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Saturday, May 3

High school baseball

[MAY 3, 2003] 

At Mason City

Midwest Central     040 010 0 - 5-10-3

Illini Central            002 000 1 - 3-7-2

Watson (W), Ziebart (7) and Roberts; Chris Norton (L, 4-1) and Travis Scott.

Records - Illini Central 10-5.

At Athens

Hartsburg-Emden     000 101 1 - 5-9-1

Gridley                     200 002 x - 4-4-1

Matt Gleason (L, 2-2) and Drew Olson; Riech, Chandler (S, 6), and Finley.

Home run - Hartem - Gleason (solo in sixth).

Hitting star - Hartem - Josh Sherwood (double, RBI).

Records - Hartem 8-5, Athens 7-6.

At Mount Pulaski

Mount Pulaski     000 001 000 - 1-4-2

Rochester            000 001 001 - 2-9-1

Brian Clements, Josh Blaum (7, L, 3-3) and Cameron McClellan; Wright (W) and Milner.

Records - Mount Pulaski 13-5, Rochester 15-5.

High school softball

[MAY 3, 2003] 

At Athens

Hartsburg     002 215 2 - 12-16-2

Athens          001 000 0 - 1-8-4

Nikki Chapman (W, 6-5), Megan Leesman (7) and Alyssa Moehring; Hocking (L), Bock (7) and Mussleman.

Hitting stars - Hartem - Molly Klokkenga (3 hits), Moehring (3 hits, 3 RBIs), Ashley Luken (3 hits).

Record - Hartem 8-8.

At Washington Tournament

Williamsville     000 000 0 - 0-1-0

Olympia           300 000 x - 3-4-1

WP - Shay (15-1), LP - Smith.

Hitting stars - Olympia - Shay (RBI), Darnall (2 RBIs).

Pitching star - Olympia - Shay (7 IP, 1 H, 0R, 0 BB, 4 SO).

Olympia      102 000 0 - 3-7-0

Morris         000 000 0 - 0-4-1

WP - Shay (16-1), LP - Durkee.

Hitting stars - Olympia - Darnall (2 hits, double, 2 RBIs).

Pitching star - Olympia - Shay (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO).

Record - Olympia 23-1.

High school track and field

[MAY 3, 2003] 

Boys

Dragon Invitational
At Pekin

4. Olympia 66.

Olympia finishers:

400 meter - 2. Joyce, 51.3

800 - 1. McClain 2:03

400 relay - 4. Olympia 45.2

800 relay - 2. Olympia 36.2

1,600 relay - 1. Olympia (Joyce, Schmidgall, Brand, McClain) 3:30.7

3,200 relay - 3. Olympia, 8:30

Shot put - 2. Schultz 56-2 1/2

Discus - 4. Schultz 153-2

High jump - 2. Raes 6-2.

Girls

Herscher Invitational

3. Olympia 76.
Olympia finishers:

100 meter - 2. Prater 12.98

200 - 2. Prater 26.85

100 high hurdles - 2. Hish 17.42; 4. Bennet   18.59

300 low hurdles - 3. Fredricks 50.87; 4. Hish 51.38

High jump - 2. Crawford 5-0

400 relay - 3. Olympia 53.87

800 relay - 2. Olympia 1:52.70

1,600 relay - 5. Olympia 4:25.22

3,200 relay - 2. Olympia 10:34.2

800 medley relay - 3. Olympia 2:00.45.

Meet of Champions
At East Peoria

5. Lincoln 144

Lincoln finishers:

100 meter - 3. Tricia Dorsey 12.75

200 - 3. Dorsey 27.6

400 - 7. Whitney Smith 1:11.9

800 - Christine Presswood 2:35.96

1,600 - 2. Presswood 5:44.9

3,200 - 5. Jennifer Cook 13:51.36

100  high hurdles - 6. Kendall Paulus 19.79

300 low hurdles - 8. Nicole Humbert 57.2

High jump - 4. Kylie Courtwright 5-0

Pole vault - 3. Jennifer Whalen 6-6

Long jump - 7. Paulus 10-1

Triple jump - 2. Whalen 31-3

Shot put - 6. Kayla Washam 27-1

Discus - 8. Danna O'Brien 58-6

400 relay - 4. Lincoln 53.19

800 relay - 2. Lincoln 1:53.3

3,200 relay - 6. Lincoln 12:11.8

800 sprint relay - 6. Lincoln 2:02.5

Lincoln College softball

[MAY 3, 2003]  MATTOON - Lincoln College lost its opening game in the Region 24 softball tournament, 8-0, to Lake Land College. The Lynx then bounced back to win 2-0 in the losers' bracket over Lewis & Clark.

[to top of second column in this article]

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

Lightning strike cancels WJBC webcasts
for weekend games

[MAY 3, 2003]  NORMAL -- A lightning strike earlier in the week caused damage to the WJBC server. The damages sustained from the strike made it impossible for the station to provide webcasts for Friday's Illinois State baseball game against Indiana State and Sunday's softball game against Southwest Missouri State.

[to top of second column in this article]

      In the top of the fifth, another costly fielding error at third base by Chris Shepherd allowed Indiana State another run with two outs, to give the Sycamores a 5-2 advantage. A two-run homer to right field by Peacock with two outs in the bottom of the fifth narrowed the Indiana State lead to one, 5-4.
     Stein seemed to get hotter as the game wore on, recording five strikeouts in the sixth and seventh innings. Chris Shepherd gave the 'Birds a big lift in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI double down the left-field line that sent McMillan across the plate, and Peacock was able to score on the same play as a result of a throwing error by Hatler, the Sycamore left fielder, to give Illinois State back the lead, 6-5.
     Accardo came in to relieve Stein to start the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth, McMillan drew an RBI walk off Sycamore reliever Brian Omogrosso to give the 'Birds an insurance run on their lead, 7-5. Peacock drew in another run in the eighth with a sack bunt to put the Redbirds ahead 8-5 heading into the ninth inning.
     After loading the bases in the top of the ninth with one out, Accardo was able to turn a 1-6-3 double play to seal the victory.
     Illinois State continues its series with Indiana State Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The first game will be seven innings, while the nightcap will be a nine-inning affair.

