The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 20 - PLAINDEALER - WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1984 Sports Chris Jnwik Sports Editor Triathlete no help as morale-booster If you ever felt like dropping a few pounds, maybe getting into shape by doing 50 sit-ups here, or 35 push-ups there, don't talk to Tom Spasojevich. Believe me, he does nothing for your morale. ^ Many of us could stand to drop a quick five or so, but the key is to find the easiest possible way to accomplish this small miracle, like shedding away ounce after ounce while watching television. Or playing pool. Or writing a letter. There has to be the perfect, quintessential way to lose excess baggage. The way Tom Spasojevich has done it is not what you would call ideal. Spasojevich has a perfectly-toned body, which he got the old fashioned way. That's right. He earned it. /THE 36-YEAR OLD TRIATHLETE -- McHenry's answer to... Charles Atlas, I guess - had his tale told in last Friday's issue. He will travel to the island of Hawaii to compete in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship on Oct. 6, along with 1,249 others who I'm also jealous of. But there's more to it, more amazing facets of his craft that Weren't relayed in that story. The triumphant feeling I used to get when I would reach the lofty 50-sit-up goal will no longer be the same, after spending an hour or so with an athlete of Spasojevich's magnitude. HE SPEAKS OF MILES AS IF THEY were simple walks across the living room. How many miles did you bike yesterday, Tom? he was asked. "Oh, about 105." Then what'd you do? "Ran," he said. "About 12 or 13 miles." Suddenly those knee bends don't carry the same weight they (fid the night before. Personally, I'd love to be able to run, jog, even walk for a few miles. But it's so psychological. Physically, I could probably crawl the distance, but mentally, what do you think about? It's called concentration, or dedication, or determination, or all of the above. Whatever it is, I know I don't have it. "You think about what you're doing," Spasojevich said. "If you're biking, you're thinking if your legs are moving right, if you're pedaling correctly. When you're running, you make sure your arms are moving and your stride is good. Swimming, I want to keep stretching, reaching." HE TOLD OF A TRIATHLON IN Florida, when his mind wasn't really where it should have been. "During the swim, I was looking at thebottom of the ocean," he recalled. "Just watching what was going on down there. All of a sudden Lsaid, 'hey, you're supposed to be swimming.' So I just looked anead and kept going." .,i& The concentration that athletes of Spasojevich's calibre must possess is mind-boggling. I need a radio on when I exercise in­ side, and a walkperson when I do so outdoors. Anything that will take my mind off of what I'm doing. Because once I have time to think about what I'm doing, chances are I'll stop doing it. It's just not fun. I'VE ALWAYS ADMIRED RUNNERS for their patience. Marathoners especially. When you think about the marathon distances Spasojevich covers in his triathlons - let alone his training sessions - it becomes all the more incredible. Spasojevich said he began his craving for the triathlon life when watching the World Ironman on ABC's Wide World of Sports, which will telecast the event again this year. He saw a female triathlete, who was leading the race near the finish line, fall to;the ground and lose the race, ' "She sprawled across the line," Spasojevich remembered. "Even though she got beat, she just had to finish. It was very emotional. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. That was really inspiring. I said to myself, 'I've just got to do this. But I really had no idea what it took." He does now. "I'VE GOT A LOT OF ACHES and pains," he admitted. "Physically, it takes a real toll on you, and mentally as well. Before I started this, I was a good softball player and a good basketball player. I had a good athletic base. But this is so much tougher on your mind than a softball game." Spasojevich noted one of the harder parts of training is simply to get used to the length of time spent doing one of the areas of his sport. "It's hard to sit there on a bike for six or seven hours. I had to get adjusted to that. "One of the big parts of training is doing one event after another." he added. Spasojevich has never run the 26-mile distance, which he will have to cover in Hawaii, but he isn't worried. \ ; "I THINK I CAN MAKE IT," he said. "We'llhave to see." Offered Candy: "When he sets his mind to do something, he does it." His mind is now set on a 14-hour finish in Hawaii, which in- • eludes 112 bike miles, 26 running, and 2.4 swimming. Fourteen hours wouldn't give Spasojevich a shot at winning the event, but he's in it for himself, not to impress others. Not surprisingly, Spasojevich said people are impressed with his feats. "They always ask 'why do you do it?' or 'are you crazy?' Then they say they admire me, and that they could never doit. But they could. If you want to, you can do it." No thanks. All I want is another Milky Way. McHenry blitzed by big second half By Chris Jozwik Plaindealer sports editor It's unfortunate McHenry's football Warriors couldn't have ended their game at halftime against