Why are kids in Batavia bummed?

J.R. Kabba has graduated.

“He is such a high-character kid and a great role model for young men in our town,” said head track coach Dennis Piron. “As good as he was in track, he also had other things in his life. It’s hard to quantify. I haven’t seen a kid quite like him before.”

That may be why, a couple years ago, Piron was skeptical when Kabba volunteered to baby-sit his three kids.

“The first time J.R. did it my kids loved him so much,” Piron said. “There was no reason for him to help me but he’s just that kind of kid.”

As Kabba has continued to baby-sit the Piron children, his athletic career has grown, though not without obstacles.

A hamstring injury kept him from competing at last year’s state track meet. That affected his outlook for his senior season.

“I was so aggravated I couldn’t run at state — I felt like I had let my team down,” Kabba said. “I had to sit in the stands and watch my (4x100-meter) team run. I made a promise to myself that I would stay healthy this year.”

After a frustrating end to his final prep football season (70-63 loss to Huntley) that included minor knee and concussion injuries,  Kabba took a different approach to track. He and relay mate Drew Dienslake wound up running 15 miles a week while training with the Bulldogs’ distance runners in practice.

He proved his worth on the track, qualifying for state in three events.

So how did he spend the night before his final high school track meet?

“We all went out to dinner and a bunch of the guys played this big mini golf tournament (which Erich Zeddies won) but me, one of the assistant coaches and our bus driver played Guitar Hero,” Kabba said. “That was a much better thing to do than just sitting in your room.”

The lighthearted approach shouldn’t be much of a surprise from a teenager who has the Bowser theme from Super Mario Brothers going through his head as he’s flying down the track.

That music was in his head when he took eighth in the 100-meter dash and when he won the 400 state title.

It was going through his mind after Zeddies gave him the baton and Kabba took off on the last leg of the finals of the 4 x 400 relay.

“We came into the race seeded No. 1 and I knew all of the guys were running hard and we were in eighth place,” Kabba said. “I was thinking `what is going on?’.”

That query was probably going through the minds of everyone at Eastern Illinois University as Kabba picked up two runners on the backstretch and then put forth a finish for the ages when he ran down four more to help the Bulldogs take second.

“It was neat to watch my son’s (Peyton, 12) face because J.R. has been an older brother to him,” Piron said. “It was a very emotional, awesome experience.”

The joyride didn’t end in Charleston. Kabba had chosen to play football and run track at St. Ambrose University, an NAIA school in Davenport, Iowa.

Impressed by the academics-first approach of the coaching staff, Kabba made the decision to accept a full-ride scholarship to the University of Illinois.

Not only is he dropping football to focus on track for the Illini, Kabba still plans to keep to his academic goal of a double major in Spanish and international business.

“Walking out of that home visit the (Illlini) coach said to me ‘I feel like I’m talking to the next Barack Obama,” Piron said.

Kabba does not necessarily have political aspirations but he would like to improve relations between the United States and other nations.

“I’d like to open a business here, take it and open another in a country like Italy or Spain,” Kabba said. “I’d like to help people in the USA and other countries know each other better.”

Despite going to a school of around 40,000 (the city of Batavia has about 27,000 residents), Kabba has former classmates and a close family to give him the same kind of support he got from his school and hometown.

Even if that was not the case, Piron has no worries about Kabba.

“He is going to make a difference in their program down there,” Piron said. “He’s a winner.”

5 things to know about J.R. Kabba

1 FAVORITE CLASS Physics

2 BEST ATHLETE COMPETED AGAINST From sophomore year, Ben Mathies and Alex Jackson

3 FAVORITE FOOD Fried chicken

4 FAVORITE MUSIC Though I listen to all genres of music, I like hip hop the most

5 MOST MEMORABLE SPORTS MOMENT Last year in the football playoffs against East St. Louis, I had to turn my head and catch a pass while my entire body was parallel to the ground. I don’t know how it happened.

Meet the rest of the 2009 spring sports all area team:

Frank Boenzi
Track and field
Geneva, junior
Achievements Already a two-time qualifier for the state meet, the Vikings’ junior made it to Charleston in both the shot put and discus this year a week after capturing sectional titles in both events. He placed sixth in the shot put this year, matching his state placing from a year ago in the same event. All that from a junior who went out for track as a fun side sport away from football.

