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Railers rap conference-leading Taylorville

[MAY 3, 2002]  Two days ago, the Railers were nipped by Taylorville 4-3 at home. On Thursday, the Railers left no doubt when they left Taylorville that they were not intimidated by the current conference leaders. Lincoln controlled the game throughout, taking the rematch game 6-2 and giving the Tornados their second conference loss. Unlike the previous game, when it seemed that every Railer batted ball found a Taylorville glove, this game showed that well-hit balls will eventually find the safety of the turf.

Lincoln had a masterful pitching performance from senior Matt Boyer, who went the distance. Boyer struck out three, walked just one and granted seven hits in his seven innings. Boyer went five innings without allowing a Tornado to score. Three of his allowed hits came in the sixth inning — the only inning that Taylorville scored. In every inning except the sixth, Boyer faced just four batters.

Lincoln played solid defense behind Boyer. The only Railer error came in the seventh inning when there were two outs, and the error proved insignificant when the following batter grounded out to end the game with the four-run Railer lead.

The Railer offensive attack was led by three seniors who accounted for eight of the Railers’ 12 hits. Blake Schoonover went 3-4, had two stolen bases and scored twice; Ryan Williams was 3-4 with a double, a run and two RBIs; and Andy Knopp was 2-3, allowing Michael Aper, who replaced him in the sixth inning, to score.

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Other Railers also played key roles in the Railer runs. Ryne Komnick had a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning. Michael Martin reached on a bunt single in the sixth and pushed Aper to third on the play, which set up a sacrifice fly by John Peters. Martin also scored when pinch-hitter Adam Schonauer directed an RBI single between third and short for the Railers’ sixth run of the game.

The victory evened Lincoln’s conference record at 5-5 (11-13 overall). The expected potential of this Railer team has been showing itself more consistently in recent games. With a strong showing the rest of the way, Lincoln could still have an excellent season and be primed for a run during the state playoffs.

This Saturday, the Railers will host Washington for a doubleheader starting at 10. Ten seniors will be honored during a special ceremony. It would be a great opportunity to see the home team and give them an extra boost as they make their final push toward a strong finish to their season.

[Rich Knopp]

[MAY 3, 2002]

At Mount Pulaski

Illini Bluffs                    302 207 — 14-11-3

Mount Pulaski              000 000 —   0-  0-0

For Mount Pulaski:

Pitching and catching: J. Foley and N. Tierney (4), J. Blaum (6), and C. Erlenbush, C. McClellan.

At Mason City

Illini Central              100 080 2 — 8-5-0

Pleasant Plains          000 050 0 — 5-5-3

For Illini Central:

Pitching and catching: B. Cunningham and T. Scott.

Outstanding hitters:  B.Cunningham, 2 hits, 3 RBI; M. Brayfield , 2 hits, 2 RBI.

At Hartsburg

Heyworth                  010 000 —   1-3-1

Hartsburg-Emden      522 011 — 11-9-0

For Hartsburg-Emden:

Pitching and catching: K. Hoerbert and M. Gleason.

Outstanding hitter:  R. Anderson, 4 hits, double, home run, 3 RBI.

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Corn Belt Conference Tournament

At Bloomington (Horenberger Field)

Pontiac                      001 000 0 — 1-5-3

Olympia                     100 012 x — 4-6-0

For Olympia:

Pitching and catching: T. Thornton and Rush Olson.

Outstanding hitter:  C. Cheek, 2 hits; Olson, homerun (one on in sixth), 2 RBI.

University High           100 000 1 — 2-5-1

Olympia                     120 101 x — 5-7-0

For Olympia:

Pitching and catching: R. Kendrick and Olson.

Outstanding hitter:  C. Frank, RBI; S. Raleigh, RBI; C. Hayes, RBI; C. Horner, 2 hits, RBI.

[MAY 3, 2002]

At Stanford

Prairie Central         000 000 0 — 0-2-0

Olympia                  001 000 x — 1-4-0

For Olympia:

Pitching and catching: Amanda Wilson (7-1) and Amber Lessen.

Outstanding hitter: Becky Hieser, 2 hits.

Outstanding pitcher:  Wilson, 7 IP, 2 hits, no runs, 6 strikeouts.

At Mount Pulaski

Tremont                 000 00 —   0-  1-6

Mount Pulaski        143 3x — 11-10-0

For Mount Pulaski:

Pitching and catching: Becky Tobias (6-11) and CC Hudson.

Outstanding hitters:  Tobias, 2 hits; Molly Gleason, 2 hits.

