SouthtownStar Athletes on Campus: Sandburg grad Guerra on the beam

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Ashley Guerra, Northern Illinois senior gymnast and Sandburg graduate. | Supplied photo

Updated: March 13, 2012 8:10AM

Northern Illinois senior athlete Ashley Guerra was named the Mid-American Conference’s Specialist of the Week in women’s gymnastics for the period ending Jan. 30.

The Orland Park resident posted her best day of the 2012 season with her top performances on both uneven parallel bars and balance beam in the Huskies’ home meet Jan. 28 against New Hampshire.

Guerra’s 9.800 on bars tied for first in the meet and tied for the Huskies’ highest bars score for the season. The Sandburg graduate surpassed her previous season-best of 9.775.

Guerra’s 9.675 on balance beam also was her season-high score and ranked second for NIU. Guerra’s efforts helped the Huskies post their best team beam score of the season of 48.150. NIU posted its second-highest team score of the year with a 191.875 in its loss to New Hampshire (193.200).

“This is an awesome honor for Ashley as a senior because she has been working hard all year and has been getting better as the season has progressed,” NIU coach Sam Morreale said in a statement. “She has built up to this, but she knows that she still has room for improvement and that’s the great thing.

“As a coach, you want kids who want to excel and want to be at the top of their game. This year, these awards are being selected by coaches in the MAC, so it’s great for our gymnasts to be recognized by other coaches.”

The Specialist of the Week honor is the third of Guerra’s career as she won the award once in both 2010 and ’11. She also was the league’s Specialist of the Year as a sophomore in 2010.

Young honored

Hillcrest graduate Mike Young was one of the letter-winners on Central College’s (Iowa) football team in 2011. The sophomore defensive back was a key contributor as the Dutch was 7-3 overall and 6-2 in league play, good for a third-place Iowa Conference finish.

Young, a Country Club Hills resident, had 17 tackles and two passes defended.

Strus feted

Lewis University men’s basketball player Marty Strus (Stagg) recently was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America’s Capital One Academic All-District 4 Men’s Basketball Team.

Strus, a math major with a minor in secondary education, owns a 3.82 grade-point-average. The Hickory Hills native started in the Flyers’ first 20 games this season and was averaging 4.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

“Marty has been a tremendous ambassador for the Lewis men’s basketball team,” Lewis coach Scott Trost said in a statement. “He has worked hard both on and off the court and it’s nice to see him get recognized for his efforts.”

Strus, a senior center, advances to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.