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Sports

Prep sports: 5 Difference-makers Coming at You This Spring

The 2011 spring sports season is about ready to shift into high gear. Here are 5 athletes from Benet Academy and Lisle High School--along with five honorable mentions--who'll undoubtedly make some noise.

Just as the clocks moved ahead one hour this month, the village of Lisle’s high school sports teams also are moving forward with their spring sports schedule.

Several sports—baseball, softball, boys and girls track and field, girls soccer and boys tennis, just to name a few—will pack in a flurry of activity over the next 2-plus months (weather permitting, as always). The spring sports season culminates with state championships beginning in May and continuing through the second weekend in June.

Lisle Patch has picked five athletes—with five honorable mentions—from either Lisle Senior High School or Benet Academy who will undoubtedly make some noise in their respective sports before all is said and done this spring.

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Here they are (in alphabetical order; honorable mentions follow these five athletes):

Bekka Houda, Lisle softball—Houda, a senior who’ll pitch next year at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, is the ace of the Lions’ staff. Last season, she posted a 15-6 record with a 1.34 ERA. With Houda and a solid nucleus coming back from last year’s Class 2A supersectional squad, the Lions should be the team to beat in the Interstate Eight and be in a position to make another long postseason run.

Find out what's happening in Lislewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Claire Munaretto, Benet Academy girls soccer—The senior goalkeeper’s steady play helped the Redwings to a 76-6 overall record and a regional final appearance (the Redwings fell in the title game to eventual state champion Waubonsie Valley). Munaretto is one of six returning lettermen named to last spring’s all-East Suburban Catholic Conference team.

Mikayla Panko, Benet Academy softball—Benet’s slugging senior outfielder led the Redwings in RBIs (39) and was second on the team in average (.368) and homers (four). The two-time all-ESCC pick committed just one error and had seven assists—a formidable stat for an outfielder. She’ll be playing softball in college for the . Panko and Munaretto also played for Benet's girls basketball team, which won 24 games and advanced to the sectional finals before being eliminated by eventual state champion Bolingbrook.

Nicole Urban, Lisle girls soccer—Urban, a University of Iowa recruit—the first Lisle girls soccer player to be recruited by a Division I school—went into this season as Lisle’s all-time leading scorer with 101 career goals. One of three Urban sisters to play soccer for head coach Paul Kohorn (Sara and Ashley are Nicole’s older sisters), Nicole piled up 37 goals and 27 assists for the Lions, who took fourth at the Class 1A state tourney. Nicole and her younger sister, Kelly, a sophomore, both played for the Lisle girls basketball team. (Kelly is on the Lisle softball squad this spring.)

Anne Yahiro, Benet Academy girls track and field—Yahiro captured eighth place in the triple jump at last May’s Class 3A girls state track meet in Charleston (36 feet, 9 3/4 inches) while the Redwings tied for 10th as a team. Yahiro, a junior, has the fifth-best jump among those state place winners who are returning this season.

Honorable mention

Melanie Early, Lisle softball—The junior hit .378 and was 7-4 on the mound with a 1.25 ERA.

Brittany Pullen, Benet girls soccer—An all-ESCC selection, the senior midfielder is one of Benet’s top offensive threats.

Vanessa Roach, Lisle girls soccer—The sophomore goalkeeper never played soccer before last season.

Allyson Staats, Benet softball—The senior belted a team-leading six homers in 2010 and was 17-11 on the mound with a 1.74 ERA.

Ryan VanVolkenburg, Lisle baseball—Made the all-Interstate Eight Conference team as a freshman in 2010.

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