C-G’s Curtis swims way to D-I scholarship

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The college recruitment process took a little longer for Cary-Grove’s Brent Curtis, but it was worth the wait.

Curtis eventually found Miami (Ohio) University, one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference, and will attend the school on a partial swimming scholarship. Curtis signed his NCAA letter of intent with the RedHawks about a month ago.

Curtis was the Northwest Herald Boys Swimmer of the Year for 2008 and 2009. He placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle and 12th in the 100 breaststroke at the IHSA Boys Swimming State Meet this year.

“It was pretty late in the process,” Curtis said. “I was looking at some bigger schools, but then I started to explore other options. It’s a mid-sized school, but they’re near the top of their conference.”

Curtis was looking at Indiana and South Carolina and said he was close to committing to Indiana. He plans on competing in the 100 and 200 freestyles, and in the 200 breaststroke.

“Their facilities are great,” Curtis said. “They host a lot of meets because they have such great facilities. I liked how the coach [Pete Lindsay] talked about how I fit in and where he saw me going.”

Curtis started swimming when he was 6 and got more serious at 9, when he started swimming year-round.

“About halfway through high school. I knew I wanted to do well at the collegiate level,” Curtis said. “Doing well at the NCAA Championships is what I’d like to do most.”

Kosar to IIT: Marian Central center fielder Jack Kosar will continue his baseball career at Illinois Institute of Technology, an NAIA school in Chicago.

Kosar, a two-year starter for the Hurricanes, hit .319 with 22 RBIs for Marian, which finished 20-10 overall and took second in the Suburban Catholic Conference.

“One of our last regular-season games their coach [Steve Born] came 2 hours to see me, and I hit a home run,” Kosar said. “That was nice. That he came out there [to Richmond-Burton] stuck with me. They just graduated their center fielder, so the coach said I could have a chance to play right away, and they made a nice scholarship offer. A lot of things came together.”

Kosar earned a 3.6 GPA at Marian and plans on majoring in engineering.

Not done yet: When Richmond-Burton fullback Mike Anderson suffered a fractured vertebra in the first game last season, he figured his football playing days were over. Anderson originally planned to attend Iowa State, but had a change of heart.

Augustana College, an NCAA Division III school in Rock Island, announced that Anderson will be one of its freshman players this fall. Anderson (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) led the Rockets in rushing with 850 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior.

Anderson could only participate in R-B’s run to the IHSA Class 4A playoff semifinals as a spectator, although Big Northern Conference East Division coaches still voted him an honorable mention pick for all-conference.

Local invitees: Five area baseball players have been invited to the Silver and Black Series on Monday at Triton College.

Crystal Lake Central’s Connor Sadzeck, Cary-Grove’s Chris Waylock, Jacobs’ Henry Gigeous, Prairie Ridge’s Kevin Kaczmarski and Huntley’s Phil Pupillo were invited to play. This event leads up to the July 1 tryout for the Area Code team at Elgin Community College. The players selected from the tryouts will play in the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif., or in the Seattle Mariners Cup in Seattle, Wash. Both events are heavily scouted by major league teams.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached at 815-526-4513. He also can be reached by fax at 815-459-5640 or by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.