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College
volleyball
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Lincoln
College vs. Springfield College of Illinois
[SEPT.
12, 2001] Lincoln
College won its opening home volleyball match of the season by
downing Springfield College of Illinois in three sets Tuesday
night. The victory raises the Lady Lynx record to 3-5 on the
season.
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Lincoln
won the opening set 30-11, the second set by a 30-20 margin and the
final set by a 30-12 margin.
Coach
Mark Tippett said: "We played a very solid match and I was
extremely pleased with every aspect of the game. Our passing really
came alive, and that set up our entire game. It was a real team
effort, and it was great to win in front of the home crowd."
Amy
Cox, a sophomore from Lincoln, had 15 points, three aces and three
kills, while Erica Miller came up with 16 points, nine kills and
four digs. Janie Buettner had 11 kills to lead the Lady Lynx,
and Beth Guy had 33 set assists and contributed five points.
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
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College
soccer
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Lynx
soccer teams play at Belleville and Champaign
[SEPT.
10, 2001] It
was not a good weekend for the soccer teams at Lincoln College, as
neither the men nor women were able to score a goal. The men lost to
State Fair 7-0 at Belleville, while the women lost 3-0 to Parkland
at Champaign.
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Coach
Mark Howard said: "We played a very good team and got beat very
badly. Our goalie, Justin Cronin, was very busy as he stopped
seven shots on goal; however, he gave up seven points."
The
Lincoln College women had nine shots on goal but were unable to
score. Coach Todd Spellman said: "We had several
opportunities to score, especially in the first half, but we couldn’t
get any goals. We made a couple of defensive mistakes and they
(Parkland) capitalized."
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
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College
volleyball
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Lincoln
College plays in Danville tournament
[SEPT.
10, 2001] Lincoln
College defeated John Wood 30-25, 30-26 and 30-17 to win one of
three matches in the Danville tournament this past
weekend. The Lynx lost to Danville and John Logan.
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Coach
Mark Tippett said: "We played competitively all day and showed
a lot of progress. We are on the right track and are showing a lot
of promise. We were in every match and played well against
John Logan, clearly the class of the tourney. We were the only
team to give John Logan a tussle."
Against
John Wood, Beth Guy had 30 set assists and scored seven
points. Molly Owens was credited with 10 kills, and Janine
Buettner had five kills and one block. Amy Cox of Bloomington
had seven points and four blocks.
Danville
beat Lincoln College 33-31, 28-30, 30-25, 30-23. Guy had a
team-high 41 assists and scored nine points to lead the Lynx.
Cox was credited with 12 kills, eight blocks and eight points, while
Buettner had 12 kills and four blocks.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Against
John Logan the Lynx were defeated 30-7, 19-30, 30-19,
30-28. Guy had six service points and 28 assists, while
Molly Owens had eight kills and two blocks.
On
Tuesday, Lincoln College will have their first home meet of the
season, when they host Springfield College at 6 p.m.
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
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Illinois
survives against Northern
[SEPT.
10, 2001] Illinois
beat in-state rival Northern Illinois 17-12 in a very sloppy game
Saturday in Champaign in front of just over 45,000 fans. Illinois
needed two Kurt Kittner fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure the
victory, and the game was not decided until NIU failed to complete a
fourth-down pass into Illinois territory with just 30 seconds
remaining in the game.
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Illinois
is now 2-0 on the young season and is one of just six Big Ten teams
that remain undefeated on the season. Illinois heads into action
again next Saturday against Louisville — a team that is 3-0 and
puts up points at an incredible pace. The game will be played in
Champaign (plenty of tickets remain), with kickoff at 11:10 a.m. The
contest will be televised by ESPN2.
Three
players earned the title "hero" on Saturday, and without
the effort of each of the three, Illinois could very easily lost for
the first time in 111 years to an in-state, non-conference team (can
you name the team that beat Illinois in 1890?). Thus, today the LDN
salutes the following Illini:
1.
Brandon Lloyd, wide receiver — He recorded his second-straight
100-yard receiving game and once again was the most exciting player
on the field. He faced double or triple coverage most of the game,
yet still caught seven passes and helped the struggling Illinois
offense get going time and again.
