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Monday, Jan. 6

Lincoln Gator Swim Club results

[JAN. 6, 2003]  The Lincoln Gator Swim Club competed in the Jan. 3-5 Seth Dunscomb New Year Opener at Decatur. Ashlyn Schleder reset her own record in the 50 free with a time of 31.68. Her old record was 32.00. In the 10 and under boys division, Brennan Elsas placed second overall, and Sam Wood placed third overall. Brie Ernst set four team records: 2:12.93 in the 200 free, 26.50 in the 50 free, 1:12.16 in the 100 back and 2:53.55 in the 200 fly. See below for individual results by Gator swimmers.

8 and under girls

Taylor Lowe -- 25 breast, eighth, C, 29.83; 25 free, eighth, B, 19.58; 25 back, ninth, B, 23.38; 25 fly, 10th, C, 27.40

10 and under girls

Katie Boss -- 50 fly, 27th, C, 1:02.86; 50 free, 25th, C, 46.96

Alberta Danley -- 50 fly, second, B, 38.65; 50 breast, 13th, B, 49.34; 50 free, second, B, 31.68; 50 back, fourth, B, 41.12; 100 free, third, B, 1:17.45; 100 IM, 12th, B, 1:33.27

Sarah Fuller -- 50 fly, 10th, C, 50.88; 50 breast, 21st, B, 51.51; 50 free, 24th, B, 39.32; 50 back, 15th, C, 52.27; 100 free, eighth, C, 1:33.48; 100 IM, fourth, C, 1:46.48

Kaylee McAllister -- 50 fly, 13th, C, 51.60; 50 breast, 24th, C, 1:01.73; 50 free, 20th, C, 45.35

Ashlyn Schleder -- 200 IM, eighth, A, 3:06.13; 50 fly, eighth, A, 37.03; 50 breast, sixth, B, 55.93; 50 free, fourth, A, 31.68, team record; 50 back, first, B, 40.16; 100 free, eighth, A, 1:13.16; 100 IM, fifth, B, 1:29.63

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10 and under boys

Brennan Elsas -- 200 IM, second, A, 2:52.06, JO; 50 fly, second, A, 33.95, JO; 50 breast, third, A, 43.80; 50 free, second, A, 30.37, JO; 50 back, third, A, 37.02; 100 free, second, A, 1:08.46, JO; 100 IM, second, A, 1:20.22

Sam Wood -- 200 IM, third, A, 2:52.48, JO; 50 fly, ninth, A, 37.57; 50 breast, fifth, A, 44.13; 50 free, third, A, 30.89, JO; 50 back, seventh, A, 38.33; 100 free, third, A, 1:08.97; 100 IM, fourth, A, 1:22.72

Zach Ziemba -- 50 fly, 10th, A, 38.01; 50 breast, 17th, B, 52.03; 50 free, fifth, B, 34.64; 50 back; seventh, B, 42.62; 100 free, 11th, B, 1:20.37; 100 IM, 11th, B, 1:32.00

13 and 14 girls

Brie Ernst -- 500 free, 11th, A, 6:04.26; 100 fly, second, B, 1:12.12; 200 free, 12th, A, 2:12.93, team record; 50 free, second, A, 26.50, team record; 200 IM, second, B, 2:38.90; 100 back, first, B, 1:12.16, team record; 200 fly, fourth, B, 2:53.55, team record; 100 free, 10th, A, 1:00.26

Senior girls

Stephanie Couch -- 100 fly, 13th, B, 1:19.91; 100 free, 11th, B, 1:06.37; 100 back, sixth, B, 1:15.50; 50 free, eighth, B, 30.37; 200 free, sixth, B, 2:23.74

[Heidi Heidbreder,
Lincoln Gator Swim Club coach]

High school basketball

[JAN. 6, 2003] 

Lincoln def. Jerseyville 60-45

Hartsburg-Emden def. Lovington 69-45

LCC men's basketball vs. Cincinnati Bible College

[JAN. 6, 2003]  The Preachers closed the weekend at Cookson with a 67-57 loss to Cincinnati Bible College.

Lincoln led 34-31 at halftime and was led in scoring by Caleb Edson and Tim Schultz, who had 17 each. Schultz also grabbed nine boards. Dan Black scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds.

The Golden Eagles from CBC were led by Eric Fleming, 18 and eight; Brent Barger, who scored 11; and Kevin Stuckey, who put in 10.

Lincoln's next game is against regional opponent Maranatha Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 3 p.m.

[Aaron Johnson]

Indiana State pulls away from 'Birds 70-51

[JAN. 6, 2003]  NORMAL -- Kristin Stewart and Melanie Boeglin, with 16 points each, led four Sycamores in double figures as Indiana State used a run in the middle of the second half to pull away from Illinois State to a 70-51 final score on Saturday at Redbird Arena.