Corn Belt Conference track meet at Fairbury

[MAY 3, 2002]  Olympia's freshman-sophomore teams competed at the Corn Belt Conference meet.

Boys results

1. Mahomet-Seymour, 140; 2. University High, 105; 3. Pontiac, 100; 4. Olympia, 93; 5. Prairie Central, 77.5; 6. Central Catholic, 23.5.

Girls results

1. Mahomet-Seymour, 167; 2. University High, 110; 3. Central Catholic, 86; 4. Pontiac, 82;  5. Olympia, 72; 6.  Prairie Central, 44.

Illini fans offered extension on Missouri game tickets

[MAY 2, 2002]  The University of Illinois has obtained additional tickets for the Illinois-Missouri football game scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

Illinois originally had 10,000 tickets for sale. Due to the great demand by Illini fans, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics has obtained additional tickets for the game and extended the purchase deadline until Friday, May 17. There are tickets available in the $30-$35 price range. People can buy tickets in person at the UI Athletics Ticket Office at the Assembly Hall or call toll-free, 866-Illini-1.

[Kent Brown, University of Illinois sports information director]

[MAY 2, 2002]  PARK RIDGE — Illinois’ Bill Self and Northwestern’s June Olkowski will serve as the head coaches for the 2002 Big Ten Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Foreign Tour teams this summer. The women will head overseas first, competing in Belgium and Holland June 14-24, before the men make their trip with games in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands Aug. 8-18.

In 2001, both the men’s and women’s teams posted unblemished records. The men went 6-0 in England and Ireland to post their first undefeated trip since 1995, while the women were a perfect 5-0 in France and Switzerland.

Both teams will be making their 11th trip overseas this summer, as the men’s tour began in 1991 and has traveled every year since with the exception of 2000. The women’s team started a year later, in 1992, and will be making its 11th consecutive tour in 2002.

Self’s and Olkowski’s rosters will be solidified next month, and the teams will gather for training camps in Champaign and Evanston, respectively, prior to departure.

In two seasons at Illinois, Self has led the Fighting Illini to a share of back-to-back Big Ten titles for the first time since the 1951-52 campaigns. He is just the second coach in conference history to win titles in each of his first two years. Wisconsin’s Walter Meanwell accomplished the feat in 1912-13. Self is the first coach in Illinois history to collect 50 wins in his first two seasons, as he has posted a record of 53-17 (.757). In 2001-02, Illinois won a Big Ten-best 26 games and advanced to the third round of the NCAA championship. In his first season, Self guided the squad to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1989 while recording 27 victories, the second-highest total in school history.

The Oklahoma native began his head coaching career at Oral Roberts (1993-97) before taking over at Tulsa (1997-2000), leading the Golden Hurricane to 32 wins and an Elite Eight appearance in 2000.

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Olkowski, who recently completed her third season with the Wildcats, will be leading a Big Ten foreign tour for the first time in her career. Her coaching pedigree includes stints at Maryland, Arizona, Auburn and Butler. When she was named head coach of Arizona in 1987, she was the youngest head coach in the history of the NCAA. Prior to coaching at Northwestern, Olkowski led Butler to five consecutive winning seasons and the 1998 Midwestern Collegiate Conference title. Charged with rebuilding the Wildcat program, she has drawn a strong corps of talent to Evanston, including 2002

Big Ten All-Freshman Team member Sarah Kwasinski.

The Big Ten Conference foreign tours have given more than 220 student-athletes the opportunity to travel abroad, as the men have toured such places as Japan, France, Italy, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, England and Ireland, while the women have traveled to New Zealand, Hungary, England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Slovakia, France and Switzerland. In 10 years, the men’s teams have posted a 42-28 record while the women’s teams have gone 37-18.

[Scott Chipman, associate director of communications, Big Ten Conference]

[MAY 1, 2002]  The Railer varsity baseball team scored three runs in the second inning against visiting Taylorville Tuesday but was unable to score in any other innings. As a result, the game was tied 3-3 from the second inning until the seventh, and Taylorville scored the winning run in that last inning. Taylorville’s conference record moved to 8-1, while Lincoln’s record in the Central State Eight went to 4-5.

Once again, Lincoln had a good outing by the starting pitcher — in this case senior Blake Schoonover. Schoonover went 5 2/3 innings, struck out nine, yielded six hits and two walks, hit three batters, and allowed only two earned runs. While the Railers committed four errors in the game, none of the errors led to Taylorville runs.