Crystal Lake South FMday. Had they been able to do so, the Gators would have found themselves on the short end of an 8-7 score, and McHenry would be tied for the early lead in the Fox Valley Conference race. But as dreams of this genre often do, the Warriors' hopes of an upset fell by the wayside, as South scored 10 points in the pivotal third period, and 14 more in the fourth en rtiute to a relatively easy 31-8 victory. In the key third stanza, the Warriors ran only five plays, netting the locals just 10 yards, as South kept the ball away from a ready-to-burst Warrior of­ fense. "WE ONLY RAN A FEW PLAYS in the second half," McHenry coach Joe Schlender said. '"Oiey defensed us welL" In the first 24 minutes, it was McHenry's defense that was the big story. On South's first possession, the Gators ran three plays and punted, and McHenry looked sharp offensively from the outset. On the Warriors' first possession, quarterback Craig Hill threw a strike to Curt Justen on a third-and-long play. Pat Dunne rambled six yards on the next play, and Dana Pitel followed with a five-yard burst. But the McHenry drive stalled at midfield, as Hill was brought down after a six-yard gain on third-and-14. Dunne punted to South's 17. South quarterback Paul Prentice then stunned the crowd - and the Warrior defenders - by faking the pitch on the option play, and keeping the ball, dashing 83 yards for the score. Bill SchHes followed with the point after, and the Gators had a fast 7-0 lead. BUT THE \ WARRIORS DIDN'T appear to be bothered by the play. Hill fumbled on the next possession, and the Gators had the ball deep in McHenry territory at the 23. But Prentice fumbled the ball back, and McHenry skirted disaster. The quarter ended with a 7-0 South advantage. Hill threw his first in­ terception of the evening early in the second period, but after South's Paul Schultz rushed for a couple yards, the senior back got a case of butter fingers, and McHenry was on top of it at the Warriors' 46. After an illegal procedure call against the Warriors, Hill and Justen hooked up for the second time in the game on a nifty 40- yard pass play down the left sideline, to the South 19. As the McHenry crowd got into the game, so did the Warriors. After a five-yard gain by Hill, and another procedure penalty, Dunne charged 15 yards to the Gator five. Pitel picked up two, and then Dunne went around left end for the score. HILL WAS SET TO HOLD FOR Dunne on the conversion, but the lefty quarterback in­ stead rolled to the left sideline, and lofted a pass that was tipped by a South defender. The ball wound up in the hands of Justen, and McHenry had an 8-7 lead, which they held until halftime. McHenry's first possession of the second half was three runs and a punt by Dunne, which South's Chris Kardys fielded at his own 49. Then the Gators began to make some noise, driving to the McHenry 10-y$rd line, before the drive stalled. Schlies then nailed a 25-yard field goal with 5:53 left in the third, and South had a 10-8 lead. McHenry's defense was outstanding on that particular drive, but South didn't come away empty, and the field goal got the visiting crowd up. After Pitel had a short gain on first down after the ensuing kickoff, Hill went back to throw, and was hit. A fumble was called, and South was in business at the Warrior 39. SOUTH THEN BEGAN A STRING of third down con­ versions which did the Warriors in. First, on a third-and-four McHenry running back Pat Dunne (32), uses lineman Mike Woo to run interference for him during Friday's loss to Crystal Lake South. Dunne rushed for over 70 yards on 12 carries in the contest. play from the McHenry 17, Prentice did his thing on the option, going 16 yards to the 17. After Dunne and co-captain Pat Gorniak held Schultz and Vince Hellem to short gains, Schultz gained eight yards on a third- and-seven play, to the Warrior seven. McHenry then did its best rendition of a goal-line stand. After Hellem gained three yards, Prentice went for two more. On third down from the two, Hellem went into the end zone. The kick was good, and the Warriors faced a 17-8 deficit with just 25 ticks left in the third quarter. Hellem scored on a two-yard run, and Schultz on a nine-yard jaunt in the fourth period, and Schlies provided the PAT's, as the Warriors fell to their second straight defeat. SOUTH COACH BOB HIGHT DECLINED comment on the victory, but Gator assistant Tony Albert said the Gators decided to go right at the Warriors in the second half. "We decided to quit messing around with them. We're a vary physical team, and we showed that in the second half," Albert said. Albert said the Gators were flat early in the contest. "Paul (Prentice) played poorly in the first half. He wasn't, reading the defense real well. The option is tough to defend. It's hard to cover all three possible ballcarriers," he said. Schlender said he agreed. "As Prentice goes, so goes the team," the McHenry coach said. "They're a big play team, and they made the big plays tonight." "WE'LL PLAY BETTER HALVES," Albert said. "But that's the best half we've played this year." South had squan­ dered leads at Marian Central (a 26-20 loss) and against Lake Park (a 21-17 win) and Albert said the Gators didn't want that to happen again. "We learned a lesson," he said. Schlender