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A woman who cradled a baby in her arms at the airport and posted on social media that she loved her job. A young husband with a child on the way. Another man who always wanted to be in the military. A man who planned to become a sheriff’s deputy when his deployment ended.

Heart-wrenching details have emerged about some of the 13 U.S. troops killed in a horrific suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans.

Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier were among the dead, while 18 other U.S. service members were wounded in Thursday’s bombing, which was blamed on Afghanistan’s offshoot of the Islamic State group.

The U.S. said it was the most lethal day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011. The White House said President Joe Biden will look for opportunities to honor the servicemembers who lost their lives, many of whom were men in their early 20s.

Here are the stories of some of the victims and the people who are mourning them:

Nicole Gee, 23

A week before she was killed, Sgt. Nicole Gee cradled a baby in her arms at the Kabul airport. She posted the photo on Instagram and wrote, “I love my job.”

Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, was a maintenance technician with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Sgt. Mallory Harrison, who lived with Gee for three years and called her a “sister forever” and best friend, wrote about the magnitude of her loss.

“I can’t quite describe the feeling I get when I force myself to come back to reality & think about how I’m never going to see her again,” Harrison wrote on Facebook. “How her last breath was taken doing what she loved — helping people. … Then there was an explosion. And just like that, she’s gone.”

Gee’s Instagram page shows another photo of her in fatigues, holding a rifle next to a line of people walking into the belly of a large transport plane. She wrote: “escorting evacuees onto the bird.”

The social media account that includes many selfies after working out at the gym lists her location as California, North Carolina and “somewhere overseas.”

Photos show her on a camel in Saudi Arabia, in a bikini on a Greek isle and holding a beer in Spain. One from this month in Kuwait shows her beaming with her meritorious promotion to sergeant.

Harrison said her generation of Marines hears war stories from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, but they seem distant amid boring deployments until “the peaceful float you were on turns into … your friends never coming home.”

Gee’s car was still parked in a lot at Camp Lejeune and Harrison mused about all the Marines who walked past it while she was overseas.

“Some of them knew her. Some of them didn’t.” she said. “They all walked past it. The war stories, the losses, the flag-draped coffins, the KIA bracelets & the heartbreak. It’s not so distant anymore.”

Eli Stone, left, and Rylee McCollum, at Christmas in Stone’s house in Jackson, Wyo. Rylee McCollum, of Bondurant, Wyo., was one of the U.S. Marines killed in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, in Afghanistan.Regi Stone via AP

Rylee McCollum, 20

Rylee McCollum, a Marine and native of Bondurant, Wyoming, was married and his wife is expecting a baby in three weeks, his sister, Cheyenne McCollum, said.

“He was so excited to be a dad, and he was going to be a great dad,” McCollum said. She said her brother “was a Marine before he knew he was allowed to be a Marine … He’d carry around his toy rifle and wear his sister’s pink princess snow boots and he’d either be hunting or he was a Marine. Sometimes it would be with nothing on underneath, just a T-shirt.”

McCollum said her brother wanted to be a history teacher and a wrestling coach once he completed his service. Another sister, Roice McCollum, told the Casper Star Tribune that her brother was on his first deployment when the evacuation in Afghanistan began.

“We want to make sure that people know that these are the kids that are sacrificing themselves, and he’s got a family who loves him and a wife who loves him and a baby that he’ll never get to meet,” Cheyenne McCollum said.

Regi Stone, the father of one of Rylee McCollum’s friends, described McCollum as “a good kid,” who was resilient, smart and courageous. Stone shared a note that his wife, Kim, sent to their son Eli Stone, who is also in the military and deployed elsewhere. In the note, Kim wrote that she remembered telling the friends to run the other way if they had to go in first and that both of them said, “If we die doing this, we die doing what we love.”

Humberto Sanchez, 22

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana, was among 17 members of his Logansport High School class who joined the military after their 2017 graduation, the school’s principal said.

Sanchez played on the school’s varsity soccer team and was in the homecoming court his senior year, Principal Matt Jones said. Jones called Sanchez a dedicated artist who took many art classes along with honors and dual credit college courses.

“Humberto was a bright, athletic young man who was popular, well-liked by his soccer teammates, classmates, coaches and teachers,” Jones said. “He was honored to be putting on the Marine uniform and serving his country.”

