While many athletes around the world and in a host of different sports were heartbroken when they found their seasons cut short by the NCAA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, seniors felt the pain of the cancelations acutely as it was not only their season that ended but, for many, their athletic careers.
Every Thursday for the next few weeks, we will be highlighting spring sport seniors and their accomplishments in their respective sports at Lake Forest College in lieu of our usual Forester Athlete of the Week.
Leeza Bodnar hails from Orland Park, Illinois, and plays tennis for the Foresters.
Bodnar was selected as the Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year after her freshman season and was her squad's Most Improved Performer and Forester Academic Team honoree as a sophomore. She claimed conference titles at #1 doubles and served as a team captain each of the last three years.
After going 35-12 in singles and doubles combined as a senior, Bodnar finished her Forester career ranked tied-for-fourth in school history with 133 overall victories, third with 62 singles wins, and fourth with 71 doubles triumphs. Along with junior Julie Lord, she also ranks first in team history in career victories by a #1 doubles team (56) and tied-for-fourth in wins by a tandem at any position in the lineup.
She is set to graduate in May with a degree in finance.
Philip Wilson is a senior from Racine, Wisconsin, on the indoor and outdoor track team, for which he has competed for three years since the program's rebirth as a varsity sport.
Wilson was named to the College's All Sportsmanship Team and was voted the team's Most Improved Performer as a junior. The senior captain earned All-Midwest Conference honors by placing third in the 5000m at the MWC Championships on February 28.
For indoor track, he ranks second in team history in the mile and third in the 3000m and 5000m races. He is also part of the school record 4x800-meter and distance medley relays. At 9:10.88, Wilson owns the program's fastest time in the outdoor 3000m and he ranks second in team annals in the 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m and fifth in the 800m.
In addition to his exploits in track, Wilson is also a four-time letter winner and All-MWC runner in cross country.
In May, he will graduate with a degree in Physics.
Hayley Sherlund is from St. John, Indiana, and is a third baseman and four-year letter winner on the softball team. In her first three years on the squad, she earned Academic All-Midwest Conference honors.
As a freshman Sherlund ranked second on the team in assists, tied-for-third in home runs, fourth in total bases, and tied-for-fourth in runs batted in. She also tied for fifth in the MWC in homers and ranked third in the league in assists that same year.
Sherlund played in all 16 of the team's games and hit .286 with eight runs scored and seven driven in this season. She finished out her Lake Forest career with a batting average of .247, a slugging percentage of .347, and a .332 on base percentage.
She will graduate with degrees in Psychology and Sociology and Anthropology.