Category Archives: Sports

Tennis Receives a Boost with New Court Surface

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Photo by Mike Brothers
Tennis anyone? Back row, left to right: Jo An Mathias, Evelyn Ashley, Aastha Patel, coach Chris Dobosz, Neej Patel, Kathy Camp. Front row, left to right: Mikhayla Mathias, Elizabeth Mathias, Aarya Patel, coach Susie Dobosz, Clayton Bone, Xander Ashley and Natalee Hunter.

Players From 3-90 Years Old

•June 28, 2017•

By Mike Brothers

Tennis courts at Wyman Park in Sullivan are riddled with tennis balls on Tuesdays and Thursday, but it’s all in the name of fun.

That is in large part due to the gaining popularity for tennis in the area and the efforts of Chris and Susie Dobosz.

Tennis began growing in Sullivan in 2010 when Chris, who operates Evolve Yourself Fitness, began discussing the possibility of starting a youth tennis program.

The program grew from those humble beginnings to developing a middle school tennis program in Sullivan last year.

“This sort of grew organically from those first discussions,” Dobosz said, noting that 100 people went through the program last year.

That kind of traffic took its toll on the Wyman tennis courts which hadn’t seen much action in years. Read More

National Trampoline Champion

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National Trampoline Champion
Ten year old Shaylin Hunter of Sullivan won National Champion on trampoline at the 2017 national tumbling competition held in Madison, Wis. recently. She is the daughter of Siobhan and Austin Hunter.
She has been in tumbling for three years, training two days a week at the Mattoon Academy under coaches Liz White and Sara Maynard. She has made Nationals all three years that she has competed, this year placing first on the trampoline, third on the double mini, and seventh on the floor. Hunter has made Nationals in years past in Rapid City, S.D., and Knoxville, Tenn. and has won 56 trophies. She has advanced from a beginner to intermediate level in just three years and competed this year at nationals against 40-45 competitors.

Area Softball Players Honored

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•June 28, 2017•

Several players from Moultrie County earned softball all-area honors last week.

Soon to be Okaw Valley senior Paige Robinson earned second team honors.

The short stop had 43 hits, 29 runs and batted .531. Read More

ALAH Softball Team Recognizes Individuals

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•June 28, 2017•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond softball team handed out individual awards this past week.

Sophomore Reagan Miller received the offensive player award, and junior Macy Hollingsworth received the defensive player award.

Senior Mycaela Miller won the most valuable player award, and sophomore Marissa Herschberger won the most improved award.

Mycaela Miller was a unanimous first team Little Okaw Valley All-Conference player and was chosen for the first team all-area team in the News Gazette. Read More

ESPY Awards Finalists

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Photos by Jason Brown
(Paige Robinson Above)
ESPNDecatur 1050 AM and NowDecatur.com announced the finalists for the 9th Annual ESPNDecatur ESPY Awards. Two Okaw Valley athletes were nominated for player of the year. Paige Robinson was named a finalist for girls’ basketball player of the year. Garrett Fritz was named finalist for the baseball player of the year. Richland Community College’s Shilling Hall will host the banquet inside the theater where winners will be announced Sunday.

Garrett Fritz

Coaches Association Announced its 2017 Class 1A All-State Teams

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Grace Harlin

•June 21, 2017•

The Illinois Coaches Association announced its 2017 Class 1A All-State Teams.

Two Okaw Valley players earned all-state honors.

Natalie Jeffers earned second team honors, and Grace Harlin earned third team honors.

Jeffers and Harlin were both third team all-state players as sophomores.

Jeffers specialized in driving in runs.

She drove in 42 in 27 games and had a career high eight home runs.

She sported a .448 batting average and a .538 on base percentage, and she scored 32 runs and tallied 11 doubles. Read More

Commodores Win

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Commodores Win
The Decatur Commodores won the Sunnyside Invitational recently. Okaw Valley High School seniors Garrett Fritz and Cody Drake are a part of that team.

SBL Golf Benefit Raises Record Setting $60,000

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Professional golfer Mick Yelovich (left) presents Josh Wilson with a trip to Pebble Beach after winning the long drive challenge at the 28th annual Sarah Bush Lincoln Golf Benefit.

•June 21, 2017•

The 28th annual Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Foundation golf benefit experienced a record-setting year, reaching net proceeds of nearly $60,000 and attracting 262 golfers.

Funds raised at the June 9 event at Meadowview Golf Course will support the Foundation’s current initiative: “Life . . . Nothing Beats It,” a capital campaign to raise funds for the cardiology expansion project at Sarah Bush Lincoln that will include a new Heart Center and 21 new private patient rooms.

“We are extremely grateful for the generosity of our sponsors and the enthusiasm of our golfers,” said Kim Lockart, special events officer for the Foundation. “Each year we have tremendous support for our events at Sarah Bush Lincoln. This year, we introduced new challenges for our golfers and it was certainly exciting to set a record on funds raised for this outing.” Title sponsors include BSA Life Structures, Cerner, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative and Co-Bank; First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust, Hinshaw & Culbertson, and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

New this year was a long drive challenge in which Josh Wilson won a trip to Pebble Beach including airfare, three rounds of golf and a two-night stay valued at $5,000. During the challenge, players could make a donation to the Heart Center to have Mick Yelovich, eight-time long drive world championship qualifier, hit their tee shot. Wilson won the trip by chipping the ball in the cup on the second shot of the par-5 hole. Yelovich, who represents Charity Golf International, generated an additional $3,500 in donations for the Heart Center during the event.

For more information, contact Lockart at 217/258-2511.

OVHS Softball Players Receive Awards

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•June 14, 2017•

Okaw Valley High School softball players were honored at the end of the season with an awards ceremony.

Players recognized with end of season awards include Most Improved Player - Paige Coleman; Hustle Award - Kailyn Boyer; Best Offensive Player and Best Defensive Player - Natalie Jeffers; MVP - Maddie Perrine and Grace Harlin.

Joe Phillips Field Dedicated

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Photo by Mike Brothers

•June 14, 2017•

Former fast pitch teammates, village officials, family and friends of Hall of Fame fast pitch softball player Joe Phillips gathered June 9 in Wyman Park to dedicate the south softball field in his honor. Sullivan Mayor Ann Short presented the dedication plaque to Phillips’ son Terry who thanked the many teammates and friends who attended the 5:30 p.m. ceremony and invited them to an informal reunion at the Red Apple Restaurant afterwards.