Sanchez and five others from his 240-person high school class enlisted in the Marines, while 11 joined other military branches, Jones said.

Kareem Mae’Lee Grant Nikoui, 20

Lance Corporal Kareem Mae’Lee Grant Nikoui, of Norco, California, sent videos to his family hours before he died, showing himself interacting with children in Afghanistan. In one of the clips, he asked a young boy to say hello.

“Want to take a video together buddy?” Nikoui said, leaning in to take a video of himself with the boy. “All right, we’re heroes now, man.”

Close family friend Paul Arreola said the videos show “the heart of this young man, the love he has.”

“The family is just heartbroken,” he said. Arreola described Nikoui as an “amazing young man” full of promise who always wanted to be a Marine and set out to achieve his goal. He is survived by his parents and three siblings.

“He loved this country and everything we stand for. It’s just so hard to know that we’ve lost him,” he said, crying.

Nikoui was also in the JROTC, and the Norco High School Air Force JROTC posted on Facebook that he was “one of our best Air Force JROTC cadets” and that “Kareem was set on being a Marine & always wanted to serve his country.”

The city of Norco said Friday in a post on social media that Nikoui’s name will be enshrined on a memorial wall in the city.

Jared Schmitz, 20

Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz grew up in the St. Louis area and was among a group of Marines sent back to Afghanistan to assist with evacuation efforts, his father, Mark Schmitz, told KMOX Radio.

Mark Schmitz said his son always wanted to be a Marine. He said he learned of his son’s death when the Marines came to his home in Wentzville, Missouri, at 2:40 a.m. Friday.

“This was something he always wanted to do, and I never seen a young man train as hard as he did to be the best soldier he could be,” Schmitz said of his son. “His life meant so much more. I’m so incredibly devastated that I won’t be able to see the man that he was very quickly growing into becoming.”

Taylor Hoover, 31

Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, of Utah, had been in the Marines for 11 years and was remembered as a hero who died serving others, his father Darin Hoover said.

“He is a hero. He gave his life protecting those that can’t protect themselves, doing what he loved serving his country,” said Darin Hoover, who lives in a Salt Lake City suburb.

He said he heard from Marines throughout the day Friday who said they are grateful they had his son as their sergeant.

“They look back on him and say that they’ve learned so much from him,” Darin Hoover said. “One heck of a leader.”

His father said his son was also a best friend to his two sisters and loved all his extended family. He had a girlfriend in California and was the kind of guy who “lit up a room” when he came in, his father said.

Nate Thompson of Murray, Utah, first met Hoover when they were 10 years old in Little League football. They stayed friends through high school, where Hoover played lineman. He was undersized for the position, but his heart and hard work more than made up for what he lacked in statute, Thompson said. As a friend, he was selfless and kind.

“If we had trouble with grades, trouble with family or trouble on the field, we always called Taylor. He’s always level-headed, even if he’s struggling himself,” he said.

Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23

Corporal Daegan William-Tyeler Page served in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton, California, and planned to go to trade school and possibly become a lineman after his enlistment ended, his family said in a statement.

Page was raised in Red Oak, Iowa, and in the Omaha metro area and joined the Marines after graduating from Millard South High School. He is mourned by his girlfriend, parents, stepmom and stepdad, four siblings and grandparents, the family said in a statement released by a family friend. The statement said the family did not wish to speak to the media at this time.

“Daegan will always be remembered for his tough outer shell and giant heart,” the statement said. “Our hearts are broken, but we are thankful for the friends and family who are surrounding us during this time. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the other Marine and Navy families whose loved ones died alongside Daegan.”

Ryan Knauss, 23

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss was remembered as a motivated man who loved his country and was looking forward to coming back to the U.S. and eventually moving to Washington, D.C., family members told WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Knauss’ grandfather, Wayne Knauss, told the television station that the family received word of Knauss’s death on Friday, and funeral services were being planned. Knauss said his grandson attended Gibbs High School and grew up in a Christian home.

“A motivated young man who loved his country,” Wayne Knauss said. “He was a believer, so we will see him again in God’s heaven.”

