On Campus: John Borta to enter Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Hall of Fame with heavy heart

When John Borta enters the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Hall of Fame in November, he will be there with his parents, his three children and numerous friends and family.

The honor for Borta, a five-time All-American swimmer for the Warhawks, will be bittersweet.

In late April, his 36-year-old wife, Tracy, died after a 2 ½-year battle with colon cancer.

“I was really hoping Tracy was going to make it that long,” he said of the Nov. 4 recognition event and banquet. “That was the hardest part (of learning I was inducted). That’s going to be the hardest part when I go up there.”

For more than two years, Borta said, he drove Tracy to Chicago for treatments twice a week.

“We did the (chemotherapy),” he said. “We did the radiation, all the doctors’ appointments. The tumor was the size of a softball, but it was the shape of a piece of paper. It had all of her internal organs affected.”

The unique tumor made surgery a very difficult option.

“They actually did open her up,” the 36-year-old Borta said. “They felt that if they would have tried to cut it out of her, it would have killed her right away. We were able to get six months to a year longer with her without the risk of the surgery not going well.”

The couple met and first dated in high school when John was a senior and Tracy, who previously attended Dundee-Crown, was a junior.

“She definitely put up with me,” he said. “That’s why I married her. She was a great mom, that’s for sure … a great wife, great partner. She did an excellent job raising our kids.”

Borta, who lives in Wonder Lake and owns Johnny B Lawn Care, said he currently is a stay-at-home dad taking care of his 11- and nine-year-old daughters, Isabella and Emilyn, and 5-year-old son, Parker.

“As hard of a transition as this has been, it’s been nice because of how disciplined and well-behaved my kids are and how grown up my 11-year-old is to help me.”

Borta, who started his lawn care business at age 10, showcased his work ethic throughout college.

In the winters, he swam to six Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and 11 overall WIAC medals in freestyle events. He finished second at nationals in the 200-meter freestyle in 2000 and still holds the Whitewater records in the 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle races.

The rest of the year, he maintained strong ties to home.

“I wanted to stay close,” he said of choosing Whitewater. “I had the lawn care company, so I had to sneak away in the spring and fall to come home on the weekends and work my butt off, then go back to school.”

Borta earned a degree in physical education in 2003 and enjoyed the close atmosphere former Whitewater head coach Joan Domitrz created.

“We were more like a family than a bunch of numbers,” he said. “Our team was a really tight-knit group. We hung out together. We ate dinner together.”

Domitrz made Borta feel like family by making sure he was able to get into school.

“My grades weren’t always the best,” he said. “She stuck her neck out for me and wrote letters to the deans. It took me five years, but I got (my degree).”

Borta was inducted in 2014 into the Woodstock High School Hall of Fame, but the November ceremony includes addressing a banquet of attendees.

“I didn’t have to give a speech then like I do now,” he said. “But I read my wife’s eulogy at her memorial and that was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Maybe that broke the ice.”

Donations to Woodstock's JourneyCare hospice can be made in Tracy Borta's honor at JourneyCare.org/Donate.

Water polo honors: McHenry West grad Becca Dabrowski earned first-team all-tournament this spring at the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Division III championships in St. Paul, Minn.

Dabrowski, a sophomore, scored 13 of her team’s 23 goals in the tournament for Monmouth College, which finished fifth at nationals. She helped the Scots (9-8-1) to a school-record win total this season and their first-ever national tournament appearance.

Dabrowski led the team in goals (51), assists (nine) and steals (43) while earning CWPA all-conference honors for the first time in her career.

Cichocki honored: Western Michigan senior softball player Kelsea Cichocki (McHenry East) earned second-team all-region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association after the season.

Cichocki, who plays third base, led the Mid-American Conference with a .405 batting average this season and is the second WMU player ever to hit over .400. She also posted school records with 46 RBIs this season and 116 for her career.

Cichocki, who started 190 career games, is the first WMU player to surpass 100 career RBIs.

This season, Cichocki led the team in eight offensive categories, including slugging percentage (.661), home runs (nine), on-base percentage (.464) and hits (68).

For her career, Cichocki ranks second in school history in homers (20), third in hits (204) and fifth in doubles (33).

St. Cloud leader: Crystal Lake Central grad Sarah Benhart has been named one of four captains for the 2017 women's soccer season at D-II St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

A two-time captain, Benhart started 13 games last season for the Huskies as a midfielder and had a goal and an assist. Benhart is one of five seniors returning on a team that finished 7-8-4 last season. The Huskies open the season at home Sept. 1 against Northern Michigan.

• Barry Bottino writes a weekly column about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at BarryOnCampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.