2.
Eugene Wilson, cornerback — All the attention this year has been
given to the other corner, Christian Morton, but Wilson made three
huge plays on Saturday. First, he returned a punt 40 yards to help
awake the sleeping crowd. Then, Wilson recorded two really big
interceptions. The first was a great diving play only a few players
will ever duplicate. The second came late in the game and allowed
Illinois to score their second and final touchdown of the day (which
ended up being the game-winning points).
[to top of second column in
this article]
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3.
Terrell Washington, defensive end — The senior finished with three
tackles but became the first Illinois player since Fred Wakefield to
block two kicks in the same game. Washington blocked each of the
first two NIU field-goal attempts, and those six points could have
allowed Northern to escape with a victory.
Bottom
line: A victory is a victory. But, Illinois came out really flat and
will lose by two touchdowns (at least) if they do not have a much
better effort against Louisville.
And
things do not get any easier after next Saturday. The conference
season starts in less than two weeks at the Big House in Ann Arbor,
Mich. Those dreaded Wolverines gave away yet another game on
Saturday (proving Lloyd Carr is Illinois’ greatest weapon when
Illinois meets Michigan) at Washington and should be very angry when
Illinois comes calling.
[Greg
Taylor]
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Lincoln’s
Cook will get some help
[SEPT.
10, 2001] Three
current high school seniors have given verbal commitments to coach
Bill Self to play basketball at the University of Illinois,
beginning in the fall of 2002. Self has one scholarship left to
offer this fall and will probably have a fifth scholarship to offer
in the spring if Frank Williams declares for the NBA, a move most
basketball insiders say has already been decided upon.
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The
three players are:
•
Dee Brown, a 6-1 guard from Proviso East HS in Maywood
•
James Augustine, a 6-10 forward from New Lenox Central HS
•
Kyle Wilson, a 6-8 wing-forward from Jesuit Prep School in Dallas,
Texas
Illinois
hosts three more prospective players on campus Sept. 14-16. Visiting
will be:
•
Sheldon Williams, a 6-8 power forward from Midwest City, Okla.
•
Deron Williams, a 6-3 guard from The Colony, Texas
•
Kevin Bookout, a 6-8, 260-pound center from Strout, Texas
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Sheldon
Williams is the No. 1 power forward prospect in the country and is
deciding between Illinois, Duke and North Carolina. Duke is rumored
to be the favorite. Deron Williams is a top 50 guard prospect who
has narrowed his choices to Illinois, Georgia Tech and Maryland. And
Bookout is a three-sport stud (baseball; track and field) who has a
great chance to represent the USA in the 2004 Summer Olympics in
either the discus or shot-put competition.
[Greg
Taylor]
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High
school football
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Lincoln vs.
Springfield Lanphier
Lincoln
0 7 0 7 - 14
Springfield Lanphier 12 14 10 12 - 48
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“From a performance standpoint we played
much better; we had some hitting this week. Last week we
didn’t hit much of anything -- we’d have trouble killing
a fly -- but this week we put some sticks on a few people,
we thought, and we played a much better football game” --
Coach Oaks
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Olympia vs. Kewanee
Olympia 7 7 20 7 - 34
Kewanee 0 12 0 0 - 12
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High
school volleyball
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Hartsburg-Emden
vs. Breese Central
Breese Central def. Hartsburg-Emden
15-7, 15-10
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Men’s
soccer
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A
look at the LC men’s soccer season
Lynx
open with local tourney championship
[SEPT.
8, 2001] Lincoln
College opened its men’s soccer season by claiming the
championship of the Domino’s Pizza/Bonanza Soccer Classic at
Lincoln this past weekend. The Lynx won the tourney championship for
the fifth-straight season.
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Lincoln
defeated East Central of Union, Mo., 1-0 in the championship game.
The only goal of the game came in the first half of the contest on a
penalty kick by Jesus Cruz, a graduate of Moline.
