Palatine's Moertl, O'Shea finalize their football futures

Two players from Palatine's Class 8A state playoff-qualifying football team recently committed to Division I collegiate programs.

Jake Moertl is headed for Western Michigan, while Johnny O'Shea will continue his career at Butler.

Moertl picked off eight passes last season and finished with 62 tackles this year. He also rushed for 386 yards and 7 touchdowns.

"Jake is one of the most instinctual players I have ever been around," said Palatine coach Corey Olson after the season. "He just has a nose for the football and has a motor that never quits. He also made a ton of big plays on the offensive side of the ball this year as well. Jake is an excellent tackler with a very high football IQ."

O'Shea pulled in 60 catches for 878 yards and 11 touchdowns including a state-record 18 catches for 249 yards and 5 touchdowns in a state playoff game.

He finished his career as the top receiver in Palatine history with 179 receptions for 2,460 yards and 29 touchdowns. "Johnny is a rare combination of all of the intangible assets that coaches love in a player," Olson said "He has size, leaping ability, toughness and hands to literally do anything you ask him to do."

Heartwarming story

Bradley women's basketball head coach Andrea Gorski made a rare mid-year addition to her roster with the signing of Jalene Woolford (Pontiac, Ill./St. Mary's) to a letter of intent during a special ceremony at Renaissance Coliseum last month.

The story on the Bradley website informs that the 8-year old from Pontiac, Ill., is currently undergoing chemotherapy to treat Anaplastic Astrocystoma Grade 3 spinal cord cancer.

"She is one of the strongest little girls I know," said Bradley freshman Missy Adrian (Fremd), the Daily Herald's 2017 Northwest Female Athlete of the Year. "And it shows every time we see her. I'm so glad to have gotten to know her, and have her as a part of the team. Her smile brings everyone so much joy."

Since being diagnosed last year, she had surgery to open up the walls of her spinal cord after the cancer was deemed inoperable, in addition to radiation treatment.

Team IMPACT helped make the connection between Jalene and Bradley women's basketball.

Following practice, her new teammates showed her to her new locker and Jalene received a jersey at the Letter of Intent signing, where she was joined by her parents Jamie and Jim along with her brother Justin.

"She gives an energy and positivity that is beyond her," Adrian said. "And it's amazing having her around."

"Jalene has a great passion for both basketball and life," Gorski said. "She is an amazing young woman who has stayed upbeat despite challenges thrown her way and we are happy she is a part of our team."

The mission of Team IMPACT is to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses by establishing and expanding vibrant team-based support networks."

Boys basketball

St. Viator junior Jeremiah Hernandez is headed to the under-17 World Championships in Argentina from June 30 to July 8 this summer as a member of the Puerto Rico national team.

Hernandez has helped lead St. Viator to a 20-5 season this year and first place in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.

Hernandez's mother was born in Puerto Rico.

"I never expected the opportunity to play overseas," Hernandez said. "This is unreal for me right now. I am not going to believe it until I land in Puerto Rico. I am just focused right now on getting this playoff run for us."

Softball

Juniors Delaney Bowen (Vernon Hills) and Kendall Peterson (Barrington) have been nationally recognized by Flosoftball.com in their Class of 2019 Top 500 rankings.

FloSoftball has been ranking the top high school/club softball players in their graduating class since 2014.

Many of the ranked players have blossomed into Team USA members, USA Player of the Year winners, and Freshman of the Year winners.

Peterson is listed at 197th, the fourth-highest ranked Northwestern recruit in the Class of 2019, while Bowen is at 199th, the highest-ranked Purdue recruit in the Class of 2019.

Women's basketball

Cornell College senior Diamond Boyd (Elk Grove) recorded another impressive double-double to help the red-hot Rams to a 65-57 victory over visiting Lake Forest.

Boyd pulled down a career-best 21 rebounds to go with 22 points, 6 steals, 2 assists and a pair of blocked shots as the Rams (16-5 overall, 12-2 Midwest Conference) kept pace with Ripon atop the league standings with two games left in the regular season.

It was Boyd's eighth double-double of the season and she moved to No. 3 in MWC history for career steals (269) and jumped to No. 2 on Cornell's all-time list for made field goals (487), passing former teammate Rikki Mulloy (2011-15).

• In Carthage's 77-72 triumph at Elmhurst, the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin contest featured three Hersey graduates.

Lady Reds senior Morgan Harris recorded her fourth double-digit point performance over the past five games with 12 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Sophomore teammate and fellow Huskies alum Maggie Berigan had a rebound and a steal.

For Elmhurst, freshman guard and Hersey grad Kelly Weyhrich had 6 points and 3 assists. Her jumper with 5:35 left in the fourth quarter gave the Bluejays their only lead of the second half at 62-61.

• Duke University redshirt sophomore Haley Gorecki (Fremd) will miss the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign with a left hip injury.

"We are heartbroken for Haley, for her family and for our team, but we are very happy that she can become pain free," said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie on the Duke website. "She will be able to get healthy and come back for her two remaining seasons."

Gorecki came into the season healthy after missing a year and a half with a right hip injury that forced her to be limited to only 14 games.

Since moving into the starting lineup against Winthrop in December, Gorecki averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals over a span of 11 contests.

The 6-foot guard posted four games with 20 or more points, including a career-high 29 points at North Carolina and 28 at Virginia Tech in back-to-back contests.

Gorecki became the first Blue Devil to register seven or more three-pointers in two straight games. She added 25 points on the road at third-ranked Louisville and 20 versus Winthrop. Gorecki had a stretch where she scored double-digits in seven consecutive contests.

Women's track

Augustana junior Ashley Talken (Wheeling) was second with a clearance of 10-8 in the pole vault at the 10-team Darren Young Invitational, where the Vikings placed third (98 points) behind champion Nebraska Wesleyan (196).

Men's track

Augustana senior Josh Yamamoto (Fremd) was part of the 4X400 relay team that took second in 3:20.76 at the Darren Young Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa.

He was also second in the 400 meters (: 50.05) and fifth in the 200 (:22.93). Vikings senior Evan Murphy (Buffalo Grove) took sixth in the long jump (20-6½).

• Email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.