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Saturday, Feb 1

High school basketball

[FEB. 1, 2003] 

Boys

At Stanford

University High     18   40   43     51

Olympia               10   21   27     31

Olympia:  Springer 0-0-0, Thornton 2-0-6, Williams 1-0-2, Kieser 6-0-13, Schmidgall 0-0-0, Criswell 3-0-6, Olson 1-0-2, Boudeman 0-0-0, Schultz 1-0-2.  Totals 14-0-31.  Three pointers:  Thornton 2, Kieser.

Preliminary game:  Olympia def. University High 52-38

Others

Lincoln def. Jacksonville 51-48.

Hartsburg-Emden def. Greenview 50-45.

Illini Central def. Pleasant Plains 66-60.

Petersburg Porta def. Mount Pulaski 54-50.

[Photo by Bob Frank]

[Click here for more photos]

LCC men's basketball

[FEB. 1, 2003]  The Preachers lost a tough game to Faith Baptist Bible College Friday night, 90-79 in the final game of the evening in the Lincoln Christian College Classic.

At halftime they only trailed by 7, 41-34. Four players hit double digits as Jim Turney and John Holderby had 16 apiece, Kyle Rogier dumped in 15, and Tim Schultz scored 10. Schultz also pulled down 8 boards and Rogier snagged 7.

The visiting Eagles from Faith were led by Josh Dagget, 28 points, 6 rebounds, Louis O'Toole, 25 points, 10 boards, and Brian Kelly who had 18 points. Faith is now 15-9 and they play Saturday at 1 pm. Lincoln's men team is now 7-16 and they Cincinnati tomorrow at 5 pm.

The game will immediately follow the induction ceremony for Dr. Marion Henderson as the first member of the new Lincoln Christian College Athletic Hall of Fame.

[Aaron Johnson]

LCC women's basketball

[FEB. 1, 2003]  The LCC Angels defeated Central Bible College Friday night in the Lincoln Christian College Classic.  The team will play Faith Baptist Bible College Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.  Following this game, Dr. Marion Henderson will be inducted into the LCC Athletic Hall of Fame.

Central Bible          15   23     38

Lincoln Christian     48   28     76

LCC:  Stephanie Urton 2-0-7, Christina Wright 12-5-29, Brittany Robbins 3-0-21, Stephanie Williams 3-0-6, Sarah Over 1-0-2, Kim Jewell 3-0-6, Meghan Foster 1-1-3, Casey Strange 1-0-2.  Totals 26-6-76.  Three-pointers:  Robbins 5, Urton 1.

New heroes arising in Redbird women's basketball

[FEB. 1, 2003]  NORMAL -- Over the past three weeks for the Illinois State women's basketball team, the finishes have been thrilling, the results mostly favorable and the heroes many and varied. Illinois State looks for its fourth win in its last six games at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Drake at Redbird Arena.

Adding to the drama, the heroes in recent Redbird games have included some people who had break-out efforts to cap struggling periods in their careers. In Thursday's 77-72 loss to Creighton, the 'Birds had three chances to tie or take the lead in the final three minutes and couldn't convert, but that didn't diminish the deeds of sophomore Katie Donovan and junior Desiree Gutierrez.

Donovan didn't score in the Redbirds' previous game, an overtime win at Evansville, and didn't make a major impact on the prior win at Southern Illinois. Against defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Creighton, she made 6 of 7 from both the field and the free throw line for a career-high 19 points. Gutierrez, mired in a 3-20 shooting slump, saw little action on the SIU-UE road trip, but scored eight points in seven second-half minutes against CU to bring the Birds back from a nine-point deficit.

Making all five of her field goal attempts, Zora Skrabalova had her third straight double-figure scoring game against Creighton. In the four games prior to that, Skrabalova had more fouls (14) than points or rebounds. Stacey White played two of her best games of the year at SIU and at Evansville--hitting the game-winning free throws in overtime at UE--to put an end to her recent struggles.

Redbird coach Jenny Yopp is enjoying the fact that she comes to the arena every night knowing she can have any of 10 players contribute. 

"For one thing, it forces our opponents work harder to prepare," said Yopp, whose Redbirds are 5-12 overall, 3-5 in the Missouri Valley after winning three of their last five. "You can't just prepare for six or seven players and be ready for us. Our staff is believing every player can contribute. It's really the beauty of this team."

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It also does wonders for player confidence, including Donovan's great shooting night.

"Everybody works hard and prepares and develops confidence from that," said Yopp. "Katie has been working on her jump shot and on her three-pointer shot and that effort is paying off. She has the potential to be a very well-rounded offensive player."

Drake's Carla Bennett has that 'well-rounded' thing down well, according to Yopp. Bennett has been a Bird basher throughout her career--the senior averages 20.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in six previous contests against Illinois State--all Drake wins.

"Unlike many post players, Carla has so many different facets to her inside scoring that you can't just get ready for one or two," said Yopp. "You can't just focus on her turning over one shoulder or favoring one side. She has a complete post game."

Drake coach Lisa Stone, whose team is 9-8 overall, 4-4 in the Valley, admires Illinois State's consistency and confidence in recent weeks.

