Category Archives: Sports Feature

OV Athletes Robinson and Fritz Win Espy Award

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Photo furnished
Robinson at state tournament in Normal.

•June 27, 2018•

by Jason Brown
NP Sports

The 2017-18 sports year is over, but Okaw Valley athletes are still accumulating awards.
Recent graduates Paige Robinson and Garrett Fritz won the 10th annual ESPN Decatur Espy Award during the ceremony at Richland College, Sunday.

Paige Robinson
Robinson took home the prize for Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight year.
Fritz took home the prize for Baseball Player of the Year.
Robinson set several school records and collected even more accolades.
Robinson was named to the 15-member Illinois Girls’ Basketball Coaches All-State Class 1A/2A first team.
The 5 feet 10 inch guard was one of five players named to the second team Associated Press All-State girls’ basketball team.
“I said Paige is the best player in the area and best player around to anyone who would listen in the last two years,” said OV coach Brad Ackers. “Paige just continued to prove it.” Read More

Summer of Preparation Ahead for New SOV Football Coach

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•June 20, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Jeff Myers has some catching up to do.
Myers, who was hired as the Sullivan-Okaw Valley football coach a few weeks ago, has a short window to become familiar with his players, hold camps and start practice before the first game on Aug. 24.
“Right now we are primarily working in the weight room on strength and agility,” said Myers. “When we do get outside and use some of our contact days, we are concentrating on fundamentals. Once we come back after the Fourth of July, we will ramp up the football portion of our summer.”
This may sound like an overwhelming task for a first-time coach in his first year, but Myers has been around for more than two decades.
He served as an assistant coach at Central A&M (1992, 1998-2003), South Walton High School (2004-2015; 2017), and St. Teresa High School (2016).
He has been an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, running backs coach, defensive line coach, defensive backs coach, and strength and conditioning coach. Read More

Coach Dale Schuring’s Career Guided Hundreds of Athletes

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Furnished photo
ALAH Basketball season with youngest son Tyler Schuring and Coach Dale Schuring (2014-2015 season).

•June 13, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

This summer not only marks the end of the school year but also the end of a long and prestigious coaching career at Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond High School.

In March the ALAH school board did not renew Dale Schuring’s coaching positions in football or basketball.

For more than three decades, Schuring has been a staple in the area and leaves behind a long history of coaching that spans several sports.

Currently, he has been taking things slowly and trying to adjust to the newfound downtime.

“I am taking things slowly to see what is out there and figure out where I want to go with my life since I am close to retirement, three years,” said Schuring, who is a math teacher. “I am struggling mightily with all the downtime I now have available because I am accustomed to going 100 miles per hour all year round.”

This transition is understandable after years of conditioning.

Schuring first coached for Arthur as a volunteer as an assistant football coach in the fall of 1988.

He took his first paid coaching job at Arthur as an assistant baseball coach in the winter of 1988-89. Read More

WSS Hatchets Make Dream Come True

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2018 IHSA Class 1A State Champions

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Windsor-Stewardson-Strasburg softball team made school history with its first trip to the IHSA Class 1A State Softball tournament at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria Friday and Saturday.

And they made the most of it, winning both games to capture their first ever state championship softball trophy.

Friday the Hatchets traveled nearly two hours to play Argenta-Oreana, a team less than 35 miles away, then took on the Goreville Blackcats for the state championship game Saturday.

The game against Goreville, originally scheduled for the afternoon, was changed to 9 a.m. because of incoming storms predicted for later in the afternoon.

The quick turnaround did not affect WSS.

The Hatchets scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the game early.

Junior Carson Cole bunted for a single to start the inning, and junior Megan Schlechte sacrificed Cole to second.

Junior Calla Roney homered to right center for the quick 2-0 lead. Read More

WSS Hatchets Earn Historic Final Four Honor with Trip to State Tournament

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WSS Hatchets team heads to state after winning IHSA Super-sectionals in Springfield.

•May 30, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg softball team’s No. 7 IHSA Class 1A ranking this season was not good enough.

After winning its regional, WSS shutout Central A&M last Tuesday and Cumberland Saturday to win the Effingham Sectional title.

But the Hatchets were not finished.

