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[MARCH 16, 2002]   The play opens fast and furiously.  The principle characters are the big dogs represented by college basketball teams from such hot spots as Gainsville, Florida, Champaign, Illinois, Lubbock, Texas and Georgia; and the lovable underdogs from only God knows where.

Most of them from disrespected mid-major and lower conferences.  The big guys come in and are expected to do well.  These veteran actors have been on stage many times before, but this time they may be relegated to a solo performance.  Some of these wiley characters demonstrate different stages of ‘stage fright’ even though they are crafty performers.  Take for instance the Florida Gators who have done pretty well in the tournament the last few years.  They come struttin’ in with seemingly nothing to prove.  They’ve been to an NCAA championship a couple of years ago.  They were the recognized bullies on the block in downtown Chicago.  They must have felt that in the end, the Creighton Bluejays would melt in the final seconds.  They may have figured that there was no way that Creighton was going to fight City Hall.  The Bluejays however, displayed the same stubborn, hard-headed attitude of a certain LDN sports reporter.  They took on City Hall …and they won.  A certain before-mentioned writer has trouble taking NO for an answer.  Even with my, er I mean his wife, he always pushes the envelope and asks her if No is truly her FINAL answer.  The Jays, playing for the pride of the entire Missouri Valley Conference, decided just to keep on playing.  They were willing to go through every act, every scene and stay around for an epilogue even after two of their superstars fouled out.  The Illini will have their collective hands full when act II unfolds Sunday afternoon.

The Illinois Fighting Illini on the other hand seem to be a team on a mission.  Even though their play has been running for a long time, the critics have been calling for the closing of the curtain for months.  The reports of their death have been greatly exaggerated several times.  The pundits have said that Illinois is just too soft.  They would never refer to the Illini as the Goliath because it would be a huge insult to all Philistines everywhere!  The radio and TV experts said that San Diego State was too athletic for the Orange and Blue.  They said that the Illini could not run with the Aztecs.  That Coach Steve Fisher has the Illini’s number.  The analysts had the curtain half-way down and were ready for Illinois’ play to close.  Someone forgot to send the memo to Frankie, Cookie and the boys.  They don’t seem to be ready for the closing of their act.  Their defense has picked up.  Their unselfish team play has been a thing of beauty.  They’re making the extra pass so often that the reviewers oftentimes miss the flush because they’re too busy slappin’ high fives on the previous wowing pass.  The Bluejays however, are not impressed.  They want the Illini’s run to end in the house that Michael built.  As for me and my house, here’s to an extended Illini run!

[Jeff Mayfield]

[MARCH 16, 2002]   Despite winning nine straight games prior to last Saturday's loss to Ohio St. in the Big Ten conference tournament, the Illinois basketball team was the subject of much criticism leading up to the beginning of the NCAA tourney. 

The "experts" at the Chicago sports radio stations talked all week about how Illinois was destined for a quick exit from the tourney and how this version of Illinois basketball had grossly underachieved.  Many national basketball commentators thought Illinois was prime for a first round upset at the hands of a hot San Diego St. basketball team.  While an upset did take place Friday afternoon in Chicago, Illinois made sure early they would live to see another game this season.

[Photos by Jeff Mayfield]

 Illinois destroyed the Aztecs of San Diego St. 93-64 in a NCAA first round tournament game Friday afternoon in Chicago.  Illinois was led by junior Frank Williams, who finished the game w/ 25 points and 8 assists, and looked every bit the first round draft choice he is expected to become this summer.  Illinois jumped out quickly on the Aztecs, breaking a 12-12 tie w/ a 13-2 run early in the first half and never looking back.  Illinois will face a tough Creighton team at 1:20pm Sunday, after the 12^th seeded Bluejays upset Florida 83-82 in double overtime.  Creighton overcame a seven point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation, as well as losing their best two players to fouls, and stunned Billy Donovan and the Gators.  Sunday's game can be seen locally on WCIA-TV, channel 3.

