Fenwick lineman Napolitano travels east for his love of Ivy (+ team page)

09/22/2012 Berwyn Fenwick senior Pat Hart (16) carries the ball to the end zone after intercepting a pass during the home game against St. Laurence on Saturday, September 22, 2012. Fenwick leads 35-0 at the half. | michael jarecki ~ for Sun-Times Media

Updated: October 28, 2012 6:41AM

BERWYN — Vince Napolitano’s summer was pretty much spent on the road.

Fenwick’s biggest football player would like to use the sport to attend an elite Division I college and showed his commitment to that goal by going on a rigorous tour of the East Coast. He attended nearly a dozen college scouting camps in June and July.

It meant that the 6-foot-2, 320-pound offensive lineman missed some time with Fenwick’s summer workout schedule, but Napolitano felt he had to take steps that would get him seen by college recruiters.

After a while, Napolitano could have been excused if he forgot what school he was seeing. The Oak Park resident visited nearly every Ivy League school, except Brown and Columbia. He went to Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Penn and Cornell. He even checked out a couple of non-Ivy League schools, such as Holy Cross and Colgate.

At each stop, Napolitano was measured and weighed, met with coaches and competed in drills against other camp attendees, usually against a defensive lineman.

“My preference is the Ivy League,” Napolitano said. “ I want to use football to get an education like that.”

Connections to Fenwick help. Napolitano is gaining interest from Penn, which already has former Fenwick linebacker and Western Springs resident Jack Stibich in its program as a freshman.

Stibich was a two-time all-Catholic League selection while at Fenwick and Penn recruiters discovered Napolitano while watching video of Stibich.

Napolitano started the season at right tackle, but played right guard during Fenwick’s 50-0 victory over St. Laurence Saturday night at Morton West. Napolitano played guard the previous two years, but has moved around due to injuries to other players on the Friars’ line.

The most notable is left guard Bob Kemp, who has missed two weeks due to a back injury.

The line against St. Laurence featured Danny Cooney and Anthony Caputo at tackles, Rocco Stefanini and Napolitano at guards and Jimmy Krecek at center.

The moves have forced defensive lineman Kyle Pullia to take some snaps on the offensive line. First-year coach Gene Nudo said he expects Kemp to return soon.

“It’s a work in progress,” Kemp said. “We get through it every day. They’ll get better with a week of practice as a team this week.”

Napolitano wasn’t the only offensive lineman missing over the summer. Other absences have led to a slow start for the offensive line, but Fenwick (4-1, 2-0 Catholic League White) has opened holes in recent games for Robert Spillane and Bobby Somers.

The Friars get another chance Friday when Gordon Tech (2-3) comes to Morton West.

Names and Faces

PAULINA KAMINSKI Noteworthy efforts:

Kaminski contributed to three victories to help the Fenwick swimming team capture its own invitational Saturday. She won the 200-yard individual medley and was on the Friars’ winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays. She also placed second in the 100 breaststroke.

MARTA SHOORGOT

Noteworthy efforts:

The senior enjoyed a memorable week. She finished first in the No. 2 singles bracket to help the Fenwick tennis team place third at the Lincoln-Way North Tournament. Shoorgot, who did not drop a set, improved her overall record to 14-3 after going 6-0 for the week.

Quick Hits

Big Numbers

2 | Shutouts the Fenwick football team already has this season, after blanking St. Laurence 50-0 Saturday. The Friars (4-1) also blanked Hales Franciscan and allowed just six points against Marmion Academy.

Sound Bites

“It was the first time we were swimming against conference-rival Loyola, so it was a chance to rise to the occasion and get some great swims in against good competition, which they did. We had several season- and lifetime-best times.”

— Fenwick swimming coach Renee Miller, on her team winning its own 10-team Friar Invitational Saturday in Oak Park.

Don’t Miss

Thursday

Girls volleyball: Providence Catholic at Fenwick, 6 p.m.

The Friars will face a tough Providence team in an East Suburban Catholic matchup in Oak Park.

Boys soccer: Solario Academy at Fenwick, 1 p.m.

The nonconference matchup will be the Friars’ Senior Day game, where the team’s nine seniors will be recognized. Fenwick improved to 7-6 after beating St. Rita 5-0 Sunday.

Show / Hide Comments