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Stevenson's Weisman in the running for Burlsworth Trophy

Mark Weisman walked on to the University of Iowa's football team.

Once there, he never stopped running.

The senior running back is now part of an elite group.

A Stevenson High School product from Buffalo Grove, Weisman is one of 10 semifinalists for the 2014 Burlsworth Trophy.

The award is presented annually to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on.

Three finalists are expected to be announced Tuesday and the award will be presented Monday, Dec. 8.

The 6-foot, 240-pound Weisman has led the Hawkeyes in rushing in each of the past two seasons and is Iowa's leading rusher through 11 games this year.

In the Hawkeyes' first 11 games, he has rushed for 720 yards on 182 attempts, scoring 14 touchdowns.

The 14 touchdowns rank fifth best in a single-season at Iowa.

In three seasons, he has become just the third player in Iowa history to record 30 rushing touchdowns.

He ranks fourth in career rushing attempts, eighth in rushing yards, and 12th in career scoring (186 points). Weisman is one of eight Hawkeye running backs to rush for over 2,200 yards and score more than 20 touchdowns.

Weisman also excels in the classroom, as he was previously named to the 2014 Capital One District 6 Academic All-America first team.

He holds a 3.32 grade-point average and is majoring in health and human physiology.

Weisman earned academic All-Big Ten recognition in 2012 and 2013 and is a three-time honoree on the UI dean's list.

The Burlsworth Award is named in honor of former Arkansas player Brandon Burlsworth. After earning All-America honors in 1998, Burlsworth was the 63rd selection in the 1999 NFL Draft before being tragically killed in a car accident 11 days after the draft.

Football

• North Central College junior Richard Zirngibl (Buffalo Grove) played in all ten games at strong safety and led the team in pass breakups, recording seven. He was also ranked fourth on the team in tackles, making 44.

Men's basketball

Loras College junior Mirko Grcic (Lake Zurich) finished with 34 points and 26 rebounds in Loras' 89-84 overtime victory over Edgewood.

Grcic was 11-of-17 from the floor and sunk 12-of-17 from the free-throw line. He finished with 21 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds.

His performance tied a Loras record dating back to the 1955-56 season, when Al Carew hauled in 26 rebounds against St. Norbert College.

• Augustana junior Griffin Pils (Libertyville) led the Vikings (2-0) with a team-high 12 points in a 51-47 win over Albion.

Pils is averaging 6.8 points and has 12 assists. He is shooting .500 from the floor, .429 from three-point range and .889 from the free throw line.

The Vikings are 4-0 and averaging 76.0 points per game.

Women's volleyball

Carthage junior setter Karen Chin (Mundelein), who averaged 10.60 assists and 2.82 digs per set) was named to the 2014 American Volleyball Coaches Association second-team All-America.

• University St. Francis junior setter Megan Mowery (Carmel Catholic) was named to the All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference second team.

Mowery earned her third all-conference award in as many years. After averaging just under two kills per set as an outside hitter during the first half of the season, she switched to the setter position as a result of a season-ending injury to starting setter sophomore Danielle Conrad.

In 17 matches as the Saints' setter, Mowery averaged 8.57 assists per set as St. Francis (26-15, 14-4) went 12-5 to close out the season.

• Lewis senior libero Amy Choi (Vernon Hills) was named to the All-Great Lake Valley Conference honorable mention team.

Choi had 30 digs in Lewis' final loss to Ferris State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was her fifth match this season of 30 or more digs. She finished with 550 digs on the season, tied for the third most in a single season in Lewis history. Her 2,108 career digs are the most in school history.

Men's swimming

Lewis sophomore Bryan Wiener (Mundelein) was part of the Flyers' 200 medley relay that combined for a school-record time of 1:29.61 at IUPUI's House of Champions meet. They broke the previous record by nearly four seconds.

Wiener also won the 200 back in 1:48.01. However, it was his swim of 1:46.63 in the preliminaries that set a school record in the event. His performance broke his own school record.

Lewis finished ahead of four Division I squads at the meet, finishing third with 1292.5 points in the nine-team event won by Indianapolis (1545.5).

Women's cross country

Lewis redshirt junior Kristen Bonsor of Antioch had a personal record mark of 21:32 to place 17th at the 6K NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Southern Indiana. No. 24-ranked Lewis placed eighth out of 30 teams.

Women's basketball

Augustana sophomore Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) leads the Vikings (1-2) this season with 13 assists and she is averaging 7.7 points per game. The third-leading scorer on the team is senior Valerie VanRoeyen (Libertyville) at 8.7 ppg.

• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.

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