Freshmen Luther Head had his best collegiate game, finishing w/ 19 points and several dunks on feeds from Williams, including one that is sure to be repeated on ESPN for days.  Self shared after the game how assistant Norm Roberts had reminded Head about his poor game at the United Center in December against Arkansas and challenged him to bring his best game on Friday.  The athletic Head from nearby Chicago Manley H.S. did not disappoint and played well all game, making 3 three-pointers, stealing the ball three times and playing with confidence.  Cory Bradford and Lincoln's Brian Cook scored 13 and 12 points respectively and Illinois played their best game of the year offensively, while also guarding their opponents from California very well for most of the game.  Cook and senior Robert Archibald each finished with eight rebounds as Illinois dominated on the boards, out-rebounding San Diego St. 41-26.

 Illinois led at the half 40-25 after shooting 50% from the field in the opening twenty minutes and also hitting 7 of 16 three point attempts in the half.  After San Diego St. reduced the Illinois lead to thirteen at 42-29 early in the second half, Illinois went on an incredible 34-10 run over ten minutes of the second half to take a 76-39 lead and allow Illinois' reserves to get significant minutes over the final eight and a half minutes of the game.  Asked after the game if all the negative talk about Illinois in the Chicago press was a motivating factor, both Williams and Cook said not at all.  Said Williams, "we don't really care what anyone thinks of us, we are in this to play the best we can and if the fans want to follow us, great, and if not, that’s OK as well."  Cook shared, "we just want to play our game, and to be honest, I don't even listen to them (Chicago sports-talk radio stations).

Illinois played like a team possessed on Friday.  While many may say the friendly surroundings of the United Center should get some credit, coach Bill Self felt his team was playing with a great deal of confidence.  "We should be playing our best ball this time of the year, but I guarantee you, if we try to look past Creighton on Sunday, our season will end quickly.  Many may look at the Florida/Creighton game as an upset, but I promise you we do not."  Illinois will look to continue their winning ways of the last five weeks and make the sweet sixteen for the second consecutive year and just the third time in the last seventeen years.

Taylor's Illini tidbits:

• Friday's game was the first meeting ever b/tn Illinois and San Diego St.
• Illinois is 6-0 all time against Creighton, last playing the Bluejays in December of 1969 in Champaign (Illinois 57 Creighton 51)
• The Midwest Regional will be played at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday and Sunday of next weekend.
• Self appears to have settled on an eight man rotation (starters plus Johnson, Krupalija and Harrington), confirming as much after the game, stating "eight is really enough if you can stay out of foul trouble, hey, wasn't that a TV show or something".  It is nice to know coaches can stay loose this time of the season.
• SDSU is coached by former Michigan coach Steve Fisher.  It was Fisher, while serving as interim coach just for the postseason in 1989, led Michigan to six straight victories (including an 83-81 final four win over Illinois in Seattle, WA) and the national championship.
• Bill Walton's youngest son Chris plays for SDSU - he is a sophomore reserve.
• SDSU's all time leader in assists is none other than Tony Gwynn, the future hall of famer who just retired from the San Diego Padres.  Gwynn will take over the SDSU baseball team this season.
• Friday's evening session included local favorite Southern Illinois going up against the General Bob Knight and the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.  Knight is the popular favorite for national coach of the year after leading the Raiders to an awesone 14 game improvement in the win column.
• The Big Ten conference went 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA tourney.

Over games at Chicago on Friday:

Midwest Regional:

(12) Creighton        83

      (5)   Florida            82        (2 OT)

"Terrance Taylor scores all of his 28 points after halftime, hitting the game winning three-point basket w/ just 0.2 seconds left."

East Regional:

Southern Illinois       76

Texas Tech             68       

"Bob Knight loses his fifth 1^st round game in his last seven NCAA tournaments as Southern Illinois looks strong in stunning the Red Raiders."