Stepmother Linnae Knauss said Ryan planned to move to Washington after he returned to the U.S.

“He was a super-smart hilarious young man,” she said.

Hunter Lopez, 22

Hunter Lopez, whose parents work at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California, was a sheriff’s Explorer for three years before joining the Marine Corps in September 2017, Sheriff Chad Bianco said.

Bianco said Lopez planned to follow in his parents’ footsteps and become a Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy after his deployment.

David Lee Espinoza, 20

Lance Corporal David Lee Espinoza, a Marine from Laredo, Texas, joined the military after high school, and was being remembered as a hero by his mother.

“He was just brave enough to go do what he wanted and to help out people. That’s who he was, he was just perfect,” his mother, Elizabeth Holguin. told the Laredo Morning Times.

Espinoza’s death was confirmed earlier by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar. The congressman’s press secretary, Dana Youngentob, said Pentagon representatives visited Cuellar’s Washington office to inform him of Espinoza’s death. Cuellar’s office also received an official death notice from the Pentagon.

In a statement, Cuellar said Espinoza “embodied the values of America: grit, dedication, service, and valor. When he joined the military after high school, he did so with the intention of protecting our nation and demonstrating his selfless acts of service.”

Cuellar concluded, “The brave never die. Mr. Espinoza is a hero.”

Associated Press writers Terry Wallace in Dallas, Lindsay Whitehurst and Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City and Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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LOGANSPORT, Ind. — A Marine from northern Indiana was among 13 U.S. military members killed in the Aug. 26 suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport.

The death of Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana, was confirmed Saturday by the Department of Defense.

Sanchez was among 17 members of his Logansport High School class who joined the military after their 2017 graduation, the school’s principal said.

Sanchez played on the school’s varsity soccer team and was in the homecoming court his senior year, Principal Matt Jones said. Jones called Sanchez a dedicated artist who took many art classes along with honors and dual credit college courses.

“Humberto was a bright, athletic young man who was popular, well-liked by his soccer teammates, classmates, coaches and teachers,” Jones said. “He was honored to be putting on the Marine uniform and serving his country.”

Sanchez and five others from his 240-person high school class enlisted in the Marines, while 11 joined other military branches, Jones said.

Several Indiana officials have released tributes to Sanchez, with U.S. Sen. Todd Young saying on Twitter that “we must never forget his bravery and his sacrifice.”

Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier were among the dead, while 18 other U.S. service members were wounded in Thursday’s bombing, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans. Officials have blamed the bombing on Afghanistan’s offshoot of the Islamic State group.

The U.S. military said it was the most lethal day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.

The Pentagon said Saturday the remains of those killed in the attack were being flown to the United States.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb asked for prayers for Sanchez’s family.

“Few among us answer a call of duty so dangerous as Corporal Sanchez volunteered to do,” Holcomb said in a statement. “In doing so, he made the ultimate sacrifice so others could live and find freedom.”

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A young husband with a child on the way. Another man who always wanted to be in the military. A man who planned to become a sheriff’s deputy when his deployment ended. Heartwrenching details began emerging Friday about some of the 13 U.S. troops killed in a horrific suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans.

Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier were among the dead, while 18 other U.S. service members were wounded in Thursday’s bombing, which was blamed on Afghanistan’s offshoot of the Islamic State group.

The U.S. said it was the most lethal day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011. The White House said President Joe Biden will look for opportunities to honor the servicemembers who lost their lives, many of whom were men in their early 20s.

Here are the stories of some of the victims and the people who are mourning them:

Rylee McCollum, 20

Rylee McCollum, a Marine and native of Bondurant, Wyoming, was married and his wife is expecting a baby in three weeks, his sister, Cheyenne McCollum, said.

“He was so excited to be a dad, and he was going to be a great dad,” McCollum said. She said her brother “was a Marine before he knew he was allowed to be a Marine … He’d carry around his toy rifle and wear his sister’s pink princess snow boots and he’d either be hunting or he was a Marine. Sometimes it would be with nothing on underneath, just a T-shirt.”

McCollum said her brother wanted to be a history teacher and a wrestling coach once he completed his service. Another sister, Roice McCollum, told the Casper Star Tribune that her brother was on his first deployment when the evacuation in Afghanistan began.

