Glen Ellyn's Fab 5 are Ready to Spring into Action

Just as the clocks are moving ahead one hour on Sunday, the village of Glen Ellyn’s high school sports teams also will be 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 ½ months (weather permitting, as always). The spring sports season culminates with state championships beginning in May and continuing through the second weekend in June with state finals in baseball and softball.

Glen Ellyn Patch has picked five athletes from either Glenbard West or Glenbard South who will undoubtedly make some noise in their respective sports before all is said and done this spring.

Here they are (in alphabetical order):

Matt Hirsh—Glenbard West’s Jim Valleskey enjoyed a successful season coaching the girls team last fall as two singles players and two doubles teams advanced to state. Valleskey now turns his attention to the boys team, led by his No. 1 singles player, Hirsh, who compiled a 22-9 record as a sophomore in 2010. Hirsh, the Hilltoppers’ No. 1 player since his freshman year, advanced to the state meet last spring after placing fourth in the sectional. He’ll be joined by the Hilltoppers’ returning state qualifying doubles team of Pete Simon and Matt Iverson.

Garret Payne—To paraphrase Yogi Berri, it could be déjà vu all over again come late May at the Class 2A boys state track meet in Charleston. Payne, of Glenbard South, captured the state championship in the 400-meter dash, edging DJ Zahn of downstate Morton by one-tenth of a second. Payne and Zahn are both seniors, and barring injury, they’ll likely challenge each other for the 2011 title. Payne’s classmate at Glenbard South, Joe Boesso, also has to be considered the favorite to win the 2A high jump crown. Boesso placed fifth with a jump of 6-6. Last year’s top four finishers were seniors.

Kathryn Pickett—Glenbard West’s versatile senior has qualified for the meet each of the past two years in three events: the 100-meter high hurdles (her best event), the 300 low hurdles and the long jump. Last year, Pickett raced to a sixth-place finish in the 100 hurdles and took eighth in the 300 lows.

Jess Wilkes—After posting a 22-3 record on the mound last year with an ERA under 1.50, Glenbard South’s senior right-hander, an , will undoubtedly be one of the area’s dominant softball pitchers again this spring. With Wilkes leading the way, don’t be surprised if the Raiders—who advanced to sectionals last year—go even farther in the postseason this time around. Teammate Brianna Meath, a junior who hit over .400 last spring, will once again lead off for the Raiders.

Bri Wyatt—Glenbard West’s senior center fielder has committed to playing for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, but first thing’s first. She’ll go into final year as arguably the area’s toughest out after batting a robust .500 last year. Wyatt also stole nearly 40 bases in 2010 while being thrown out only twice, and played an errorless center field.