East Regional:

Murray St.              68

Georgia                  85

"The Bulldogs overcome six early three-point baskets and a fifteen point deficit to defeat Murray St. and move into the second round."

SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE at the UNITED CENTER in Chicago:

1:20pm - #4 Illinois vs. #12 Creighton

4:00pm - #3 Georgia vs. #11 Southern Illinois (approximate time)

[Greg Taylor]

[MARCH 15, 2002]   The preliminary rounds of the Country Insurance Three-Point Showdown as well as the Slam-Dunk Contest took place last night at Peoria’s Carver Arena. Sixty-four competitors from all across Illinois participated in each contest.

The Railer boys basketball team was well represented, as juniors Cliff Carnahan and BrockWerner advanced through regional and sectional shootouts in the 3-point competition. In a great effort by both players, Carnahan and Werner each shot the 3-ball through the hoop eight times.

Unfortunately, four other statewide Class AA players had three more each, for a total of 11 treys. Of the four shooters to advance, only one, Mount Zion’s Matt Yelovich, was from the downstate area. Brett McAllister from Barrington, Steve Prorok from Arlington Heights (Hersey) and Brian Harks of St. Charles (North) rounded out the field of four for Saturday’s finals at 1 p.m. at Carver Arena.

Springfield Lanphier’s 6-6 senior, Andre Iguodala, advanced to the finals of the Slam-Dunk Contest, which will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Carver Arena.

Congratulations to both Cliff and Brock for advancing to the state competition! GO RAILERS!

[Rick Hobler]

[MARCH 15, 2002]   The Lincoln College baseball team has returned from its southern spring trip without a win; however, coach Tony Thomas said, "We made some strides during the trip, but we couldn’t come up with any key hits and it appeared that our opponents were able to get the big hits."

"Our pitching was pretty solid but our hitters are way behind. Of course all of the teams we played had already played 15-20 games, so they had a huge advantage on us."

The Lynx lost a pair of games to Jefferson Davis, the top-ranked junior college team, 8-2 and 13-0. Anthony Hoffert took the loss in the first game, and Jonathon Cave was the loser in the second game.

Faulkner State defeated the Lynx 5-3 and 5-0, while Rend Lake posted a 7-0 victory. Matt Whetstone took the loss in the first game against Faulker State, and Chris Phillips was the loser in the second game. Matt Carnahan suffered the loss against Rend Lake.

Lincoln College will open its home season Tuesday against John Wood with a twin bill against John Wood at 1 p.m.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[MARCH 13, 2002]   Northland College scored in each of the first three innings and then held on to defeat Lincoln College 6-4 in softball at Cocoa Beach, Fla., on Tuesday.  The loss drops Lincoln to 1-2 for the spring trip.

Lincoln failed to score until the top of the seventh, when they pushed across four runs but came up short.  Heather Dobey, Jen Polhemus and Monica Perone each had a pair of hits for Lincoln College, with Dobey driving in a pair of runs.  Crystal Wilkey, who was 1-4, had the only other RBI for the Lady Lynx.

Audra May suffered the loss for coach Jen Ciaccio, giving up two earned runs in six innings.

Lincoln College plays Toronto at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and will play Thomas Moore at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Lincoln College        000 000 4 — 4-8-5

Northland College   123 000 x — 6-11-0

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College sports information director]

[MARCH 13, 2002]   PARK RIDGE — The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday that the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship First and Second Round games to be played at the United Center in Chicago on March 15 and 17 are officially sold out.

The Big Ten is hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA championship for the second time. The conference also produced a sellout in 1998 at the same facility.

The general public can still watch the participating teams for free on Thursday during the open practice session at the United Center. Parking will be free of charge that day, and the eight participating teams will practice between noon and 9 p.m. Below is a schedule of those practice times.