Max Clink
Track and field
St. Charles North, senior
Achievements This North Star excelled at one of the most difficult races on the track — the 800-meter run. After qualifying for state as a junior but dropping out to concentrate on the 4 x 800 relay, Clink earned his second solo state medal this spring with a fourth-place time of 1:54.30 that was more than one second faster than his sectional time. Last spring he was part of the state champion 4 x 800 and in 2007 finished eighth in the state in the 800.

Josh Cogan
Tennis
Batavia, freshman
Achievements If Cogan does better in 2010, he’s likely bringing home some state hardware. In his prep debut, the talented freshman went 34-3 on the season, which included Western Sun Conference and Aurora West Sectional titles. After dropping his season opener, he won 32 straight matches. His 4-2 performance at state included a three-set loss to a New Trier sophomore that finished top eight at state.


Tim Drish
Baseball
Batavia, senior
Achievements A classic example of a team leader both on and off the field, Drish followed up a surprising junior season with an even more impressive senior campaign. Before extending his career at Joliet Junior College, the left fielder and No. 3 hitter in the Bulldogs’ lineup belted nine home runs, hit better than .400 with 41 RBIs, scored 39 runs and was named co-team MVP.


Johnathan Erickson
Baseball
St. Charles East, junior
Achievements Consistency is almost as important as production in baseball. Erickson provided both as a standout second baseman for the Saints. He batted .391 with a team-best 43 hits, including eight doubles. He also scored 21 runs and drove in 26. He garnered all-Upstate Eight Conference honors and will almost surely be one of the players the Saints build around next year.


Tyler Gustafson
Volleyball
Glenbard North, senior
Achievements This four-year starter and two-time team captain leaves the Panther program as one of its best. He led the team in kills (263) despite never hitting double digits in that category all season. A 6-foot-5 outside hitter who plays libero in club, Gustafson was one of the biggest reasons why Glenbard North why the Panthers went from regional finalist to sectional champion.


Zach Hirsch
Baseball
St. Charles North, senior
Achievements The talented lefty already had his college scholarship to Nebraska signed and sealed, yet that didn’t diminish his competitiveness one bit. Logging a team-high 55 innings on the mound, Hirsch led the North Stars’ pitching staff with a minuscule 1.15 earned run average and held opponents to a .192 batting average. He finished the season 6-2 on the mound. In just 30 at-bats Hirsch scored seven runs and hit one home run.


Cory Hofstetter
Baseball
Geneva, senior
Achievements A shoulder injury carried over from an all-state football season set back Hofstetter early in the spring (he was still receiving physical therapy late into spring practices), but as the weather warmed up, so did his bat. With Hofstetter rounding into form as the season progressed (and with Sroka batting well behind him all season), Hofstetter was one of the big reasons why the Vikings won 20 games (21-11) for a third straight season.


David Johnson
Tennis
St. Charles North, junior
Achievements What do Adam Screeden, Christian Hoskey and John Mittvick have in common? They all played doubles with Johnson at the state tennis meet. Not only has Johnson done that, but he went into state with sectional titles each time. This year he and Mittvick had the Stars’ best run, going 5-2 at state and winning three straight matches in the consolation bracket after a loss to the eventual runners up in the main draw.


J.R. Kabba
Track & field
Batavia, senior
Achievements Missing last year’s state meet because of injury, the 2009 Boys Spring Sports MVP finished with a race for the ages. Though he won the state title with a personal-best time in the 400-meter dash and took eighth in the 100 dash earlier in the Class 3A meet, everyone will always remember his anchor leg in the 4 x 400 relay. Starting eighth of nine teams, Kabba ran down foe after foe to bring his relay mates home in second.


Adam Karger
Baseball
Batavia, senior
Achievements How money in the bank was this talented senior? After missing the early part of the season with an injury, you couldn’t do much better than Karger’s 10-0 record with an earned run average under 2.00 (going into supersectionals). In Western Sun Confernece play, his ERA was less than 1.00 as Batavia went 20-1 to win the league title. Also the team’s No. 6 hitter, he was one of two Bulldogs to reach base twice in the supersectional loss to Cary-Grove.


