Thursday, March 8, 2012
Fred Dryanski, 63, who died Sunday after several battles with cancer, was head coach of the Lyons Township boys gymnastics program for 31 seasons before retiring in 2010 and also an assistant coach for girls gymnastics and football.
Throughout his years coaching boys and girls gymnastics at Lyons Township High School, Fred Dryanski found a way to instill humor no matter the situation. “He brought fun into the gym,” recalled Sam Zeman, Dryanski’s longtime boys gymnastics assistant coach. “When kids were getting too serious or frustrated, he came up with some comment that would make them want to shake their heads and be like, ‘What?’ It would kind of reset them and they’d be ready to go.” Dryanski, 63, who died Sunday, maintained that positive attitude throughout his many battles with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Lois, whom he married following a lengthy courtship. Visitation is from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 9, at the Palos-Gaidas Funeral Home, 11028 S. …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Lyons Township freshman Kelsy Kurfirst shared the state title on the uneven parallel bars at the girls gymnastics state finals to become just the third individual champion in program history, while the Lions finished sixth as a team while the boys indoor
Perhaps it was just coincidence that 1985 Lyons Township graduate Janne Klepek was inducted into the Illinois High School Girls Gymnastics Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame Saturday afternoon. That night, freshman Kelsy Kurfirst added her name to LT gymnastics state history in a big way. Kurfirst became just the program’s third individual state champion as she shared first place on the uneven parallel bars at the state meet event finals at Palatine High School. Kurfirst’s 9.6 tied for first place with Glenbard North senior Amanda Quinn among the 11 finalists who had advanced by being among the top 10 scores in Friday’s preliminaries. Kurfirst had scored a 9.625 for the second-highest advancing score. “She’s amazing—exclamation point, …
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Sunday, February 19, 2012
Lyons Township freshman Kelsy Kurfirst shared the state title on the uneven parallel bars at the girls gymnastics state finals to become just the third individual champion in program history while the Lions finished sixth as a team.
Lyons Township freshman Kelsy Kurfirst shared the state championship on the uneven parallel bars at the girls gymnastics state meet event finals Saturday at Palatine High School. Kurfirst’s 9.6 tied for first place with Glenbard North senior Amanda Quinn among the 11 finalists who had advanced by being among the top 10 scores in Friday’s preliminaries. Kurfirst scored a 9.625 for the second-highest advancing score. Kurfirst joins 1985 graduate Janne Klepek and 2009 graduate Emily Urben as LT’s only individual state champions in the sport. Klepek won or shared a combined 12 state titles, including three uneven bars titles from 1982-84, and earned 19 out of a possible 20 all-state individual medals for top-five finishes. Urben was the state …
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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Lyons Township senior wrestler Jaime Jones has qualified for the Class 3A individual state meet for the second year in a row while the LT girls gymnastics team competes at state and the boys swimming team travels to sectionals.
When Lyons Township senior Jaime Jones was a member of the sophomore football team, lower-level coaches Mark King and Patrick O’Neil saw more than a talented player. Also members of the LT wrestling coaching staff, King and O’Neil believed they had discovered a potential wrestler. “They basically recruited him right onto the wrestling mat after football,” LT varsity wrestling coach Griff Powell said. “He’s a good athlete with a good work ethic, and they brought him into our program.” These days, Jones not only is headed to the Class 3A individual state meet for the second year in a row. He is on track to earn all-state honors with a top-six finish. Jones earned a repeat berth Saturday by finishing second at 182 pounds at the 3A DeLaSalle …
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Lyons Township girls gymnastics team qualified for the state meet by winning the Hinsdale Central Sectional while the LT wrestling team qualified eight individuals for the DeLaSalle Sectional and the LT swimmers took third at the Silver Meet.
Lyons Township girls gymnastics coach Kari Karubas calls it the Senior Flight. For their final year of high-school competition, LT seniors become able to reach new levels of performance. “They just take off. They own up to our gym and get on a mission and everything that they’ve doubted about goes to the wayside,” Karubas said. “In my seven years here (as head coach), there hasn’t been one senior who hasn’t run with it.” Ali Stuck and Kalen Iffert, the only two seniors in the program this season, were determined to continue the tradition. With the help of their overachieving, the Lions are enjoying quite a ride. After a one-year absence, the Lions qualified for the eight-team state meet automatically Monday by winning the Hinsdale Central …
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Gymnast Kelsy Kurfirst won all-around and three events at the Silver Meet and the wrestling and swimming and diving teams prepare for postseason.