Taylorville scored two in the first inning with hit batter, a fielder’s choice, a passed ball and a couple of singles. And they scored a run again in the second inning, with a hit batter, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single. In the third inning, the first two Taylorville hitters reached base with no outs, but Schoonover proceeded to strike out the next three to squelch the scoring threat.

[Photos provided by Rich Knopp]
[Blake Schoonover struck out nine against Taylorville.]

In the sixth inning (with the score 3-3), Taylorville loaded the bases with two outs: The first runner reached on a dropped third strike, and two runners were walked. With the second walk and after 127 pitches, junior Ryne Komnick was called to the mound and faced an 2-0 existing count. Komnick worked to a full count but got the hitter out with a fly ball to right field, and no runs were scored.

In the seventh inning, however, Komnick granted a double, a single to left field and an RBI bunt hit. Although Komnick was able to get out of another subsequent bases-loaded, two-out jam, that one run proved enough for the Taylorville win.

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Lincoln couldn’t quite get its bats going in the game. Taylorville senior Zach Hennings (now 5-0) spread out six hits to six different Railers. The only Lincoln scoring came in the second inning. Danny Schick singled and then came home on a Blake Schoonover single that was errantly played by Taylorville’s left fielder. Andy Knopp bunted and reached first when the pitcher unsuccessfully tried to get an out at third. Schoonover scored on a bunt out by Michael Aper; and Knopp stole second, moved to third on a Mike Aper ground out and scored on a hit to right field by Jeremy Ohmart.

[Ryne Komnick warms up in relief of Blake Schoonover. Other Railers pictured (left to right) are Schoonover, Mitch Sheley, Andy Knopp and Ryan Williams.]

In the sixth inning, the Railers had runners at first and second (Williams with a single and Schoonover with a walk) with one out. Knopp hit a hard shot to left field, but it was grabbed for an out. Komnick walked to load the bases, and Matt Boyer then grounded out to third to end the inning. (The two other Railers with hits in the game were Derek Schrader and Mitch Sheley.)

On Thursday, Lincoln will have another opportunity against the Taylorville team that has made a major conference turnaround since last year. This Saturday, the Senior Recognition Ceremony (rained out last Saturday) will be presented during a home doubleheader against Washington.

[Rich Knopp]

[MAY 1, 2002]

At Hartsburg

Central Catholic           000 000 2 — 2-3-1

Hartsburg-Emden        000 000 0 — 0-3-1

For Hartsburg-Emden:

Pitching and catching: Blaen Fletcher and Matt Gleason.

Record: 11-5

At Williamsville

Illini Central              000 001 0 — 1-4-0

Williamsville              000 030 x — 3-4-1

For Illini Central:

Pitching and catching: Josh McDaniel (4-1) and Travis Scott.

Record: 15-3

[MAY 1, 2002]  Lincoln High School scored five times in the first inning and went on to post a 13-4 win over Taylorville in Central State Eight sophomore baseball action at Lincoln Tuesday afternoon. The victory raises the LCHS record to 9-8 while Taylorville falls to 11-4.

Bob Maestas opened the first inning with a single. After an infield out, three straight walks produced one run. Miles Musick then lined a single to left-center to drive in a pair of runs. Sean Ferguson followed with another single, driving in the final two runs of the inning.

In the second Scott Lee led off with a walk and moved up on a walk to Neil Rohrer. Jason Williams singled to load the bases, and Jason Melton followed with a two-run single. Williams scored the third run of the inning on an error.

The Railers added a run in the fourth on an error and a run-scoring single by Musick. In the fifth Maestas led off with a double and scored on a double by Williams. Musick hit a sacrifice fly to drive home Williams, who had moved to third on a passed ball.

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The final two runs crossed the plate in the sixth inning. Corey Stoltzenburg reached base after being hit by a pitch, and Rohrer reached on another hit-by-pitch. Williams then tripled both runners home.

Maestas worked the first six innings, giving up five hits and four runs, three earned. The right-hander fanned eight and walked five. Paul Phillips hurled the final inning.

Musick, Maestas and Williams all finished the game with three hits. Maestas had a double and scored two runs; Musick scored a run and had four RBIs; while Williams had a double and triple, scored four times, and drove in three runs.

Score by innings

Taylorville 102 001 0 — 4- 6-1

Lincoln 530 122 x — 3-11-2

Ebbs (L), Walker (2), Moore (3), Keel (5) & Lively; Maestas (W), Phillips (7) & Melton.

[Bill Martinie]

[MAY 1, 2002]

At Emden

Heyworth                000    0 0 —   0-  4-2

Hartsburg-Emden    201 (11)x — 14-13-0

For Hartsburg-Emden:

Pitching and catching: Nikki Chapman (7-4), Jenna Leesman (5) and Alyssa Moehring..

