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[SEPT. 17, 2001]  The girls of the Lincoln Lady Railer swim team participated in the Woodruff Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15. The Railers finished eight out of 14 teams, with 84 points. Dunlap won the event.

Lincoln had two top-six finishes — the 150-yard, three-person breast relay and the 200 free relay. Members of the breast relay were Ally Ray, Holly Shehorn and Emily Wilkinson. Their time was 2:00.17. The 200 free relay members, Samantha Davison, Dea Welsh, Stephanie Couch and Emily Wilkinson, completed their race in 1:55.58.

The Lady Railers travel to Petersburg on Tuesday to compete against Petersburg-Porta and Quincy in a triangular meet.

[Ruth and George Sloot, coaches]

[Click here for Lincoln placings at Woodruff Invitational]

[SEPT. 17, 2001]  The LCC Angels claimed victory at Saturday afternoon’s away game with Mount Mary in Milwaukee, Wis., winning 8-1.

Brittany Robbins and Lindsey Jones each brought in three goals, supported by one goal each from Rebecca Davis and Emily Best.

[SEPT. 17, 2001]  Lincoln College defeated Rend Lake 30-25, 30-25 in volleyball action at Lincoln Saturday, after losing a tough match to Illinois Valley College earlier in the day.   IVC beat the Lady Lynx 27-30, 34-32, 15-10.

Lincoln will take a 5-5 record into its next match, which is Tuesday against Lincoln Christian College.

Leading the Lady Lynx in the tournament were Amy Cox of Bloomington with 10 kills, three blocks and nine points. Janine Buettner contributed 10 kills and four blocks, while Erica Miller had 11 kills, eight digs and 16 points. Sarah McLaughlin, a Lincoln High School graduate, contributed four digs and four points, while Marie Burash added 11 points, one ace and four kills.

"We played a very solid match," said coach Mark Tippett. "We let the match against IVC slip away from us, but I was pleased with the way we rebounded against Rend Lake.   Both of these teams were very good, and we played well with the exception of a couple of defensive lapses. We came out and played with a lot of emotion against Rend Lake, who was a very athletic team.

"We had the lead against IVC in the second game; however, we let it slip away.  Our passing became a little off and that cost us. We had two chances at game point; however, we didn’t get the job done. The IVC match was really a game of runs, as both teams went on scoring stretches."

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 14, 2001]  In a three-way meet at home on Thursday, Lincoln Community High School swimmers scored 80 points. Dunlap won with 150, and Limestone had 55. Placings for Lincoln swimmers are listed below. 

200-yard medley relay — 2. Stephanie Couch, Emily Wilkinson, Dea Welsh, Samantha Davison, 2.10.95;  5. Holly Shehorn, Ally Ray, Jamie Fuiten, Brittany Shaw, 2.26.42.

200 free — 3. Jessica Carey, 2.41.23;  5. Jessica Alexander, 2.47.42.

200 IM — 5. Stephanie Couch, 2.52.05;  6. Amy Holmes, 3.31.60.

50 free — 2. Samantha Davison, 28.16;  3. Emily Wilkinson, 28.21.

100 fly — 3. Jamie Fuiten, 1.25.67;  4. Elizabeth Brooks, 1.28.25.

100 free — 4. Dea Welsh, 1.03.56;  3. Stephanie Couch, 1.03.4.

500 free — 3. Holly Shehorn, 7.02.14;  5. Jessica Carey, 7.22.42.

200 free relay — 2. Stephanie Couch, Samantha Davison, Dea Welsh, Emily Wilkinson, 1.54.55;  4. Danielle Edwards, Jamie Hamblin, Katie Simpson, Sonya Zeitler, 2.25.21.

100 back — 3. Brittany Shaw, 1.22.83;  5. Liza Volk, 1.31.52.

100 breast — 4. Emily Wilkinson, 1.24.44;  5. Holly Shehorn, 1.33.67.

400 free relay — 4. Elizabeth Brooks, Mikki Caskey, Jamie Fuiten, Ally Ray, 5.06.12;  5. Jessica Carey, Danielle Edwards, Amy Holmes, Elizabeth Meyer, 5.16.67.

[SEPT. 14, 2001]  Springfield College of Illinois, ranked 12th in the latest poll, handed Lincoln College a 4-1 setback in men’s soccer at Lincoln Thursday afternoon.   The loss drops the Lynx record to 2-2 for the season while SCI goes to 5-1.

Visiting SCI scored three times in the first half to take a 3-0 lead. The Lynx battled to a tie in the second half, each team scoring one goal. The lone Lincoln goal came off the foot of Nick Bussey on an assist by Steve Gorton.

LC goalie Justin Cronin had seven saves in the net. Chris Schilling, SCI goalie, was credited with five saves. Both Lincoln and Springfield had 14 shots on goal.

Mike Ngonyani scored three of the SCI goals in the contest, two coming in the first half.   The fourth goal was scored by Murphy.  Collecting assists for SCI were Justin Pierce, Carlos Castro, Vince Murphy and Kystar.

"They are a very good team," said Lynx coach Mark Howard.  "We will have to regroup and see where we go from here."

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 14, 2001]  Lincoln College reached the .500 mark by downing Carl Sandburg College at Galesburg Thursday night.  LC stands at 4-4 and will host Illinois Valley and Rend Lake in a tri-match Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.

Lincoln College got outstanding performances from Amy Cox, Erica Miller and Beth Guy as they downed Carl Sandburg 30-28, 30-12 and 31-29.

Cox had 10 kills, three blocks, eight points and three aces for the Lady Lynx.   Guy contributed 15 points, four aces and 27 set assists, while Miller had nine kills, nine points and three aces.

"It is great to get to the .500 mark. We played very consistent volleyball and were fundamentally sound all night. Carl Sandburg played extremely well in the first and the third matches, but we were able to overcome that with good play of our own."

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 13, 2001]  Lincoln College fell behind 4-0 in the first half and, although scoring two goals in the second half, was unable to catch visiting Springfield College of Illinois in a women’s soccer game at Lincoln Tuesday afternoon. SCI won the contest by an 8-2 margin.

Scoring goals for Lincoln College were Ayana Evans in the 64th minute and Lyndsey Pickering in the 71st minute.

"Our lack of numbers hurt us again today," coach Todd Spellman stated. "Until we get some of our injured players back, it is going to be tough for us."

The loss drops the Lady Lynx to 0-3 on the season.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 13, 2001]  In women’s soccer, LCC lost to Culver-Stockton 2-0. LCC’s season record is now 1-5.

[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.

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]

[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.

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]

[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.

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.

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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]

[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.

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.

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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).

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]

[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.

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

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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]

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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]

[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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