In football
Pawnee/Lincolnwood 43, St. Thomas More 8. The Sabers (0-1) struggled to keep up with the 2024 8-man state semifinalists on the road.
In volleyball
Timberwolf Tip-Off
Cissna Park wins title. The Timberwolves (4-0) got the best of Manteno (25-13, 25-15) and Bishop McNamara (25-19, 23-25, 25-13) in the championship pool to continue their tradition of success in their season-opening tournament. Kills leaders for the day were Josie Neukomm with 13, Marina Day with 11, Sophie Duis with 10 and Addison Lucht with eight. Mady Marcott put up 20 assists, and Ella Schluter had 19. Lucht tallied seven aces, and Neukomm added four. Lucht and Marcott each dug out 10 balls, and Kendyl Neukomm had nine digs. Duis, Lucht and Josie Neukomm made the All-Tournament Team.
Fisher finishes strong. The Bunnies (3-1) bested Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley in three sets (25-18, 21-25, 15-6) to start the day. Avery Carleton led the way with seven kills and eight digs, Kierstyn Murphy also had eight digs, Brooklynn Kellems put up eight assists, Bella Kelsey served up four aces and Teagan Murray had three blocks. Fisher then swept Grant Park (25-22, 25-18). Kellems tallied six assists, four digs and three aces, Kelsey put down five kills, Murphy had four digs and Murray added two more blocks. Kelsey made the All-Tournament Team.
GCMS splits final day. After beating Grant Park (25-15, 25-18), the Falcons (3-2) fell in three sets to Fisher (18-25, 25-21, 6-15). Maci Lindelof made the All-Tournament Team.
Nontournament
Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 2, Mt. Zion 1. The Knights (2-0) won a three-set grinder with a balanced effort. Bella Romine led the offense with 10 kills, McKenna Blaudow had eight and Savannah Butcher added seven. Karaline Vanausdoll recorded 17 digs, Annabelle Vanausdoll had 11 and Leighton Poulos had nine. Annabelle Vanausdoll also put up a team-high 17 assists while Morgan Casteel added 12 of her own.
In boys’ soccer
Centennial 4, Sacred Heart-Griffin 0. In his first game of the season, Kabir Sallah netted a hat trick. Isaac Ramos assisted on one of those goals and scored one himself. Freshman goalie Felipe Almeida stepped up for the Chargers’ (3-0) starter and made five key saves for a shutout.
Herscher 10, Watseka/Milford 0. Tough day at the office for the Warriors (0-4), as they allowed 10 goals in the first half.
St. Joseph-Ogden 8, Iroquois West 0. The Spartans (5-0) stayed undefeated through their first week of the season with a convincing win over the Raiders (1-2). Buddy Stevens‘ hat trick paced the scoring barrage, Tyler Hess netted a pair of goals and Zach Harper and Steven Newman each added one. Hunter Cler recorded three assists, Hess had two and Quinn Stahl, Harper, Skyler Graham and Stevens all had one.
In boys’ cross-country
At Champaign. St. Thomas More hosted a few area teams for the Saber Corn Classic and finished second as a team. Philip Lee led the team with a runner-up finish in 16 minutes, 35.54 seconds, and Nick Unger took 10th in 18:20.00. Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond’s Beau Green won the individual title with a time of 16:24.73, and teammate Colton Snyder took fifth in 16:58.99. Iroquois West’s Owen Borders rounded out area top-10 finishers in eighth (18:08.44). Armstrong-Potomac placed third as a team, and Westville was fifth.
At Clinton. Mahomet-Seymour had no problem winning the Clinton Light It Up Invitational, finishing with three runners in the top 10. Auggie Gaudio led the way in fifth place with a time of 15 minutes, 15.53 seconds, Henry McMurry finished ninth in 15:18.78 and Tate Bode was 10th in 15:29.68. Host Clinton was the team runner-up, Monticello finished fourth, Sullivan took 13th, Prairie Central was 15th, Uni High was 18th, Paxton-Buckley-Loda was 22nd, Rantoul was 27th and Villa grove was 29th. Johnathan Iacobazzi placed third individually for the Redskins (14:58.50) to lead all area runners, Cayden Bostic took fourth for the Maroons (15:09.33) and Tim Sikorski was eighth for the Sages (15:18.46).
At Normal. Champaign Central and Centennial finished 12th and 13th, respectively, in a competitive field at the Normal West Invite. Kayden Tsai crossed the line in 79th for the Chargers with a time of 18 minutes, 25.10 seconds, and Parker Kesler was 82nd for the Maroons in 18:28.03.
At Paris. St. Joseph-Ogden, Heritage, Danville, Hoopeston Area, Chrisman and Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin competed in the Doc Acklin Invite. The Spartans finished fourth as a team, the Hawks took fifth, the Vikings placed sixth, the Cornjerkers took seventh, the Cardinals were 11th and the Blue Devils were 17th. Clark Roland was the highest area finisher from Heritage, taking sixth individually with a time of 16 minutes, 57.7 seconds.
In girls’ cross-country
At Champaign. Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond edged out Oakwood/Salt Fork by three placement points to win the Saber Corn Classic. Ruby Burton led the Knights with a third-place individual finish in 20 minutes, 8.69 seconds, Kimberly Krutsinger placed fifth in 20:39.89 and Gwendolyn Herring took ninth in 22:07.24. Callie Richardson finished as the meet’s runner-up for O/SF in 19:37.08, Bracie Hird took sixth (21:26.09) and Taylor Remole was 10th (22:21.91). Host St. Thomas More finished third as a team, and Armstrong-Potomac was fourth. Kayla Wernigk placed seventh for the Trojans (21:33.11), and Schlarman’s Jocelyn Wear was eighth (21:54.25).
At Clinton. Mahomet-Seymour took second place as a team at the Clinton Light It Up Invitational, with Emily Anand‘s eighth-place individual finish in 18 minutes, 21.96 seconds leading the charge. Monticello had two top-10 finishers, Macie Owen in fifth (17:59.73) and Taylor Mabry in 10th (18:40.99), to claim eighth place overall. Uni High finished ninth as a team, Clinton took 12th, Sullivan was 14th, Paxton-Buckley-Loda was 16th, Cerro Gordo/Bement was 17th, Argenta-Oreana was 22nd and Prairie Central was 25th.
At Normal. Champaign Central finished ninth as a team, and Centennial was right behind in 10th at the Normal West Invite. Brenna Hooper placed 30th individually for the Chargers in 21 minutes, 1.05 seconds, and Reese Baumann was 41st for the Maroons in 21:23.72.
At Paris. St. Joseph-Ogden ran away with the Doc Acklin Invite title with a pair of top-10 finishers. Grace Bressner finished third for the individual championship with a time of 19 minutes, 49.4 seconds, and Charlene Barbee finished seventh in 20:28.6. Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin finished fourth as a team, with Aleah Potter taking sixth individually in 20:16.6. Hoopeston Area was eighth overall, Tuscola was ninth and Chrisman’s Leah Phipps placed ninth individually.
