NU- bound O’Rourke earns All- America nod
Around 200 athletes took part in a series of drills as the Under Armour All- America Camp Series made a stop at Glenbrook North on Sunday.
The camp focused on various athletic testing including one- onone competitions.
Lincoln Way- East junior defensive lineman Devin O’Rourke, who was one of the top performers, earned an invite to play in the 2018 Under Armour All- America game.
The 6- 6, 245- pound senior hopes to have another successful playoff run with the Griffins this season. Lincoln Way- East advanced to the quarterfinals of the class 8A state playoffs last year.
“Offseason is going really well, O’Rourke said. The team is looking good. “We have a lot of people returning, so it could be good. I would say the defense has the most potential to stand out, but I am a little biased. I guess I’d really have to say they can both be equally as good.”
Another big piece of the offseason for O’Rourke was committing to Northwestern last month.
“After my visit with Northwestern, I kind of knew this was the place,” he said. ‘‘ People talk about getting a feeling, and I did, I got that feeling, so I knew that was it.”
Hall a speedster
The final competition on the day was an agility course dominated by Homewood- Flossmoor athlete Justin Hall. In the ‘ illSpeed’ competition, Hall earned a trip to the national finals in Baltimore after his speedy finish.
Gophers land area athletes
Two junior athletes, who attended the Under Armour Camp, committted to play at Minnesota.
Glenbard North defensive back Tyrik Henderson joined Marist defensive lineman Elijah Teague in committing to the Gophers.
“It’s a little piece of home with me. Having people from Chicago up there with me,” Teague said.
Teague didn’t expect to commit so early.
“It came out of nowhere. I was not expecting to commit,” Teague said. ‘‘ That weekend I went to visit Minnesota I was supposed to go visit Michigan State but my coach asked if I wanted to go to Minnesota to visit. I went and I loved it again, I think it was my third or fourth time up there. It just felt great.”
The 6- 2, 290- pound athlete currently is focusing on his upcoming senior season.
“I am working on my hands and my get- off,” Teague said.
‘‘ I watched my film from last season a lot and I realized I relied on the bull rush and I really needed to start working on my hands for the next level. The next level is so much faster.”