“We want to make sure that people know that these are the kids that are sacrificing themselves, and he’s got a family who loves him and a wife who loves him and a baby that he’ll never get to meet,” Cheyenne McCollum said.

Regi Stone, the father of one of Rylee McCollum’s friends, described McCollum as “a good kid,” who was resilient, smart and courageous. Stone shared a note that his wife, Kim, sent to their son Eli Stone, who is also in the military and deployed elsewhere. In the note, Kim wrote that she remembered telling the friends to run the other way if they had to go in first and that both of them said, “If we die doing this, we die doing what we love.”

Kareem Mae’Lee Grant Nikoui, 20

Lance Corporal Kareem Mae’Lee Grant Nikoui, of Norco, California, sent videos to his family hours before he died, showing himself interacting with children in Afghanistan. In one of the clips, he asked a young boy to say hello.

“Want to take a video together buddy?” Nikoui said, leaning in to take a video of himself with the boy. “All right, we’re heroes now, man.”

Close family friend Paul Arreola said the videos show “the heart of this young man, the love he has.”

“The family is just heartbroken,” he said. Arreola described Nikoui as an “amazing young man” full of promise who always wanted to be a Marine and set out to achieve his goal. He is survived by his parents and three siblings.

“He loved this country and everything we stand for. It’s just so hard to know that we’ve lost him,” he said, crying.

Nikoui was also in the JROTC, and the Norco High School Air Force JROTC posted on Facebook that he was “one of our best Air Force JROTC cadets” and that “Kareem was set on being a Marine & always wanted to serve his country.”

The city of Norco said Friday in a post on social media that Nikoui’s name will be enshrined on a memorial wall in the city.

Jared Schmitz, 20

Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz grew up in the St. Louis area and was among a group of Marines sent back to Afghanistan to assist with evacuation efforts, his father, Mark Schmitz, told KMOX Radio.

Mark Schmitz said his son always wanted to be a Marine. He said he learned of his son’s death when the Marines came to his home in Wentzville, Missouri, at 2:40 a.m. Friday.

“This was something he always wanted to do, and I never seen a young man train as hard as he did to be the best soldier he could be,” Schmitz said of his son. “His life meant so much more. I’m so incredibly devastated that I won’t be able to see the man that he was very quickly growing into becoming.”

Taylor Hoover, 31

Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, of Utah, had been in the Marines for 11 years and was remembered as a hero who died serving others, his father Darin Hoover said.

“He is a hero. He gave his life protecting those that can’t protect themselves, doing what he loved serving his country,” said Darin Hoover, who lives in a Salt Lake City suburb.

He said he heard from Marines throughout the day Friday who said they are grateful they had his son as their sergeant.

“They look back on him and say that they’ve learned so much from him,” Darin Hoover said. “One heck of a leader.”

His father said his son was also a best friend to his two sisters and loved all his extended family. He had a girlfriend in California and was the kind of guy who “lit up a room” when he came in, his father said.

Nate Thompson of Murray, Utah, first met Hoover when they were 10 years old in Little League football. They stayed friends through high school, where Hoover played lineman. He was undersized for the position, but his heart and hard work more than made up for what he lacked in statute, Thompson said. As a friend, he was selfless and kind.

“If we had trouble with grades, trouble with family or trouble on the field, we always called Taylor. He’s always level-headed, even if he’s struggling himself,” he said.

Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23

Corporal Daegan William-Tyeler Page served in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton, California, and planned to go to trade school and possibly become a lineman after his enlistment ended, his family said in a statement.

Page was raised in Red Oak, Iowa, and in the Omaha metro area and joined the Marines after graduating from Millard South High School. He is mourned by his girlfriend, parents, stepmom and stepdad, four siblings and grandparents, the family said in a statement released by a family friend. The statement said the family did not wish to speak to the media at this time.

“Daegan will always be remembered for his tough outer shell and giant heart,” the statement said. “Our hearts are broken, but we are thankful for the friends and family who are surrounding us during this time. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the other Marine and Navy families whose loved ones died alongside Daegan.”