Lyons Township freshman Kelsy Kurfirst had quite an impressive first West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, winning the all-around and three events. Seniors Ali Stuck and Kalen Iffert also enjoyed firsts—their first all-conference varsity medals with top-five finishes. The Lions scored a season-high 142.975 points at Downers Grove North to finish second and second in the overall standings to Glenbard West’s 144.85. The Hilltoppers went undefeated in duals and the Silver Meet for the first time in program history to capture just their third overall title ever. Glenbard West won the Silver Meet for the first time last year but finished second overall to Hinsdale Central. LT beat its 142.325 from Jan. 14 even with three …
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Lyons Township wrestling team finished second at the Oak Park Invitational while the swimming team plays hosts to its annual LT Invite Saturday, the gymnastics team travels to the Silver Meet and the boys bowling team's strong season ends at sectional
The Lyons Township wrestling team gave a great effort Friday against higher-ranked rival Hinsdale Central. The Lions did even better Saturday. LT didn’t have any individual champions but put 12 of its 14 wrestlers among the top six in their respective weight classes to earn second place at the 10-team Oak Park-River Forest Invitational Saturday. Adam Rodgers (285 pounds) and Jack Bates (145) both finished second. Carter Beebe (120), A.J. Villarreal (132), Jaime Jones (182) and Justin Fuller (195) were third. “One of the things we were talking about was building off our performance (Friday and not) kind of have a high and then take a step back. I was very pleased with the way we performed on Saturday,” LT coach Griff Powell said. The Lions …
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The Lyons Township girls basketball team defeated York 46-44 while the boys basketball team earned a huge home victory over Oak Park-River Forest; plus swimming, bowling, gymnastics and wrestling updates.
Lyons Township girls basketball player Ashanti Davis hadn’t scored since the first half of Tuesday’s game against York. With the outcome on the line, Davis didn’t hestitate wanting the ball. Davis took the pass from Kayla Morrissey at the top of the key, drove the lane and scored with nine seconds left to lift the Lions to an emotional and important 46-44 West Suburban Conference Silver Division victory in La Grange. Now LT (12-6, 5-3 in Silver) is still in the conference race with its next game against first-place Proviso West (14-7, 6-1) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in La Grange as part of LT’s Pack the Place lineup. “Ashanti’s great in the open court, but what was great about that shot was Ashanti finished in the half-court set,” LT coach …
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Lyons Township boys swimming and diving team defeated York on all three levels after the varsity and junior varsity withstood a minor traffic accident while the LT boys bowling team improves to 10-0 in duals and the LT gymnastics team knocks off rival
The Lyons Township boys swimming team has overcome some tough blows this season. Last Friday, the Lions had to deal with an automobile accident, but they remained on track to defeat York on all three levels in Elmhurst. The varsity won 107-67 to improve to 2-1 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division duals. The junior varsity (123 points) and freshman (140-45) also prevailed. No one was injured in the rear-end accident on York Road. But with varsity and junior varsity swimmers on that bus, their meets were delayed more than an hour while the freshmen went on and was completed in about 40 minutes. “Nobody was hurt. With (York coach Dave Davis and Mark Laurich), we ended up having a great time,” LT coach Scott Walker said. “We took …
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Lyons Township boys bowling team takes second at the St. Charles East Invite and posts the highest team pin count while the wrestling team hopes for another strong invite showing at Palatine. Meanwhile, the gymnastics team wins its first home invite.
In just its third season of existence and second as a varsity program, the Lyons Township boys bowling team is on the verge of plenty of history. The Lions took a big first step Dec. 17. They earned their first team trophy with a second-place finish at the St. Charles East Invitational. LT actually had the invite’s top team pin count (4,935) by 98 pins over South Elgin after combining scores from three conventional games with five bowlers (3,051) and eight more using the Baker format, in which the five bowlers took turns over the 10 frames. The teams then played off for the title using the Baker format. South Elgin defeated LT in the final after the Lions waited about an hour while the Storm beat out three other teams to face LT on the …
Ann Krug
3:28 pm on Friday, March 9, 2012
As my son said, Coach Dry was one of the good ones, like Mr. Burson at LT and Mr. Nelson at Park Jr. High. more ›