•August 22, 2018•
The SMS Baseball team defeated Clinton 13-1. Chase Eller went the distance in the six inning game. He used only 56 pitches to dispatch the Maroons. Jackson Matheson provided the spark at the plate with a double and a triple. Wyatt Poynor had three hits. Tristan Ruppert and Jake Stewart had two hits. Aiden Ballinger came off the bench to provide a pinch hit double.
•August 22, 2018•
The SHS Varsity boys golf team finished 3rd at the John Macek Invitational at the orange course in Champaign. We shot a 325 as a team falling behind Charleston with a 297 and St. Anthony with a 319. Caden Ellis got 2nd place overall with a 3 under 69 for the day!
Scoring: Caden Ellis 69, Leighton Burcham 82, Drew Rogers 85, Leyton Ellis 89, Logan Westjohn 89, Tim Lawyer 100.
•August 22, 2018•
Okaw Valley’s Case Crawford has started his senior year with three medalist honors in his first three golf matches.
This past week, OV split a pair of matches, defeating Pana but losing to Villa Grove.
Last Thursday, the Timberwolves lost to Villa Grove 203-198 at Eagle Creek.
Crawford was medalist with a low score of 40. Read More
Photo furnished
SOV coach Jeff Myers has 15 returning lettermen.
•August 22, 2018•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor
Usually, a high school football coach does not return youth and experience in the same year.
But that was exactly what Sullivan-Okaw Valley football coach Jeff Myers inherited in his first year as head coach.
Myers returns 15 lettermen but only six seniors.
This leaves the Redskins little room for injury this season.
“Without question the biggest weakness we have is depth,” said Myers. “Staying healthy will be a key to our success.”
Even with a young squad that has learned three offense and defenses in the last three years, Myers believes his varsity experience will help provide a balanced offense in terms of run to pass.
His expectations are pretty simple.
“We expect to win football games,” he said, “compete for a CIC championship and be a playoff team.”
For this to happen, the Redskins’ quarterback Luke Harlin will have to play a huge role for the offense to be successful.
“We require a lot of the quarterback in this system” said Myers. “He has to be a thrower, a runner, a leader, an orchestrator, and a coach on the field. This far Luke has exceeded my expectations in all those areas, and I am really excited to see what kind of season he puts together.” Read More
•August 22, 2018•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor
In his first year as Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond head football coach, Ryan Jefferson believes the 2018 squad can take the next step from last season’s 3-6 record into making the playoffs this fall.
In 2017, the Knights lost two games by a combined nine points, and with the experience and returning letter winners, Jefferson believes his team can win those games and potentially be playoff eligible at 5-4 or better.
“I believe we have a playoff-caliber team because of the combination of talent, experience, and leadership going for us,” he said, “but I also realize that we are in a challenging conference with a lot of other teams who bring back experienced and talented kids who are going to give their best effort on Friday nights.”
The Knights return six seniors and 13 letter winners, including the entire interior offensive and defensive line.
“We return a lot of speed,” Jefferson said, “and overall the team will have a lot of experience from the upperclassmen since most of them have started on varsity since they were freshmen.”
In practice, he has been working on HEART, which is what he defines as the team’s focus and effort. Read More
•August 22, 2018•
The Strasburg Lions club will host a slow pitch softball tournament September 8 in the Strasburg Park. Teams may have up to 15 players and a minimum of eight players. Cost to participate is $200 per team. The Lions will serve hamburgers and porkburgers for lunch and ribeye and tenderloin sandwiches for supper. All teams must be signed up and paid by September 1. For questions or to register, contact Lion Mike Antonacci at 217-343-9789.
•August 22, 2018•
Sullivan hosted a round robin tournament with Teutopolis and Taylorville Saturday. Sullivan took second place. Teutopolis defeated Sullivan 4-1 and Sullivan defeated Tayorville 11-1. Teutopolis also defeated Taylorville 14-13.
Individual results are Rylee Roehrs- one hit, one RBI, one run; Chloe Smith-three hits, one RBI, one run; Bella Brownlee-one B, two RBIs; Izzy Hay-two hits, 1 RBI; Kylie Dyer-one B.
Maddie Probus-Winning pitcher against Taylorvile, one single, two doubles, two runs; Lexie Hay-three hits, two RBIs, three runs; Alaina Moore-three B, one HR, four RBIs, four Rs; Ava Shriver-one R.
Photo furnished
OV Golfer Shoots 78 at Meridian
Okaw Valley golfer Case Crawford kicked off his season in style.
The senior golfer won the Meridian Hawk Invite with a score of 78 August 9.
The Timberwolves’ team finished third in the seven-team invite with a score of 409.
Maroa-Forsyth/Warrensburg-Latham won the tournament with a score of 369.
Okaw Valley golfer Hayden Carlson shot a 108, and Addison Webner finished with a 111.
Myles Harlin followed with a 112.
The Timberwolves are scheduled to travel to Arcola to take on Arcola and Clinton Tuesday, Aug. 21 and then to Blue Ridge at Woodlawn Country Club Thursday.
•August 15, 2018•
The Sullivan boys’ golf team teed off its season with a third place finish at the St. Anthony Invite Thursday and finished with a team score of 321.
Caden Ellis was Sullivan’s top scorer, placing third with a 73.
Leighton Burcham scored an 80 for ninth place. Read More
Photo furnished
Reese Nichols is Russia bound.
•August 8, 2018•
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress
Reese Nichols is a diminutive 12-year-old gymnast with big dreams and high hopes of participating in an international gymnastics competition in Russia in November.
Reese is the daughter of Bethany Police Chief Chris Nichols and his wife Bethany who is a nurse. Reese has a brother, sister and a dog named Theo.
Besides gymnastics she plays on a softball team, and her favorite subject in school is science.
She recently won first place in all-round competition at a national meet in North Carolina. All-round is the most difficult because she must compete in all events: floor exercises, vault, parallel bars and beam. Read More