Photo furnished

•October 17, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond volleyball team competed in the St. Thomas More Tourney Saturday and bookended the tournament with two close matches.
During the tournament, ALAH defeated New Berlin and Heyworth but lost to Cerro Gordo, St. Thomas More and Mt. Pulaski.
Before the tournament last Tuesday, ALAH lost to Blue Ridge and after the ALAH knocked off Arthur Okaw Christian Monday night.
There is one more game to be played in the tournament. ALAH’s current record is 19-10.
In the first match of the tournament, the Knights knocked off Heyworth 25-21, 25-23.
Taylor Powell corralled 12 kills and seven digs, and Emma Harris followed with six kills and a clock. Read More

•October 17, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Okaw Valley finished the week 2-0 in Little Okaw Valley Conference Northwest division action with wins over LSA and Sangamon Valley and defeated Meridian Monday night in Moweaqua.
Thursday, Oct. 11, OV defeated LSA in straight sets, 25-18, 25-11.
Kate Jeffers recorded nine kills, one ace, four blocks and two digs.
Paige Coleman added six kills and seven digs.
Madison Voegel contributed three kills and an ace, and Bella Benning added nine digs. Read More

Photo by R.R. Best
Dillon Wallace runs the ball against St. Teresa Friday night.

•October 10, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Sullivan-Okaw Valley football team’s homecoming was spoiled in a 66-0 loss to St. Teresa Friday.
The Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 4 in Class 2A, scored 37 points in the first quarter and 21 in the second.
Senior quarterback Cameron Kesterson was 3-for-8 for 14 yards passing, and he rushed the ball 15 times for 48 yards.
Junior Dillon Wallace had nine yards rushing on five carries, and sophomore Luke Vander Burgh ran the ball six times for 11 yards.
Sophomore Dominick Kimberlin, sophomore Ian Plank and junior Adam Collins each caught one pass. Collins’ and Kimberlin’s passes were for five yards each, and Plank’s catch was for four yards.
Senior Leman Jones led the team with eight total tackles and Vander Burgh had six.
Wallace and senior Cullen Dyer each recorded five total tackles.
Jones also caused a fumble, and Wallace recovered it.
Sullivan Okaw-Valley is scheduled to host another CIC matchup against Clinton Friday.[/s2If]

Photo furnished
OVHS Cross Country at Lake Land
The OVHS cross-country team traveled to the Cumberland Invite which is run on the campus of Lake Land College.
Karlie Stauder led the girls with a 23rd place finish while her sister Kylie placed 25th, and Mia Harris placed 42nd. Parker Perrine was the top boy performer getting 57th, and Preston Ozier got 61st. One hundred thirty boys and 100 girls competed in the event. The team will run at St. Anthony Saturday, Oct. 13.

•October 10, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Three area cross country teams competed in the Cumberland Invitational at Lake Land College in Mattoon Saturday.
For Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond, Layton Hall took second place with a time of 16:26.97, and Austin Romine ran a 18:57.59 for 47th place.
Justin Miller’s time of 19:44.44 was good enough for 62nd place, and Jace Green ran a 20:28.05 for 81st.
Dustin Sawyer finished in 21:37.05 for 102nd, and Jack Rollyson ran a personal best time of 22:55.00 for 120th.
For the Okaw Valley boys’ team, Parker Perrine ran a 19:30.69 for 57th place, and Preston Ozier’s 19:44.30 was good enough for 61st place.
Canaan Christensen crossed the line with a season best time of 20:35.02 for 85th place.
For the Okaw Valley girls’ team, Karlie Stauder ran a personal best time of 22:14.70 to finish 23rd.
Kylie Stauder ran a personal best time of 22:41.59 for 28th place, and Mia Harris’ personal best time of 24:04.05 placed her 42nd. Read More

•October 10, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football team’s playoff hopes slipped away in a heartbreaking overtime loss to Cerro Gordo/Bement Friday in Cerro Gordo.
After hosting its homecoming last week, ALAH could not play spoiler for CGB’s Homering in a back-and-forth game.
“Most fun game I’ve been a part of in my young career,” said ALAH coach Ryan Jefferson. “These are the types of games I enjoy the most, the ones where both teams battle hard for 48 minutes. Even without the win, I am so proud of our kids because of the fact that this was the first game where we battled through adversity and fought back. We have had a terrible habit of letting an opponent’s big play or a two score margin get to us mentally, and it gets us out of the grinding gear when that happens.”
The Knights scored first on a 6-yard run in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
The Broncos battled back in the second quarter with a 28-yard touchdown run. The kick failed, leaving the score at 7-6. Read More