•June 3, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
As stay at home restrictions are relaxed and summer activities begin, what are local athletes looking forward to?
Below we asked Sullivan Athletic Director Ryan Aikman three questions in a short interview about sports, summer camps, and preparing for the unknown during a crisis.
News Progress: With the new guidelines of working out but not more than ten people at a time, is SHS going to open its weight room, etc.? Read More
•May 20, 2020•
Okaw Valley High School has been offering a “Did you know?” social media project over the last school year.
These items were included recently:
The 2020 Senior Okaw Valley High School baseball players were 69-19 in their high school career entering the 2020 season?
Did you know OVHS has a brand new athletic complex which consists of a brand new baseball field?
Did you know that since the beginning of the 14-15 season, which ended in a 4th place finish at state, the baseball team has a record of 120-31... a .741 winning percentage?[/s2If]
File Photo
Amanda Glazebrook is pictured.
IBCA Hall of Famer
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
While the Basketball Museum of Illinois in Elburn is currently closed because of the pandemic shutdown, the Museum’s Twitter account gave a shout out to Sullivan alumnus Amanda Glazebrook.
On May 11, the Museum’s Twitter account posted three photos of Glazebrook, who is an IBCA Hall of Famer, with the follow tweet.
“During the 1990-91 season, Amanda Glazebrook, playing pt. guard, led Sullivan H.S. to the State Title going 35-0. From 1987 -1991, Sullivan was 105 -14. Amanda attended ISU & had 239 assists. We are proud to call her an IBCA Hall of Famer.”
After playing at Illinois State University, Glazebrook returned to Sullivan to coach the high school varsity team.
In the 2001-02 season, an Amanda Glazebrook coached team lost to Teutopolis in the Decatur sectional. Read More
Photo furnished
Virtual Signing for SHS Runner
A Team Zoom on Friday was held to celebrate Sullivan High School runner Katherine Kite’s college signing to Elmhurst College. She will be running cross country and track and field for the Blue Jays next fall.
Coach Kali Taylor commented on Kite’s high school career. “It has been such a joy to have the honor of coaching and learning from Katherine for the past four years. She is one of the hardest working, dedicated and selfless student-athletes that I have had the privilege of coaching. She has grown into such an outstanding role model for her teammates, on and off the track. While balancing several extra-curricular activities, taking AP classes and being an active member in several student organizations, Katherine still found the time to hone her running craft. She participated in the Viper Track Club last summer, to help supplement her off- season training and took on a leadership role for our winter conditioning, serving as a mentor for all her teammates. In cross country she was a 3 time All Conference runner and qualified for Sectionals on three occasions. I have seen tremendous growth in Katherine throughout her high school career, largely in part to her mental toughness and fortitude. She came in as freshman running a 7:00 mile and finished with a PR of 5:45. She had her sights set on breaking the school record of 5:35, but I am excited for her to take this next step in her journey and have no doubt that she will surpass that at the college level. She hasn’t truly realized what she is capable of achieving and I can’t wait to see the contributions that she makes to the Blue Jays program! She has definitely left her mark on the SHS Track Program and has set the bar high for future distance runners to strive for.”
Photo furnished
Grant Martin with his $25 Swim Outlet Gift Card Participation Award.
•April 15, 2020•
By Kevin Cremeens
SBD Publicity Director
The Sullivan Blue Dolphins Swim Team has not been allowed to gather and practice in the pool since March 16th, but they are not letting that stop them.
Don’t be alarmed, they are not still meeting and working out together, but are doing so “virtually”. Read More
Korey Hostetter bends for a rebound.
•April 1, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
The Sullivan Lady Redskins defeated the Lady Rams of Shelbyville to take eighth in the Okaw Valley Tournament in 2005, but dropped four other games this week.
Sullivan took a six-point lead into the half and tacked on one more in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Lady Redskins spread
the lead open for the 48-37 victory. Sullivan outscored the Lady Rams in every quarter with help from Kasey Hamilton who led Sullivan with 20 points.
Carrie Kuhns followed with eight.
Micah Heddins, Kelly Malloy and Megan Buxton each scored four points, and Lacey Florey and Shaylee Walker had three each.
Lara Seelhoefer rounded out Sullivan’s scoring with a bucket. Read More
•March 18, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
Several area girl basketball players earned all-conference honors this past week.
Central Illinois Conference
From Sullivan, three Redskins earned all-Central Illinois Conference honors.
Emily White was one of four unanimous choices for the six-member all-conference team.
The junior was the Redskins leading scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game. Read More
Photo by Jason Brown
Jamison Rocke defends Eli Hagerman during the Lincoln Prairie Conference regular-season championship game Feb. 1 at Arthur. Both players earned all-LPC honors.
•March 18, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
The Lincoln Prairie Conference announced its boys’ basketball all-conference team Thursday.
In its inaugural year, several area players earned honors.
For Okaw Valley, senior Cameron Sharp earned unanimous first-team selection.
Sharp averaged a team-high 18.7 points and 2.9 steals per game to go with 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.
He shot 46 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range. Read More
•March 18, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
The changes to high school sports came rapidly at the end of last week.
Earlier in the day Thursday, March 12, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced the limitations of attendance to no more than 60 spectators.
Then later in the day, the IHSA decided to cancel the events because of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding that we have received from everyone involved in this process over the past 72 hours,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “We have stressed the fluidity of this situation and have been transparent about the possibility that a suspension or cancellation could occur. While we had support from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Peoria City/County Health Department to continue our events with limited spectators, it has become untenable to continue the events among our member schools.” Read More
•March 18, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
The Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) state wrestling and volleyball tournaments were canceled Friday because of concerns with the spread of coronavirus, COVID-19.
The IESA has made the decision to cancel the remainder of the IESA volleyball state series for both seventh grade and eighth grade.
“As we mentioned yesterday (Wednesday), we were hoping that if there was a reasonable chance to resume the state series, we would try to do so,” said IESA Executive Director Steve Endsley. “However, several factors have been taken into consideration just in the last 24 hours to reach this decision”
Factors for cancelling included the following.
• The increasing number of schools who are closing for an extended period of time
• The variability in state host availability
• Scheduled spring breaks and extended school closures after spring breaks
• The availability of contest officials as we transition into the high school spring season Read More