When she graduated from Flanagan, Megan Laughlin certainly had options.

In basketball, Laughlin was named to the All-Heart of Illinois Conference first team as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Her 36-foot, 11 1/2-inch triple jump is a school record, and she graduated with 12 varsity letters with four each in basketball, track and volleyball. Laughlin was similarly successful in the classroom, graduating with honors as the class salutatorian.

In short, Laughlin was elite. And elite people have elite options.

It is no wonder Laughlin ended up in the elite Southeastern Conference as a member of the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Laughlin lived up to her resume once again Friday night, dropping a career-best 22 kills on Mississippi State. She hit a whopping .391 in the match, though USC fell 3-1.

Two nights later during a 3-1 loss to Alabama, Laughlin added 12 more kills to her season total of 194. The team is now 12-11 overall and 4-10 in the SEC. …

Rockford College freshman and Seneca graduate Emily Kaufmann was all over the floor Friday, finishing with 10 kills, 24 assists, six digs and a .346 hitting percentage during a 3-2 win over Waldorf.

The win is just the sixth of the season for the Regents, lifting RC to 6-21. …

Fellow Serena volleyball product Katy Atkerson finished with two digs for Rockford in the victory. …

Missouri-St. Louis front liner and Streator grad Weslie Gaff finished with a team-best 17 kills Friday during a 3-1 loss to Southern Indiana on Friday. She also had three blocks and hit .519 in the loss …

Also at UMSL, Newark product Sarah Eisnaugle pounded 10 kills and hit .444 Saturday during a 3-0 win over Kentucky Wesleyan. The weekend split leaves the Tritons at 19-10 overall and 9-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. …

Mendota graduate and Elmhurst regular Janelle Thompson turned in seven kills, four blocks and a .312 hitting percentage Wednesday during a 3-1 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater. Elmhurst is now 16-16 entering the postseason. …

Also representing Mendota, Kristen Flahive helped MacMurray College pick up its second win of the season Saturday with a 3-1 win over Blackburn. Flahive finished the match with 15 assists and four digs, helping MC improve to 2-20 overall and 2-13 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. …

Cross Country

Danny Graham honored his Marquette roots Saturday with an all-conference performance at the Northern Athletics Conference cross country championships.

Graham was the top finisher for Benedictine, placing 10th in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 27-minutes, 53-seconds. …

Also representing Marquette at Benedictine, Tyler Zachary toured the NAC course in 29:07 to place 28th. BU finished fifth as a team with 153 points, 106 behind Edgewood"s winning total. …

On the women"s side of the NAC event, Sandwich graduate Alison Shopinski finished 62nd for Aurora with a time of 30:12 to help the Spartans finish sixth with 138 points. Concordia-Wisconsin won the women"s title with 67. …

Greenville College thinclad and Mendota graduate Alissa Kirsteatter placed 17th at the SLIAC Championships on Saturday, finishing in a time of 21:42.43. GC won the team title with 20 points, three better than Fontbonne"s runner-up total. …

Streator graduate and Bradley freshman Jon Richards was the first BU runner to hit the tape Saturday at the Missouri Valley Conference championships, cruising to the finish in 27:48. The Braves finished fifth with 142 points, 110 off the winning pace set by Indiana State. …

At the Wisconsin Intercollegiate championships Saturday, Fieldcrest product Molli Springer placed 25th with a time of 24:04 to help Wisconsin-Platteville place fifth with 151 points. Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the team title with 29. …

Ottawa graduate and Elmhurst runner Amanda Andersen finished 26th at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, finishing her race in 26:14. EC finished fourth with 84 points and North Central won the conference event with 48. …

Football

Mendota graduate Erik Weber collected his team-best third interception of the season Saturday to help Monmouth College thump Illinois College 44-17. Weber also had three tackles in the win. …

On the other side of the ball for Monmouth, Streator graduate James Allen started at left guard and helped the Fighting Scots amass 591 yards and 26 first downs against zero sacks. MC is 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the Midwest Conference. …

St. Cloud State defensive back and Ottawa graduate Brad Wignes helped the huskies blank Minnesota State-Moorhead 47-0 on Saturday with five tackles. SCSU is now 6-4 overall and 4-2 in Northern Sun Conference play. …

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