WSS avenged last season’s super-sectional loss to Calhoun with a come-from-behind win to knock off the Warriors 7-2.

The Springfield super-sectional win gave the Hatchets their first trip to the Final Four tournament at state in Windsor or Stewardson-Strasburg’s softball history.

WSS is scheduled to play Argenta-Oreana at 12:30 p.m. at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Friday. Read More

OV Baseball Takes Third Regional Title with Shutout Win

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Photo by RR Best
The Okaw Valley High School baseball team celebrates its third Regional Conference title.

•May 23, 2018•

by Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley baseball team won its third regional title in four years with a 3-0 shutout of Argenta-Oreana at the IHSA Class 1A Meridian Regional championship in Macon Saturday.

Despite defeating AO twice this season 5-1 (April 25) and 18-0 (May 1), the No. 1 seeded Timberwolves were not taking anything for granted.

In last year’s regional championship, AO upset OV.

The Timberwolves, especially senior Garrett Fritz, were determined not to let that happen this season.

Fritz took the mound and shut down the Bombers in the top of the first inning.

In the bottom of the first, Fritz drove in two runs with a home run.

OV scored another run in the first, and that was all the run support he needed. Read More

Three Wins Wind Down OVHS Baseball Season

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RR Best Photo
An intent Trey Yarnell pitches a knuckle ball to the plate.

•May 16, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley baseball team won three-straight games this past week before losing its final game of the season.

The Timberwolves topped North Clay, Meridian and Taylorville but lost to Monticello to finish the regular season with a 25-3 overall record and a 10-0 in the Little Okaw Valley.

Monday night against Monticello the Timberwolves dropped their last game of the season 7-4 to the Sages.

Monticello scored on a double in the first inning, but OV tied the game with a run in the top of the third.

The Sages scored three runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth to take a commanding 7-2 lead.

OV scored two in the fifth, including a home run by Garrett Fritz, but could not make a comeback. Read More

OV Baseball Wins OV Northwest Conference Title

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Photo submitted

•May 9, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Okaw Valley baseball team surpassed 20 wins and won the Little Okaw Valley Northwest Conference during a busy week.

OV knocked off Arcola, Argenta-Oreana, Decatur Lutheran and Tri-County to stay undefeated in the LOVC but lost a non conference game to Paris.

“Winning the LOVC is one of our main goals every season,” said OV coach Andrew Hagerman. “Going undefeated in conference play is really quite an accomplishment. There are some really good teams in our conference, and I feel all of the teams in the LOVC Northwest are very well-coached right now.”

Monday, the Timberwolves topped Tri-County 11-1.

OV scored in every inning but the third and totaled 11 hits. Read More

Redskins Shut Out Bulldogs for a Conference Win

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Photo by RR Best
Josh Stutzman catches the ball.

•May 2, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan baseball team finished the week 5-1 with losses to Clinton, Okaw Valley, Shelbyville, Tuscola and Maroa-Forsyth.

The Redskins defeated St. Teresa last Wednesday.

Against the Bulldogs, Sullivan shutout St. Teresa 7-0 for a Central Illinois Conference win.

Sullivan scored two runs in the first inning, one run in he second and one run in the third for an early 4-0 lead.

The Redskins scored three more in the sixth inning for the final score.

Dalton Rogers, Spencer Johnson and Gavin Sullivan each recorded two hits. Johnson added two runs scored and two RBIs, and Rogers scored two runs. Read More

Sullivan Girls’ Track Team Wins Tri-County Meet

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Sullivan girls’ track team celebrating the Tri-County Meet win.

•April 25, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan girls’ track and field team won the nine-team Tri-County Meet and then placed sixth in the 16-team Tuscola Open on Friday.

In the Tri-County Meet Tuesday, April 17 Sullivan scored 103 points for the win.

Zoe Walton high jumped five feet for second place and Katherine Kite ran the 1,600 in 6:02 for second place.

Kite also placed fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:46.94.

Madalyne McPheeters placed third in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash with times of 13.92 and 29.16, respectively.

Emily White high jumped 4 feet 10 inches for third place, and Esther Miller triple jumped 32 feet 11 inches for third place and placed third in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:03.94.

She also high jumped 4 feet 8 inches for fourth place. Read More