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City netters vie for tourney titles By Herald News Service McHENRY -- Two of the major tennis events of McHenry's summer took place this past weekend. The City of McHenry Tennis Tour­ nament kicked off with a weekend of singles play. The doubles compe­ tition will be held next weekend. The other event was the Annual McHenry Area Jaycee Tennis Tournament. First, the results of the Jaycee event: Seventy-eight youngsters, a re­ cord turnout for the tournament, participated in the blistering heat on Friday at the West Campus Courts. In the girls' 10 and under catego­ ry, the champion was Mariann Gray, while Lisa Honea took sec­ ond, Tara Ekstrom third and Bren- da Klement fourth. Other participants included: Erin Wagner, Erica Kyle, Tiffany New- brough, Nicole Corcoran, Keri Klontz, Nicole Curran, Beckie An­ derson, Wendy Gardner, Jenny Bart, Libby Dodds and Jenny Sayler. In the girls' 12 and under group, Sheila Roy took the title. Brandi Miller was second, Traci Kyle third and Lori Crowley fourth. Other participants were: Jessica Morrissey, Billie Klement, Allison Regalie, Amy Anderson, Annie Truckenbrod, Alainie Storlie, Cheri Simon, Michelle Corcoran and Jen­ ny Eiserman. Sonja Youngwith won the girls' 13-14 championship. Beth Dimopoulus won top honors in girls' 15-16, while Becky Marsh grabbed second and Wendy Fischer third. » In the boys' divisions: Chad Hub­ bard won the 10 and under, Mark Erkenswick, John Buch, Dan Suchomski. , Jason Swietlik, Dave Mohan, Scott Weichle, Darren Coates, Greg Eiserman, Dan Scher, Scott Smith, Josh Nellis, Joe Winkelman, Ryan Inside... Maywald wins feature Page 21 Sunday softball heats up Page 21 Area results, standings Page 21 Castle, Brian Anderson, Ethan Theis, B.J. Fick and Scott Link also participated. Ben Winkelman won top prize in the boys' 11-12 age group. Jason Myers was second, Erik Ekstrom third and Ron Neece fourth. Also competing were Steve Swiet­ lik, Tom Brefeld, Mike Haffner, Scott Schuerr and John Weaver. In the boys' 13-14 group, Steve Iacullo won first place, Kevin McGee second, Jim Marsh third and fourth place went to Steve Aleckson. Also participating were Sean Drew, Dennis Suchomski, Jamie Keller, Bo Klontz, Steve Link, Dave Martin and Eric Wiland. Matt Roy was crowned champion of the boys' 15-16 division. Tim Gray was second and Steve Smith third. In the City Tennis Tournament, the men's singles players were di­ vided into four divisions, while the women competed in just one. In men's 18-24 singles, Tim Gray defeated Mike Szramek and Randy Glick beat Craig Zvonar. Glick then went on to down Gray for the title. In men's 25-35 singles, Vince Gia- comin downed Steve Doherty, while Tom Rausch got a bye and then dumped Giacomin for the championship. In men's 45 and over singles, Ron Golik beat Bill Marsh; Ron Meyer topped Vince Rustik; Frank Rhode tipped Golik; Bill Landis defeated Meyer; and Rhode edged Landis for the crown. In the women's division, Jean Hoch beat Diane Skarbalus; Cindy Guetzloff brushed aside Diane Nel­ son; Jan Krisik edged Geri Haner; Jean Hoch downed Kris Sorling; Krisik topped Cindy Guetzloff; and Krisik dumped Hoch for the championship. Gende nets Evans award By Herald News Service DeKALB -- The Evans Scholars Foundation, sponsored by the West­ ern Golf Association, has awarded five additional Northern Illinois University scholarships, one to Mc­ Henry's Robert A. Gende. In February, 10 high school se­ niors were the recipients of Evans scholarships to Northern. The foun­ dations gives scholarships to out­ standing caddies nationwide, and saw fit to award another McHen- ryite, Brian Smith, with one this past spring. This marks the first year that Evans scholars will be attending NIU. The scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis considering caddie record, the need for financial aid and the high school academic record, according to Rexford Bru­ no, president of the association. The one-year grants may be renewed for up to four years, and cover full tuition and housing, with an esti­ mated value of more than $7,000 each. ICSGL records season 's 2nd ace By Herald News Service JOHNSBURG - Normally an oddity, the hole-in-one is becoming a common occurrence in the area this golf season. At Chapel Hill Golf Club last Tuesday, Chuck Haldeman, golfing in the Illinois Coil Springs Golf League, recorded an ace on the 205- yard par three fourth hole, using a five-wood. Haldeman's ace was the second in the league this season. Wednesday, July 17,1985 Last-ditch rally gives Cubs championship By Herald News Service McHENRY - The Cubs staged a tremendous final inning rally Tues­ day night, riding the arm and bat of Jimmy Birkenkamp to edge the Pa­ dres 6-5 for the McHenry