Category Archives: Sports Section

Dorjahn Named Cross Country Coach of the Year

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•December 9, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Writer

In 2019, Lyle Dorjahn took over as head coach of the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond boys’ cross country team.
In 2020, Dorjahn took home one of the area’s most prestigious coaching honors.
The Decatur Herald & Review announced last week that Dorjahn was the 2020 Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Dorjahn was introduced to cross country at Eastern Illinois University and has been a fan of track and field, so he got involved with the ALAH cross country program.
When the position opened in 2019, Dorjahn was offered and accepted the job. Dorjahn inherited a solid running core and an all-area runner of the year in Leyton Hall. Read More

Swimmers From Area Teams Named to All-Area Girls Teams

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•December 9, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Writer

The News Gazette announced its 2020 All-Area girls’ swimming and diving teams.
Swimmers from two area teams earned honors.
Shelbyville junior Gabrielle Spain, who swims for the Sullivan/Shelbyville/Okaw Valley cooperative team, earned first team honors.
Spain rated second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:17.51 seconds), third in the 100 backstroke (1:02.52) and fifth in the 50 freestyle (26.18). Read More

Layton Hall Named Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year

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•December 9, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Writer

The Herald and Review announced its winner of the Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year: Layton Hall.
Hall had an honored four-year career at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond in which he earned a trip to the state finals the first three years and would have earned another trip this season.
Hall’s personal-record time was achieved in the first meet of the season. Read More

IHSA Pauses All Winter Sports to Comply with Mitigations

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•November 25, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for school boards, athletic directors, coaches, parents and players involved with Illinois High School Association (IHSA) winter sports.
The competing announcements coming from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the IHSA about playing high school basketball confused most parties who just wanted an answer to the question: will there be winter sports?
So all eyes were on the IHSA Board of Directors special virtual meeting Thursday, Nov. 19, for an update on winter sports.
During the meeting, the IHSA Board issued guidance to pause all IHSA winter sports and activities to maintain compliance with the most recent mitigations issued by Governor Pritzker that took effect Nov. 20. Read More

Sullivan Boys Golf Players Earn All Area Honors

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•November 25, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

This season, the Sullivan boys’ golf team had one of the best season of any Redskin golf team, but without a state golf meet, the team can never really know its final place in state.
The year’s successes were on display when the Champaign News Gazette announced All-Area Boys’ Golf Teams this past weekend.
Four Redskins earned the all-area honors.
Senior Leyton Ellis and senior Drew Rogers were named to the all-area second team.
Junior Camden Dwyer and senior Logan Westjohn earned all-area honorable mention honors. Read More

Shriver Makes All-Area Honorable Mention Team

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•November 18, 2020•
The News Gazette announced all-area girls’ golf teams this past week.
One local athlete received honors.
Sullivan junior golfer Alyssa Shriver made the all-area honorable mention team.
Shriver was awarded the Most Valuable Player at the Redskins’ recent girls’ golf banquet.
Shriver helped lead the Sullivan girls’ golf team to a fourth-place finish with a team score of 487 in the Central Illinois Conference meet this season.
She earned all-conference honors by finishing in second place with a score of 96.

Layton Hall Signs With Indiana State

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Photo by Jason Brown
Layton Hall (left) in his sophomore year and Logan Hall (right) in his senior year line up to start the 2018 STM Saber Corn Classic Invitational.

•November 18, 2020•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

Saturday, Oct. 31, Layton Hall competed the IHSA Class 1A Cross Country Sectional at Hickory Point Golf Course to officially end his high school cross country running career.
The senior won the meet with a time of 15:27.6.
The ALAH Knight also competed in the unsanctioned ShaZam Cross Country Club Championships at the Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe Friday, Nov. 6.
Hall ran a 15:58.89 for fifth place.
The ALAH boys’ team, which ran under the name 4 City Striders, placed second with 102 points behind the Harvest Christian Academy team (90 points) that ran as the Elgin Holy Cow Athletics.
The day before the ShaZam Cross Country Club Championships, Hall verbally committed to run for Indiana State next fall. Read More

IHSA to Meet on November 19 to Discuss Policy for Winter Sports

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•November 18, 2020•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

After competing announcements coming from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois High School Association about playing high school basketball, most athletic directors and coaches were left in the lurch this past two weeks.
Thursday Nov. 19, the IHSA Board of Directors has an originally scheduled meeting in which representatives from the Governors J.B. Pritzker’s office, Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, and others organizations are slated to discuss policy for winter sports.
The IHSA is also seeking representation at the meeting from the Illinois Principals Association (IPA), the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and a coalition of nearly 200 school superintendents who issued a letter last Friday addressed to Pritzker regarding sports during the 2020-21 school year. Read More

Makenzie Brown Signs With Golden Hurricane of Tulsa For Softball

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•November 18, 2020•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

Despite missing her junior year of softball, Makenzie Brown has garnered a lot of attention from collegiate scouts.
Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Kentucky, Ball State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville each showed interested in recruiting her.
Why so much attention?
Well, as a sophomore, Brown proved what type of clutch player she could be. She helped the Knights win the Class 2A Newton Regional after defeating host Newton 7-3. Read More

Sullivan Cross Country Teams Hold Annual Awards Banquet

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•November 11, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan boys’ and girls’ cross country teams hosted the annual awards banquet to honor each team and athletes Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Athletic Director Ryan Aikmen opened the banquet with some introductory words about finishing an unconventional fall sports season.
“We are here this season being able to recognize everyone in this room for their accomplishments during this season because it’s a testament to the flexibility shown by everyone involved,” said Aikmen. “It’s a testament to the coaches for the extra work they put in…I want to thanks coach Randy and coach Taylor for all the hard work they did in making sure our student athletes.”
The coaches of the boys’ and girls’ teams then announced the winner of each award. Read More