The Heat Index

It's hard enough trying to tell Morgan Williams apart from her twin sister, Brittany. The daughters of Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams also add to the confusion by wearing jersey numbers ending in 3.

Morgan, who wears No. 23, and Brittany, No. 33, made their debut for the Wildcats in Tuesday's 68-42 over host Naperville North. The sisters transfered from Plainfield South for their senior years after the family moved to Naperville.

"I'm having fun -- I've played for him my whole life," Brittany said. "It's my senior year, so I'm just enjoying it."

Morgan finished with a game-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers, while Brittany added eight points and connected on two 3s.

According to athletic director Marty Bee, the following Naperville Central student-athletes are expected to sign letters of intent Wednesday morning:

Drew Crawford (men's basketball): Northwestern University
Meghan Brey (women's volleyball): Oakland University
Mary Carroll (women's volleyball): Lewis University
Jill Fields (women's volleyball): South Dakota State University
Kelley Hendrick (women's basketball): University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Erin Lamb (women's swimming): University of Illinois
Emily McGee (women's volleyball): University of North Carolina
Chelsea Thurlby (women's volleyball): DePaul University

Notre Dame senior Brittany Bock, a 2005 Neuqua Valley graduate, was excited Monday night after learning the Fighting Irish earned a No. 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA women's soccer tournament, which begins Friday.

Bock also reported she was ready to rejoin the Irish on the field after she sat out the Big East championship game Sunday afternoon. Notre Dame beat Connecticut 1-0 in overtime with Bock and leading scorer Kerri Hanks on the sidelines. Fellow Neuqua graduate Michele Weissenhofer earned the assist on the winning goal.

"It was precautionary," Bock said of sitting out, though she did not disclose the exact injury. "With the NCAAs starting we didn't want to push anything. I should be fine. Obviously we wanted to win the Big East, but it wasn't like the NCAAs where if you don't win, you're done.”

A foot injury continues to keep Neuqua Valley senior Alexa Gaul from her goalie position with the U.S. U-17 Women's National Team at the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in New Zealand.

But the U.S. soccer team is winning without her, thanks to South Elgin's Taylor Vancil, who has started in place of Gaul. The U.S. defeated Korea Republic 4-2 in the quarterfinals over the weekend.

Next up for the U.S. is Germany in the semifinals early Thursday morning. Game time is midnight here, but 7 p.m. in New Zealand. You can follow the team's progress here.

The baseball season calendar, which can be found here in a five-season block, is again under review. The IHSA has received 14 by-law amendment proposals, one of which would essentially move back the first day teams can play games by two weeks.

According to the IHSA's Web site, the final vote on the proposals by member schools will take place between Nov. 25-Dec. 24.

For the 2009 season, games can be scheduled for March 16 while the season is expected to end on June 13. Last season, within this column, we made our feelings known about overreacting to Chicago weather patterns in the age of global warming.

We will of course explore this issue further in the print edition - particularly how the amendments would impact the summer state tournament. But in the meantime we want to know your thoughts. What do you make of these proposed changes? When should the baseball season start and end?

Technical problems in New Zealand prevented Neuqua Valley senior Alexa Gaul from transmitting her first blog entry for The Heat Index. But that's the least of the concerns for Gaul, the goalie for the U-17 U.S. women's national team competing in the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

She has yet to return to the court following ACL surgery, but already Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton is garnering accolades.

Wisdom-Hylton, a Neuqua Valley graduate, found out this morning she was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team. The fifth-year senior sat out all last season after being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a junior in 2006-07.

She was in town Sunday for a Big Ten Media Day event at the Marriott O'Hare. It was a business trip, though. She didn't have time to visit any friends or family. Wisdom-Hylton and teammae FahKara Malone flew up from Purdue in the morning on a charter flight with coach Sharon Versyp and Sara White, Purdue women's basketball sports information director. The group was back on the plane headed home to West Lafayette, Ind., in the early afternoon.

Along with three other female U.S. Olympic stars, Candace Parker will be saluted today at The Breeders' Cup in California.

Misty May-Treanor, a two-time gold medalist in volleyball, and two members of the silver medal-winning softball team, Jennie Finch and Crystal Bustos, will accompany the gold-medal winning Parker (who currently doubles as the WNBA Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player).

But that's not the real story, just the hook. I mean, it did happen, but Candace Parker's shoe hitting a fan in the head while an adoring crowd fumbled the catch isn't the point.

Read the full story about a young girl's desire to receive a pair of Parker's shoes for her 14th birthday.

We're a little slow on the draw here, but ESPN RISE released its national girls soccer player rankings last week. Included on the list are two area seniors: Alexa Gaul of Neuqua Valley and Bri Rodriguez of Waubonsie Valley.

Gaul, a goalkeeper recently named to the U.S. U-17 national team for the upcoming U-17 World Cup, ranks No. 14. That makes Gaul, a Texas recruit, the highest ranked goalie in the nation.

Rodriguez, a two-time Sun Player of the Year and three-time coaches All-State selection, ranks 28th.

A picture says 1,000 words, but we'll add a caption to this photo anyway:

U.S. Olympic team members La Shawn Merritt (gold medalist in the 400 meters and 1,600 relay team) and Sanya Richards (gold medalist in the 1,600 relay) pose with Chicago Marathon volunteers Janelle and Christopher Finch of Naperville at the marathon Oct. 12. Christopher is a student at Crone Middle School, his sister attends Patterson Elementary School.

More than 35,000 runners participated in the 26.2-mile race through the Windy City.