Outstanding hitters: Sarah Struebing, 2 hits; Valerie Tillman, 2 hits; Jaci Cross, 2 hits.

Record: 10-4.

At Normal - Fairview Park

Olympia                 101 000 2 — 4-7-0

U High                   000 000 0 — 0-2-2

For Olympia:

Pitching and catching: Jessie Shay (13-2) and Amber Lessen.

Record: 20-3.

Coed track meet at Stanford

[MAY 1, 2002]  In team totals, Olympia boys placed first with 179 points; Lincoln placed seventh with 54 points.  The teams competed against Canton, Clinton, El Paso, Eureka, Flanagan, Metamora, Pontiac, Prairie Central, University High.

Individual events

Boys 1,600 – 5. Dudgeon (Oly), 4:35.0

Girls 1,600 – 1. Floyd (Oly), 5:42.4

Pole vault – 2. Slager (Oly), 10-0

Boys relays

400 meters – 1. Olympia (Sholty, Dillenberg, Weaver, Joyce), 44.4; 6. Lincoln, 48.1

800 meters – 1. Olympia (Sholty, Weaver, Dillenberg, Joyce), 1:32.9

Medley – 4. Olympia, 3:54.7; 5. Lincoln, 4:05.5

1,600 meters – 2. Olympia, 3:28.9

3,200 meters – 4. Olympia, 8:37.2; Lincoln, 9:11.6

F-S 400 – 1. Olympia (Barlint, Hodge, Muerf, Brand), 47.2

F-S 800 – 1. Olympia (Brand, Garey, Hodge, Schmidgall), 1:40.5

F-S medley – 1. Olympia (Hodge, Bachman, Schmidgall, Willard), 3:58.0

F-S 1,600 – 1. Olympia, 3:43.1

F-S 3,200 – 3. Olympia, 9:09.9

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Co-ed events

Long jump – 1. Lincoln (Robbins, Whalen, Aderman, Barringer), 64-6

High jump – 1. Olympia (Neisler, Ross, Hayes, Rader), 21-0; 4. Lincoln, 20-4

Triple jump – 5. Olympia, 130-3 1/2

Shot put – 3. Olympia, 136-11; 6. Lincoln, 124-0

Discus – 6. Lincoln, 330-3

420 Hurdles team – 1. Olympia (Hish, Hentzen, Neisler, Sholty), 1:06.1; 4. Lincoln, 1:17.0

Girls relays

400 meters – 3. Lincoln, 52.4

800 meters – 3. Lincoln, 1:52.2

1,600 meters – 4. Olympia, 4:18.4

3,200 meters – 4. Olympia, 10:26.8

F-S 400 – 1. Olympia (Bennett, Baker, Hish, Prater), 53.4

F-S 800 – 2. Olympia, 1:54.7

F-S 800 medley – 6. Olympia, 2:28.9

F-S 1,600 – 2. Olympia, 4:23.6

F-S 3,200 – 3. Olympia, 10:46.4

[APRIL 30, 2002]  NORMAL — Lincoln High School started the bottom of the third inning with a 3-1 lead here Monday afternoon, but before the bottom of the third inning was completed, Normal had dented the plate 17 times as they rolled to a 19-4 win in five innings.

Normal scored 17 times on seven hits, three errors and six walks.  The inning started with an error, a bunt single and a three-run homer. Jason Williams was the starting and losing pitcher for Lincoln, with Chris Matson and Sean Ferguson also hurling.

 Offensively, Lincoln scored three times in the third on a single by Trent Kavelman, an error, a walk to Mitch Sheley, a run-scoring single by Williams and a run-scoring single by Jason Melton. The Railers scored a run in the fifth on two walks and two balks.

Lincoln, 8-8, is at home Tuesday against Taylorville in a conference game.

[Bill Martinie]

[APRIL 30, 2002]  NORMAL — Lincoln High School scored 15 runs Monday afternoon but it wasn’t enough as Normal Community won the game 17-15 at Lindstrom Field in Lincoln.

Three Lincoln players collected a pair of hits, including Jaron Harnacke, Alex Dahm and Chris Boward.

Chance Berger, Harnacke and Neil Rohrer each took a turn on the mound with Rohrer taking the loss.

Score by innings

Normal          012 334 4 — 17-11-5

Lincoln          014 018 1 — 15-11-3

[Bill Martinie]

[APRIL 30, 2002]  Lincoln College completed its regular baseball season with a doubleheader victory over Lincoln Christian College at Galen Shirley Field in Lincoln Monday afternoon. The Lynx won the first game 13-0 in six innings and took the nightcap 15-3.

