Sentel Leads Sullivan Blue Dolphins to Championship Meet

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Photo furnished Brynna Sentel at Senior Championship with her 5th place medal.

Photo furnished
Brynna Sentel at Senior Championship with her 5th place medal.

•August 17, 2016•

Brynna Sentel lead the Sullivan Blue Dolphins to the Senior Championship meet the weekend of August 4.

She qualified and competed in seven individual events and swam on two relays for SBD.  She is ranked fifth in the state in the 200 individual medley and 10th in the 100 backstroke.

Coach Jason Drury said, “for Sentel all the years of hard work and the experience at this level of competition is all coming together.“

Tyler Homann competed for the Dolphins in the 100 breaststroke.

The 400 medley relay team of Anna Wooters,   Brynna Sentel, Natalie Drury and McKenna Kull placed 30th.

The 400 freestyle relay of McKenna Kull, Allison Oligschlaeger, Anna Wooters and Sentel placed 15th.    Read More

Sullivan Golfers Place in Junior Open

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Photo furnished Sullivan Golfers Place in Junior Open Two Sullivan Golfers Placed in the Decatur Junior Open. Drew Rogers shot a two day total of 184 to win the 12-13 year old division and Logan Westjohn shot a 206 to finish fourth in that division. Both will be in eighth grade in Sullivan this year. They played at Hickory Point Golf Course in Decatur July 25 and 26.

Photo furnished
Sullivan Golfers Place in Junior Open
Two Sullivan Golfers Placed in the Decatur Junior Open.
Drew Rogers shot a two day total of 184 to win the 12-13 year old division and Logan Westjohn shot a 206 to finish fourth in that division. Both will be in eighth grade in Sullivan this year.
They played at Hickory Point Golf Course in Decatur July 25 and 26.

Sullivan MVP

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Photo furnished Sullivan MVP Jackson Matheson of Sullivan played in the Cal Ripken State and Ohio Valley Tournament with the Mattoon 9u All-stars team. Matheson was awarded MVP during the championship game in Galesburg. After winning the state tournament, the All-stars advanced to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. The five-state tournament included teams from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky,  Michigan and Wisconsin.   During a skills competition, Matheson won the fastest pitch with a speed of 57 mph. He also received another MVP for hitting a two run out-of-the-park home run over right field.  

Photo furnished
Sullivan MVP
Jackson Matheson of Sullivan played in the Cal Ripken State and Ohio Valley Tournament with the Mattoon 9u All-stars team. Matheson was awarded MVP during the championship game in Galesburg. After winning the state tournament, the All-stars advanced to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. The five-state tournament included teams from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky,  Michigan and Wisconsin.  
During a skills competition, Matheson won the fastest pitch with a speed of 57 mph. He also received another MVP for hitting a two run out-of-the-park home run over right field.

Olympics, Hall of Fame, NFL Training Camp, Oh My!

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•August 10, 2016•

Kirk Whitaker
NP Sports Columnist

We are headed for the golden time of the year in American sports.

Major League Baseball is heating up as playoff pushes are being made, National Football League training camps and pre-season games are underway with the Hall of Fame Game this past Sunday.

Longtime Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison, and head coach Tony Dungy—two key cogs of Indy’s Super Bowl XLI win over the Bears— highlight the class. Rams and Steelers sack master Kevin Greene, former Rams left tackle Orlando Pace, along with former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, and two late greats in former Raiders quarterback Ken “The Snake” Stabler and former Lions offensive guard Dick Stanfel rounded out the largest class since the inaugural 1963 group.

Then there are the Olympics in Brazil.  Read More

Bowman Exceeding Expectations at McKendree

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Bowman w Kirk 8•August 10, 2016•

Kirk Whitaker
NP Sports Reporter

After a brief hiatus of the check-in on the area athletes at the collegiate level, we return to the recap with this week’s edition on Sullivan’s own Mollie Bowman.

The 2014 Redskin grad is currently a jumper and a sprinter at Division II McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.

Bowman performs the long jump (personal records will follow each event 17’5”), triple jump (35’11”), 200 meter sprint (25.84 seconds) and the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays (48.44 seconds, and 3:54.04 respectively).

Also, Bowman and the Bearcat coaches further plan on showcasing her versatility in the 400 meter hurdles.

Bowman has come, “extremely close”, in her own words, at bringing home conference hardware but has her sights set on achieving national honors her final two campaigns in Lebanon but not without working for them first.  Read More

Griffey Jr. and Piazza Officially Hall of Famers

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Cubs Snag Chapman from the Bronx

•July 27, 2016•

Kirk Whitaker
NP Sports Columnist

This week in sports was highlighted by the induction of longtime outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and catcher Mike Piazza into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Griffey, the first overall pick in the 1987 MLB draft at the ripe young age of 18, led the American League in home runs from 1993 to ’99 maxing out at 56 bombs in ‘97 and ‘98 consecutively, part of 630 dingers over a 21 year career. “Junior” compiled a .284 batting average to boot, proving himself not just a power threat.

Griffey, said by some sports writers to have the sweetest swing in MLB history, was a part of the controversial home run renaissance after the strike that cost baseball its only World Series but was never connected to performance enhancement use as several others of his era.

Also of note, Junior received the highest vote total to enter Cooperstown to date, receiving 99.32% of votes in his first year on the ballot. Read More

Gottfreidt Hitting Stride at Lindenwood

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Gottfreidt s:KirkFollowing a Dream

•July 20, 2016•

Kirk Whitaker
NP Sports Reporter

2014 Sullivan grad Taylor Gottfriedt was an All-OVC catcher when Sullivan softball won their home regional over ALAH in 2014.

After catching at Lincoln College for one season, Gottfriedt transferred to Lindenwood University in Belleville—an NAIA D1 softball program, which is equivalent to NCAA DII.

Midway through last season, Gottfriedt—who earned the starting catcher’s position for the pre-season 23rd nationally ranked Lynx— sustained a shoulder injury and was lost for the remainder of the season.  Read More

Seegmiller Keeps Rolling at Millikin

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Seegmiller w: KirkAll in, All Out, All the Time

•July 20, 2016•

Kirk Whitaker
NP Sports Reporter

2012 and 2013 were special years for Arthur-Lovington volleyball.

In those two seasons, the Lancers won the last two of their three consecutive regional crowns and advanced to the Sweet 16; ousted by Tri-County and eventual state runner-up Stewardson-Strasburg respectively.

A key cog of those two teams was 2015 graduate Emily Seegmiller.

Before Seegmiller took her talents to Millikin University, she was the best server the Lancers had and one of the most feared hitters in the area.  Read More

Mo-Co Rush to Add Baseball for 2017 Season

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•July 13, 2016•

The Mo-Co Rush will be adding 9U/10U baseball to their program for the 2017 season. Leading the 10U baseball coaching staff will be Jeff Thomas of Arcola who played for Baylor University.

Thomas pitched for the Bears and played on the team that went 41-19 and won a conference championship. After college, he played six seasons of professional baseball.   Read More