IHSA Pauses All Winter Sports to Comply with Mitigations

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•November 25, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for school boards, athletic directors, coaches, parents and players involved with Illinois High School Association (IHSA) winter sports.
The competing announcements coming from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the IHSA about playing high school basketball confused most parties who just wanted an answer to the question: will there be winter sports?
So all eyes were on the IHSA Board of Directors special virtual meeting Thursday, Nov. 19, for an update on winter sports.
During the meeting, the IHSA Board issued guidance to pause all IHSA winter sports and activities to maintain compliance with the most recent mitigations issued by Governor Pritzker that took effect Nov. 20. Read More

Sullivan Boys Golf Players Earn All Area Honors

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•November 25, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

This season, the Sullivan boys’ golf team had one of the best season of any Redskin golf team, but without a state golf meet, the team can never really know its final place in state.
The year’s successes were on display when the Champaign News Gazette announced All-Area Boys’ Golf Teams this past weekend.
Four Redskins earned the all-area honors.
Senior Leyton Ellis and senior Drew Rogers were named to the all-area second team.
Junior Camden Dwyer and senior Logan Westjohn earned all-area honorable mention honors. Read More

Shriver Makes All-Area Honorable Mention Team

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•November 18, 2020•
The News Gazette announced all-area girls’ golf teams this past week.
One local athlete received honors.
Sullivan junior golfer Alyssa Shriver made the all-area honorable mention team.
Shriver was awarded the Most Valuable Player at the Redskins’ recent girls’ golf banquet.
Shriver helped lead the Sullivan girls’ golf team to a fourth-place finish with a team score of 487 in the Central Illinois Conference meet this season.
She earned all-conference honors by finishing in second place with a score of 96.

Layton Hall Signs With Indiana State

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Photo by Jason Brown
Layton Hall (left) in his sophomore year and Logan Hall (right) in his senior year line up to start the 2018 STM Saber Corn Classic Invitational.

•November 18, 2020•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

Saturday, Oct. 31, Layton Hall competed the IHSA Class 1A Cross Country Sectional at Hickory Point Golf Course to officially end his high school cross country running career.
The senior won the meet with a time of 15:27.6.
The ALAH Knight also competed in the unsanctioned ShaZam Cross Country Club Championships at the Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe Friday, Nov. 6.
Hall ran a 15:58.89 for fifth place.
The ALAH boys’ team, which ran under the name 4 City Striders, placed second with 102 points behind the Harvest Christian Academy team (90 points) that ran as the Elgin Holy Cow Athletics.
The day before the ShaZam Cross Country Club Championships, Hall verbally committed to run for Indiana State next fall. Read More

IHSA to Meet on November 19 to Discuss Policy for Winter Sports

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•November 18, 2020•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

After competing announcements coming from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois High School Association about playing high school basketball, most athletic directors and coaches were left in the lurch this past two weeks.
Thursday Nov. 19, the IHSA Board of Directors has an originally scheduled meeting in which representatives from the Governors J.B. Pritzker’s office, Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, and others organizations are slated to discuss policy for winter sports.
The IHSA is also seeking representation at the meeting from the Illinois Principals Association (IPA), the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and a coalition of nearly 200 school superintendents who issued a letter last Friday addressed to Pritzker regarding sports during the 2020-21 school year. Read More

Makenzie Brown Signs With Golden Hurricane of Tulsa For Softball

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•November 18, 2020•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

Despite missing her junior year of softball, Makenzie Brown has garnered a lot of attention from collegiate scouts.
Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Kentucky, Ball State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville each showed interested in recruiting her.
Why so much attention?
Well, as a sophomore, Brown proved what type of clutch player she could be. She helped the Knights win the Class 2A Newton Regional after defeating host Newton 7-3. Read More

Sullivan Cross Country Teams Hold Annual Awards Banquet

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•November 11, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan boys’ and girls’ cross country teams hosted the annual awards banquet to honor each team and athletes Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Athletic Director Ryan Aikmen opened the banquet with some introductory words about finishing an unconventional fall sports season.
“We are here this season being able to recognize everyone in this room for their accomplishments during this season because it’s a testament to the flexibility shown by everyone involved,” said Aikmen. “It’s a testament to the coaches for the extra work they put in…I want to thanks coach Randy and coach Taylor for all the hard work they did in making sure our student athletes.”
The coaches of the boys’ and girls’ teams then announced the winner of each award. Read More

Cross Country Club Championships Held

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•November 11, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

On Saturday, Oct. 31, cross country runners around the state ended their sectional meet knowing they would not have an opportunity to compete in an official 2020 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state meet.
An official meet, that was.
Several local runners did compete in the unsanctioned ShaZam Cross Country Club Championships at the Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe Friday. Read More

SHS Golf Teams Hold Awards Banquets

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Hannah Righter took home the Most Improved Award during the girls’ golf team fall banquet last Tuesday.

•November 4, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan boys’ and girls’ golf team hosted Awards Banquets at the VFW Hall in Sullivan last Tuesday.
Only team members and coaches attended in person because of current Illinois Department of Public Health limitations on gatherings.
Several athletes collected individual awards.
For the boys’ team, Drew Rogers won Most Valuable Player (Lowest Average) Award.
Logan Westjohn left with the Leadership Award, and Will Haegan earned the award for Most Improved Average Score.
Leyton Ellis earned the Redskin Award. Read More

Basketball Season To Start Nov 16

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•November 4, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

Governor J.B. Pritzker’s announcement to move basketball from a medium risk sport to a high-risk sport last Tuesday caught nearly every athletic director, coach and player in the state completely off guard.
To add more confusion and frustration around the topic, the following day, the IHSA stated that basketball would be a local decision, and the basketball season will start on Monday, Nov. 16.
Basketball previously had been considered a medium risk Level 2 sport allowing intrasquad scrimmages while wearing masks.
The Board released the following statement regarding the basketball action. Read More