[Rob Huizenga, athletics media relations
Illinois State University]

Larson steps down as coach of Redbird gymnastics

[MAY 3, 2003]  NORMAL -- Beth Larson resigned from her position as the head coach of the Illinois State gymnastics team Friday to pursue a career in the private sector, according to Illinois State Director of Athletics Perk Weisenburger.

The Cherry Valley native was the Redbirds' head coach for two years and enjoyed much success with her team, not only as a coach but also as a former student-athlete.

"I truly enjoyed my time here, not only as a coach but athlete as well, and at this time, for personal reasons, I am looking forward to taking the next step and meeting new challenges in my life," Larson said. "I feel that this program has been set up extremely well with new recruits and a solid group of athletes returning, and I am looking forward to them coming in and making an impact next year and leading the Redbirds back to the NCAA Tournament.

"The biggest thing I will miss about Illinois State is the team atmosphere," Larson continued. "The support of the fans and community as well as the athletics staff is amazing. I have learned that life is always going to be changing, and you have to take hold of what you have at the moment and be able to adapt to change that comes your way. I am going to take hold of the moment and make a change, and I know the team will do the same and come out on top."

Weisenburger applauds Larson's dedication to Illinois State but understands this is her moment to move on.

"Beth has done a wonderful job with our Redbird gymnastics program these past two years," Weisenburger said. "She will definitely be missed as a head coach, a member of our coaching staff and as a person who cares very deeply for Illinois State University. She has had a very positive impact on all of us and particularly her student-athletes. We wish her all the best in her relocation and new endeavors."

[to top of second column in this article]

Larson took over the reigns of the Redbird gymnastics program in July 2001 from Jill Hollembeak, who coached Larson while she was a member of the squad. She inherited a team that was fresh off an NCAA regional appearance, and in her first season as head coach, she led the Redbirds to their second consecutive NCAA regional. Larson and her gymnasts posted an 11-16 record in 2002.

In 2003, she coached her team to a 5-16 record and fifth-place finish at the Midwest Independent Championships. While the team failed to make regionals, Larson guided two individual athletes to the national competition. At the regional meet Denise Houda and Lisa Klein both participated as individual competitors alongside the No. 1 team in the nation, UCLA.

Larson finished her career as a coach at Illinois State with a 16-32 overall record while setting a new standard for Redbird gymnastics that started during her days as a student-athlete. She was a four-year letter winner and served as team captain of the squad from 1999-2000. She also received the R.E.D.B.I.R.D. gymnastics award from 1997-2000. She qualified for regionals as an individual in 1999 and 2000 and was named most valuable performer from 1998-2000.

Larson, who received her bachelor's degree in exercise science from Illinois State in 2000, will still be hosting her summer camps scheduled for June.

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

Articles from the past week

[APRIL 28, 2003]  The Lincoln Railers put up a nice 4-3 win over Lanphier after losing to them 9-4 earlier in the week. These were two real Jekyll and Hyde performances, but according to coach Pat Hake, if the Railers come to play every night, they can expect more winning outcomes. With the victory Lincoln was able to even their league mark to 3-3 and push their season record over the .500 level at 8-7.

The Lady Railers track squad also took an impressive triad win over Pekin and Peoria Manual last week.

CONGRATULATIONS to Chris Bunch as he has inked with Parkland College. Also, to Matthew Stoltzenburg, who was named District 15 Coach of the Year!

The St. Louis Cardinals pulled out an epic 7-6 win over the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium on Sunday. The win enabled the Birds to take the series, to move one game under the .500 mark and most importantly move within two games of the Cubs. Fernando Vina, who had gone 0-for-9 in the game, not the series, went from goat to hero as he knocked in the winning run. Hopefully, that will get him and his mates started back in the right direction. The Redbirds will be entertaining the pond scum, otherwise known as the New York Mets, starting on Tuesday.

Illinois' Eugene Wilson was drafted by the New England Patriots after the Bears passed on him. Don't know what the thinking was there, as he seems like an excellent fit for them. Brandon Lloyd went to San Francisco, as the Niners are anticipating pass catching needs. Two Illini O-lineman went in the fifth round, as Dave Diehl ended up with the Giants in New York and Tony Pashos was selected by the Baltimore Ravens. And the Carolina Panthers nabbed Walter Young in the seventh round. After the two-day draft event was over four more Illini inked free agent deals, with Greg Lewis to Philadelphia, Antoineo Harris to San Diego, Aaron Moorehead to Indianapolis and Jerry Schumacher to the Bears!

[to top of second column in this article]

All in all, it was a great weekend for Fighting Illini gridders. While I'm happy to see them realize their dreams in the NFL, I am sad to see them go, as I get way too attached to them while they are playing for us! They have all treated the LDN staff with great respect as they have given us tremendous accessibility. The LDN wishes them all great success at the next level!

How 'bout that Fred Couples winning the Houston Open? It's great to see a superstar coming back, after injuries and losing his edge, to recapture the swing and return to glory. Judging by the fans' reactions, they were glad to see him back on top!

Have a great week, everybody!

[Jeff Mayfield]

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