•August 12, 2020•
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) struggled to find enough officials for each sporting event.
The large majority of officials are older, and younger officials have not been signing up at the rate needed to fill every IHSA event throughout the season.
Now, the pandemic has made the IHSA’s task even more difficult.
IHSA Assistant Executive Director Sam Knox is responsible for football, wrestling, baseball in the officials department and has been actively recruiting officials via high school and college officiating classes, social media platforms and local official associations with members who have connections with people in their communities. Read More
Category Archives: Sports Section
IHSA Announces Scheduling Changes For 2020-2021 School Year
•August 5, 2020•
by Jason Brown
for the News Progress
Since the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors announced on July 29 its intended plans for the 2020-21 school year, athletic directors and coaches from all over Illinois have been scrambling to implement unprecedented scheduling changes.
The scheduling changes include playing all sports over the course of truncated fall, winter, spring, and summer seasons. The plan has been sent to the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) for final approval.
Football, boys soccer, and girls volleyball are scheduled to shift from a fall to a spring schedules.
“This plan, like nearly every aspect of our current lives, remains fluid,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Changes may come, and if they do, we will be agile while putting safety and students first. It was important that we provide a framework today for our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and officials to begin preparing for the 2020-21 school year.” Read More
Blue Dolphins Return and Adjust to New Waters
•July 22, 2020•
By Kevin Cremeens
SBD Publicity Director
The end of February and the early part of March, four athletes of the Sullivan Blue Dolphins learned that they qualified and were going to represent the Sullivan Swimmers at the Speedo Zone Championship and at State.
This was a huge accomplishment. When a swimmer makes it to the State competition it is solely based on performance and not the size of school. At this time everyone is watching the news and keeping in contact with swim officials. March 12th, athletes were on their way to the host city for the Swim Meet that was to begin on Friday, March 13th.
On his way to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, making it past Champaign, Ethan Schmohe receives the email that the Speedo Zone Championships had been cancelled. The same thing happened to Matthew Wesselman, Isaac Chambers, and Alivia Melvin who were on their way to Elkhart, Indiana for the State Championship Meet. Read More
Okaw Valley Player Signs
Twitter photo
Okaw Valley Player Signs
Cameron Sharp (gray shirt) signs to play basketball at Quincy University June 10.
Two Okaw Valley alumni committed to playing collegiate sports these past weeks.
Cameron Sharp signed to continue his basketball and academic career at Quincy University.
Camden Coleman, whose senior year of baseball was lost to the pandemic, signed to play baseball at Fontbonne University in St. Louis.
Coleman signed on as a pitcher.
In his junior year, Coleman eight games as a pitching and with a 5-1 record, pitching 34 2/3 innings.
He totaled 43 strikeouts and 11 walks with a 1.01 ERA.
Student Athletes’ Conditioning Regiment Adjusted for COVID 19 Safety Concerns
•June 17, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors announced guidelines that provide the first step in IHSA student-athletes returning to participation.
Monday, June 15th, Sullivan coaches implemented those guidelines into a new conditioning regiment for Sullivan athletes.
The football, boys basketball, volleyball and girls basketball began conducting voluntary in-person strength and conditioning workouts for the high school students that are interested in participating in those sports.
The football and boys basketball groups will workout on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 7-8 a.m.
The volleyball and girls basketball groups will work out from 10-11 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.
“Groups of no more than nine students and a coach have been set primarily by sport, and those coaches have communicated that with their athletes,” said Sullivan athletic director Ryan Aiken. “The workouts that these groups do will be general in nature and will be conducted outside at various spots throughout our complex such as the football practice field, the high school track, and the grass lot east of the football field so that we can ensure that social distancing guidelines are being maintained.” Read More
National Health Crisis Leaves Players Standing on the Sidelines
Photo by Jason Brown:
Paige Robinson slashes toward the basket during the 2018 Final Four in Normal.
•June 17, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
When Okaw Valley alumnus Paige Robinson selected which collegiate basketball team she wanted to play for after high school, she wanted to join a university basketball team that had a chance to win a national championship.
Last season, in her freshman year, Robinson was part of a 35-0 Drury University that made it to the Final Four. She thought that she might have the opportunity for a dream season in her first year. But the Panthers lost 69-60 to Lubbock Christian in the NCAA-II semifinals to end their season.
This season, as the No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA-II, the Panthers defeated Lewis 77-55 for their fourth straight Great Lakes Valley Conference title and again headed into the NCAA-II undefeated (32-0). Read More
Students-Athletes Returning to Participation Outdoors
•June 10, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports
For weeks, area coaches and athletic directors have been waiting for the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors to announce guidelines that provide the first step in IHSA student-athletes returning to participation.
Their biggest complication: the difficulty of planning for the unknown.
“Events associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have constantly been changing so it has been extremely difficult to plan for what seems to be at times a bunch of different scenarios,” Sullivan athletic director Ryan Aiken said last Sunday.
After delaying the announcement for new guidelines for nearly a week, late Friday afternoon, the IHSA posted its “COVID-19 Update.”
The IHSA has approved “Return to Play Guidelines” developed within the current structure of Governor Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan that provide the first step in IHSA student-athletes returning.
In a very short turnaround, the IHSA’s “Stage 1 of Return to Play” began one day after the announcement, June 6, but with stipulations. Read More
Brynna Sentel Named 2020 HCAC Female Athlete of the Year
•June 10, 2020•
Franklin College junior swimmer Brynna Sentel has been named the 2020 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s (HCAC) Female Athlete of the Year, announced by the league on Monday (Jun. 8) afternoon.
The Sullivan native becomes the second Franklin female athlete to earn the league’s top individual honor, joining 2015 winner Anna Murdock. Sentel earned the award after putting together a dominant season in the pool, qualifying for the NCAA National Championships and being named an NCAA All-American for the second straight year. Read More
What Can Local Athletes Look Forward To?
•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
Did You Know? at Okaw Valley HS
•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]