Noon-12:50 p.m., Creighton

1-1:50 p.m., San Diego State

2:10-3 p.m., Florida

3:10-4 p.m., Illinois

5-5:50 p.m., Texas Tech

6-6:50 p.m., Georgia

7:10-8 p.m., Southern Illinois

8:10-9 p.m., Murray State

[Big Ten Conference]

[MARCH 12, 2002]   Lincoln College finished second in the national swimming tournament in both the men and women divisions this past weekend.  Indian River Community College won both the men and women divisions. Indian River compiled 779 points on the women’s side, with Lincoln second at 278.   Indian River had a total of 692 points for the men, with Lincoln coming in at 438.

Ramiro Palmer of Lincoln became a three-time national champion and the Lynx broke five team records on both the men’s and the women’s sides.

Palmer won the 100-yard breaststroke in a team record time of 56.53 and was named an all-American.  He also won in the 200 breaststroke, in a team record time of 2:04.40, and was named an all-American.  His third championship came in the 200 yard IM in a time of 1:54.33, his third all-American honor.

Men

Other Lynx swimmers who placed for the men included:

50-yard freestyle — 2. Joe Krysak, 1:43.06, all-American; 6. Scott Sampson, 1:46.38, all-American; 11. Jonathan Gentry, 1:51.2.

500 freestyle — 3. Joe Krysak, 4:41.31, team record, all-American; 5. Scott Sampson, 4:46.52, all-American; 9. Ryan Poss, 4:57.23, all-American; 11. Bryan Sherman, 4:58.58; 12. Jonathan Gentry, 5:07.19.

1,650 freestyle — 2. Joe Krysak, 16:31.09, team record, all-American; 3. Scott Sampson, 16:52.82, all-American; 5. Bryan Sherman, 17:29.88, all-American; 7. Jonathan Gentry, 17:55.01, all-American.

100 backstroke — 3. Jason Hierman, 54.15, all-American; 6. Ryan Poss, 56.30, all-American; 10. Doug Zimmer, 59.24.

200 backstroke — 2. Jason Hierman, 1:57.74, all-American; 6. Ryan Poss, 2:04.44, all-American; 9. Doug Zimmer, 2:06.95, all-American.

100 breaststroke — 1. Ramiro Palmar, 56.53, team record, all-American; 4. Zach Welch, 59.22, all-American; 7. James Brooks, 1:03.06, all-American.

200 breaststroke —1. Ramiro Palmer, 2:04.40, team record, all-American; 3. Zach Welch, 2:10.83, all-American; 6. James Brooks, 2:17.88, all-American.

100 butterfly — 6. Zach Welch, 52.88, all-American; 9. Brandon Davidson, 55.68, all-American.

200 butterfly — 7. Ronald Kestner, 2:05.14, all-American; 12. Brandon Davidson, 2:18.28.

200 IM — 1. Ramiro Palmar, 1:54.33, all-American; 7. Ronald Kestner, 2:00.93, all-American; 8. Jason Hierman, 2:02.57, all-American.

400 IM — 2. Ronald Kestner, 4:17.81, all-American; 6. James Brooks, 4:29.05, all-American; 9. Bryan Sherman, 4:37.99.

1-meter diving — 6. Sean Calhoun, 819.10, all-American.

3-meter diving — 3. Sean Calhoun, 883.45, all-American.

200-yard freestyle relay — 4. Lincoln (Palmar, Sampson, Kestner, Krysak), all-American.

400 relay — 2. Lincoln (Poss, Zimmer, Welch, Hierman), 3:12.96, all-American.

800 freestyle relay — 2. Lincoln (Kestner, Palmar, Sampson, Krysak), 7:06.71, all-American.

200 medley relay — 2. Lincoln (Hierman, Welch, Davidson, Sampson), 1:38.63, all-American.

400 medley relay — 2. Lincoln (Hierman, Palmar, Welch, Krysak), 3:31.49, all-American.