"Illinois State was a team looking for consistency and appears to have found it," said Stone, whose team lost 78-65 Thursday in Terre Haute.  "They got a shot of confidence with a couple of road wins and they are playing good basketball right now.  This is a road trip where both teams play in tough venues and both are tough to play on their home court."

It's the second game of a four-game homestand for Illinois State, which plays next Friday at 7:05 p.m. against Northern Iowa.

[Thomas Lamonica, Illinois State University]

Redbird Open highlighted by multiple
Illinois State personal bests

[FEB. 1, 2003]  NORMAL -- Three Illinois State personal bests were set in the women's throws competition as Ashley Minner threw the shot put for 46-10 3/4 feet, good for first place, Taylor Carbaugh was second with a 43-21/4 mark and Latisha Johnson tossed the weight 55-5 feet for first place all at the Redbird Open hosted by Illinois State in Horton Field House Friday.  It was just a few of the high points in the meet as Illinois State captured 13 first-place finishes and both the men's and women's 4x400 relay teams finished first.

In the sprints, Lauren Maul, Andrea Mosher and Angie Drew paraded to a 1-2-3 place finish in the 60-meter hurdles while Cherise Devers captured first in the 60-meter dash (7.75) with a career-best time and 200 meter dash (25.57).  On the men's side, LaShawn Bullock was second in the 60 meters (6.97) while Clarence Glenn was second in the hurdles (8.38).

In the distances, Jené Klostermann and Andrea Black crossed the line first and second in the women's 800 while on the men's side Gabe Cruz and Bronco Meeks pushed for a second-third finish.  Jeremy Doherty ran the 3,000 meters in 8:37.78, good for second, while Kelli Schulte was second in the mile (4:57.55).

Lauren Maul continues to make strides, following up a first-place finish in the long jump last weekend with a repeat performance Friday.  She leaped 19-1 1/4 feet while Tori Gaumer was second in the high jump for the women (5-3).  Gergely Bata won the men's high jump (6-8) and Chivas Hemphill was first in the triple jump.  Melanie Zimmerman won the women's triple jump with a mark of 38-8 3/4.

[to top of second column in this article]

"The team is coming along,"  head coach Elvis Forde said after the meet.  "The field events' kids are starting to round up. Ashley (Minner) had her best throw today, a personal best.  Every weekend the kids continue to get better and  every weekend that makes us as coaches continue to get better because of the work we ask them to do is starting to pay off.

"Cherise (Devers) had her best race of the year,"  Forde continued. "Melanie (Zimmerman) is back and so we are starting to come through. If you look at the total picture of the team, it is exactly where we want it to be.  The athletes' range of performance continues to improve.

"The men are doing very well as well. So it is not over, we have a whole month to go.  The key here is to stay healthy and let the kids keep doing the work we ask of them.  I am sure we will be happy with the results."

The Redbirds return to action Feb. 14-15 at the Iowa State Qualifier in Ames, Iowa.

[Erica Fricke, assistant director of media relations, Illinois State University]

Articles from the past week

By Jeff Mayfield

[JAN. 27, 2003]  To any Lincoln or Logan County serviceman or woman who has just been deployed, may we just say, "May GOD go with you." You have our deepest respect as well as our thoughts and prayers. A special hello to former Railer Jon Barton who is on his way to Kuwait.

Once again the Super Bowl failed to live up to all the hype, as this game was all Bucs from start to finish. Don't know why the Raiders went away from their forte. Notice that on their first several drives, after gaining five or six yards on first-down plays, they would run the ball up the middle on second downs, thus leaving them with third-and-four or five situations that needed perfect execution. Either credit the Bucs' defense or the Raiders' ineptitude. Former Lincoln resident Curt Swan, now a Bucs' season-ticket holder, is still dancing on the streets of Clearwater Beach as we go to post!!!

As you can see by the updated CS8 standings, the Lincoln Lady Railers are also making their move up the charts of girls basketball in our area. Ever since the Christmas tourney, these ladies have been on a mission. Here's to a successful venture!

Central State Eight standings

(Conference games)

Southeast 7-1

Taylorville 7-3

Chatham Glenwood 7-3

Springfield 6-2

Lincoln 5-5

Sacred Heart-Griffin 4-6

Jacksonville 2-8

Lanphier 0-10

Upcoming game: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m. -- Normal Community at Lincoln

The Lincoln College Lynx are definitely finding their stride early in the second semester. Behind 15 points from both Terrance Chapman and Jamaal Thompson, the Lynx buried Lincoln Land Saturday 74-51. Michael Fowler also tossed in 13 for the Lincoln cause. The win takes LC to 13-6 and a sparkling 6-0 in league play.

No report.

…picked up another win over Grace over the weekend and have now won two in a row!

OK, maybe I was a little too stoked over the Railers the last couple of weeks. If you want to blame me for their less-than-stellar performances against Chatham-Glenwood and Taylorville, so be it. But good teams find ways to win when they're not playing all that well. However you slice it and dice it, Lincoln went 5-0 and won the first-ever midwinter classic in Chatham. We think that's a good thing and can only help the Railers ready themselves for a potential long run in the postseason. Getting Brock Werner back to full strength wouldn't hurt either.