Indiana State, 8-2, 1-0 in the Valley, also got 10 points each from Kourtney Mennen and Celeste Hlebovy as the Sycamores started the Missouri Valley Conference schedule by avenging a 70-67 loss at Redbird Arena in the 2002 regular-season finale.

Illinois State, 2-8, 0-1 in the Valley, was led by Katie Donovan with 13 points, while Zora Skrabalova and Erin Keeney each contributed 11 points for the 'Birds. Skrabalova has been hampered by the flu over the last two days. Illinois State shot 34 percent (18 for 53) from the field, including only 29 percent in the first half.

Illinois State beat the Sycamore press and got some open looks early, but the 'Birds hit just three of their first 15, and Indiana State sprinted to a 20-9 lead in the first 12 minutes. The Redbirds were able to chop that lead down to as few as seven but missed some more close-in shots in the final five minutes of the first half and went to intermission trailing 29-20 after making just eight of 28 from the field. Skrabalova gave the 'Birds a lift with nine points and three rebounds as Illinois State out-rebounded the Sycamores 22-17 in the first half.

A short jumper by Erin Keeney and a 3-pointer by Taren O'Brien brought the Redbirds within four at 29-25 in the first two minutes of the second half. Indiana State answered, scoring the next eight points to take a 37-25 lead. Illinois State kept creeping back close, but the Sycamores kept answering. A Sophie Tirtiaux layup with 12:54 left brought the 'Birds within 39-33, but Kristen Stewart's muscling shot inside started a 12-0 Sycamore run to give Indiana State its biggest lead to that point, 53-33 with 7:36 left.

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Indiana State shot 45 percent (23-for-51) from the field and had 14 steals compared with just two Redbird take-aways. Turnovers plagued the Redbirds throughout the game as Illinois State committed 25 in the game to Indiana State's 10. However, the 'Birds won the rebounding battle against the Sycamores 43-29, with Keeney and Donovan each collecting eight boards.

Keeney said the Redbirds just needed some players to step up. "We have to be mentally tough, and we have to get that from all of our players," said Keeney. "Today we didn't, and we need more of our players to step up on the court."

"This is pretty much the way we have played all season," said Sycamore coach Jim Wiedie. "We weren't as active on defense in the last five minutes of the first half, and that made our offense sluggish."

Illinois State coach Jenny Yopp felt that the turnovers told the tale in the game. "We handled the press pretty well, then once the ball got past the half court we lost control of the ball or we threw the ball too deep into the baseline," said Yopp.

"We need to be stronger with the basketball and get our opportunities off of that. It is one thing to use a lot of players when they are all on the same page, but today we had to use a lot of players to find a combination on the court."

The Redbirds go on the road to face Northern Iowa on Thursday and then Bradley in Peoria on Saturday.

[Rob Huizenga, athletics media relations,
Illinois State University]

Cook does it again

By LDN staff

[JAN. 6, 2003]  We try not to sound like a broken record. We also try to not to sound like a homer, even though that is tough to do at times. But as Illinois cruised through the motions of their last non-conference game, it's just been hard to put this Illini team down.

Cook, who was within a 3 of tying a career high, still managed a night fraught with 22 points, 11 rebounds and a nifty blocked shot! Cook called it a “pretty nice block”! He also had a monster dunk on a great feed from Dee Brown and Sean Harrington.

[Photo by Tom Seggelke]

Harrington wasn't going to be left out of another senior night either, as he rattled the rims for a career-tying 20 points behind five thrilling 3-pointers. We're still hoping that Cook and Harrington will see a lot of open looks in Big Ten play, but don't count on it. All five starters were in double figures, and James Augustine bodied-up for five vicious blocked shots!

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The 88-53 victory gets lost in the translation because this Oakland team is better than you think. They will have some big wins because they have two or three guys who can really stroke it!

The Illini forced 20 turnovers while committing only 14 themselves and had a decided advantage in the assists department, 25-7! Those extra passes are a thing of beauty and may net us an extra win here or there. Illinois held the Golden Grizzlies to 34 percent shooting. If they can continue their staunch defensive play, that will really help these early games on the road!

Next up for the Illini: the Big Ten opener at Minnesota on Tuesday night. If the Gophs can't beat us this year at home, I don't know when they will beat us. The stage is set for them to have all the motivation in the world. The Illini return home for a Saturday date with Wisconsin.

[LDN staff]

Men's basketball pre-game notes

Illinois State vs. Northern Iowa

[JAN. 6, 2003]   The Illinois State Redbirds play the Northern Iowa Panthers in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Tuesday evening.

Click here to view background information (in Adobe Acrobat).

[Click here to download the Adobe Acrobat reader.]

