As the winter sports season moves into state playoffs and comes to a close, our Lane Tech teams have had another successful season. Here’s how they did:
The boys basketball team, coached by Nick LoGalbo, went 16-11 overall and 4-3 in conference. The team experienced a transition year: they went from 12 seniors last year, to only 6 this year, filling in the roster with 6 sophomores and 3 juniors. However they still reached success, aided by their Illinois State committed co-captain, Matt Szafoni. The team made it to the Elite 8 round in CPL playoffs, before losing to Curie 76-48. They begin their state playoff journey Feb. 25, with the IHSA Regional Semifinals against Lincoln Park.
Girls basketball reached the Final Four round of the CPL playoffs, an impressive feat with their own young roster. They lost to Kenwood in the Final Four round at UIC, and ended in 4th place in the city championships after a loss to Whitney Young in the 3rd place game. The team, coached by Tom Kane, had a record of 15-15 overall and 6-1 in conference. Girls basketball competed in the IHSA Regional game on Feb. 17 where they played Maine East and won 55-39. They won in the Regional Championship Feb. 19 against DePaul, aided by standout performances from sophomores Vega Ransom-Marks, Scarlett Harris, and Anais Harris, the first regional title in school history!
The dance team competed in the IDTA (Illinois Drill Team Association) state finals on Feb. 15, with their jazz team taking home second place and their hip hop team taking home fifth place in state. Also competing was their head captain Kellen Shields with a solo piece. The dance team, coached by Natalie Rodriguez, also placed 6th at the IHSA sectionals.
The cheer team has now won back to back city championship titles in the CPL league! Coached by Nicole Vale, they also competed at state sectionals.
Boys wrestling, coached by Mattew Yan, won the CPL Championship for the fifth straight year! They also sent two wrestlers to the state tournament Feb. 19, Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan and Cole Calace, where neither placed but finished with impressive records.
Girls wrestling, coached by Liam Cummings, won the title of IHSA Sectional champions on Feb. 16. They’re sending 4 girls to compete in the state final tournament, Zabby B and Layla M took home the sectional title and Sofe G and Eila B who also qualified for the state competition.
Boys bowling, coached by Justin Perez, placed 3rd at the IHSA sectionals and qualified to compete in the state tournament.
The girls bowling team won second place in the CPL championship while being coached by David Ruge.
Boys swim and dive, while they didn’t have a diver competing, won second place in the CPL city championships. They scored 267 points in the competition with their coach Matt O’Hagan. They won the State Sectional round Feb. 21 and have five swimmers competing at the state level DATE, Owen Huynh, Alek Arsic, Mason Hauser, Ashton Boeke, and Alex Ivascu.
Congratulations to all the Lane Tech athletes who contributed to another round of successful sports seasons! Good luck to all our teams as they finish off the winter season and all our teams as they start the spring season soon.
