,600-meter run, which was the Bulldogs’ best finish at the Metro Suburban Conference indoor meet March 17 at Glenbard South.

GIRLS WATER POLO

Lyons Township

The Lions won against Whitney Young (12-3), Lincoln-Way East (9-6) and Waubonsie Valley (11-2) to take home the title at the Young tournament March 18.

Kaysie Stuba scored seven goals combined against Lincoln-Way East and Young. Annika Moore had three assists in each match.

Allie Bradbury and Grace Wantuk each recorded five saves in the matches against LWE and Waubonsie as LT improved to 6-3 on the season.