Oak Lawn Spartans Baseball Highlights Spring Sports Awards

OAK LAWN, IL—It was an improbable run of victories to close out the South Suburban Conference Red schedule for the Oak Lawn Community High School baseball team, but in the end, it meant the Spartans earned a share of the conference championship.

Justin Canvin was selected as the SSC Red Player of the Year and was named as the team’s Most Valuable Player. Eli Kulpinski won the Sportsmanship Award. Canvin, Ryan Camiso, Jack Dempsey, Danny Strelow, Jack Reilly, and Hamza Abdelfattah were all-conference selections.

Here is a look at all the sports awards for the spring season.

In Badminton, the team’s MVP was Gabriela Bedzarcyk, and the Sportsmanship Award winner was Briana Potempa. All-conference selections were Bedzarcyk (second place at first singles), Sara Abdelrahman (first place at second singles), and Kiara Colon-Iraheta (first place at fourth singles).

In Girls Track and Field, Savanna Hartmann qualified for the Illinois High School Association State Finals in pole vault. The team MVPs were Anneli Misner and McKenzie Gatlin-James. Julia Kurnat and Makaila Parla shared the Sportsmanship Award.

In Boys Track and Field, IHSA State Finals qualifiers were Noah Juarez, Dean Santoro, Isaiah Perez, and Laith Abbasi in the 1,600-meter relay along with Sebastian Roche in 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Roche was also an IHSA Sectional champion in the 110 hurdles. Abbasi was all-conference in pole vault, and the 1,600-meter relay team of Juarez, Santoro, Perez, and Abbasi also won the conference championship. Jose Romero was the team’s MVP, and Peter Smith won the Sportsmanship Award.

In Boys Tennis, Isaac Bayas finished second in the SSC Red at first singles and earned the team’s MVP honor. Stefan Perojevic won the Sportsmanship Award.

In Girls Soccer, Zuzanna Radgowska and Jessica Fleitas were all-conference selections. Radgowska was the team’s MVP, and Isabela Rehacek and Haydee Manriquez shared the Sportsmanship Award. The junior varsity team won the SSC Red Championship.

In Softball, Kamya Feigl and Aleksandria Blanco earned all-conference honors. Feigl was the team’s MVP, and Aubrey Anderson won the Sportsmanship Award.

In Boys Volleyball, Marco Budzak and Lucas Muresan were all-conference selections. Budzak was the team’s MVP, and Julian Oyoque won the Sportsmanship Award.

As for the year-end awards, Dan Doyle (girls tennis) won the Fred Parks Coach of the Year. Justin Canvin was the Bill Godby Most Outstanding Male Senior Athlete, and Maryam Hussein was the Geri Vandekreke Most Outstanding Female Senior Athlete.

Sara Abdelrahman, Angel Lopez, and Makaila Parla were the Joe Pajac Booster Club Scholarship recipients. The Four-Year, Three-Sport Athlete Awards went to Jack Dempsey, John Olejniczak, Luna Garcia, Savanna Hartmann, Alyssa Paplawskas, and Luke Mahoney.

The Spartan Distinguished Service Award was given to Pete Hennessy.

~ Contributed by Brian Frangella, OLCHS Feature Writer