Already a standout girls soccer goalie and basketball player at Lyons Township High School, recent graduate Anna Bigenwald joined the school’s just added girls flag football team her junior year. The defensive back/wide receiver was named honorable mention all-state both fall seasons.
“Obviously I ran in club soccer and preseason basketball. But (flag football) was a different type of running,” Bigenwald said. “When you’re running in a game, it doesn’t seem as much work, even though in a game you’re running more. It was just fun to be able to play in a game and do my running at the same time.”
At the school’s senior awards assembly, Bigenwald received the Hubbard-McKee Award and Jack Slightom the Charles “Chuck” Bennett Award as the top female and male athletes among this year’s senior class.
Slightom is a standout pitcher and Major League Baseball prospect who has signed to play at the University of Cincinnati and major in data analytics. The four-year, two-sport athlete also was the starting quarterback for the football team this past fall.
“It’s a special award, especially coming at a school with 500 boys,” Slightom said. “A lot of coaches (at LTHS) believe in you and that you can do great things and achieve great things. The biggest thing is the recognition.”
Bigenwald will play goalie for Loyola University women’s soccer and major in psychology. She played LTHS soccer and basketball all four years.
“It was definitely a very exciting feeling. I was truly honored to receive that award,” she said. “I was super-excited and felt like I worked really hard in my sports. To get that recognition was really cool.”
In baseball, Slightom was named All-America third team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Class 4A All-State by the Illinois Baseball Coaches Association. She was 7-0 with a 0.38 earned-run average and 73 strikeouts and seven walks and in 37.1 innings. In football, Slightom passed for 1,824 yards with 18 touchdowns.
“Fun. That was probably the biggest (LTHS sports takeaway) – fun, exciting, new experiences and overall very successful,” he said.
However, as Slightom continued progressing in both sports, he found it “extremely hard” to balance training with other responsibilities.
“One of the things that worked for me was writing out a calendar and figuring out what needs to be done a specific day,” Slightom said. “I’m already an organized person but writing it down really helps.”
Bigenwald was named honorable mention all-sectional for girls soccer. Her most memorable game came May 5 – stopping a regulation penalty kick as the Lions beat rival Hinsdale Central 1-0.
“The whole team running to give me a hug after the game was something I’ll never forget,” she said.
In flag football, she was part of the program’s first victory ever and first regional victory in 2023. She felt that her sports’ skills complemented each other.
“(Playing goalie in) soccer taught me how to catch a ball and that was important with my positions in flag football,” Bigenwald said. “All of the sports went hand in hand. Rebounding is like going up and catching a ball and like making saves.”
She also enjoyed the camaraderie of her teams, particularly this past basketball season when the Lions persevered despite several key injuries to seniors, including her briefly with a sprained ankle.
“I feel like I honestly made a ton of friends in spots. It was one of the biggest benefits,” Bigenwald said. “The competitive nature of LT sports was fun and difficult in a good, challenging way but truly being able to make a bunch of friends and get to know people was the best.”
Slightom was part of tight-knit, senior-led groups in both sports. Together they had fun and grew on and off the field.
“What I learned off the field was mainly just studying sports. I never really studied sports (before). Football kind of brought that out in me. I had to study pretty much every day to beat the teams we were playing against,” he said. “On the field (I learned to) overcome adversity, problems you face during games and quick action to fix those problems. When you’re in the game, you have to act fast.”
The LTHS Coaches’ Medal Award for leadership and citizenship in student affairs went to Griff Powell and Lindsay Forebaugh.
The Donald Francis Lange Memorial Awards for character, leadership, scholarship and athletic ability were given to Wesley Musgrove and Emma O’Brien.
The Stenger Medal Awards for best in all-around participation, good citizenship and sportsmanship went to Owen Carroll and Bella Recker.
The U.S. Army Reserve Scholar-Athlete Award recipients for four-year team members in high academic standing went to Roman Sosnovyy and Char Ebeid.
The Richard Strauch Student Assistant of the Year recognizing loyalty, promptness and dependability went to Ainsley Grove.
The Student Athletic Trainer of the Year for effort, dedication and service was awarded to Claire Hertz.