Junior Youth League Mini Division championship. The Padres held a comfortable 5-2 lead entering the sixth and final inning, as Chris Casperson was cruising along on the mound with a four-hitter. Casperson retired the first Cub batter in the sixth, but then began to have control prob­ lems, walking the bottom third of the order to load the bases. Casper­ son was removed from the game in favor of reliever Brian English. Af­ ter one run was walked in, Birken­ kamp stepped nicely into the hero's role, ripping a double to score Ryan Kenney, Ryan Miller and Billy Het- terman to give the Cubs the thrilling 6-5 win. Casperson pitched well in a losing cause, allowing just five hits while striking out 11. Birkenkamp gave the Padres just four hits, fanning seven. The Padres broke open a score­ less tie with two in the third, and then padded the lead with a lone run in the fourth and another pair in the fifth. Ed Lemar had two of his team's four safeties. Shannon Scott had two hits for the Cubs, a leadoff triple in the second and a two-run double in the fourth which narrowed the gap. Birken­ kamp added two singles to his standout performance. The Cubs finished the regular sea­ son tied with the Padres for the Mini Division National League title, and both advanced to Tuesday's ti­ tle game with playoff wins last week. The winners ended their sea­ son with a 9-3 mark. The Padres finished 8-4. Details on title games in the Mi­ nor and Major divisions will appear in Friday's edition. :: Herald photos by Chris Juzwik The Cubs claimed the cham­ pionship of the Mini Division of the McHenry Junior Youth League Tuesday night, with a come-from-behind 6-5 win over the Padres. Above left, Cubs' pitcher Jimmy Birkenkamp fires to the plate, while team­ mate Shannon Scott gets in­ structions from manager Kevin Klopfenstein after Scott's triple. Above, Padre pitcher Chris Casperson holds a Cub runner at third. Let's hope USFL closes door for last time The United States Football League has ended its season. We can only hope it has also ended its existence. Like the oldest living gnat, it has come back to bother us time and again. It's time the blasted thing was swatted. Hard. The USFL has been a sharp and nagging thorn in the side of sports writers, fans and National Football League execs everywhere since it began to blossom three years back. To use the descriptive 'fledging' at the beginning of a USFL story is no longer an excuse for its mediocrity. Nobody is really sure why anyone wanted to start the USFL, . but chances are it was for a lack of anything else to do. The thought of pro football in the spring has always been a joke. The USFL just provided the punchline. To believe that anyone would care to watch a basically inept group of athletes play football, when you could instead watch baseball.' is really quite funny. Nobody asked for the USFL. On the contrary, we begged for it to quit before it started. But it wouldn't listen. And it made us -- Chris Juzwik and itself -- miserable for the decision. The worst part of the USFL dra­ ma is that it deprived the NFL of huge gate attractions and quality football players. Guys like Herschel Walker. Kelvin Bryant. Doug Flu- tie. Jim Kelly and a handful of others. NFL owners have had a tremendous amount of difficulty signing draft picks, like those men­ tioned and others, because of the bargaining power the USFL affords tfiem Hey. Almighty only knows where the USFL gets its money, but it's coming from somewhere. Tampa Bay Bandits owner John Bassett. whose snotty daughte^'plays tennis and whose wife is of Carling Black Label beer fame, doesn't want to go along with the USFL's next ridicu­ lous plan to compete head-to-head with the NFL in the fall. So Bas- sett's even more insipid idea? To put his daughter's mug on the beer can t'o increase sales? Noooooo. Something better. To start another- league to play spring football. Hello. John? Is John home? The USFL was always like a scraggly stray dog that comes to your porch seeking a little Puppy Chow. Deep down, you always want that pooch to stay. The USFL. how­ ever. was begged not to show up in the first place. The league never delivered a bit of the promised cute- ness, likability and cuddly qualities' we once hoped it would. And, like that pup, it has overstayed its welcome. The funny names of the USFL's teams: -- Gamblers, Breakers, Gunslingers, Outlaws -- aren't fun­ ny anymore. The funky datelines in USFL game stories: Bir­ mingham, San Antonio, Jackson­ ville -- have turned boring. Chicago never had a bigger favor done for it, except perhaps the com­ ing of Michael Jordan, than when the USFL pulled out of the Windy City, Even when the Blitz were a decent football team, nobody cared. Yes, the USFL season has ended. The idea is for the