[to top of second column in this article]

Women

Results for the Lincoln College women were:

500-yard freestyle — 6. Katie Robison, 25.96, all-American; 7. Erin Nelson, 25.39, all-American.

50 freestyle — 6. Katie Robison, 25.71, all-American; 8. Erin Nelson, 26.07, all-American; 15. Bonnie DiFoggio, 28.26.

100 freestyle — 8. Erin Nelson, 56.89, all-American.

200 freestyle — 5. Katie Robison, 2:01.09, all-American.

500 freestyle — 4. Leslie Seago, 5:22.53, all-American; 5. Rachel Willenborg, 5:23.64, all-American; 6. Angela Couch, 5:27.22, all-American.

1,650 freestyle — 2. Leslie Seago, 18:40.04, all-American; 3. Angela Couch, 18:54.11, all-American; 11. Megan Conlon, 21:21.27, all-American.

100 backstroke — 8. Erin Nelson, 1:06.22, all-American..

200 backstroke — 4. Katie Robison, 2:15.08, team record; all-American.

200 breaststroke — 8. Jill Doxsie, 2:43.99, team record, all-American.

100 butterfly — 4. Leslie Seago, 1:01.21, all-American; 6. Rachel Willenborg, 1:02.60, all-American; 10. Jill Doxsie, 1:05.88, all-American.

200 IM — 12. Jill Doxsie, 2:27.02, all-American.

400 IM — 4. Angela Couch, 5:02.93, all-American; 5. Liz Wilson, 5:29.21, all-American.

200 freestyle relay — 3. Lincoln (DiFoggio, Wilson, Doxsie, Nelson), 1:48.37, all-American.

400 freestyle relay — 2. Lincoln (Willenborg, Couch, Robison, Seago), 3:46.59, all-American.

800 freestyle relay — 2. Lincoln (Willenborg, Robison, Seago, Couch), 8:14.58, team record, all-American.

200 medley relay — 3. Lincoln (Willenborg, Robison, Seago, Nelson), 1:57.02, team record, all-American.

400 medley relay — 3. Lincoln (Willenborg, Robison, Seago, Couch), 4:15.06, team record, all-American.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[MARCH 12, 2002]   Lincoln College opened its softball season Monday afternoon in Cocoa Beach, Fla., against Delta and came away with an impressive 9-1 victory behind the strong pitching of Audra May. The Lady Lynx later played Iowa Central and lost 9-3.

May hurled seven innings, allowing five hits while striking out four.  The run she gave up was unearned. Crystal Wilkey and Marie Burash had a pair of hits each to lead the Lady Lynx to victory. Wilkey scored three times, while Baurash had an RBI and stole a pair of bases. Jess Wilcoxen had a hit, scored a pair of runs and drove in one run, while Monica Perone made her one hit good for two RBIs.

In the second game, Iowa Central built an 8-0 lead before Lincoln scored three times in the sixth inning. Jen Polhemus suffered the loss, giving up five earned runs while going the distance. Heather Dobey had a pair of hits and an RBI, while Alicia Burgess contributed two hits and an RBI with a double.  Crystal Wilkey had the other Lincoln hit.

Lincoln College (1-1) will play Northland Tuesday in Florida.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College sports information director]

[MARCH 12, 2002]   Game times have been announced for the first and second rounds of the Division I men’s basketball bracket. They include the following:

Friday, March 15

11:30 a.m. — Creighton-Florida

Thirty minutes after conclusion of Florida-Creighton game — San Diego State-Illinois

6:50 p.m. — Southern Illinois-Texas Tech

Twenty minutes after conclusion of Southern Illinois-Texas Tech game — Murray State-Georgia

Sunday, March 17

1:20 p.m. — Creighton-Florida winner vs. San Diego State-Illinois winner

Thirty minutes after conclusion of the 1:20 p.m. game — Southern Illinois-Texas Tech winner vs. Murray State-Georgia winner

[Big Ten Conference]

[Click here to see a chart of the Division I men’s basketball bracket.]