[Photo by Bob Frank]

Railer coach Neil Alexander is quietly within a handful of wins of becoming the winningest Railer coach in history… Stay tuned for that story! Also, in case you haven't been doing the math at home the last two years… Did you know that Lincoln, not Lanphier or Springfield, is the CS8 all-time leader in most wins?

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Teams	Won	Lost	Pct.
Lincoln	104	28	.788
Springfield	92	39	.697
Springfield Lanphier	81	51	.614
Springfield Southeast	81	52	.609
Jacksonville	50	80	.385
Springfield S-H Griffin	47	85	.356
Chatham-Glenwood	36	95	.275
Taylorville	35	96	.267

These are the all-time CS8 standings through Jan. 16 of this year. This is a true testament to our hardworking players and outstanding coaches. Hopefully the Railers will put in some more distance on their opponents before this season is out!

Speaking of records:

Railer varsity 21-2

Sophs 6-4

Frosh 9-3

B 7-1

Railer assistant coaches Eric Ewald, Josh Komnick, Darren Worth and Ryan Cross continue to do a phenomenal job with this program under Alexander's tutelage. Nice going, men. Keep up the good work!

Mount Pulaski 14-6

The Hilltoppers beat a good Delavan team 72-48, welcoming back Brian Clements, who had 14 points on the night. And how 'bout Justin Anderson's 38-point outburst against Athens this past week?!

Illini Central 11-6

The Cougars lost a heartbreaker to Riverton and fell to 11-6. They host Ursuline on Tuesday night.

Hartem 8-8

The Stags also lost a nail-biter to Beardstown.

Warrensburg-Latham 16-0

The Cardinals dumped Shelbyville 80-53 and carry a No. 5 state ranking!

West Lincoln-Broadwell took the eighth-grade county title with a 46-35 win over previously unbeaten Hartsburg-Emden. Carroll Catholic outlasted Mount Pulaski for third place.

In the seventh-grade grade county championship Hartsburg did overtake WL-B and Carroll repeated their performance over Mount Pulaski as the seeds held true.

Lincoln Junior High won their last regular-season contests as well. The eighth-graders pounded Argenta 50-34, and the seventh-graders eked past 'em 34-32!

…will face Springfield-Southeast and Jacksonville on Tuesday.

Join Greg Taylor at 6 p.m. on the LDN's live link or on CITV 5 or FIX 96.3. He hopes to host a contingent of Railer seniors and also hopes to give away some FREE college basketball tickets! Dial 735-3306 to get in on the FUN!

…To those of you who have wished me well in the economic development arena. Know that I won't be able to get the job done without YOUR help. Hopefully TOGETHER we can accomplish some good things.

Have a GREAT week, everybody!

[Jeff Mayfield]

• Last week: "Railers keep rollin'"
• More columns...

Announcements

'Doc' Henderson to be inducted into
LCC Athletic Hall of Fame

[JAN. 31, 2003]  Lincoln Christian College will honor Marion “Doc” Henderson on his induction to the Lincoln Christian College Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday evening at the Laughlin Center.

Henderson was a student and athlete at LCC (formerly Lincoln Bible Institute) from 1945-1948.  Henderson was the men's basketball team co-captain in 1947, captain in 1948 and advanced to head coach in 1952.

While at LCC, Henderson served the college as athletic director and baseball and basketball coach. He introduced track, baseball and women's basketball to LCC, and he was the women's basketball coach.

In addition to his leadership in athletics, “Doc” was a professor of the New Testament.

Henderson has mentored hundreds of students on and off campus throughout his career. He will retire from LCC with 54 years of service at the end of the academic year.

[to top of second column in this article]

Henderson and his wife also served in Florida, where “Doc” was named president of Florida Christian College. He was the men's basketball coach and a professor at FCC.

“Doc” Henderson has been a dedicated servant to the church and completes his 55th year as a minister of the gospel. He has served three local congregations, including South Fork Christian Church of Rochester, where he served as minister for 25 years. Henderson and his wife Vera reside on campus at LCC.

The lady basketball Angels will take on Faith Bible College at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Laughlin Center, followed by the Preachers versus Cincinnati Christian at 5 p.m.  “Doc” Henderson will be honored between the two games.

[News release]

Softball pitching clinic in Bloomington

[JAN. 31, 2003]  The Bloomington Hearts' annual softball pitching clinic will be Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Shirk Center at Illinois Wesleyan University. Former Illinois State all-American and current Hearts pitcher Nicole Kurth will lead the clinic. Other instructors will include pitchers from the Hearts, IWU and Illinois State University who are very experienced in both playing the game and teaching.

There will be two sessions, so attendees can sign up for 9:30 a.m. until noon or for 1:30 to 4 p.m. The cost is $30 per session, and that includes a heavy-duty T-shirt. For groups of three or more, the cost is $25 per student. The sessions will be limited in number to allow maximum individual instruction.

To register by telephone or for information, call (309) 828-2686 or (309) 662-5861.

[News release]

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