This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Oak Lawn Soccer Coach Stow Resigns

Kevin Stow, longtime coach for the Spartans, will stay at school as a biology teacher.

After 12 seasons as the head coach of the Oak Lawn boys soccer team, Kevin Stow has resigned.

Stow, who has two children, said that after every season he has re-evaluated his coaching career because of his family. In November, he received a preliminary pink slip from the school due to budgetary concerns, as did every fall sports coach. This, he said, pushed him to decide to resign because he felt he was not supported.

“I was on the fence, and that was the push off the fence,” Stow said.

Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Oak Lawn athletic director Will Dwyer said every fall sports coach was given a preliminary pink slip because the school needed to be in a flexible position financially. Dwyer said nearly every fall coach was reinstated in February. When Stow received his reinstatement letter, he made his final decision to resign.

Dwyer said the circumstance for Stow was unfortunate.

Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“No coach wants to get a pink slip. It was definitely a less than ideal situation that every coach was in … ,” Dwyer said. “But it’s something we had to do.”

Dwyer said Stow was a fantastic coach.

“(He will be missed) tremendously,” Dwyer said. “He did a great job, just a great job.”

Dwyer said Stow started the summer league program at Oak Lawn. Stow also was the girls soccer coach at Oak Lawn from the 1998-99 season through the 2002-03 season. Then, he took a year off to train for the Ironman triathlon and came back as the girls soccer coach from the 2004-05 season through the 2007-08 season.

“It probably was time,” said Stow, who plans on spending more time with his family. “It gives me more time to hang out with my kids and coach my kids’ teams.”

Stow is a father of two boys, 5 and 7 years old. They play hockey, baseball and soccer. Stow will remain at Oak Lawn as a biology teacher.

Spartans Badminton Team in a Battle

The Oak Lawn girls badminton team is in the midst of an in intense conference tournament. On Thursday, the Lady Spartans competed in the doubles round of the South Suburban Conference tournament, finishing in a tie for second in points at the end of the day. On Saturday, the tournament continues with singles play.

“We had some amazing play from our doubles teams, I was very proud of the girls,” coach Patricia Casey said in an email. 

At 3rd doubles, junior Amanda Sweis and junior Becca Kampic were conference champions, defeating T.F. South in three games.

The doubles team of senior captain Susan Morrill and sophomore Ellie LaSpina upset T.F. South’s top-seeded and undefeated Loran Pasko and Jenny Le in the semifinals of 2nd doubles. Pasko is one of the top players in the state. Morrill and LaSpina went on to fall in three games to Reavis, losing the third game 21-19, to earn second place.

Heading into Saturday, Oak Lawn is tied with Reavis for second place with 12 points, while T.F. South leads with 17 points.

“Singles is where we could make some ground and hopefully continue the momentum of great play going into Saturday,” Casey said.

Big Week for Spartans Boys Volleyball Team

The Oak Lawn boys volleyball team won both its matches this week. The Spartans defeated Lemont 19-25, 25-19, 25-20 on Monday. Senior Brad Mamroth led the Spartans with 10 kills, while sophomore Marc Hansen had eight kills.

On Thursday, the Spartans defeated Shepard 25-21, 25-18. Senior Joe Gasienica had five kills, while senior Alex Barahona had nine digs. Oak Lawn is 13-13 overall and 9-2 in the South Suburban Conference, right on the heels of Oak Forest and Richards, each of which have only one conference loss.

Busy Day Ahead for Runner

Oak Lawn resident Steve Rice has double duty in Sunday’s First Midwest Bank Southwest Half Marathon in Palos Heights. Rice will run in the race and then will play in a band during the post-race entertainment. Read about it from the SouthtownStar.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?