Brady holds off Wilson at Big Ten Championships

The Big Ten men’s 10,000-meter run offered a glorious finish …

A graduate student at the University of Michigan, on May 10 at his home track in Ann Arbor for the Big Ten Championships in men’s outdoor track and field, Tom Brady (Maine South) didn’t take the lead in the 10,000-meter run until 2,000 meters remained.

Matched stride for stride by Wisconsin’s Micah Wilson (St. Charles East) in second place, with about 250 meters left Brady started pouring it on for what looked to be a decisive win. Wilson, though, surged with 70 meters left and the conference’s 2023 freshman of the year almost got Brady at the line, just shy by .03 seconds.

Successfully defending his Big Ten title, program record-holder Brady won in 29 minutes, 19.27 seconds to Wilson’s 29:19.30. Wilson also placed fourth in the 5,000; Illinois senior Jack Roberts (Downers Grove North) finished seventh.

Helping the University of Minnesota win its first Big Ten women’s track championship since 2018, on May 13 in Ann Arbor redshirt junior Erin Reidy (Downers Grove South) placed second in the 1500-meter run in 4 minutes, 15.42 seconds. According to Minnesota officials, Reidy held the lead until 60 meters remained, and her time was a personal-best and the second-fastest time in Gophers history.

Speaking of Maine South, three Hawks graduates on the Oakton College men’s golf team — Daniel Allegretti, Ryan Belz and Cole Shane — led the Owls to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Championship for the first time in program history. On Friday they were en route to the championship site in Joplin, Mo. College golf being a split season, Allegretti in October was named Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference medalist of the year as Oakton won the league title for the first time in 30 years.

On May 13, Lewis University junior pitcher and utility player Delaney Garden (Jacobs) was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Midwest Region first team. On the mound Garden went 18-10 with a 1.54 ERA, striking out 205 batters while walking only 23 in 190⅔ innings pitched. She also led the Flyers with a .370 batting average, 29 runs scored and 25 RBI.

Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Gianna Certa (Grayslake North) is the 2024 College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin (CCIW) pitcher of the year. Undefeated at 8-0 with a 0.41 ERA in league play, overall the right-hander is 19-3 with a 1.22 ERA and 8 shutouts. On Thursday in Oshkosh she helped beat Wartburg College 4-1 for Illinois Wesleyan’s first regional victory since 2019.

North Central College pitcher Juliana Maude (Huntley) was named CCIW freshman of the year. She went 13-5 with a 1.46 ERA and 5 shutouts, and added 3 saves. North Park sophomore shortstop Kayla Lorenz (Vernon Hills) earned first-team CCIW honors after compiling team highs of a .343 batting average, 28 RBI, 56 total bases and a .549 slugging percentage.