Ryan Knauss, 23

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss was remembered as a motivated man who loved his country and was looking forward to coming back to the U.S. and eventually moving to Washington, D.C., family members told WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Knauss’ grandfather, Wayne Knauss, told the television station that the family received word of Knauss’s death on Friday, and funeral services were being planned. Knauss said his grandson attended Gibbs High School and grew up in a Christian home.

“A motivated young man who loved his country,” Wayne Knauss said. “He was a believer, so we will see him again in God’s heaven.”

Stepmother Linnae Knauss said Ryan planned to move to Washington after he returned to the U.S.

“He was a super-smart hilarious young man,” she said.

Hunter Lopez, 22

Hunter Lopez, whose parents work at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California, was a sheriff’s Explorer for three years before joining the Marine Corps in September 2017, Sheriff Chad Bianco said.

Bianco said Lopez planned to follow in his parents’ footsteps and become a Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy after his deployment.

David Lee Espinoza, 20

Lance Corporal David Lee Espinoza, a Marine from Laredo, Texas, joined the military after high school, and was being remembered as a hero by his mother.

“He was just brave enough to go do what he wanted and to help out people. That’s who he was, he was just perfect,” his mother, Elizabeth Holguin. told the Laredo Morning Times.

Espinoza’s death was confirmed earlier by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar. The congressman’s press secretary, Dana Youngentob, said Pentagon representatives visited Cuellar’s Washington office to inform him of Espinoza’s death. Cuellar’s office also received an official death notice from the Pentagon.

In a statement, Cuellar said Espinoza “embodied the values of America: grit, dedication, service, and valor. When he joined the military after high school, he did so with the intention of protecting our nation and demonstrating his selfless acts of service.”

Cuellar concluded, “The brave never die. Mr. Espinoza is a hero.”

Associated Press writers Terry Wallace in Dallas, Lindsay Whitehurst and Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City and Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON — Acting swiftly on President Joe Biden’s promise to retaliate for the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the U.S. military said it killed two members of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate with a drone strike in the group’s eastern stronghold.

The attack Saturday local time came amid what the White House called indications that IS planned to strike again as the U.S.-led evacuation from Kabul airport moved into its final days. Biden has set Tuesday as his deadline for completing the exit.

Biden authorized the drone strike and it was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet publicly announced. It was not immediately clear whether the targeted IS members were directly involved in Thursday’s airport attack. The U.S. military initially said one person was killed.

“It was a single mission to get these targets and as the assessments and information flowed over time, we were able to recognize that another was killed as well and one wounded,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a Defense Department briefing Saturday.

“They were ISIS-K planners and facilitators and that’s enough reason there alone. I won’t speak to the details of these individuals and what their specific roles might be,” Kirby said. He added: “We have the ability and the means to carry over the horizon counterterrorism capabilities and we’re going to defend ourselves.”

He declined to identify those killed but said the United States knew who they were.

The airstrike was launched from beyond Afghanistan less than 48 hours after the devastating Kabul attack that killed 13 Americans and 169 Afghans with just days left in a final U.S. withdrawal after 20 years of war. U.S. Central Command said it believed its strike killed no civilians.

The speed with which the U.S. military retaliated reflected its close monitoring of IS and years of experience in targeting extremists in remote parts of the world. But it also shows the limits of U.S. power to eliminate extremist threats, which some believe will have more freedom of movement in Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in power.

The airstrike came after Biden declared Thursday that perpetrators of the attack would not be able to hide. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said. Pentagon leaders told reporters Friday that they were prepared for whatever retaliatory action the president ordered.

The president was warned Friday to expect another lethal attack in the closing days of a frantic U.S.-led evacuation. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden’s national security team offered a grim outlook.

“They advised the president and vice president that another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul airport,” Psaki said, echoing what the Pentagon has been saying since the bombing Thursday at Kabul airport.

Late Friday, the State Department again urged Americans to stay away from airport gates, including “the New Ministry of Interior gate.”

Few new details about the airport attack emerged a day later, but the Pentagon corrected its initial report that there had been suicide bombings at two locations. It said there was just one — at or near the Abbey Gate — followed by gunfire. The initial report of a second bombing at the nearby Baron Hotel proved to be false, said Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff; he attributed the mistake to initial confusion.