league to take a full year off. get fit, and then butt heads with the NFL. It's a poor idea. We can only hope the concept falls on its face. Then, mercifully, the USFL can follow suit, never again to rise up and bother those of us serious about football. Thwapp. Conways, Walker on region's PSG team By Chris Juzwik Herald Staff Writer and United Press International CHAMPAIGN -- Governor Thompson's vision of an Olympic- type event in Illinois is about to come true for the second straight year, as the 1985 Prairie State Games prepare for opening ceremo­ nies Wednesday night at the Univer­ sity of Illinois. The Prairie State Games, which are subtitled "An Illinois Amateur Sports Festival in the Olympic Tra­ dition," will include 25 athletes rep­ resenting McHenry and western Kane counties, including several successful prep athletes of recent days and years. Those area athletes will play un­ der the auspices of the Blackhawk Region, one of eight in the state. Other Blackhawk athletes come from Boone, DeKalb, Winnebago and 14 other counties in northern Illinois. "The buses will leave Wednesday morning, they'll check in here at 2 p.m., and opening ceremonies are at 7 p.m. We're very excited about everything," said Blackhawk Re­ gion director Noe "Whitey" Marin* elli, Jr. Monday night. Thousands of athletes will com­ pete in 15 different sports in two divisions, scholastic and open. Any athlete who was a high school senior or under before March 1 of this year plays in the scholastic division. Diverse and Sometimes unpre­ dictable summer schedules of high school and college athletes have re­ sulted in the confusion surrounding many team rosters. Competition will begin Thursday and run through Sunday. Baseball Commis­ sioner Peter Ueberroth is scheduled to speak at the opening ceremonies. The games offer the "elite athlete an opportunity to keep in shape and to participate in an Olympic-style competition and to have some fun." said Ed Leonard, the executive di­ rector of the Games. The various sports include: bas­ ketball, swimming and diving, box­ ing, judo, fencing, soccer, volley­ ball, archery, tennis, shooting, gymnastics, track and field, weight- lifting and wrestling. The 25 area athletes, like all who are competing in the Games, quali­ fied through statewide regionals which began in early May and con­ tinued through late June. The Blackhawk Region athletes held qualifying and practice sessions in Rockford. Those from McHenry and western Kane participating this year are, in no particular order Douglas Haefele and Hal Stin- espring of Crystal Lake, and Doug­ las Zimmerman of Cary in scholas­ tic men's soccer. John Bach of Carpentersville, Tim Conway and Dan Conway of McHenry, Scott Harris of Crystal Lake and Steve Erwin of Woodstock in men's open volleyball. Tania Brammer of Crystal Lake. Patience Eckler of Woodstock and Heather Rayka of Algonquin in scholastic women's volleyball. Jeff Sparrow of Woodstock, Don Stumpf of Crystal Lake and M. Todd Whitfield of Algonquin in men's open wrestling. Eric Petersen of Crystal Lake, Rich Powers of Harvard and Jim Walker of Johnsburg in scholastic Greco-Roman wrestling. Mack Gilman of Marengo in men's open fencing. Donna Korda of Lake in the Hills in women's open fencing. Johnston Blakely of LITH in men's open judo. Mary Simes of Hebron in wom­ en's open soccer. Bill Heppner of Crystal Lake and Jamie Martin of Harvard in men's scholastic basketball. Beth Hasenmiller of Elgin in women's scholastic basketball. Mike Morchuka of Crystal Lake is in the men's open hammer throw. Also chosen to the team, but un­ able to participate because of his commitment to the Air Force Acad­ emy, was Mark Slimko of Algon­ quin; who graduated from Jacobs in June. Slimko starred for Jacobs High School, and was a 1984 Prairie State Games participant. Slimko's father, Ken, retired from the head basketball coaching job at Jacobs, was an assistant for the Blackhawk team last year. Opening ceremonies begin ,at 7 p.m Wednesday. Over 7,000 atluetes competed in last year's regionals, with over 3,000 qualifying for the finals in Champaign. The Games are the sixth such event organized in the nation, and are an offspring of the Governor's Council on Health and Physical Fitness. In the promotional brochure for the Games, Thompson says: "Our state has supplied the nation with great athletes over the decades. The Prairie State Games are a grass­ roots effort to provide a forum for all Illinois residents to compete in a variety of amateur sporting events. In addition, these Games will be a vehicle to promote physical fitness throughout Illinois." Last year, the North Shore Re­ gion, which includes all of Cook County north of 1-55 and all of Lake County, won the Governor's Cup as the Games' top team.