said South just took his team out of the game in the . third quarter. . "We had poor field position, and only ran a few plays. It's tough to score that way. We had the momentum at halftime, but we didn't move the ball, and they executed very well." The Warriors are 1-2,0-1 in the FVC, and will face Crystal Central on the road Saturday. "I've got a very good football team. I've said that all along," Schlender said. "We're not out of the conference race yet," Schlender added. , No, but it's still too bad the game didn't end at halftime. The Warrior sophomores lost to South 21-12. The Warrior freshmen also lost to South, 24-12. Johnsburg blanked by Lake Zurich By Barb Ansell Plaindealer sports writer JOHNSBURG - The John­ sburg High school gridders took a terrible beating at the hands of the Lake Zurich Bears here Saturday, dropping their first Northwest Suburban Conference outing of the season, 32-0. The Skyhawks and coach Randy Oberembt felt they were ready for a tough Lake Zurich squad after last week's win over Nazareth Academy, but the locals were blitzed by a 19-point first quarter. Playing consistently is a main Skyhawk problem. "We played poorly against a good ballclub," Oberembt said. "We've been playing either up or down and that makes things tough.". FOR LAKE ZURICH, the shutout lost some of its glamor in the final quarter, as tempers flared. "The crew of officials was bad for both teams," Bears coach Wayne Kuklinski said. "The unsportsmanlike conduct and the personal fouls that were committed took away from our win. Neither our team nor Johnsburg has been coached to play this way." Trouble began brewing with just under five minutes left in the third quarter, when John­ sburg safety Mark DuRei tackled Lake Zurich's Dan Gryson on the Johnsburg 20 yard line. The two scuffled, and the result was the ejection of Gryson. "Hie personal fouls didn't take away from the game, or help us," Oberembt said. "We didn't throw, catch, or tackle well. We had a hard time moving the ball off the line of scrimmage. "We were out of the game before the half, when the score was 19-0," he added. THE BEARS SCORED three times in the first quarter, the first coming on a seven yard touchdown pass from Tom Marschewski to Eric Amft. Skyhawk Bill Brown blocked the point after kick. But the Bears were soon at it again, as Amft scored on a one- yard run, and ended the quarter with a 27-yard touchdown carry, boosting the Lake Zurich lead to 19-0. The Bears scored again in the fourth period on a screen pass to Wayne Huerth, who ran three yards for the score. The icing came when Amft scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 30-yard run. The Skyhawks must improve both offensively and defensively to have a shot at beating defending Class 2A champion Marian Central, which travels to Johnsburg Saturday. The Hurricanes are 3-0 after walloping Wauconda. Johnsburg is 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the NWSC. Warrior doubles teams keep rolling along McHenry High School's girls' tennis team entered the Geneva-Batavia Invitational Saturday, with high hopes for both doubles tandems. The wishes were granted, as the number one duo of Sara Bird and Kris Wolff won the con­ solation championship, and the number two pair of Michelle Landis and Geri Haner teamed up to garner a third place finish. Bird and Wolff lost their first match to Riverside-Brookfield, 6-4, 7-5, and then downed Glenbard West's team 6rl, 6-2 in the first consolation round. The >r pair then crushed Hin­ sdale Soouth, 6-2, 6-4 to win the consolation title. THE TWO CO-CAPTAINS' record for the season stands at 6- 2. In the number two spot, Haner and Landis got off to a good start with a rousing 6-0, 6-0 win over the second -team from Wheaton Christian. ^ In the semifinals, the Warrior pair dropped a hard-fought, three-set decision to Wheaton North, the eventual champion. The girls then bounced back in the third place match, downing 9 ' Batavia 6-4, 7-5. Landis and Haner are 9-1 on the season. In singles play, Warriors Melissa Greve, Sue O'Halleran and sophomore Katie Prust all lost both matches. COACH QARY GRAY'S SQUAD won a 3-2 dual meet decision over Round Lake at West Campus last Thursday, raising its dual record to 4-2. Bird won her number one singles match, 6-3,6-2 over Anita Trisinski, while Wolff dropped her match to Cindy LePrich 6-3, 60. At number three, Beth Dimopoulos lost to Louise Schaefer of Round Lake, 6-0,4-6, 6-2. The doubles teams came through, however to seal the Warrior win. Landis and Haner moved up to the number one slot, and trounced Becky Bishop and Noel Brown, 6-3, 6-0. Greve and O'Halleran then edged Kim Felks and Lori Coppelli, 6-4, 7-5. THE WARRIOR NETTERS dropped a tough 3-2 decision to Cary-Grove in Cary Monday. Continued on pog« 19 LOOKING AHEAD, M c H E N R Y H I G H SCHOOL: Today: Girls' Tennis: Dundee- Crown at West Campus, 4:30 p.m. Girls' Volleyball: at CL South, 4:30 p.m. Thursday: Cross-Country: CL South, Libertyville at West, 4:30 p.m. Boys' Golf: at CL Central, 4 p.m. Girls' Swimmming: Cary- Grove at West, 4:30 p.m. JOHNSBURG HIGH SCHOOL: Today: Girls' Tennis: at Marengo, 4:30 p.m. - Thursday: Girls' Volleyball: at Round Lake, 4:30 p.m. Cross-Country: at Grant, 4:30 p.m. Frosh Football: at Marian Central, 4:30 p.m. i