Based on a preliminary assessment, U.S. officials believe the suicide vest used in the attack, which killed at least 169 Afghans in addition to the 13 Americans, carried about 25 pounds of explosives and was loaded with shrapnel, a U.S. official said Friday. A suicide bomb typically carries five to 10 pounds of explosives, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary assessments of the bombing.

Biden still faces the problem over the longer term of containing an array of potential extremist threats based in Afghanistan, which will be harder with fewer U.S. intelligence assets and no military presence in the nation.

In an Oval Office appearance Friday, Biden again expressed his condolences to victims of the attack. The return home of U.S. military members’ remains in coming days will provide painful and poignant reminders not just of the devastation at the Kabul airport but also of the costly way the war is ending. More than 2,400 U.S. service members died in the war and tens of thousands were injured over the past two decades.

The Marine Corps said 11 of the 13 Americans killed were Marines. One was a Navy sailor and one an Army soldier. Their names have not been released pending notification of their families, but the Pentagon said Saturday they would be released soon.

Still, sorrowful details of those killed were starting to emerge. One Marine from Wyoming was on his first tour in Afghanistan and his wife is expecting a baby in three weeks; another was a 20-year-old man from Missouri whose father was devastated by the loss. A third, a 20-year-old from Texas, had joined the armed services out of high school.

Biden ordered U.S. flags to half-staff across the country in honor of the 13.

They were the first U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan since February 2020, the month the Trump administration struck an agreement with the Taliban that called for the militant group to halt attacks on Americans in exchange for a U.S. agreement to remove all American troops and contractors by May 2021. Biden announced in April that he would have all forces out by September.

Psaki said the next few days of the mission to evacuate Americans and others, including vulnerable Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, “will be the most dangerous period to date.”

The Pentagon said Saturday morning that about 6,800 people were airlifted from Kabul on U.S. and coalition aircraft in the past 24 hours, and about 117,000 people have been airlifted over the last two weeks.

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Sandburg’s boys sports have packed a lot of trophy cases over the years.

Five different programs have combined to win 14 state titles: five in wrestling, four in volleyball, three in soccer and one each in baseball and cross country.

Former Eagle Lukas Verzbicas won multiple national titles in cross country and owns the U.S. high school record in the 2-mile.

But one sport that’s lagged behind the others is football. The Eagles last had a winning season in 2015, also the last time they qualified for the IHSA playoffs. Their most recent postseason victory came in 2010.

Now Troy McAllister aims to change that.

After a historic 11-year run at Phillips that included state titles in 2015 and 2017 — the first two in Public League history — McAllister is taking on the challenge of making Sandburg football relevant again.

His reputation has preceded him, and has created a buzz not usually associated with the Eagles.

“With a new coach coming in, especially [one] like coach McAllister, there’s obviously a lot of excitement,” junior quarterback Christian Evans said. “The past couple years for Sandburg have been rough for football. But I feel a lot of people are excited for this year, to see a change.”

Senior linebacker Luke DeVito appreciates the passion McAllister brings to his new job.

“It’s definitely a change for Sandburg to have a guy like this,” DeVito said. “In the past, we haven’t had a lot of coaches with the motivation and the caring that he brings to the program.”

McAllister knows a thing or two about reclamation projects. Twelve players showed up for his first practice at Phillips in 2010. His debut was a 48-20 loss to TEAM Englewood — “we got smacked” — the beginning of a 2-7 season that is his only losing year as a head coach.

The Wildcats made the IHSA playoffs the next year and not long after went on a six-year run that included the two state titles, a runner-up finish, a semifinal berth and two quarterfinal appearances.

Along the way, McAllister resigned in May 2014 to take the Evergreen Park job. But that didn’t work out and a couple months later he returned to Phillips for the state title runs and seven more seasons.

He doesn’t regret any part of the journey. This move follows the unexpected death in January of Mike Larson, McAllister’s longtime defensive coordinator and best friend.

“I think that spring season was good for, in particular, the senior class and our coaching staff at Phillips,” McAllister said. “It was really good to be out there … they got a lot of healing.”

McAllister and Larson had an agreement to stick with it at Phillips and see what they could accomplish. It was more than any Public League football program in the state playoff era.

“And then, life changes,” McAllister said. “And when [Larson] passed, it just made you kind of step away and think, ‘What was the next move?’ For me, this was it.”