[MARCH 11, 2002]   Illinois Central College ended the Lincoln College season with a 72-63 victory over the Lynx in the Region 24 championship game Saturday night.   The Lynx complete the season with a 24-9 record, the fourth straight 20-win season for coach B.J. McCullum.

Illinois Central led at halftime, 25-22, as Lincoln managed to hit only eight of 32 field goal attempts, for 25 percent.   The winners made 11 of 29 first-half shots, for nearly 38 percent. Although Lincoln improved to 40 percent in the second half, Illinois Central also improved, finishing at a 54 percent clip in the second 20-minute period.

Amir Major led the Lynx with 21 points while Steve Turner and Derick Hollyfield both contributed 12 points. Geoff Richards led the winners with 15 points while David Roos added 14. Turner pulled down 10 rebounds for the Lynx.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

Lincoln College (63) — James Roberson 3-9-0-0-7; Josh Clark 0-2-2-2-2; Mike Fowler 0-1-0-2-0; Steve Turner 6-13-0-0-12; Andrew Kehr 1-8-0-0-3; Mike Sams 3-10-0-0-6; Amir Major 7-14-4-6-21; Derik Hollyfield 4-13-3-3-12; Loyd Bowen 0-2-0-0-0.  Totals 24-72-9-13-63.  Three-point goals: Roberson, Kehr, Major 3, Hollyfield.

Illinois Central (72) — Zack Meiss 0-1-0-0-0; Donald Slach 1-5-0-0-3; Greg Flowers 1-1-0-0-2; Dane Ainsworth 1-2-1-2-3; Geoff Richards 4-6-6-6-15; Grant Uftring 0-0-2-2-2; Saul Woods 1-3-1-2-3; Cedric Miles 3-11-2-4-8; David Roos 4-6-4-6-14; Ben Silver 4-7-1-2-9; Reuben Statam 4-10-1-2-9.  Totals 25-55-18-26-72.  Three-point goals: Slach, Richards, Roos 2.

[MARCH 11, 2002]   Lincoln College opened the baseball season at Alabama Southern Sunday and dropped both ends of a doubleheader. Alabama Southern won the first game 16-2 and took the nightcap 6-1. Alabama Southern is now 16-5 for the season.  Lincoln plays against Faulkner State on Monday.

Anthony Hoffert suffered the loss in the first game, giving up 10 runs, five earned, on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings.  Charlie Deakin hurled the final 1 1/3 innings, giving up six runs and four hits while striking out two and walking two.  Tim May had a pair of hits for Lincoln and Jeff Harris had the other Lynx hit.

In the second game, Kyle Eastman suffered the loss, with 4 1/3 innings, five hits, six runs, five earned, one walk and four strikeouts.  Jeff King hurled the final 1 2/3 innings, giving up two hits while striking out two and walking one.  Jeff Harris had two hits in three trips to lead the Lynx.  He also scored the lone run and stole a base.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College sports information director]

Announcements

[MARCH 14, 2002]  YMCA soccer will be starting soon. This program is designed for children pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

The Y soccer program stresses fundamentals, fair play and, above all, fun. The coaches and volunteers stress cooperation over competition. Everyone plays, regardless of ability. Everybody plays, therefore everybody wins.

If your family would like to take part in this program, feel free to contact the YMCA office at 735-3915. Come be a part of building stronger kids, stronger families and a stronger community, at the Y.

[YMCA news release]

[FEB. 28, 2002]  The Lincoln Pony League will have their sign-up period for both baseball (boys) and softball (girls) over the next three weekends, beginning this Saturday, March 2, and continuing on March 9 and 16. Sign-ups will be in the lobby of the Lincoln Rec Center from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Anyone interested in playing ball this summer can get signed up during those times. Representatives of the Lincoln Pony League will be on hand to answer any questions and to assist with the sign-ups.

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