This week in Panther athletics (October 1st to 7th)….
Juan Franco's accomplishments in his 26 years coaching men's soccer at Morton College are rather impressive.
He's won over 300 games and guided the Panthers to three national appearances with a 2022 runner-up finish. The Panthers have been nationally ranked for 32 consecutive weeks. Countless players have gone on to the four-year ranks.
The one thing eluding a Franco-coached team is back-to-back conference championships. That could change Tuesday (October 3rd) when the Panthers (7-3-1) host Waubonsee at 4 p.m. Defending champion Morton College, Waubonsee and Prairie State all currently sit atop of the Skyway Conference standings at 4-1-0 with two matches remaining.
The Panthers have grinded their way to a piece of the Skyway lead with three 1-0 wins, the most recent coming last week on a rainy Tuesday at Lake County. The key to Waubonsee is sophomore midfielder/forward David Avila, who is tied for fifth nationally with 14 goals and has 33 points. Avila has scored nearly half of Waubonsee's 30 goals this season.
UPDATES: Morton College's match at Carl Sandburg Saturday was postponed due to field conditions. The Panthers picked up Truman for a 6 p.m. home match Friday (October 6th).
Volleyball
Morton College carries a four-game win streak into Wednesday's home contest against Skyway Conference leader Moraine Valley, the league's last unbeaten team at 5-0. The Panthers also are a season-high three games over the .500 mark at 15-12.
The Panthers, winners of their last 15 of 21 matches after getting out of the gate at 0-6, defeated Illinois Valley 3-1 (25-11, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22) for their third win in four days.
Trenyce Bonner registered 10 of her match-high 22 kills in the fourth set where the Panthers rallied from a 13-6 deficit.
Lilly Margiljaj added a season-high 15 kills and
Zoe Klaus posted a year's best seven aces.
Elizabeth Southard kicked in 38 assists, while
Nevaeh Lewis added seven kills and eight blocks.
Kylah Cales (six kills),
Angelina Southard (15 digs) and
Ingrid Guillen (10 digs, three aces) also contributed.
Morton College also took care of Oakton 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23) and Bryant & Stratton 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18).
NATIONAL LEADERS: Lewis and Klaus rank second and 16th in total blocks with 109 and 77, respectively, at the NJCAA Division II level. Bonner's 286 kills are 16th overall and she needs 12 more to reach 800 in her career.
Angelina Southard is tied for 25th with 47 service aces, while
Chassity Llanos-Padilla is 24th with 378 digs. The sophomore already surpassed her 350 digs from a year ago.
Men's golf
Liam Spillane's 77 ties for fifth at Skyway Conference match #5 Wednesday at Cog Hill 3 in Lemont. Second straight round in 70s by Spillane, an all-state golfer at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
Casey Taylor cards 85.
Women's soccer
Morton College's Skyway showdown at Lake County last week was postponed due to field conditions. The Panthers are a point behind Lake County 7-6 in the league standings. A win would move Morton College into a tie for first with Waubonsee. No make-up date has been set.
Morton College did extend its win streak to a season-best four with a 3-1 win at Harper Friday. The Panthers have allowed one goal in their last three matches.
Panther coach
Dwayne Cruz cited
Naomi Woerner,
Valorine Cheboh,
Kaileen Magana and Yaneli Garcia for anchoring the defense.
Morton College travels to Illinois Valley Wednesday and returns home for a women's/men's doubleheader Friday. The Panther women take on Lincoln Land at 4 p.m. followed by the men playing Truman at 6.
Cross country
Morton College cross country coach Miriam Andalbo noted the conditions for Saturday's 23rd annual Warrior Invitational hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran were challenging because of temperature (75 degrees and high humidity).
Fernando Quintana made a good showing for his 8-kilometer race, placing 68th in a time of 30:22.3. Returning NJCAA national qualifier
Brian Kiplagat placed 94th in 31:35.5.
Adrian Alcantar (31:50.1 -100th) and
Sebastian Mantilla (34:16.7 – 128th) also competed for the Panthers.
"Brian showed a lot of endurance in spite of the high humidity," Andalbo said. "The times for Adrian and Sebastian were a little slower because of the heat, but they finished strong."
Mauricio Lara dropped out after twisting his ankle on the last lap.
"Mauricio was killing it during the first 5K," Andalbo stated. "He made the right decision to leave the race to avoid becoming seriously injured since we have the conference and region races around the corner."
