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University of Illinois football manager Logan Tipsword stands on the sideline of TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis Saturday, Oct 21.

•November 8, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Like many athletes who grow up in Bethany, Logan Tipsword was an avid follower of Illini athletics.

Once Tipsword graduated from Okaw Valley High School in 2015 where he played three sports, he attended the University of Illinois and is now a junior majoring in crop science.

“I chose the U of I because I loved Illini athletics and knew it was one of the best schools in the country,” he said. “I never wanted to go anywhere else.”

During the summer while playing golf in Sullivan, Tipsword met a University of Illinois alumnus, Ben Kuhns, who worked for the football team several years ago.

Tipsword decided he again wanted be a part of a team, even if he was not a player, so with help from Kuhns and Trent Chestnut, who is head of equipment, Tipsword applied and was accepted to be one of the 13 managers for the Illini football team. Read More

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ALAH Knight Kobe Wells finished his football season scoring one touchdown against Villa Grove Heritage last Friday.

•October 25, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football team dropped its last game of the year to Villa Grove/Heritage 44-7 to end its season.

VGH scored 12 points in the first quarter and 16 in the second to take a commanding lead at half.

Kobe Wells scored the lone touchdown with a 36-yard run down the right side of the field.

He ran the ball five times for 43 yards and caught two passes for 33 yards. Read More

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Pictured is Ariel Kibler.

•October 11, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Arthur resident Ariel Kibler is trying to make it a three-peat.

Kibler, 19, made the World Age-Group Competition Team and is scheduled to compete in the World Age-Group competition to try to earn her third national championship in the double-mini trampoline Nov. 16-19 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“I hope to meet people from other countries and see how other countries may do things differently,” she said. “Overall, I am just excited to be able to represent the USA on a big competition level such as this. I just want to do my best, have fun, and hopefully earn a medal along the way.”

The World Age Groups is an international competition (ages 11-21) that takes place every year, excluding Olympic years.

Kibler was a national champion in the double-mini trampoline event in 2015 and 2017.  Read More

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•September 27, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond volleyball team checked another goal off the list this week.

“I am very proud of the girls so far this season,” said ALAH coach Emily Crossman. “They had some lofty goals set for themselves at the beginning, and they are focused on checking them off the list.”

The Knights extended its unbeaten streak to 13-0 by winning the Arcola Invitational Saturday and defeating Argenta-Oreana in its first Little Okaw Valley Conference match Thursday. Read More

Photo by Darian Hays
The Knights defense balanced a strong ALAH offense in Friday’s win over Oblong. Above Knight Lance Mercer enlists help in downing Panther running back at Wilson Field.

•September 13, 2017•

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football team improved its record to 2-1 on the season with a dominant 48-15 win at home over Oblong Friday.

“I thought we played very well, especially defensively,” said ALAH coach Dale Schuring. “We took care of the ball and cut down on our penalties from weeks one and two.”

The Knights scored 13 in the first quarter and 21 in the second to take a 34-8 lead.

The difference in the game was the Knights’ offensive and defensive lines.

“We controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the night,” Schuring said. “We did have quite a bit of success running the ball, but I think we set that up with our passing game early.”

Offensively, ALAH rushed for 253 yards on 30 carries and passed for 78 yards passing on 10 attempts.

The Knights had several players reach at least 100 yards in total offense. Read More