Dan Karys
Track
Bartlett, senior
Achievements After three trips to state as a long jump qualifier, Karys garnered his first all-state medal as Bartlett’s only state meet competitor this season. He finished sixth in the long jump with a jump of  22 feet, 6-1/2 inches. The mark was more than two feet better than what he posted in the state prelims at state as a sophomore and about 18 inches longer than his 2008 prelim jump. He was also a two-time state qualifier in the triple jump.


Brian Krolikowski
Baseball
Batavia, senior
Achievements A talented running back earlier in his high school career, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Krolikowski decided to focus solely on baseball and did it well enough to earn a Division I scholarship to Miami of Ohio. The Redhawks had to like his 90 mph fastball that helped him go 6-2. His bat was also impressive. As Batavia’s cleanup hitter, he belted seven home runs, collect 35 RBIs and helped the Bulldogs average around eight runs and 10 hits in their four playoff victories.


John Mittvick
Tennis
St. Charles North, sophomore
Achievements Barely old enough to drive, Mittvick needs no license to dominate his opponents on the court. A year after finishing second in singles in a very tough Lake Park sectional to qualify for state (the other three state qualifiers at that sectional were seniors), Mittvick moved over to doubles and teamed with Johnson to win a sectional crown and have the North Stars’ most successful run at this year’s state meet.


Andrew Nelson
Track
Geneva, senior
Achievements His prep career ended with some disappointment (ninth in 1,600-meter run after being seeded fifth going in) but there is no denying he was one of the state’s elite runners during his stint at Geneva. He got two all state medals this season, including his first solo medal in the 1,600. He joined Drew Hickey, Chris Higgins and Jake Tauscher on the runnerup 4 x 800 relay, which was third last year. Overall he was a five-time state qualifier and he will continue to run at Northern Iowa.


Colin O’Carroll
Baseball
St. Charles North, junior
Achievements Sometimes numbers don’t tell the whole story. In O’Carroll’s case, the numbers don’t lie. He hit for average (.434, second on the team) and power (three home runs, tied for team best), possessed explosive speed (three triples and 16 doubles) and was generally a player pitchers feared. He finished the season with an astronomical .726 slugging percentage, .516 on base percentage and 39 runs, all tops on the team.


Riley Perry
Baseball
Geneva, junior
Achievements Right away the Vikings knew they had something good in Perry, who started the season by no-hitting Glenbard West March 27. From there Perry continued to dominate on the mound, finishing with an 8-2 record and a tiny 1.67 earned run average. He also tallied one save and fanned 82 batters in 67 innings. His two losses came by a combined three runs to Batavia (3-1) and DeKalb (1-0).


Ryan Richardson
Baseball
St. Charles North, junior
Achievements Like O’Carroll, Richardson was a hitter opponents came to fear. He flirted with a .500 batting average and finished the season with a team-high .459 number. He had 50 of the North Stars’ 299 hits, roughly 17 percent of tht team total. His 40 RBIs was by far the best on the team and accounted for almost 20 percent of all runs driven in for the North Stars.


Devin Rowland
Baseball
Bartlett, senior
Achievements After a rocky start (11 earned and 17 total runs allowed in first three outings), Rowland found his form once conference play began and became one of the most dominant pitchers in the Upstate Eight. He allowed four runs (one earned) in seven UEC games; the earned run was a solo homer in a two-hitter against Streamwood. He finished 8-1 with a 1.98 earned run average. He struck out 56 in 49-2/3 innings and walked just 12 in UEC play.


Jesus Soto
Gymnastics
Glenbard North, sophomore
Achievements As a Lake Park all-around freshman, Soto struggled at state. This year, he excelled for the Panthers, specializing in the pommel horse and still rings. A score of 9.15 on pommel horse got him a third-place state medal. His 9.3 on still rings not only got him a share of fifth place, it made him just the second Panther ever to medal in the event and the first to win two medals in the same meet since all-around state champ Kenny Gesiakowski won three in 2000.


