SBA's Stariha taking talents to Beloit College

St. Bede senior Sarah Stariha has made it official, signing on the dotted line Wednesday at the Academy to play basketball and softball for Beloit College. Coaches and family in the picture include (front row, from left) Resa Stariha, Sarah Stariha and Mike Stariha, (back row) athletic director Bernie Moore, Lady Bruins coach Tom McGunnigal and softball coach Fr. Phillip Davey. (BCR photo/Brad Martin)

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SPRING VALLEY — St. Bede senior Sarah Stariha has been a three-sport standout for the Lady Bruins in volleyball, basketball and softball during her four years at the Academy. Now she’ll be taking her those talents north of the state line to play basketball and softball for the Beloit College (Wis.) Buccaneers.

The Bucs basketball team finished 14-10 on the season in 2007-08, and the softball team is currently 3-17 on the season. Stariha plays the point guard and catcher positions, and the Bucs are graduating players at those spots ... which has Stariha excited.

“The basketball team plays a four-guard offense with one post, and I think I have a shot at helping the team out there,” Stariha said. “Then in softball, their catcher is also a senior. I wasn’t ready to give up one or the other, yet, so when Beloit said you can play both, I was happy about that.”

She is also happy with Beloit’s engineering program.

“They get you the classes you need to have to transfer to a school like Purdue or Michigan, and that’s a nice feeling when you don’t have to worry about classes transferring or not,” she said.

Stariha led the Lady Bruins’ basketball team to a 27-3 record which included 22 consecutive win.

She repeated as a first-team All-BCR pick and was named first-team all-conference in the Tri-County as well as special mention in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA).

Stariha averaged 8.6 points per contest which totaled 257 for the season on a deep and balanced team for the Lady Bruins. For her career, Stariha scored 905 points, good for sixth all time at St. Bede.

Lady Bruins head coach Tom McGunnigal said Beloit will be getting toughness, talent at the point and a team leader.

“To say the least, I am going to miss her,” McGunnigal said. “She is going to be an outstanding athlete at Beloit. She is tough as nails on the court, and a tremendous leader.”

Stariha also helped the Lady Bruins win their own Christmas tournament for the first time since 2002, as well as winning the Tri-County tournament for the third consecutive year.

“You could almost look back when she got here to St. Bede and say, it’s a foregone conclusion that she would play at the college level,” McGunnigal said. “She has become a good friend, and she does anything that a coach asks her to do. If you can’t find a spot for her to play, then you are not looking hard enough.”

In softball, Stariha was All-BCR first team in 2007 as she hit a team-high .328 with 13 RBIs, six doubles and two triples.

“Sarah is a dedicated and hard working athlete and will excel in whatever she decides to do,” Lady Bruins softball coach Fr. Phillip Davey said. “On top of sports, she is in the top five in her class and wants to become an engineer, and there’s no doubt she’ll be successful.”

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