Like Phillips when he arrived, Sandburg poses a challenge. Besides the lack of recent success, there’s the fact that the Eagles play in what McAllister considers the best public school conference in the state: the SouthWest Suburban Blue.

Lincoln-Way East is the area’s most dominant public school program, while Bolingbrook and Homewood-Flossmoor also are perennial powers, and Lockport is a team on the rise.

But McAllister appreciates the perks this Sandburg team has that his Phillips clubs didn’t: a locker room of its own and a stadium just across the parking lot from the school, among other things. When the Eagles next host an IHSA playoff game, they won’t have to jockey for a favorable time slot at Gately Stadium like Phillips did.

“I don’t think many people, unless you’re from CPS, understand it — the little extra details you have to have mapped out because everything … can be all over the place,” McAllister said. “So it’s nice just having some of those little things handled.”

That leaves McAllister and his staff to focus on coaching. Don’t expect him to change a winning formula.

“How we run practice and how I coach, I’m not really changing that,” McAllister said. “We’ve tried to take what’s worked at Phillips and transfer it over here. …

“It’s gonna be a learning curve and we’re gonna have our struggles. But the plan is over the course of time, we start to build success.”

If that looks anything like McAllister’s last stop, those trophy cases at Sandburg will be a lot fuller down the road.

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Edwige Lawson-Wade has lived 100 lifetimes by her estimation.

As an international basketball star, her experiences playing all over the world — in numerous professional leagues — have provided her with an education no classroom could.

At 16, she decided to sacrifice a traditional life for her dream one on the court — much to her mother’s dismay — and began her pro career in France. Upon reflection, she said there isn’t anything she would do differently.

”I was very driven by my career, and it took over,” Lawson-Wade said.

The WNBA is a small world, and Lawson-Wade’s experience in it is a perfect example of exactly how small.

Sylvia Fowles used to style her hair when they played for Spartak in Russia. Diana Taurasi was there, too. Taurasi’s coach with the Phoenix Mercury, Sandy Brondello, coached Lawson-Wade with the San Antonio Stars. Brondello’s husband and current Sky assistant Olaf Lange coached there, too.

Lawson-Wade’s husband, Sky coach and general manager James Wade, began his coaching career in the WNBA with the Stars under the direction of Dan Hughes in 2012. He became an assistant on Cheryl Reeve’s staff with the Minnesota Lynx in 2017, coaching Fowles and Rebekkah Brunson, another of Lawson-Wade’s former teammates.

The web Lawson-Wade’s career has woven is intricate and once again came full circle when a longtime opponent became a member of the Sky in the spring.

”When Candace [Parker] made her decision to sign with the Sky, she asked me to have [my son] Jet make a video letting James know,” Lawson-Wade said.

Lawson-Wade said she was lucky to play on very good teams and against very good teams in her career. The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks were one of those foes.

Parker was a rookie with the Sparks, and Lawson-Wade was a shooter Stars teammate Becky Hammon used to kick the ball out to for three-pointers. In 2008, the teams played in one of the most memorable Western Conference finals matchups in WNBA history.

When Lawson-Wade was at a Sky practice earlier this season, Parker brought it up.

”She took me out of the playoffs in 2008,” Parker said.

Lawson-Wade’s chapter with the Stars is just one in a book filled with memories and highlights. She has won three French championships, two Russian championships, three EuroLeague titles and one European championship.

But the most significant, by far, was the Olympic silver medal she helped the French national team earn at the 2012 Summer Games in London. This summer, she was shocked to find Jet rooting for Team USA during the Tokyo Olympics.

Lawson-Wade and Jet spent the last two months in Chicago. But they were heading back this week to France, where Lawson-Wade will embark on a new chapter in her career as a WNBA and international scout.

She also will be pursuing a second degree, to add to her masters in sport management, with the goal of becoming a team consultant in mind. Her husband, in a way, has been her first client.

For Lawson-Wade, watching the WNBA’s growth — with some of her oldest friends, teammates and coaches contributing to that — has been beautiful to see. Another goal of hers is to return to the league as a GM.

Her list of aspirations never has been short.

”She’s shown me the possibilities are limitless if you continue to work and believe,” Wade said.

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