"We
played very well and beat a great team in East Central," said
coach Mark Howard of Lincoln College. "They are probably the
most talented team we have ever had in our tournament. They (East
Central) actually controlled possession most of the game; however,
we had the only score. Our goalkeeper, Justin Cronin, a freshman
from Naperville, had a phenomenal game."
Lincoln
College advanced to the championship game by beating Madison Area
Tech College 5-1 in their first contest. The first Lynx goal was
scored by John Lusicic with an assist by Jeff Cohen. Chris Luther
scored the second on assists by Jesus Cruz and Ryan McCabe, while
Cruz scored the third goal unassisted. Lincoln College’s fourth
goal was scored by Nick Buysse with an assist from Steve Gorton, and
the final goal was by Cliff Scattergood, unassisted.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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East
Central stopped Cincinnati State 4-0 in the other semifinal game.
Cincinnati State came back to claim third place with a 6-1 victory
over Madison Area Tech.
Cory
Dalton of East Moline was named most valuable defender for the
tourney, while Justin Cronin was the most valuable goalkeeper.
Fernando Tolomelli of East Central was named most valuable attacker.
Names to the all-tournament team from Lincoln were Cruz; Lance
Ziebart, a Normal Community graduate; Ryan McCabe, Bethany High
School graduate; and Darin Parker, also from Normal Community.
Click
here for Lincoln College men’s soccer schedule.
Click
here for team roster.
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
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Lincoln
College men’s soccer schedule
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
Where |
Sept. 1 |
Bonanza-Domino’s Pizza Classic |
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Lincoln College vs. Madison Area |
1 p.m. |
Home |
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Cincinnati State vs. East Central |
3:30 p.m. |
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Sept. 2 |
Losers |
11 a.m. |
Home |
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Winners |
1:30 p.m. |
Home |
Sept. 8 |
State Fair |
4 p.m. |
at SWIC |
Sept. 9 |
Illinois Central College |
7 p.m. |
Away |
Sept. 13 |
Springfield College |
4 p.m. |
Home |
Sept. 19 |
Parkland |
4 p.m. |
Home |
Sept. 22 |
Bethany Lutheran |
1 p.m. |
Home |
Sept. 26 |
Danville |
4 p.m. |
Away |
Sept. 29 |
Lewis & Clark CC |
2 p.m. |
Away |
Oct. 3 |
Southwestern Illinois |
4 p.m. |
Home |
Oct. 5 |
Morraine Valley |
4 p.m. |
Away |
Oct. 7 |
College of DuPage |
1 p.m. |
Home |
Oct. 11 |
Meridian |
7 p.m. |
Dallas |
Oct. 12 |
Richland |
7 p.m. |
Dallas |
Oct. 14 |
Tyler |
11 a.m. |
Dallas |
Oct. 17 |
Lincoln Land CC |
4 p.m. |
Away |
Oct. 20 |
NJCAA Region 24 playoffs |
TBA |
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Oct. 24 |
NJCAA Region 24 semifinals |
TBA |
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Oct. 27 |
NJCAA Region 24 championship |
TBA |
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Nov. 3-4 |
District |
TBA |
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Nov. 15-18 |
National tournament |
TBA |
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|
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Lincoln
College men’s soccer roster
No. |
Name |
Yr. |
Hometown |
High school |
1 |
Fernando Delgado |
Fr |
Chicago |
Farragut |
0 |
Justin Cronin |
Fr |
Naperville |
Naperville Central |
2 |
Chris Luther |
Fr |
Darien |
Hinsdale South |
3 |
Jeremy Wood |
So |
Lovington |
Lovington |
4 |
Ryan Foy |
Fr |
Moline |
Moline |
5 |
Don Anderson |
So |
Oak Lawn |
Oak Lawn |
6 |
Mike Fox |
So |
Moline |
Moline |
7 |
Isaac Honegger |
Fr |
Lafayette, Ind. |
Lafayette Jefferson |
8 |
Matt Krok |
Fr |
Arlington Heights |
Hersey |
9 |
Cliff Scattergood |
Fr |
Manteno |
Manteno |
10 |
Jesus Cruz |
Fr |
Moline |
Moline |
11 |
Cory Dalton |
So |
East Moline |
United Township |
12 |
Ryan McCabe |
So |
Bethany |
Bethany |
