Post by hbk3 on Sept 9, 2008 13:37:48 GMT -5
Grant Park's Hubert headed to Dartmouth
09/09/2008, 11:19 am
Comment on this story | Print this story | Email this story
Hillary Hubert is one competitive teenager.
On the softball field, the senior has a .550 career batting average while driving in 93 runs and scoring 97 more in her first three seasons. She's batted at least .600 in each of the last two seasons.
In the classroom, she's just as tough, ranked first in the senior class at Grant Park High School with a 4.125 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
Together, those traits made her a prime target for Dartmouth University, the school to which Hubert recently gave her verbal commitment.
"When I stepped on the campus for a visit, it was beautiful. I knew automatically it was where I was supposed to be," said Hubert, who's currently holds the eighth-highest career batting average according to the records on the Illinois High School Association's website. "You can't go wrong with good academics as well."
The Ivy League school first became interested in Hubert over the summer at an exposure tournament in Colorado.
The interest was mutual and it didn't take long for Hubert, who had been eyeing other Ivy League schools Yale and Harvard among others, to make up her mind.
For sure, Hubert wanted to play college softball but she didn't want to cheat herself an opportunity to go to a top-level scholastic institution.
"I wasn't going to sacrifice any academics in choosing my college," said Hubert, who needs 38 hits this season to become just the 18th recorded high school softball player in Illinois history to amass 200 career hits.
"I worked so hard over past four years, there was no way academics was not going to be a key factor in my choice for college."
The college she chose is going to get one supremely talented player, says her high school coach, Dave Rademacher.
"I've seen a lot of good hitters in my 15-20 years as a coach, but I don't know of anybody that has what she has," he said. "She's like a hitting machine. I've never had anybody who works as hard to develop her craft."
Hubert was a big factor in the Dragons' postseason success last season, which included an upset victory over Dwight in the regional championship game. Rademacher pointed to Hubert's team-first mentality as being pivotal.
"She'll do anything on the field," he added. "She's such a student of game. She's always in the position she needs to be in to make plays. She's just fun to watch and fun to coach."
Rademacher gets one more year to enjoy coaching Hubert, but then it's Christine Vogt's turn.
Vogt enters her fourth year as coach of the Dartmouth softball team, which is in the middle of a rebuilding phase. The Big Green, 13-25 overall last season, have been in the middle of the pack in the Ivy League, holding a 27-27 conference record in the three years Vogt has been the coach.
Hubert thinks the team can take the next step during her time at the university.
"She's a wonderful coach," Hubert said of Vogt. "We're on same page as far as competitiveness and maintaining the strong academic feel for the school. I really look forward to working with her."
The Big Green return 16 of their 18 core players from a year ago, including 12 who were freshmen and sophomores.
09/09/2008, 11:19 am
Comment on this story | Print this story | Email this story
Hillary Hubert is one competitive teenager.
On the softball field, the senior has a .550 career batting average while driving in 93 runs and scoring 97 more in her first three seasons. She's batted at least .600 in each of the last two seasons.
In the classroom, she's just as tough, ranked first in the senior class at Grant Park High School with a 4.125 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
Together, those traits made her a prime target for Dartmouth University, the school to which Hubert recently gave her verbal commitment.
"When I stepped on the campus for a visit, it was beautiful. I knew automatically it was where I was supposed to be," said Hubert, who's currently holds the eighth-highest career batting average according to the records on the Illinois High School Association's website. "You can't go wrong with good academics as well."
The Ivy League school first became interested in Hubert over the summer at an exposure tournament in Colorado.
The interest was mutual and it didn't take long for Hubert, who had been eyeing other Ivy League schools Yale and Harvard among others, to make up her mind.
For sure, Hubert wanted to play college softball but she didn't want to cheat herself an opportunity to go to a top-level scholastic institution.
"I wasn't going to sacrifice any academics in choosing my college," said Hubert, who needs 38 hits this season to become just the 18th recorded high school softball player in Illinois history to amass 200 career hits.
"I worked so hard over past four years, there was no way academics was not going to be a key factor in my choice for college."
The college she chose is going to get one supremely talented player, says her high school coach, Dave Rademacher.
"I've seen a lot of good hitters in my 15-20 years as a coach, but I don't know of anybody that has what she has," he said. "She's like a hitting machine. I've never had anybody who works as hard to develop her craft."
Hubert was a big factor in the Dragons' postseason success last season, which included an upset victory over Dwight in the regional championship game. Rademacher pointed to Hubert's team-first mentality as being pivotal.
"She'll do anything on the field," he added. "She's such a student of game. She's always in the position she needs to be in to make plays. She's just fun to watch and fun to coach."
Rademacher gets one more year to enjoy coaching Hubert, but then it's Christine Vogt's turn.
Vogt enters her fourth year as coach of the Dartmouth softball team, which is in the middle of a rebuilding phase. The Big Green, 13-25 overall last season, have been in the middle of the pack in the Ivy League, holding a 27-27 conference record in the three years Vogt has been the coach.
Hubert thinks the team can take the next step during her time at the university.
"She's a wonderful coach," Hubert said of Vogt. "We're on same page as far as competitiveness and maintaining the strong academic feel for the school. I really look forward to working with her."
The Big Green return 16 of their 18 core players from a year ago, including 12 who were freshmen and sophomores.