Remember Warren's Polyakov? Tennis star plays for Rice

In case you were curious, the one that got away is doing just fine.

Dennis Polyakov, who spent his first two years of high school at Warren and was a two-time all-state singles player in tennis, is competing for No. 23 Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Polyakov had transferred from Warren High School to Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas, where he also starred.

Polyakov's 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory keyed Rice's recent 4-3 win over No. 4 North Carolina State.

Greg Cohen, boys varsity tennis coach at Warren, calls Polyakov "one of the best players and greatest kids I have ever coached.''

Hockey

Goalie Johnny Griggs (Barrington) earned his fifth shutout as the Dubuque ThunderBirds of the Central States Hockey League beat Quad Cities 7-0 to clinch their first regular-season championship. Griggs posted his 22nd win, lowered his goals-against average to 1.46 and raised his save percentage to .941 -- all league bests.

Coaching clinic

The American Sport Education Program (ASEP) will hold a coaching clinic at the La Quinta Inn in Arlington Heights on March 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The clinic is open to anyone interested in becoming certified to coach middle or high school athletics.

Statewide, over 3,000 coaches are certified through this program each year, and yet many schools struggle to fill vacancies.

Statistically, Illinois faces an attrition rate of over 40 percent across the board in coaching.

Successful completion of the program is required by the IHSA for all non-faculty coaches.

To register or for more information contact Jeff Kyle at (217) 586-4799 or thekyles@mchsi.com.

Basketball

Antoine McDaniel (Schaumburg) of Carthage College was a second-team selection on the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's all-decade selections that cover 1997-98 to 2006-07.

McDaniel helped lead Carthage to three NCAA tournament appearances, including a spot in the Final Four in 2002. He was named the CCIW's most outstanding player in '02.

Jason Wiertel (Buffalo Grove) of Carthage was named to the fourth team. He is one of only four players in CCIW history to be named first team all-conference all four years in his career. He was part of three NCAA tourney appearances.

• Melissa Gorski (Buffalo Grove) of Monmouth College was named Midwest Conference Performer of the Week. She scored 29 points to go with 7 rebounds and 2 steals against Illinois College. She was 6-for-6 at the foul line in the final minute to help Monmouth seal the win.

• Jonny Reibel (Hoffman Estates) of No. 21 Rollins College had 20 points, 4 assists, 2 steals and 6 rebounds against Florida Tech and 19 points against Lynn University.

• Brittany Hogen (Hersey) of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside contributed 15 points, 4 rebounds and a block against Kentucky Wesleyan. Brother George Hogen (Hersey) of Lawrence University (17-2) knocked down three 3-pointers and also had some strong work rebounding against Monmouth College.

• The Northwest Basketball Academy will conduct tryouts for girls on March 4.

Times are 6 p.m. for the 5th, 6th and 7th grade girls and 8 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. for the 8th grade though high school players.

Girls must bring a birth certificate.

The season will go from March 4 to May 30 with practices held on Tuesday and Thursday nights at Christian Liberty Academy.

Tournaments will start the first weekend in April.

Cost is $425 and includes all expenses. If you have any questions, call Bill Probst at (847) 639-1003.

Softball

Kat Krause (Hersey) of Loyola University Chicago was named Horizon League Player of the Week for hitting .417 with a double, 2 homers and 4 stolen bases in 5 games at the Sportco Spring Kick-Off Classic in Nevada. She also was named U.S. Army Horizon League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

Track and field

Michelle Ruff (Fremd) of Lewis University won the 200-meter dash with a personal best time of 26.08 at the Chicagoland Indoor Championships. She also was a member of the winning 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

• Illinois State senior Suzy Turner (Palatine), junior Brianna Officer (Palatine), freshman Michelle Brunk (Palatine) and Jenny Kraakevik of Wheaton North proved to be the perfect combination in the distance medley relay at the Iowa State Classic. They placed fifth with a school record time of 11:45.27. Turner also set a new season and personal-best in the 3,000 meter run at 9:47.62.

At the same meet, redshirt freshman Amy Laskowske (Palatine) led Minnesota with a win in the 5,000-meter run that was non-seeded with a time of 17:06.16.

Stanley Grabarek

Stan Grabarek, who taught math for 37 years and was a coach at Arlington High School and also involved in local hockey, died Feb. 4 in Spooner, Wis. He was 77 and is survived by his wife, Barbara. For information, call (715) 635-8919.