13 |
John Lusicic |
Fr |
Granite City |
Christian Brothers |
14 |
Nick Buysse |
So |
Coal Valley |
Orion |
15 |
Jeff Cohen |
Fr |
Palatine |
Palatine |
16 |
Lance Ziebart |
Fr |
Normal |
Normal Community |
17 |
Darren Parker |
Fr |
Bloomington |
Normal Community |
18 |
Walter Molina |
Fr |
Chicago |
Steinmetz |
19 |
Steve Gorton |
So |
Mattawan, Mich. |
Mattawan |
20 |
Mike Noerper |
Fr |
Deerfield |
Deerfield |
21 |
George Mwenisongole |
So |
Tanzania, Africa |
|
23 |
Shefiu Ogunlana |
Fr |
Chicago |
Hyde Park |
24 |
Isaiah Bishop |
Fr |
Bloomington |
Normal Community |
Head coach: Mark Howard
Assistant coach: Cassidy Dobratz
Athletic director: Allen Pickering
Managers: Kevin McAuliffe and Jesse Wood
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High
school volleyball
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Height is
sometimes measured by heart
By Rick Hobler
[SEPT.
7, 2001] Sometimes,
smaller is bigger, shorter is taller, a soft touch is better than a
hard hit, and a block is as effective as a kill.
"Sometime" was last night, as the Lady Railers defeated
the Normal West Wildcats in consecutive games, 15-6, 15-7.
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The
Railers’ smaller back line showed up bigger and taller with major
service runs by Christina Xamis and Darcy White, along with six big
kills for "little" Darcy White. And, while the Railer
power hitters were so pumped up they were consistently hitting long
and wide, the dink and the soft touch in the right place, at the
right time, proved effective all night. When the Railers needed a
side out or a game-winning point, it was the dynamic blocking duo of
Kari McFadden and Tina Cook that made it happen.
As
Game 1 began, it was evident that both teams had come to play. The
Railers were so pumped up and ready that initially they were driving
the ball long or hitting right into the waiting Wildcat blockers.
Normal West was serving well and appeared able to use the Railers’
power against them with effective blocks.
The
Railers needed to change strategy, and they did. A dink by Tina Cook
gave the Railers a much-needed side out, with the Railers down 0-3.
A fine serve by Missy Aper and a hard kill by Darcy White gave LCHS
its first point. Darcy then rotated to the service line and
proceeded to serve two more Railer points on a kill by Samantha
Conrady and another dink by Kelli Gleason. Successive dinks by
Michelle McFadden and Kelli Gleason during a four-serve run by Kari
McFadden put the Railers on top to stay at 7-5. Kelli Gleason moved
from setter to server and added two more Railer scores.
Normal
would manage no more points, as the Railers pressed it into high
gear. Christina Xamis substituted in and did what she does best —
she served like she’d been on the floor all night. Six successive
well-placed serves from Christina, kills by Darcy White and Tina
Cook, a pair of team blocks by Tina Cook and Kari McFadden, and the
game was history.
Game
2 looked vaguely familiar. The Lady Railers again let themselves get
down 0-3 before they came back to life. Darcy White told me after
the game that sometimes there seem to be a few moments of letdown by
the Railers when they win the first game. She is confident that this
short mental lapse will evaporate as the season goes on. She
reminded me that "it’s still early." Good point.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Game
2 found the Railers riding the serves of Missy Aper, Kelli Gleason
and Darcy White to victory. Samantha Conrady’s net play and
back-line defense were key elements in the victory, as was the
defensive hustle of Christina Xamis. Kari McFadden played with her
usual high intensity and, along with Darcy White, knocked down
enough kills to assure the Railer victory. In between, it was some
well-placed soft touches, including a picture-perfect one by Kelli
Gleason, just over the outstretched arms of two Wildcat blockers,
which out-finessed the Wildcats and led to their defeat.
The
Railers improved to 8-1 with the win.