Alex Sroka
Baseball
Geneva, junior
Achievements Saying Sroka could hit was like saying The Incredible Hulk tended to get angry. The third baseman (who pitched when needed) posted a .490 batting average, 15 extra-base hits (nine doubles, six home runs), scored 26 runs and drove in 39 on 51 hits to provide a huge, reliable bat smack in the middle of the Vikings’ order. In the regional semifinal against Glenbard East, Sroka went 4-for-4 with a homer, two doubles and five RBIs.


Tom Stacey
Track and field
Glenbard North, senior
Achievements In an event that produced five state qualifiers, Stacey won the pole vault by a full foot at the Class 3A Lake Park Sectional. Seeded second going into the state meet, Stacey would finish third in the finals, matching his sectional height of 15 feet, 6 inches. That also made him the Panthers’ best individual state finisher since 1997, when Indianapolis Colts offensive tackle Ryan Diem won the Class AA shot put title.


Ryan Vandenack
Gymnastics
Glenbard North, senior
Achievements In his final prep season, Vandenack did his part to send retiring coach Edsel Clark off in style. The team’s top all-arounder at the state meet, Vandenack finished 11th with a 52.65 total (.33 from top nine) and had his best finish on horizontal bar, tying for eighth. Vandenack (took 10th on pommel horse) was one of the reasons why this season the Panthers set two school records for team scores, with their 160.2 total good enough for the program’s first-ever state team title.


Alex VanNess
Baseball
Bartlett, senior
Achievements VanNess switched from third base to left field this season. While sometimes offense may suffer while learning a new position, VanNess’ did the opposite. Perhaps the most dynamic hitter in a lineup full of sluggers, VanNess batted .441 with 16 extra base hits (including 10 doubles and five home runs) and 18 RBIs. As the leadoff hitter he swiped nine bases and scored a team-high 43 runs (nearly 20 percent of the team total) to set the table. He also went 2-2 with three saves in just 22-1/3 innings on the mound.

HONORABLE MENTION
BARTLETT
Josh Hasenberg, track; Brad Henning, tennis; Brian Howes, tennis; Kyle Infanti, tennis; Kyle King, baseball; Zach Konstanzer, track; Kris Kuehn, volleyball; Jasen Massey, track; David Palma, baseball; Greg Partyka, baseball; Tim Rendall, volleyball

BATAVIA
Joe Aguilar, baseball; Jordan Coffey, baseball; Drew Dienslake, track; Henry DuQue, baseball; Tyler Lindquist, baseball; Tim Schofield, baseball; Andrew Thomas, track; Erich Zeddies, track

GENEVA
Wes Adelman, tennis; Sean Grady, baseball; Drew Hickey, track; Chris Higgins, track; Wes Kappel, tennis; Colin Rapp, tennis; A.J. Sarantopulos, baseball; David Ta, tennis; Jake Tauscher, track

GLENBARD NORTH
Tyler Arl, gymnastics; Kevin Bednarz, tennis; Andrew Bergmann, baseball; Raemon Bisharat, volleyball; Steve Cocat, baseball; Tyler DeAnda, gymnastics; Devin Harkins, track; Chris Kosirog, volleyball; Eddie Rose, baseball; Kyle Schwetz, volleyball; Rishi Shah, tennis; Bobby Withington, track; Dave Wolak, baseball

ST. CHARLES EAST
Wes Allen, track; Mike Brown, track; Adam Carnell, water polo; Eric Coleman, volleyball; Jeff Jones, volleyball; Sam Leopardo, tennis; Dillon Mugge, track; Luke Ploszek, track; Paul Reiff, tennis; Nick Romano, tennis; Zach Scott, baseball; Shane Seuschek, water polo; Shaun Seuschek, water polo; T.J. Travis, baseball

ST. CHARLES NORTH
Kegan Haeseli, volleyball; Christian Hoskey, tennis; Ryan Hudspeth, baseball; Jordan Huxtable, baseball; Nikhil Mehta, tennis; Steven Miller, track; Felix Nitzsche, tennis; Dan Oakes, tennis; Alex Peterson, water polo; Kevin Rose, volleyball; Todd Vankerkhoff, track; K.C. Wright, baseball.

SOUTH ELGIN
Drew Buddle, baseball; Kyle Kinyon, baseball