Harper has Mixed Results at Kishwaukee Invitational

The Hawks won two of their five matches at the Kishwaukee Invitational. (Jim Cummins)

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Harper College volleyball team had mixed results over the weekend at the Kishwaukee Invitational at Rock Valley College, going 2-3 in their five matches against quality competition. The No. 5 Hawks (26-20) came into the weekend having won 12 of their last 15 matches but struggled at times with consistency.

Harper vs. South Suburban College

The Hawks started the weekend with a straight sets defeat at the hands of a strong South Suburban squad (16-25, 16-25, 18-25), snapping their 17-match win streak against the Bulldogs dating back to 2004.

In game one, the two teams were tied at 16-16 before the Bulldogs won the last nine points to gain a 1-0 advantage. Libero Kelly Spychala (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) paced the defense with six digs.

Harper struggled with hitting errors in game two and could not mount a comeback. In the third game, Alex Messner (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) led the Hawks with three kills and five digs, but it wasn't enough for victory.

Setter Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) handed out a team-high 23 assists.

Harper vs. Highland Community College

After defeating Highland in straight sets at the COD 18^th Annual Classic on Aug. 24, the Hawks replicated the feat with another straight sets victory (25-11, 25-22, 25-18).

"We played very smoothly in this match with good transition, nice defense and we were running our offense well," said Harper head coach Bob Vilsoet.

The Hawks had control throughout the first set, building leads of 7-4, 13-5 and 18-9 en route to victory. Outside hitter Rebekah Hischke (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee Crown) played a strong set, going 8-for-8 serving with an ace, kill and three digs.

The second set was much tighter, as the two teams were locked at 18-18 before Harper pulled away for a victory. In the third set, Melina Villaber (Chicago, Ill./Taft) led the Hawks with four kills while Hischke was a key part of the defensive effort with three crucial blocks.

For the match, Spychala led the team with 17 digs while Villaber was 21-for-23 hitting with eight kills.

Harper vs. Kalamazoo Valley Community College

Harper struggled in the service game against Kalamazoo, missing 14 serves and ultimately losing in four sets to the Cougars (22-25, 25-14, 18-25, 21-25).

The Hawks trailed throughout the first set and only totaled five kills. The team rebounded nicely in set two, building leads of 13-8, 17-9 and 23-11 before winning comfortably.

After the easy win, Harper fell behind in set three and couldn't quite catch the Cougars. Fighting for their match lives in the fourth set, the Hawks tied it at 19-19, but Kalamazoo closed by winning six of the final eight points.

Two Hawks – Murphy (15 digs, 33 assists) and Messner (10 kills, 16 digs) – tallied double-doubles in a losing effort. Spychala continued to add to her nation-best digs total with 20 more digs while outside hitter led Harper with four blocks.

Harper vs. Black Hawk College

The Hawks previously defeated Black Hawk in four sets at the Harper College Invitational on Sept. 20, but this time Harper earned a straight sets win on Saturday morning (25-14, 25-20, 25-21).

The team played well and built a big lead in the first set on their way to victory. Madison Rodriguez (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) led the Hawks with five kills while outside hitter Alyse Kolner (Crystal Lake, Ill./Marion Central) added a team-high six digs.

In the second set, the Hawks nursed a slim 19-18 lead before finishing strong to win 25-20. Outside hitter Veronica Dabrowski (Mount Prospect, Ill./Rolling Meadows) had a team-high four kills while Murphy had tallied 10 assists. Harper trailed throughout much of the third set but finished strong for a victory.

"This is another data point that says we have improved significantly as a team," Vilsoet said.

Murphy recorded her second straight double-double with 12 digs and 32 assists.

Harper vs. Owens Community College

Against a strong and well-coached Owens team, the Hawks lost in straight sets to end the weekend (16-25, 20-25, 11-25) with a 2-3 record.

The Jaguars played a strong first set to top Harper easily. The second set was the closest of the match (22-18 at one point), but the Hawks were not able to come out on top. Spychala's seven digs in the third set were not enough to make up for the team's poor execution.

For the match, Dabrowski notched a team-high eight kills while Spychala paced the Hawks with 14 digs. Murphy was once again a consistent presence, recording 10 digs and 22 assists for her third straight double-double.

"Owens played very well in this match. I'll bet that was their best match of the tournament," Vilsoet said.

Up Next

Regular season play is winding down for the Hawks in 2013. Harper travels to McHenry County College on Thursday for a 6 PM match before heading to Kankakee on Saturday for a trimatch with Kankakee Community College and Lewis and Clark Community College to close out the regular season.

TIU 5K

Coming into this 5K on Oct. 5, I really wasn’t sure how well I was going to run. I hadn’t run in a 5K since June 15, the Biggest Loser 5K.

Leading up to the Race

However, I have been doing extensive training for a half marathon on my birthday (Oct. 26), so I knew I could do the 3.1 miles without a problem. In my training for the half, I had been doing some tempo runs and speed conditioning, but the vast majority of the training I had done wasn’t dealing with short distances at higher speed.