The
Railer style of play in this victory once again shows one of the
great things about volleyball, unlike most every other sport: In
V-ball you don’t have to be the tallest person on the floor to
make a large contribution to your team’s victory. Sometimes
"height" is measured by the "heart," and the
Lady Railers all played "tall" last night.
The
junior varsity never quit and maintained their undefeated record by
beating Normal West in a three-game match by the score of 15-13,
7-15 and 15-1. The entire team showed great attitudes and winner’s
hearts throughout the match. Smart coaching by Tanya Conrady,
especially in Game 2, allowed the JV Railers to crush Normal West in
Game 3 and win the match. Exceptional player performances were
turned in by Julie Fults, Brooklyn Robbins, Maria Benitez, Ali Hower
and Katie Green.
The
LCHS varsity squad will travel to Washington, Mo., this weekend to
perform in the highly competitive St. Francis Borgia Tournament. The
Railers’ first tournament game will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
They will return for their next home match, against Mount Zion, on
Sept. 17 and will begin Central State 8 play the next night against
Taylorville.
If
you don’t come out and watch, you won’t know what you’re
missing. GO, RAILERS!
[Rick
Hobler]
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Men’s
golf
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LC golfers
play at Parkland Invitational
[SEPT.
7, 2001] The
Lincoln College men’s golf team finished in a tie for seventh
place in the 21-team Parkland Invitational Thursday in
Champaign. Illinois Valley won the team championship with a
total of 302. The Lynx finished with a team total of 317.
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Bobby
Diehl was the leading scorer for the Lynx with a round of 76, two
shots better than teammate Zack Baker. Todd Peterson shot 81, Chris
Boyer had 82 and Jacob Horton had 83 to round out the team scoring
for coach B.J. McCullum.
Other
scores for Lynx golfers were Brad Emerson 85, Josh Specketer 86,
Dave Riesen 90 and Chris Panzier 95. Only the top five scorers were
counted toward team scores.
Lincoln
plays in the John A. Logan Invitational Saturday and Sunday.
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
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|
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College
volleyball
|
Lady Lynx
play Olney Central and Southeastern
[SEPT.
7, 2001] Playing
at Olney, Lincoln College won its first volleyball game under the
guidance of new coach Mark Tippett Thursday night. Lincoln defeated
the host school before losing to Southeastern in the second
match. The Lynx are now 1-2 on the season.
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Olney
Central rolled to a 30-13 victory in the first game of the
tournament before Lincoln took control. The Lynx won the second game
30-27 and took the final contest by a 15-12 margin. Beth Guy came up
with a game high of 29 set assists, while Janine Buettner had nine
kills and Erica Miller contributed four kills and nine service
points.
Against
Southeastern, the Lady Lynx rolled to a 30-15 victory in the opening
game before stumbling in the final two. Southeastern won the
second game by a 30-25 margin and then took the finale 15-13.
Guy again led the Lynx, with 11 points and 20 set assists. Molly
Owens contributed six kills.
Coach
Tippett said, "We played very competitive volleyball. We
started a little slowly and then started playing very consistently.
We got the advantage in the first match against Olney and it carried
over into the first set against Southeastern; however, we didn't
complete the task. We had opportunities to win; we just didn't
get it done."
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
|
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A
look at the LC women’s golf season
[SEPT.
7, 2001] Six
freshmen make up the women’s golf team for Kirk Whiteman at
Lincoln College this season; therefore, experience will be lacking.
|
"This
class gives us a good recruiting base for next season,"
Whiteman said. "We have some quality golfers, and if we can get
another class of this caliber next season, things should start
looking up for the Lady Lynx."
Carrie
Hoffert, a Lincoln High School graduate, and Michelle Rutherford
should contend for the No. 1 and 2 spots on the team, according to
Whiteman. Rutherford is from Auburn High School.
"Not
far behind the first two will be Dori Boothe and Gina Billy,"
said Whiteman. Rounding out the six-member squad will be Laurel
Allen and Megan Walter. Boothe hails from Elmwood High School, and
Billy from Prairie Ridge High School. Allen is a graduate of Moline,
while Walter hails from Libertyville High School.
