June 7, 2000
BLOOMINGTON - Brian Hartlaub of Riverton and Aminata Yanni of Machesney Park (Harlem) have been named the 2000 IHSA Sports Report Athletes of the Year.
This year's selections are the ninth time the IHSA Sports Report has presented the honors. Begun in 1992 by veteran broadcaster Art Kimball, the award is presented to one female athlete and one male athlete whose performance in competition has been outstanding throughout their interscholastic career. Kimball and IHSA staff selected the honorees from 1992-96 and current Sports Report anchor Lanny Slevin and IHSA staff have selected the honorees since 1997.
Hartlaub was a three-sport standout for Riverton, a Class A school located just east of Springfield. He will attend Indiana State University on a track and field scholarship and will major in sports medicine.
In football, he was a three-year starter at quarterback and was named to the Illinois Football Coaches Association Class 2A All-State team as a senior. Riverton won 30 of 36 games in which he was the quarterback, and made it to the playoffs each year. He also was a three-year starter in basketball. He holds the Riverton school record for assists. Riverton made it to the Elite Eight his junior year and finished fourth in 2000.
It is in track and field where Hartlaub has excelled. He was a four-year qualifier in the Class A State Track Meet. As a sophomore, Hartlaub finished third in the 300-meter low hurdles. In 1999, Brian was runner-up in the high jump and state champion in the 300-meter low hurdles. As a senior, he qualified for the state meet in the high jump, 300-meter low hurdles and 110-meter high hurdles. Competing with a stress fracture in his foot, Hartlaub had to bypass the high jump and long hurdle race in order to compete in the shorter hurdle event. He finished second in the finals in a photo finish. He holds the school record in all three events.
Yanni also was a three-sport standout for her high school, which is located just north of Rockford, and is a member of the NIC-9 Conference. Aminata was named the Harlem High School's Athlete of She will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a basketball scholarship and will major in pre-med. She plans on becoming an obstetrician.
As a member of the Huskies' volleyball team, she was a standout player at the net and lettered her sophomore and junior years. In track and field Aminata, was conference champion and a state meet qualifier in the high jump all four years. She also was a member of the school's 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 meter relay teams which qualified the past three years.
Basketball is the sport in which she was one of the dominant players in America. She was named Gatorade Player of the Year and was the USA Today's Player of the Year. An all-state selection her junior and senior years by all of the state's media, she holds the school record in season and career scoring, along with the single-game scoring mark of 46 points. This summer she has been invited to the tryout for the United States Junior Olympic Team, being formed for the 2004 Olympic Games.
Following is a complete listing of the IHSA Sports Report Athletes of the Year:
1992 Male: Mike Kamienski, Addison (Driscoll)
Female: Marnie Trefenbach, Belleville (West)
1993: Male: Keith Lozowski, Palatine (Fremd)
Female: Patience Grayer, Peoria (Manual)
1994: Male: Brandon Hughes, Peoria (Manual)
Female: Terri Zemaitis, Downers Grove (South)
1995: Male: Tai Streets, Harvey (Thornton)
Female: Jenny Schmidt, Normal (Community)
1996: Male: Mark Prina, Paxton (P.-Buckley-Loda)
Female: Katie Schumacher, Chicago (Mother
McCauley)
1997: Male: Antwaan Randle-El, Harvey (Thornton)
Female: Sara Ettner, Marengo
1998: Male: Patton Seagraves, Harrisburg
Female: Allison Curtin, Taylorville
1999: Male: Nick Setta, Lockport (Twp.)
Female: Kourtney Walton, Chicago (Marshall)
2000: Male: Brian Hartlaub, Riverton
Female: Aminata Yanni, Machesney Park (Harlem)