My PR in the 5K over the summer was 19:01, so I thought I could beat this time because my cardio conditioning has gotten immensely better over the last few months.

I ran the TIU 5K two years prior in a time of 21:02 when I was pretty out of shape.

The day before the race, I finally bought a Garmin Forerunner10 GPS watch to chart my time, distance, etc. This would be the first time I’d be testing it out, so I was looking forward to that.

Race Day

Calling this 5K a “race” may have been a little bit of a stretch; there were only 44 runners in it and nobody was really shooting for first place (besides me).

It was in the 60’s, but the humidity was at 100%, making it overwhelmingly uncomfortable. The course had changed in 2012, essentially being reversed from what I had remembered it to be in 2011.

Ellen, Shoggs and Kelly were also running in the race with me, making it fun for all of us. After the race, Shoggs and I would be playing in the TIU Alumni Baseball Game at 10:00 AM.

The race started, and I tried to take off ahead of the pack. My first mile felt good, and I completed it in 5:43. It was a different mentality running in a 5K, pushing myself to go pretty hard. For the second mile, it was mostly spent on grass out by the baseball, soccer and football fields. This threw me off a little bit because I’m so used to running on pavement.

Right after the race started.

I completed the second mile in 6:08 and third mile, which was mostly around the outskirts of campus and as you entered the main entrance campus, in 6:17. The last part of the race was a small loop around the Waybright Center and a sprint for the finish line. I completed the race in 18:27, a PR by 34 seconds, and it was good enough for first place.

It was really convenient to have the GPS watch to gauge how fast I was going and how far I had gone. After I was done, I waited for Ellen to come in. She has improved greatly over these past few months as well.

Crossing the finish line.

Just as I was telling Mike Gorsline at the finish line that Ellen would probably be done in a little after 25 minutes, the clock just hit 24 minutes and she was nearly finished. Smiling as usual to the finish line, she finished in 24:24, a PR by a wide margin. I’m really proud of how well she did, how much better she’s gotten and that’s she my girlfriend!

Shoggs and Kelly race the 5K together and came in a little bit later.

Thoughts

Even though we had to get over to the baseball game shortly after the race, I’m glad we did it. I got a little trophy for winning and Ellen got a medal for first place for her age division.

I’m truly blessed by God to be running. I was particularly inspired throughout the week by this video. Watch this video and read the story. I hope to do something like this someday.

The four bubs at the TIU 5K.

Hawks Roll by Milwaukee in Region IV Quarterfinals

Harper's Michael Rodriguez scored two goals in the 7-0 victory over Milwaukee. (Jim Cummins)

Box Score

PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College men's soccer team took control early against Milwaukee Area Technical College and went on to win 7-0 in the Region IV Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

It took less than two minutes for Harper (3-8) to get on the board, as Alfredo Jimenez (/Wheeling) found Aldo Figueroa (Wheeling, Ill./Buffalo Grove) for his fifth goal of the season. In the 10^th minute, Kevin Engebretsen (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Conant) scored on a feed from Ryan Murphy (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) to make it a 2-0 game.

In the 18^th minute, Benjamin Castellanos (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) found Engebretsen, who put it in the net for his team-leading seventh goal of the season to put the Hawks up 3-0. Harper controlled possession throughout much of the game, limiting the Stormers to one shot in the game.

The Hawks came out strong again to start the second half. Michael Rodriguez (/Hoffman Estates) scored on a pass from Murphy in the 53^rd minute to push the lead to 4-0, and he scored again just a few minutes later on a beautiful feed from Engebretsen.

Harper's final two goals came late in the game from Atan Chabo (Niles, Ill./Maine East) and Justin Pydo (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Conant). For both players, it was their first goals of the season.

Goalkeeper Sean Cox (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant) played 55 minutes and earned the victory in goal. Daniel Gescheidle (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson) closed out the game for the Hawks, seeing very limited action in the Harper zone.

The Hawks face a tall task on Wednesday at 2 PM as they take on Triton in the Region IV Semifinals at the Schwaben Athletic Complex in Buffalo Grove. The Trojans are 10-1-1 and were a perfect 8-0 in N4C play this year, including 4-2 and 6-0 wins over Harper.

COD Bests Harper for Region IV Crown

Harper goalkeeper Mikayla Nagle made 10 saves. (Jim Cummins)

Box Score

GLEN ELLYN, Ill. – The Harper College women's soccer team had no answers for College of DuPage in the Region IV title game on Saturday afternoon, falling 6-0 to end their season.

The Hawks' attack was smothered throughout the game and only able to get off one shot on goal (Stephanie Hurwitz (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Fremd)).

COD's Angela Toritto scored in the 17^th minute on an assist from Heather Muno to give the Chaparrals a 1-0 edge. She scored again in the 35^th minute on a feed from Muno and Emily Plourde to give COD a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.

The Chaparrals got second half goals from Plourde, Muno, Yaricza Flores and Alana Alfeche. Christina Siddu was the victor in goal.

Harper goalkeeper Mikayla Nagle made 10 saves in a losing effort for the Hawks.