"Our
goal is to have someone qualify for the national tournament, which
is held in the spring," said Whiteman. "I believe, with
this group of girls, we are headed in that direction. We have only
three women’s golf teams in our region, with Rend Lake and John A.
Logan always being very representative. They generally finish
one-two in the region and qualify for regionals."
Lincoln
opened the season Sept. 4 with a meet in Jacksonville against
Illinois College.
[to top of second column in
this article]
|
LC
women’s golf schedule
Sept.
4 — Illinois College at Jacksonville
Sept.
14 — Knox College at Galesburg
Sept.
15 — Monmouth College at Monmouth
Sept.
19 — MacMurray College at Jacksonville
Sept.
22 — McKendree College at Lebanon
Oct.
TBA — John A. Logan at Carterville
Oct.
14-16 — Region 24 tourney at West Frankfort
LC women’s
golf roster
Player |
High school |
Yr. |
Gina Billy |
Prairie Ridge |
Fr |
Carrie Hoffert |
Lincoln |
Fr |
Michelle Rutherford |
Auburn |
Fr |
Dori Boothe |
Elmwood |
Fr |
Megan Walter |
Libertyville |
Fr |
Laurel Allen |
Moline |
Fr |
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
|
|
Women’s
soccer
|
Lincoln
College vs. Lincoln Christian College
[SEPT.
6, 2001] In
women’s soccer, Lincoln College dropped the season opener 1-0 to
Lincoln Christian College.
|
At
Lincoln College
Lincoln
Christian 1-0 1
Lincoln
College 0-0 0
The
LCC goal was by Lindsey Jones, assisted by Lindsey Huston.
LCC
had seven shots on goal.
LC
had nine shots on goal.
Sarah
Hunssinger had two saves as goalie for LC.
Jackie
Maddox sustained a knee injury in second half.
Coach
Todd Spellman of LC said: "With the lack of numbers, we ran out
of gas. We have some injuries, and when two girls went down in the
second half, we just weren’t able to keep the girls fresh. I was
pleased with our effort. We need to be in better condition."
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
|
|
|
|
Illinois
entertains Northern Illinois
on Saturday in home opener
By Greg
Taylor
[SEPT.
7, 2001] Hot
off their impressive 44-17 victory last Saturday at
California-Berkeley, the University of Illinois football team hosts
in-state rival Northern Illinois this Saturday. Northern opened
their season last Saturday with a 20-17 victory over South
Florida.
|
Game
time is set for 11:10 a.m. Thousands of tickets remain and will be available at
the football ticket office at Memorial Stadium on Saturday morning. The game
will be televised locally on WCIA-TV (Channel 3) through ESPN-regional.
The
Illini coaching staff was very happy with several aspects of the game against
California, including:
•
The return of quarterback Kurt Kittner to pre-concussion form. The Heisman
candidate looked like the quarterback Mel Kiper thinks is the best in college
football this season.
•
Brandon Lloyd exploded at receiver, catching two passes over 45 yards, which
brings his career total of plays over 30 yards to 10 (in just 13 college games).
•
The running of tailback Antonio Harris, especially inside the 10-yard line.
•
The play of several newcomers to the defensive side of the ball, including
linebackers Ty Myers, Mario Ivy and Joe Bevis and defensive backs Christian
Morton (CB) and Jamaal Clark (SS).
• The
place-kicking of J.J. Tubbs, who continues to be perfect in his college career
in both extra-point attempts and field-goal attempts.
Listed
below are several fast facts related to the game or Illinois football:
• Illinois
leads the series with NIU 2-0, with victories in 1992 (30-14) and 1994 (34-10).
Both previous games have been played in Champaign.
•
Sophomore receiver Brandon Lloyd was named Big Ten offensive player of the week
for his efforts Saturday at California. Lloyd missed the entire 2000 campaign
due to an injury.
[to top of second column in
this article]
|
•
Illinois has not cracked the top 25 rankings yet. However, the coaches (ESPN)
poll has Illinois ranked No. 33, and the sportswriters (AP) list Illinois at No.
30. Illinois rose as high as No. 17 last season in both polls after opening the
season 3-0.
