•September 4, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

In his first year as Okaw Valley boys’ golf coach, Andrew Fultz returned top golfers Addison Webner, Miles Harlin, Hayden Carleson, and Seth Webner.
It will be difficult for OV to replace last season’s top scorer, Case Crawford, but the team did return several players with match experience.
“My hopes are that they are ready for the year a year older and a year wiser,” Fultz said. “They have been there before since there were only six by the end of the year last year. That experience will help us win matches early on in the year. We can build on that and it carries us and helps out the new golfers.”
For this season, Fultz is looking for solid scores out his top two golfers. Read More

•August 28, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Sullivan volleyball personnel are hoping the third time is a charm.
In the spring, Sullivan hired Christy Molzen to return this season for her third stint as varsity volleyball coach.
Molzen coached Redskin’s volleyball from 1997-2003 and again in 2011, and she finished with an overall record of 138-117.
This season, though, might be her most challenging attempt.
Molzen replaced Jennifer Young, who combined for a 1-89 overall record during the last three seasons.
To reestablish Sullivan as a competitive team night in and night out, Molzen has returned to fundamentals and built from there.
“We have quite a few new players so we are working at becoming more confident with volleyball skills in general,” she said. “The goal is to get better as the season progresses.” Read More

•August 28, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

When 2019 volleyball practice began, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond coach Emily Crossman knew she had to get everything she could out of the limited hours before the first match.
Unlike former years, Crossman saw this season’s starting positions as “up for grabs” because of the level of competition.
During preseason practice, she focused on coming together as a team.
“Finding the right combination of players,” Crossman said, “we have tried so many different line-ups. We are just seeing who clicks together and who can earn and keep a starting spot.” Read More

•August 28, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

In his first year as Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond varsity football coach, Ryan Jefferson’s squad finished the season with an overall record of 2-7.
In his second year, Jefferson hopes to utilize his team’s speed, including 12 returning letter winners, to push for a playoff berth.
“Our goals are to be competitive in the conference and to make playoffs,” Jefferson said. “If a conference championship is a realistic possibility later in the season, that’s great. But we want to be consistently competitive, and we’re hopeful that if we are, it will translate to a playoff berth from five or six wins.”
In practice and Friday’s scrimmage, Jefferson has been stressing the importance of the little things, including simple alignment on defense and sharpness with our offensive execution.
“We lacked in both areas last year, and I believe we have already made huge improvements there,” he said. Read More

•August 28, 2019•
The Sullivan golf team placed ninth with a score of 352 in the John Macek Invitational at the University of Illinois Orange Course Monday.
Hillsboro won the Champaign Centennial hosted tournament with a score of 321.
Layton Ellis recorded the Redskins’ best score at 83 and finished 15th. Read More