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BY JIM PETERS
jpeters@nwitimes.com
219.548.4363 | Friday, July 11, 2008 | (3 comment(s))
Before heading up to Ann Arbor a few weeks ago to get a head start on his freshman year at the University of Michigan, Zack Novak dusted off the golf clubs and squeezed in some hacks at Sand Creek.
"It was the first time I'd played in years," he said. "I went to use my clubs and there were mice in my bag. I didn't have a driver. I only had a 5-wood. It wasn't a very good round. We only played eight holes. I like to go to the driving range. It goes farther than a baseball."
So, it's official. There actually is a sport in which the 2008 Chesterton graduate doesn't excel. It just took a while to figure it out.
"To perform at that level is a real rarity," Chesterton baseball coach Jack Campbell said. "Everybody wants a piece of you in the summer time. Zack's just a natural in a lot of respects. He's a tremendous athlete and of course being a tremendous competitor helps."
The 6-foot-4 Novak, who will play basketball for the maize and blue, was the Times Player of the Year in hoops and a second-team all-area selection in baseball. For his excellence on the court as well as the diamond, the lionhearted Trojan has been chosen as the Tim Bishop Memorial Times Male Athlete of the Year.
"I'm thankful obviously for what I have," Novak said. "The biggest thing is the hard work that's gone into making it happen. You can have all the God-given ability in the world, but at some point you've got to work at it."
The process of figuring out which direction to go wasn't a simple one. Early on, Novak played soccer, but a broken ankle ended his days as a forward, at least on grass, in seventh grade. He had brief fling with cross country in eighth grade, using it as conditioning for basketball. He cracked the top five before back problems ended that.
That spring, in track, he was the Lake-Porter Conference champion in the high jump, long jump and the 400-meter relay. He was only beaten in three events all season, including a loss by 2 inches in the long jump to Taft's Randy Hudi, who won a medal in the event at state this year for Crown Point.
"I got pretty upset when I lost in that," Novak said. "Once I started playing, it was impossible for me to accept things going wrong."
Little went wrong for Novak in high school. He leapt right onto Tom Peller's starting lineup in basketball as a freshman, and remarkably did the same for Campbell come baseball season. Not only was he a four-year fixture in both sports, he left as the Trojans' all-time leading scorer on the hard wood and was a perennial all-Duneland Athletic Conference selection on the diamond.
"It was a joy to watch somebody play basketball with that intensity and competitiveness," Chesterton football coach John Snyder said. "I wish every kid could play at that level. If he had played football the same way, he could've been as good as anybody in the area. He definitely had the size, talent and physical capabilities to be, quite honestly, another Division I player, if he had wanted to be."
Novak dabbled with football as a junior but a broken hand late in the preseason slowed his progress and he never really found his niche.
"I was terrible," Novak said.
But there was no such struggle with baseball. Despite putting little extra time into the game, Novak could practically walk into the batter's box cold and start ringing line drives all over the field. Campbell recalled Novak's sophomore year when he came back for sectionals following a weekend basketball tournament and went 3-for-4.
"He just had a great athletic sense for the game," Campbell said, comparing Novak to Chesterton grad and one-time San Diego Padres draft pick Josh Barbarossa. "He was a student of it even though he didn't put in the kind of time he did with basketball. He was just born with that kind of ability. How good could he have been? There's no telling. If people had been out there and seen him play baseball like they did basketball, I'm sure he would've had a lot more offers."
Fittingly, in his final prep at-bat, Novak launched a majestic home run to right field off Crown Point's Blake Mascarello.
The prospect of playing baseball beyond high school intrigued him for a while, but once the basketball season unfolded and the recruiting trail warmed up, Novak knew that's where his heart was.
Now he is eager to take the next step and find out what it might bring.
"It's something new, a new challenge to see how well I can do," Novak said. "It's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it."
INDIANA MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR | ZACK NOVAK
The Zack Novak file
School: Chesterton
Background: Novak is the first Trojan athlete to win the award.
He was the 2007-08 Times Player of the Year in basketball. The University of Michigan recruit holds the school career scoring record with 1,791 points, which ranks third in Porter County history, and the season record (592). He ranked third in the state in scoring at 26.9 ppg, and he started every game during his high school career.
He was also a four-year starter in baseball. Novak hit .447 with six home runs, 20 RBIs and 28 runs scored as a senior, earning second-team all-area honors. Novak played and lettered in football as a junior.
The Tim Bishop Memorial Times Male Athletes of the Year
2008 -- Zack Novak, Chesterton
2007 -- Matt Ernest, Crown Point
2006 -- Dexter Larimore, Merrillville
2005 -- Tommy Finn, Andrean
2004 -- Alex Tsirtsis, Griffith
2003 -- Jawann Turner, Hammond
2002 -- Matt Handlon, Valparaiso
2001 -- Mike Coles, Hammond
2000 -- Lucas Mackanos, Valparaiso
1999 -- Jeff Lee, Munster
1998 -- Corey Ochall, Hobart
1997 -- Keith Herron, Hammond
1996 -- Chris Spurrier, Portage
1995 -- Chris Spurrier, Portage
1994 -- Tim Bishop, Valparaiso
1993 -- Dave Joseforsky, Merrillville
1992 -- Chip Pettit, Crown Point
1991 -- Jason Casiano, Portage
1990 -- Robby Rodriguez, Whiting
1989 -- Rodney Dennis, Hammond
1988 -- Mike Stuckert, Highland
1987 -- Mike Fross, Lake Central
1986 -- Larry Meding, Highland
1985 -- Tom Yohe, Crown Point
1984 -- Tom Holba, T.F. South
1983 -- Bernard Holland, Thornwood
1982 -- Scott Plesha, Merrillville
1981 -- Nick Kemp, Highland
1980 -- Mark Murakowski, Jeff Tharp, Hammond; Dan Plesac, Crown Point
1979 -- Tom Franks, Hammond
1978 -- Brad Rowe, Crown Point
1977 -- Rich Suchanuk, Bishop Noll
1976 -- Rudy Chapa, Hammond
1975 -- Carey Pinkowski, Hammond
1974 -- Jim Kapitan, Lake Central
1973 -- John Dubenetzky, Hobart
1972 -- Quinn Buckner, Thornridge
1971 -- Tim Stoddard, E.C. Washington
1970 -- George Uremovich, Merrillville
1969 -- Bootsey White, Hammond Tech
1968 -- Bob Dwyer, T.F. South
1967 -- Ron Volbrecht, Morton
1966 -- Darrel Chaney, Morton
1965 -- Al Schmidt, Merrillville
1964 -- Mike McGill, Bishop Noll
1963 -- Del Kuchas, Hammond
1962 -- John Serbin, Hammond
1961 -- Ron Smith, E.C. Washington
1960 -- Lynn Garrard, Griffith
1959 -- Bob Selva, Hammond
1958 -- Jim Hicks, E.C. Roosevelt
1957 -- Irv Cross, Hammond
1956 -- Mike Graney, Bishop Noll
Note: In 1990, The Times began selecting athletes of the year for both Indiana
and Illinois.
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Janet wrote on Jul 11, 2008 8:19 PM:
SLK wrote on Jul 11, 2008 4:39 PM:
millerbeach wrote on Jul 11, 2008 12:37 AM: