These seem to be good days for Libertyville High School senior Alex Haley. Two years ago, this determined guard broke into the starting lineup of the Libertyville girls basketball team. On the court, she played on teams that ran up winning streaks of 15, and a year ago, a school record 29-game streak. The big announcement of Haley's winter season came when she signed to play college basketball next year at Minot University in North Dakota. She went out and celebrated that good news by popping in 25 points this week against Barrington. For that performance, the school named her athlete of the …

This winter marks the 25th season in which Dale Eggert has guided the Libertyville High School boys wrestling team. And a year after his team won 17 and dropped only five matches; he brings back a few experienced and talented performers. Three seniors combined to win 73 matches last year and the Wildcats will look to Charlie Meyer, Pat Fitzgerald and Kyle May to lead the way this winter. Fitzgerald qualified for the state tournament as a sophomore. He will be asked to tackle the 126 weight for this final season of high school wrestling. He won 22 matches at 112 last year. Fellow senior, Meyer…

It's too early to name an MVP of the girls gymnastics team at Libertyville High School. After all, the season won't really kick in until next month. But here's a nice salute to Libertyville senior gymnast Lindsay Schweitzer. She's a four-year performer for the Wildcats and one of the team's captains. "For the last three years she has dedicated her time to ensuring the best experience for her teammates,'' said Libertyville gymnastics coach John Taylor.  "She has attend invites and conference meets for the lower level teams even when she is not competing. Her support for her team is …

Libertyville High School‘s boys basketball team won 12 games last year. Of course, the big news was the injury to leading scorer Ryan Barth that slowed the team’s progress. “He went down early in his senior year,” said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. “And we lost him for two months.” Someone had to take up the slack when the leading scorer went down and those players included the likes of Griffin Pils, Anthony Mack, Ellis Matthews and Luke Mathewson. All four of those players are back for the 2011-12 campaign. Pils is a player to watch on this team. “Griffin had a nice summer,” Bogumil said…

On paper, it looked to be an excellent match: Amanda Orchard and Layne Self of Lake Zurich heading to Libertyville for a regional title meet with Kristen Webb and Cindy Zhou of the Wildcats. It lived up to its billing and more. That 28-game winner from Libertyville High School fell short on Thursday night. Rather, fell just short in a thrilling 25-21, 22-25, 28-26 win by the visiting Bears. “Yeah, tough loss,” said Libertyville coach Greg Loika. “We played great, sometimes with two evenly matched teams the ball just bounces one way or another at the end. That’s the hardest part for the girls…

Just maybe the Wildcats football team was favored to beat visiting Warren last Friday night. If the Blue Devils had sprung an upset, few folks would have been surprised. What really happened was a total hammering of the visitors. How else to explain Libertyville scoring 38 straight points on the way to a stunning 38-6 romp. “It was one of the biggest wins that we have had in the last couple of years,” said Libertyville football coach Randy Kuceyeski. “And it secured a spot in the state playoffs for the first time since 2008.” OK, let’s be honest. Warren won’t be going to playoffs this season…

The most important part of the boys cross country season is coming up in the next few weeks. So before that takes place, let's take a look at what the Libertyville High School boys team has been up to. How about the $1,600 the team raised for the Semper Fi Fund in September? And a special salute to Alex Zoellick and Tyler Chen, who were the top fundraisers on the team. The team sold plenty of cookie dough and helped fund this organization that helps injured members of the armed forces. In another outstanding effort, this team joined forces with the Lake Zurich team to raise funds for the …

The state champion was still out. But Libertyville High School's girls golf team was in a great position. The only thing stopping a team trip was if Stevenson's Stephanie Miller shot a brilliant 67. "We knew if Stephanie Miller did not shoot a 67 that we would qualify for sectionals,'' said Libertyville girls golf coach Greg Pedersen. "And we knew very well that she could do it. When the word came in that she actually shot a 67 we were pretty dejected." Libertyville finished fourth in Tuesday's Lake Forest Regional. The Wildcats shot a respectable 351. "That's our best score in years,'' …

A year ago, Libertyville High School's boys soccer team finished second in the state. That's quite an accomplishment. But it's a new season at Libertyville and frankly second place won't do this fall. To start the season, Andy Bitta's team was ranked No. 1 in the state, and despite a few losses, this team seems to be on track. "We are pretty good,'' Bitta said. "We have a bunch of guys who play like brothers." Certainly a highlight of the early season was the team's win at the Pepsi Showdown. The Wildcats (11-2) stopped Lyons Township to claim the title in overtime. Named MVP of the tourney …