Hawks Place Second at Bradley Classic

The Hawks captured second place at the Bradley Classic. (Jim Cummins)

Results

PEORIA, Ill. – The Harper men's cross country team put together another strong showing, placing second out of 13 teams at the Bradley Classic on Friday. The Hawks scored 51 points in the meet, finishing behind only meet champion IUPUI (27 points).

Greenville College (58 points) was a close third place, followed by College of DuPage in fourth place (133 points).

Juan Barajas (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Schaumburg) once again led the Hawks with a 10^th place finish in 26:40. Fellow freshman Zach Stella (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) was close behind, running a season-best time of 26:43 to take 13^th place overall. Brennan Albuck (/Hoffman Estates) was Harper's third runner to finish, coming in at a season-best 27:00 and a 20^th place finish.

Sophomores Nick Modlin (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) and Jhoan Lino (León, Guanajuato/Streamwood) rounded out the top five for Harper, as Modlin took 26^th place in 27:37 while Lino finished in 34^th place in 27:53.

"I thought the men ran very well," said Harper head coach Jim Macnider. "We are continuing to improve with three weeks to go until nationals."

In two weeks, the Hawks travel to Joliet for the Region IV Championship. The team is currently ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA National Poll.

Harper Women Compete at Bradley Classic

The Hawks took 13th place at the Bradley Classic. (Jim Cummins)

Results

PEORIA, Ill. – The Harper women's cross country team had five runners compete at the Bradley Classic over the weekend. The Hawks finished in 13^th place with 316 points.

After battling injury for the first part of the season, Stephanie Chaires (Palatine, Ill./Christian Liberty) finished as Harper's top runner for the second straight meet, crossing the finish line in 25:53 for a 63^rd place finish in the 6K race. Mary Piltaver (/Conant) took 91^st place overall with a time of 27:42. Lori Delfin (/Wheeling) was Harper's third runner to finish, clocking a time of 28:53 to finish in 106^th place.

Gabby Beaupre (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) took 119^th place with a time of 30:11 while Cindia Salgado(Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) finished in 122^nd place with a time of 30:54.

The University of Missouri was the overall meet champion with 15 points, followed by Bradley University (43 points) and Drake University (88 points).

In two weeks, the Hawks travel to Joliet for the Region IV Championship. The team is currently ranked No. 8 in the NJCAA National Poll.

Andreuccetti Overcomes Adversity, Takes off Running

PALATINE, Ill. – For Harper cross country standout Marisa Andreuccetti (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Conant), her athletic career appeared to be in jeopardy in the fall of 2012. Andreuccetti, a forward on the Hawks' soccer team, herniated a disk in her back in October and was advised by doctors to give up contact sports.

So she decided to give track and field a try in the spring of 2013 as a recovery sport to be in shape for soccer. After excelling on the track in the spring, Andreuccetti figured cross country may be a good calling despite the fact that she had been playing soccer since age five.

Over the summer she tried to play soccer, but it was painful to play. Andreuccetti gave up the game she loved to join the Harper cross country team. The leader of the Hawks, Andreuccetti has been named the fifth Harper College Athlete of the Week for the 2013-14 school year.

It became clear she had a knack for running in the spring. Her hard work paid off at nationals, as Andreuccetti was a member of the Hawks' 4x800m relay team that took home a national title. Additionally, she was on the 4x400m squad that earned points with a fifth place finish.

Even though she had a newfound passion for running, it was still difficult to quit soccer.

"When I told coach (soccer coach Dwayne Cruz) I wasn't going to be playing this year, I felt like I was breaking up with someone. It was heartbreaking," she said. "But he was really supportive. I love coach Macnider and feel like I made the right decision."

Andreuccetti has been a key part of a Harper team currently ranked No. 8 in the national poll. She has finished as Harper's top runner in four of the team's first five meets.

"I love the different sceneries we get to go to. It's just so beautiful being in nature and running," she said.

When the season started, she was the only healthy runner for the Hawks. Now, the Hawks have six healthy runners, including Stephanie Chaires (Palatine, Ill./Christian Liberty), who was on the 4x800m championship team. Newcomers Lori Delfin (/Wheeling) and Mary Piltaver (/Conant) also bring an added dimension.

"I love my teammates. They all have their individual specialties that make everyone so close and connected," she said.

Andreuccetti and her teammates race today at the Bradley Classic in Peoria before preparing for the Region IV Championship held in Joliet on Nov. 2. They will then travel to Northfield, Mass. for the NJCAA Championships on Nov. 9.

"I think we'll surprise some people out there. I think we have a shot to be in the top five at nationals," said head coach Jim Macnider.

Andreuccetti will compete for track and field coach Renee Zellner and the Hawks in the spring of 2014 and will still have a year of cross country eligibility for the fall. She plans on graduating after the fall 2014 semester with two associate degrees before moving on to Illinois State University. She hopes to someday teach engineering technology as well as physics.

If her plan to go to ISU comes to fruition, she plans on trying out for the cross country and track and field teams.

"If I don't make the teams, I'll join a club and continue running. I love it," she said.