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Chicago Tribune
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Marist's Griffin McElroy gets to keep tournament trophy overnight. To MVP goes the spoils. ‘Came out of nowhere.'
There was some fighting, squabbling, bickering and trash-talking among friends, but Marist's Griffin McElroy won out in the end. Being the MVP has its perks. The senior middle hitter earned the honor of having the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions trophy that the RedHawks won in his hotel room Saturday night. 'I think the funniest thing was arguing over who was going to keep the trophy overnight,' McElroy said. 'I told them I would stay up all night. I wasn't going to go to sleep without this thing.' Anyone sleeping on McElroy and Marist over the weekend were in for a shock. The RedHawks started their five-match trip to California ranked No. 2 in the nation by the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association. They played No. 1 Mira Costa in the Mustangs' gym Thursday and dropped a resounding 25-13, 25-12, 25-14 decision. 'We did the best we could but we needed to try a little bit harder,' McElroy said. 'We needed to get back in the right mindset.' They then dove into the tournament headfirst and took all four matches, including a 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23 win in the semifinals against No. 3 Huntington Beach and the thrilling 21-25, 26-28, 26-24, 25-22, 15-12 in the rematch Saturday against Mira Costa in Santa Barbara. Another stunner? With all of the Division I-caliber talent and 6-foot-6 or taller players in the tournament, the 6-1 McElroy — undersized at his position — was named MVP as chosen by the coaches. That wasn't on McElroy's bingo card when the plane went wheels up for the West Coast. 'I really got blindsided,' he said of winning the award. 'There's a lot of talent out there. There's a lot of talent on our team, and I did not see myself getting the MVP.' Ohio State-bound Christian Teresi and MIT commit Nathen Toth also made the all-tournament team for Marist (11-1). All three produced impressive numbers in the tournament. McElroy totaled 11 kills and five blocks in the championship match against Mira Costa (28-2) along with 15 kills, five blocks and two aces in the semifinals against Huntington Beach (27-3). 'We played some big, physical teams, and he just came out of nowhere and was flying around,' Marist coach Jordan Vidovic said of McElroy. 'His hitting was ridiculous. He stands out so much because he is undersized. He was playing Mira Costa and we heard about how big they were, but it's a whole different ballgame in person. 'He really caught those teams off guard with how fast and explosive he was. They really had to change their game to deal with him, and that created a bunch of open looks for the other guys.' Last year at this time, McElroy was celebrated for his return from a tibia injury, suffered in the previous summer during the AAU Nationals in Orlando, that he called 'gruesome.' He was told he might not play volleyball again. McElroy had surgery performed right away in Orlando, and after healing and rehabilitation, he was back on the court for the RedHawks in helping them win a state championship in June. This spring, things are much better on the health front for McElroy. 'A majority of the time, I'm 100%,' he said. 'I stopped wearing my ankle brace. I feel way more mobile, way more free. And, yeah, it feels amazing.' As was his performance in the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions. McElroy is hoping his performance can boost his college stock. Heading into the tournament, he was undecided, considering just academics at Illinois State and possibly joining the club team. 'To be so consistent versus these kinds of blockers, he just caught everybody's eye,' Vidovic said of McElroy. 'Every coach was talking about him to me. All of these California coaches, he was the first one they were noticing, so it wasn't surprising that he could be that guy to win the MVP.'
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Freeport's Tristan Peterson primed to show again he is one of the best divers in Illinois
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — Local high school swimmers and divers are gearing up for IHSA sectional competition this Saturday. Freeport junior Tristan Peterson is the heavy favorite in the diving at the Jefferson Sectional. He's one of the very best divers in don't have to know a lot about diving to be able to appreciate that Peterson is very good at it. He landed several outstanding ones at the recent NIC-10 championships. He also set a new pool record at Boylan that day.'It was a good meet,' said Peterson. 'I definitely put my list together, and I felt really happy with how I did.'His final dive was an impressive front one-and-a-half two twist.'It's my dive. I love that. I'm really good at twisters in my opinion. It's my high-scoring dive.''His back dive is probably the most unique,' said Freeport diving coach Scott Piehn. He's the only one that does it that way, and there's maybe two or three other divers that even do it. His back twisters are the most unique.'Peterson first started diving when he was five years old.'I remember I was at my community pool, and I saw divers. I was like, 'Oh, I want to do this. I really need to do this.' I just took off and then I loved it.'When he is on the board, Peterson is focused on his form and his takeoff. He constantly does drills on having great form and good body control. Then there's the mental aspect of diving.'The hardest part about diving is definitely your mental side of the sport. What I do is I just put my trust in my coaches. They tell me to do something, I'm going to do it.'Peterson travels almost every day after school up to Madison for training, and sometimes he'll go to Chicago.'It's tough with school going on right now, because sometimes I'm going back home at like 10 p.m. or 10:30.'Piehn is impressed with Peterson's drive to be the best diver he can be. 'He is committed to it year-round. It's almost an obsession for him since he's been in high school.'Last summer, Peterson competed at the AAU Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He placed in the top 12 in all three events, the one-meter board, the three-meter board and on the tower. His next goal is to win the Sectional on Saturday then return to the IHSA State Meet and top the seventh- place finish he had last year as a sophomore. He won't be the favorite to win, but he should crack the top five.'There's a few kids that I just can't beat yet, and they're seniors. I'm not going in for a state championship. I'm going there to have a good time. It's my junior year. I'm just relaxed.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
