It just didn’t seem fair. Every local girls basketball fan was looking forward to this game. It pitted unbeaten Stevenson and 25-game winner Libertyville High School in a sectional contest. But there was a nasty rumor floating around in the winter of 1994. Somehow gifted Libertyville forward Lindsey Celba had come up limp. There was a good chance she wouldn’t play in the biggest game of the season. Celba married former Lake Forest volleyball player Paul White and now has daughter Molly, 5, and sons John, 3 and Andrew, 1. Although it’s now 17 years ago, she recalled vividly how much her ankle …

Cooper Beshel, now approaching his second birthday, probably wouldn’t appreciate the stories his dad would tell him. Cooper wouldn’t find it funny that basketball fans all over Lake County used to hate his dad, Tim. Tim Beshel is busy these days opening up a chiropractic business in North Carolina. But he still looks back at his high school sports days with great fondness. There was that sectional basketball game his junior year at the storied Waukegan gym. It was the winter of 1996. The Libertyville High School basketball team was facing a very good Deerfield squad with a special player …

That Stevenson High School pitching coach sure looked familiar. Wait a minute, it was the former superstar pitcher Elissa Wisniewski. The new Libertyville High School girls softball coach brings quite the resume with her to her former rival. Former Stevenson star pitcher is the Illinois High School Association's Four 20-win seasons at Stevenson. Most wins in state history (big schools) with 99. Fifth in state history with strikeouts (1,019). A 0.49 ERA ranks fourth in state history. 49 shutouts is third in Illinois history. And of the 3,005 batters she faced in four years, she never allowed a…

Former Carmel star baseball player Pat McMahon made a name for himself in college. He was an All-Big-10 first baseman for Northwestern University in 2006. But the question does come up. Is he the most famous athlete in his new family? You might get a serious argument from Libertyville soccer coach Scott Schinto. That's because McMahon's wife, the former Lindsay Moore, was quite the soccer player in her days at Libertyville High School. "I have yet to see another player with the personal drive that Lindsay displayed daily,'' Schinto said. "I have seen many good players through the years but …

For a few years, four girls were the biggest celebrities in Lake County girls sports. They were Kate White of Carmel, Hailey Koschmann from Lake Forest and Beth Weinstein of Highland Park. And Libertyville’s contribution to this foursome of golfers was Nicole Schachner. As a senior in the spring of 2006, the IHSA state golf tournament was her last chance at individual glory — she opened with a birdie and posted a strong 74 on Day One. The only problem was Notre Dame’s Emily Powers had rung up a startling 66 and held an eight-stroke lead. The key hole on Day Two was the 15th. Schachner …

One day on a walk with Mia, Liam, Olivia and Brynne, Arian Colton, née Adams, can bring up the subject of sports. She can tell her children tales from her days at Libertyville High School. How she pounded a volleyball so hard that it scared some folks. How she combined with the likes of Lindsey Celba, Sarah Weiss and Katie Sriver to form one of the best volleyball teams in the state. And maybe she'll bring up that painful memory of how that season ended. Adams' Waterloo "It comes up all the time,'' Adams Colton said. "I'll never forget it. We had a lot of great players. But mostly we remember…

Officially, it was a changeup. That’s the pitch that struck out Libertyville High School catcher Mary Tiegs. “I had already hit a homer,” Tiegs said. “It was my senior year against Carmel.” So what is the big deal about this strikeout? It was the only time in her high school career that she fanned. Tiegs, Libertyville’s softball coach for the past seven seasons, has resigned her post. Maybe she told some of her Wildcats players about her days on the diamond, but maybe not. By all accounts, she was one gifted athlete. After Libertyville, she earned a full ride softball scholarship to Eastern …

The Great Race starred the late Tony Curtis and was filmed in 1965. So after a successful run as an 800 racer at Notre Dame University, what was Jack Howard's greatest race of his career? After all this was an athlete who was named an All-American while racing in South Bend. As a senior, he won indoor track events at Arizona State, Notre Dame and the Big East Championships. “I'd say my greatest race came at the DMR relays,” Howard said. “It was at a 13-team nationals. I took the baton in 11th place and got us to third. We were flying.” A DMR combines a 1,200-yard, 400-yard runner and the 800-…

So you wish to become a professional volleyball player down the road? Take a few hints from Penn State assistant men's volleyball coach Colin McMillan. In 1991, McMillan was a 5-foot-8 freshman looking to play a spring sport at Libertyville High School. "I didn't make the basketball team,'' he said. "I had played a lot of different sports and I was going to try and play tennis." Then he wandered over to the gym to view the new sport called boys volleyball. "I wasn't the biggest kid in the gym,'' he said. "But I really liked playing. I really didn't think it would take me places." McMillan …