[Provided by Todd Kober,
 director of media relations,
Illinois State University]

University of Illinois vs. Minnesota

[JAN. 6, 2003]   The Fighting Illini play the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Tuesday. The game starts at 6 p.m. and is to be televised by ESPN.

Click here to view background information (in Adobe Acrobat).

 [Click here to download the Adobe Acrobat reader.]

[Provided by Kent Brown,
assistant athletics director and
sports information director,
University of Illinois]

Articles from the past week

By Jeff Mayfield

[JAN. 6, 2003]  The Lincoln Railer express is loaded and steamin' through the competition! And as coach Alexander is careful to point out, they do it one game at a time. Such was the case Friday night as Lincoln dispatched Springfield Southeast 56-38.

Insiders will tell you that SE was without their star guard Ty Johnson. We'll tell you, that's hooey! Yes, he didn't play and they were a noticeably different team without him, but on this night would it really have mattered? We think not!

When Cory Farmer, Erik Young and Chris Bunch are hitting on all cylinders, this Railer contingent is pretty strong. Throw in a great game by Ryne Komnick (and I mean a GREAT game), and this one was over early in the third period!

I haven't even mentioned the consistent play of Derek Schrader and Brandon Heidbreder; and don't forget that Brock Werner will hopefully be back in two to three weeks as well. Funny how the Springfield papers fail to point that out… and they think we're the ones that are not full-time investigative reporters?!

What we REALLY liked about the game Friday was the way that Lincoln dictated the tempo and pace of the game after about the first four minutes. This style and tactic bodes well for the Railers IF they have plans to go far in the postseason.

Early experts said that the CS8 would be all SE and Lanphier. We wonder what they all think now??? The Railers also picked up a road victory at Jerseyville on Saturday night to run their record to 14-2; not bad for a team that some are not taking very seriously.

One more Railer note: It was nice to finally see a pretty decent crowd at a home game. Don't know if it's the winning record, the college kids being home or what, but it was still nice to see. A good home crowd could be worth a couple more important victories somewhere down the road!

…BUT if you're a loyal reader of the LDN, you've been hearing that from us since our very existence! We just feel that in football and basketball our conference is strongest from top to bottom. And until the ACC and the SEC and others can even go into the houses of our bottom-rung teams and consistently come away with some wins, that's not going to change anytime soon.

I know that all area Buckeye fans are delirious right now; but if they're the champs, what does that make the Illini? I seem to recall a recent game in Champaign where Illinois gave OSU all it wanted and deserved a better fate in the process. If that means what we think that means, that means that Illinois is this close to a national championship??? Probably as close as the Illini have been in years.

On the other hand both OSU and Miami have five or six of the type of athletes that the Illini never seem to have. I don't think Illinois will ever be able to compete year after year until they find some way to attract those kinds of players here! Superior size and strength would REALLY help; BUT, blazing speed at all skill positions can cover a multitude of sins! Here's hoping that some of those guys and that kind of help is on the way!!!

By the way, this column is not just our typical LDN sports department blabber! The Big Ten DID in fact win the conference bowl cup going away, hands-down by going 5-2 for a winning percentage of over .700! And that was without having Illinois drub some poor, unsuspecting team!

…If you consider the wild-card round high drama and anything of significance.

According to the stats a wild-card team has not advanced all that often. So, you could say what a game Atlanta had at Green Bay or the Jets had over the Colts. You could say what a comeback Pittsburg had over Cleveland. You could even say what a miracle the 49ers threw at the NY Giants. Or you could say, so what!

All those teams must go on the road next week and show people they're for real. On the one hand, that shouldn't happen. The home teams have been resting, preparing and, most of all, getting their guys healthy.

On the other hand, the last few weeks there have been so many weird things happening in sports that it REALLY makes you wonder what's going on. For example: Is there now so much money on the line that the outcomes or at least the spreads are being played with? I sure hope we don't get a visit from somebody's Mongo or Baby-Face Nelson, but it REALLY does make you wonder. I'm sure that it will take a crack reporter and newspaper with many more investigative skills than our own upstart LDN to solve this mystery, but no one can question that strange things are taking place.

Whether it's the players, the officials, Vegas, the lucky bounce of the ball or whatever, YOU make the call. Please notify the LDN when you get the results. Until then, we're just going to remain a little skeptical…

After a very lengthy layoff, too long in fact, Lincoln College and Lincoln Christian College are heading back to the hardwood this week. As a matter of fact, LCC even got some games in last week.

The Preachers went to 1-2, and we got no report on how the Angels fared in their annual New Year's tourneys down in Oklahoma.

Both of LC's teams will resume regular season play Wednesday night at home.

The Illinois Fighting Illini are about to begin their second season after blowing through the non-conference portion of their schedule to go 10-1.

