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SATURDAY JANUARY 19 | SUNDAY JANUARY 20 2019
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Journeys and learning enthuse Da’at Educational Expeditions’ Jody Schmidt. P18
SPORTS
Daughter of volleyball coach digging basketball these days at Loyola Academy. P16
SOCIAL SCENE
Nonprofit See Chicago Dance cites award winners. P11 FOLLOW US:
NO. 328 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
NEWS
FILM FEST
ENGENDERING RESPECT
Crecos earns praise for pins, wins—not for being Loyola Academy’s first female wrestler
“Mountainfilm on Tour” festival returns to Gorton BY ELAINE DOREMUS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Save the date for the third annual “Mountainfilm on Tour” coming up on January 25 and 26 at Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest. This is a rare opportunity to experience Telluride, Colorado’s acclaimed annual documentary film festival right here at home. Compelling non-fiction stories with breathtaking photography are the perfect antidote to January blahs and will leave you inspired and determined to take action on worthy causes ranging from environmental, cultural, and outdoor adventure to political and social justice issues. “This festival represents some of the finest documentary filmmaking, bringing our audience into unique landscapes and giving them a glimpse into the lives of such interesting individuals,” says Gorton Community Center Film Director Jamie Hall, who has attended the festival in Telluride. “Mountainfilm on Tour” travels worldwide throughout the year to help promote its mission “to use the power of film, art, and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better Continued on PG 8
PINNING SMILE: Loyola Academy sophomore wrestler Zoe Crecos, a Lake Forest resident, amassed 25 pins as a first-year grappler last year. She competes for the Ramblers’ varsity and JV squads this winter. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER BY BILL MCLEAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Zoe Crecos enters the room. She sees boys everywhere, more than two dozen. She also sees a male coach here, a male coach there. Not one other girl in sight. The setting is a Loyola Academy boys wrestling informational meeting before the start of the 2017-18 season. Crecos is a freshman—with zero experience in wrestling. “I was kind of scared,” the 5-foot-4 Crecos, a Lake Forest resident and School of St. Mary
graduate, recalls more than a year later. One boy, unblinking, later greets Crecos at the gathering of returning and hopeful Ramblers and asks, “How much do you weigh?” Not exactly a suave introduction. “I didn’t mind that question,” Crecos says. The query doesn’t bother the 120-pound Crecos because weight in wrestling is akin to the height of a post player in basketball. They’re essential measurements. Crecos, who had informed LA’s wrestling coaches of her background in martial arts at the meeting, goes through the tryouts, becomes the first female wrestler in program history, and competes for Loyola Academy’s
junior varsity and freshman teams last winter. She wins a combined 30 bouts—all versus boys—and records 25 pins. Remarkable numbers, particularly for a first-year grappler, who tangles for LA at varsity and JV wrestling meets in her sophomore season this winter. Girls must wrestle boys at the high school level because girls wrestling teams have never vied for Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state championships. That could change. Ramblers varsity wrestling coach Joe Haney thinks schools in Illinois will field girls Continued on PG 8
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 991 HIGHLAND PK, IL