CSL Varsity: 12 Athletes To Watch (With a Twist); 2 Big Collegiate Commitments; 40% Off With School Email Signup

A thank you message and a call to subscribe!

Recent Ball State women’s basketball commit Zuri Ransom of Evanston.

OF NOTE

A year removed from the start of the CSL Varsity Newsletter, I’m extremely excited to bring in another year of sports coverage.

I’ll definitely need continued support to make coverage time work for the newsletter.

I would like to make a quick call for support and offer a thank you.

Entering year 2 of coverage, I have enough paying subscribers to justify the time spent doing this newsletter, but am looking to make enough money to feel really good about continuing the amount of effort and time I put into this.

So I’m offering up this.

A new offer you just might like; 40% off for those who sign up with their school emails. Click below.

NEXT, re-upping an offer from last August.

If you become a Sustaining (Founding) Member for the price of $75 a year, I will cover at least one event or write a feature article about a team of your choice. This doesn’t mean I will necessarily write about a particular athlete that you may want covered, but I will at least write about the team of your choosing. Email me at Kalebcarter4256@gmail.com with any questions.

Next, a thank you to the following subscribers’ members who paid the Founder’s amount last year, which I’m now calling a Sustaining Member.

• Marty Maciaszek

• Ross Keiser

• Dan McCain

• Joe Coughlin

• Sara Kirkpatrick

12 athletes to watch 

So trying my hand today at something different. I wanted to highlight some players to watch for the upcoming fall sports season, but I didn’t just want it to be necessarily the very best athletes in the conference. Don’t get me wrong, some of these athletes are just that. But in order to dig a bit deeper, I came up with a different way to highlight these players.

I put together a list of each of the IHSA fall sports, and put them in an online random choice generator. I then basically did a dice roll to match up each school with a sport, then chose a corresponding athlete that matched that team and sport who had success last year and thus would probably be in line for a strong upcoming season.

If any of these athletes are not playing a fall sport this year, I’m not aware of that fact, and please offer me a correction if that is the case.

Deerfield 

Makayla Weissenberg, Girls Volleyball, Sr. — Viable from the back row and in the front, Weissenberg handled some serving, did plenty of digging and was often on the attack for the Warriors a season ago. The Warriors lost some strong seniors and will need new senior leadership early. 

Evanston 

Keron Pryor, Football. Sr.  — Is a dynamic standout in the defensive secondary for the Wildkits. He has an offer from Valparaiso and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him in an expanded role on offense this year. Jace Meeks is another standout at DB/WR. 

Highland Park 

Marisa Miller, Girls Swim & Dive, Jr. — The lone returning state qualifier (200 free relay) from a squad that placed 12th at state as a team. She finished 7th in the 100 fly at the Stevenson sectional. 

Glenbrook North

Maria Polyakov, Girls Cross Country, Jr. — The lone returning Spartan runner who went sub-20 minutes at the Hoffman Estates sectional, Polyakov has fielded much better times than that mark and has all-conference distinction under her belt. She’s in a position to make a big leap for the Spartans. She was a CSL champion in cross country as a freshman. 

Glenbrook South

Zoe Gerdin, Girls Golf, Jr. — When it came down to it, was the No. 2 for GBS at times last year. Titans will be in unfamiliar territory without one of the Perakis sisters on the roster. 

Maine East

Chris Domian, Boys Soccer, Sr. — An All-Conference and Daily Herald Cook County All-Area team member who packs a goal-scoring punch for the Blue Demons. 

Maine South

Owynn Garrelts, Boys Cross Country, Jr. — 54th at the 3A state meet a season ago, going just under 15:50 in crummy weather. Hawks graduate a few standout senior runners and need Garrelts to be big from the outset.

Maine West

Tommy Kulesza, Boys Golf, Jr. — Another season under long-tenured Mike Godlweski, the Warriors bring back some very good incoming juniors, including Kulesza, who qualified for state a season ago. 

New Trier 

Grace Leber, Girls Golf, So. — Took 52nd at the 2A state meet and returns as a star for a strong Trevians squad that took 6th at state last year. 

Niles North

Eva Shawver, Girls Swim & Dive, Sr. — Set school records off the diving board, she partnered with then-sophomore Avery Ermel to give the Vikings 2 diving state qualifiers. She stands a chance to be the CSL’s best diver this season. 

Niles West

Jude Grant, Boys Cross Country, Jr. — Ran just above 16:34 at the Hoffman Estates sectional a season ago, could lead the pack again, but interested to see if any others made bigger strides for the Wolves to push more teams as they barge into the CSL North. 

Vernon Hills 

Emma Jazbutis, Girls Tennis, So. — Was a 2nd singles player at the sectional meet a season ago as a freshman. Coming off a 16-7 dual season - The Cougars have had a .500 or better dual season in 17 of coach Doug Gerber’s 23 seasons .

GRAD CATCH-UPS

DID YOU SEE? 

Evanston Class of 2024 senior Zuri Ransom made her verbal commitment to Ball State women’s basketball.  

I’ve written about Ransom before, including after a Wildkits home win over Maine South last season. 

New Trier lineman Liam Fitzgerald committed to Brown University for football. 

Respected track/cross country media producer Mike Newman of ILXCTF on Twitter, listed a number of CSL athletes as among the top 100 returning runners in the state in the lead-up to the fall season. 

• Ben Crane - New Trier

• Owynn Garrelts - Maine South

• Nate Wehner - Highland Park 

• Dylan Cohen - Deerfield

• Dane Brown - Deerfield

• Atticus Miller - New Trier 

• Evan Parker - Niles North

See where Newman ranked them.