I would describe myself as an optimistic realist, and even I was overwhelmed by their success. An 8-3 record would have made me proud, and I could have even settled for a 7-4 mark at this point. So, I'm ecstatic to be covering a 10-1 ballclub.

But as the Big Ten season looms, many questions that we hoped to avoid will soon be answered. How will this young Illini team handle going on the road for four of the first six games? How will they respond to tough losses or even an occasional blowout loss? How will they handle conference success? How will they respond to playing more football and wrestling than the finesse that they've excelled in?

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As for me and my house, we will be thrilled to see us at 2-2 and at 3-3 after those first six games. Why? Because with four of our last six at home, if we can just hang around at the top until then, and with growing confidence each step of the way, good things could happen. We're going to go with something around 10-6 (even though I'm probably thinkin' more like 9-7 because of the early brutal schedule), which we think is doable. That would still get ‘em to 19-20 wins before the Big Ten bash and perhaps seal a nice seed in the Big Dance, which again would really help this young team. Enough muttering… Let the games begin!!!

The ISU Redbirds continue to struggle. However, they showed signs of life Saturday in Carbondale. Gregg Alexander lit the tote board for 18 points to give ISU a solid chance at a tough and improbable road victory. But after being whistled for two cheap fouls he went to the bench. SIU outscored ISU 26-10 while Gregg was on the pines to take the win.

And it doesn't get any easier in the days ahead as the Birds are facing a tough road date at UNI and a Saturday home contest with No. 15 Creighton. Hopefully the intensity they showed Saturday will carry over in these next two games!

Regardless, it's great to see our former Railers faring so well on the next level!

It was a lot of fun covering the Bears in their inaugural Champaign season, even though they didn't play as well as the fans had hoped. If you recall, we had them at 8-8, and a case could be made that they could have reached that mark. And now the LDN gives the Bears their grades for this year:

Front office: C-

It's hard to know what all they did to get the pieces in place, but from our standpoint it looked like they were somewhat happy to into the season riding last year's laurels. Maybe they didn't feel it was as important since the games would be played downstate or maybe they didn't fully realize how brutal the schedule would be (next year's doesn't look all that much better to us). We also don't know all the options that were open to them once the season got going. We think that going much harder after Drew Bledsoe would have been a step in the right direction. Lots of things broke. We'll see how many they fix before next September.

Coaching: C-/F

If you want to talk about trying to coach a team with so many injuries, you have to take your hat off to what this team was able to do with patchwork lineups. That's the reason for such a high C-minus on that side of things. But, if you want to just talk about philosophies, well, then you have the other side of things. It concerns us when any coach says that they are happy to be competitive and are pleased to still be in games in the final two minutes. Let us just say from experience, that would NEVER play well in Oakland or San Francisco. They'd run you right into the Bay and use you for a bridge support! So, since it wouldn't play there, how does it play here? You have to attack in the NFL on both sides of the ball. IF you just wait until they do something bad before you try to do something good… Well, what happens if THEY don't make many mistakes? Offensively, something has to be done! We're sticking to these grades!

Offense: C+

Considering what play-calling they were given and the extent of their injuries, a C-plus or even a B-minus could be accounted for. Jim Miller was bandaged and taped together, and Chris Chandler was in even worse shape. Anthony Thomas was adequate at times, but more would have helped lighten the load on the quarterbacks. Receivers were not nearly the threat that most hoped they would be. A speed merchant with great hands is an absolute must for next season.

Defense: B+

Maybe too high a grade… but as much as they had to be on the field with their limited numbers, we felt they kept the Bears in some games that they shouldn't have been in. Still, improvements on the line and in the secondary would make the linebacking corps even MORE imposing!

Special teams: D

As we said on many occasions, they just weren't all that special. We were hoping that Brad Maynard would help a little bit more. Again, a great return specialist is an absolute non-negotiable for next season.

MVP: A

This is a no-brainer. Paul Ettinger was easily the MVP of this team… period!!!

Fans: A/F

They were always with the team and did a great job! To those who didn't think they would be any different than the Illini fans: You couldn't have been more wrong. And to those who actually drove down from Chicago every week: You oughta get some kind of award. We had to drive only an hour and a half to look at THAT!

On the other side of the fence: To those who were so drunk that they didn't know where they were, or so rude on every possible occasion, thanks for demonstrating such good traits to a lot of young impressionable fans! Some of you were a joke!

To those who didn't take advantage of seeing a professional sport in your own back yard: Don't gripe and complain about it later!

Tonight at 6, right here on your LDN dial, CITV or FIX-96.3 FM, we have some special stuff in store for you. So get your question or comments ready and give us a call at 735-3306.

[Jeff Mayfield]

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