•
Illinois will have one change in the starting lineup, as outside linebacker Ty
Myers will not start, due to a sprained ankle, but will play. Sophomore Joe
Bevis, who played at California, will start in Myers’ place.
•
Illinois received great news Wednesday as former Iowa starter Jon Beutjer
announced he will transfer to Illinois and will be eligible to play in the 2002
season. He will be allowed to practice with Illinois starting Monday and will
probably become the favorite to succeed Kittner next season. Beutjer led
Wheaton-Warrenville HS to a perfect 14-0 season in 1998 and threw an amazing 60
TD passes during his high school career.
•
Illinois received some bad news this week, as it was revealed backup safety Marc
Jackson will have season-ending surgery on his shoulder. Jackson will return in
2002 as a probable starter (both starting safeties this season are seniors and
will retain two years of eligibility).
•
Illinois’ game next week at home against Louisville (2-0) will start at 11:10
a.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
[Greg
Taylor]
|
|
Part
2
Oaks,
Railers battle to be competitive
Jeff
Mayfield interviews John Oaks
[SEPT.
4, 2001] I’ve
heard it said that it takes three years to turn a losing athletic
team into a winner. Others suggest that it takes five years for such
a transformation. Personally, I have no idea how long it takes. I do
know that it will take time. I take my hat off to the new coach of
the Lincoln Railer football team, John Oaks. He has stepped up to
this challenge. We all know what football has been like around here
the last few years. It will do no good to bring up the past again. I
can tell you that the current group of Railers seems to be throwing
support behind coach Oaks and his staff. The LDN hopes that the
community will as well. During the middle of last week the LDN was
able to attend their workout and talk with the coach on the field
immediately after practice.
|
[Click here for
Part 1] Q.
Ball control sounds like it will be the key for this week and for
the rest of the season. Will you try to keep the ball between the
tackles, will you spread the offense like you said earlier, or will
you just mix it up?
A.
It depends on how soon we get Sam Moore back. Our offense has taken
a hit, in that we don’t have a tailback with near the capabilities
of Sam. We’ll be working that position by committee. Players who
could see time in that slot are T.J. Swinford, a junior; Scott
Maestas, a senior; and maybe Jason Melton, a sophomore, could rotate
in there some. We want to try to move the ball without Sam, so we’ll
rely on Jim Babbs who’s a good fullback with some quickness. He’s
not real big, but he’s a tough hitter up in the hole. You can’t
just run in, you can’t just run out. We don’t have the speed to
run outside, and we can’t just run up the middle because teams
will gang up there. So, we hope to mix it up some.
Q.
If the offense can get untracked, do you think that will bode well
for the Railers against Chatham?
A.
It’s really hard to assess them from just that one game that we
saw. We really don’t know how we’ll match up against them. They
gave up 30-plus points to Chicago, but Dunbar’s a pretty doggone
good team, too. We’ve got to worry about ourselves and make
ourselves better. We’ve got to go into the game and make as few
mistakes as we can and take it from there. We’ll prepare against
their offense and we’ll prepare against their defense, but the key
for us is to concentrate on ourselves — limiting our mistakes and
improving our execution — and see where that takes us.
Q.
What have been some of the pleasant surprises that you have
encountered since coming to Lincoln?
A.
We’ve been real happy with the players’ attitudes and with their
work ethic. I think we need to get a few things going in the right
direction and gain a little extra intensity and enthusiasm on their
part.
Q.
What about the things that must improve in order to compete?
A.
Two things: We have to get stronger; we must build the weight
program to a higher level, and that’s going to take time. Also, we
must build the numbers back up on every level of the program. We’ve
got too many kids playing both ways right now. We need to have fewer
kids sustaining injuries so that we can become a stronger program.
Hopefully this freshman class that has 40 in it will continue to
grow and get better. That should be a good start in the right
direction for us.
[to top of second column in
this section]
|
Q.
Are you wanting to bring up some of those sophomores to plug some of
the gaps you’ve got right now?
A.
I don’t like doing that unless we have to. We had seven or eight
sophs dress Friday night, and many of them were on special teams. We
had one of them in the regular starting lineup. We are trying to
plug some holes the best we can while trying to keep the units
intact. We’d like the sophs to stay together and achieve some
success. When you move ’em up, it’s kind of tough on those
younger levels that you’ve depleted. We’d like to keep them
intact the best we can. Right now we just don’t have the numbers
to completely do that.
Q.
I know the schedule is brutal, but what does it look like after this
week?
A.
We go to Lanphier next week and then on to Jacksonville. Certainly
Lanphier looked awfully tough in their opening win over Peoria
Manual. And Jacksonville had a big upset victory over Jerseyville. I
guess they play Taylorville, and we’ll find out how good everybody
is after that one. There are no break times in the Central State 8.
And this year seems to be more of an up year than most. There are
least five or six teams that are playoff quality. It looks like we’re
going to have our work cut out for us. We’ve just got to get our
own act together to have a chance to be competitive.
I’ve
always believed that anyplace can be competitive. It just takes time
and patience. You have to get the right things in order — like I’ve
been real happy with the booster club, and the community support
here has been great so far. The kids have had a good attitude, and
if we can keep that going through some of this drought time, then I
think we can get things headed in the right direction.
Conclusion
Everyone
here at the LDN and the community is behind you, coach Oaks, and
behind every Railer team.
Good
luck, Railers, throughout the season!
And
if you’re on a local sports team and would like some coverage,
call 732-7443 and let us know about it. You and your team may well
be the next feature!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
|
|
Part
1
Oaks,
Railers battle to be competitive
Jeff
Mayfield interviews John Oaks
[SEPT.
1, 2001] I’ve
heard it said that it takes three years to turn a losing athletic
team into a winner. Others suggest that it takes five years for such
a transformation. Personally, I have no idea how long it takes. I do
know that it will take time. I take my hat off to the new coach of
the Lincoln Railer football team, John Oaks. He has stepped up to
this challenge. We all know what football has been like around here
the last few years. It will do no good to bring up the past again. I
can tell you that the current group of Railers seems to be throwing
support behind coach Oaks and his staff. The LDN hopes that the
community will as well. During the middle of the week the LDN was
able to attend their workout and talk with the coach on the field
immediately after practice.
|
Q.
Tell us about this week’s game.
A.
We’ve got the Chatham Titans, which is their new nickname. But
they’ll be the same old tough team, I’m afraid. They have quite
a few starters back from last year’s team. They had a tough
opening loss to Chicago Dunbar. In that game their quarterback was
injured, but they’ve still got quite a few weapons. I’m certain
they may have a little more of a ground game this week, but their
backup quarterback came in and threw the ball pretty well for them,
too. So, it will be a tough opening game here at home.
Q.
How do you plan to go up against them?
A.
We'll do the best we can. We’re beat up pretty badly ourselves
right now. We lost two key starters with injuries and a third one
due to disciplinary action. We’ve kinda got the shorts in trying
to piece together a lineup out there. It’s going to be tough. I
think our best chance is to try to put together some type of
ball-control offense where hopefully we can keep the ball a little
bit and keep it out of their hands.
[to top of second column in
this section]
|
Q.
Last week you guys got off to a pretty good start but then seemed to
encounter some bad breaks and some injuries. How did you see it?
A.
We moved the ball fairly decent, but we had some little things go
against us. Some of those were our own doing. When things haven’t
gone well for a team for a number of years, those things bring you
down. We gave up a long run early in the game, and they ended up
scoring a touchdown. We then had a nice drive going ourselves and
got all the way down to the 14-yard line before three penalties in
the next four plays killed the drive. You just can’t do those
kinds of things. I think that took some of the wind out of our
sails. We were still in it, only being down 7-0 at halftime. Then we
had a couple of key injuries, one in the second quarter and one
in the third, that I think hurt us, especially when we were trying to
get the tide turned. Looking back on the game tapes, it wasn’t a
terrible performance; we just need better consistency than what we
showed. And now, obviously, with the injuries, we’ve got an even
tougher job trying to replace those guys.
(To
be continued)
[Jeff
Mayfield]
[Click
here for Part 2]
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