Lincoln College completed its regular season with a record of 13-28. The Lynx will play Springfield College in the opening game of the regional Friday at Quincy. The regional is a double-elimination tourney.

Lincoln College scored in every inning of the opening game except the first. Josh Becker was the hitting star, with three hits in three trips to the plate, three runs scored and one RBI. Jake VanDyke had a pair of hits for the Lynx.

Anthony Hoffert was the starting and winning pitcher for LC, and Downing took the loss for LCC.

In the second game Lincoln College pounded out 18 hits in rolling to a 15-3 victory. Matt Whetstone was the winning pitcher, working the first two innings. Kenny VanHouten had three hits, including a triple and two runs scored, to lead the Lynx hitting attack. VanDyke, Zach Rinaberger and Dan Dunn each added a pair of hits for Lincoln College.

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The games were scheduled at LCC; however, they were moved to Galen Shirley Field because the LCC diamond was not playable.

First game

Lincoln College      031 126 — 13-10-2

Lincoln Christian    000 000 —   0-  3-3

Hoffert (W), Eastman (3), King (5), Deakin (6) & Bartman; Downing (L) & Turner.

Second game

Lincoln College      043 203 3 — 15-18-0

Lincoln Christian    102 000 0 —   3-  7-5

Whetstone (W), Cave (3), Gilbert (4), Villasenor (5), Lusicic (6), VanHouten (7) & Pesce, Becker (5); Owen (L) & Turner.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

[APRIL 27, 2002]  CLINTON — Lincoln High School scored six times in the first inning with only two hits and went on to post a 14-6 victory over Clinton in sophomore baseball action here Friday afternoon. The victory gives the Railers a 8-7 record while Clinton falls to 13-4.   

Six Lincoln batters drew walks in the first inning and the lone hits were a run scoring single by Miles Musick and a two run single by Bob Maestas. Lincoln scored two more in the third with Mitch Sheley driving in one run with a single and Neil Rohrer drove in the second with a sacrifice fly to center.

After Clinton closed the gap to 8-6, Lincoln put the game out of reach with four runs in the sixth. Jason Melton had the big hit in the inning, a two run single with two outs.

Maestas, Sheley and Musick each had two hits to pace the 11 hit Lincoln attack.   Trent Kavelman was the winning pitcher, hurling the first five innings before giving way to Paul Phillips for the final two frames.

Score by innings

Lincoln         602 004 2 —14-11-5

Clinton         202 200 0 —  6-  2-4

Kavelman (W), Phillips (6) & Rohrer; Finger (L), Chapman (1), Larean (6) & Reynolds.

[Bill Martinie]

[APRIL 27, 2002]

At Mahomet

Olympia                 012 052 0 — 10-12-0

Mahomet               020 000 2 —   4 - 7-6

For Olympia:

Pitching and catching: Ryan Kendrick, Ryne Sherman (W,2), Steve Raleigh (7) and Rush Olson.

Home runs: Steve Raleigh (2 on in fifth)

Outstanding hitters: Cole Horner (2 hits), Tyler Haning (2 hits, 3 RBIs)

Record: 24-1

At Hartsburg

Hartsburg              004 42 — 10-8-0

Athens                   000 00 —  0-1-0

For Hartsburg:

Pitching and catching: Matt Gleason (W, 5-0) and Fine.

Outstanding hitters: Blane Fletch and Shane Westen (2 hits), Nic Alberts (2B, 2RBIs), Ryan Anderson (2RBIs).

Pitching star: Gleason (5 innings, 6 strikeouts)

Record: 10-4, 1-2.

[APRIL 27, 2002]

At Emden

Hartsburg-Emden  000 310 0 — 4-5-1

Athens                   000 000 0 — 0-6-1

For Hartem:

Pitching and catching: Nikki Chapman (6-3) and Alisa Loring.

Outstanding hitters: Jenna Bergman (2 hits).

Record: 9-2.

At Washington Tournament

Olympia                 202 000 1 — 5-12-0

Joliet                      100 001 0 — 2-  8-1

For Olympia:

Pitching and catching: Jessie Shay (13-2)

Outstanding hitters: Shay (3 hits, 2 doubles, 2RBIs), Gaither (3 hits, double), Prager (2 hits).

Olympia                 000 000 0 — 0-4-3

Morris                    000 000 1 — 1-3-0

For Olympia:

Pitching: Amanda Wilson.

Area track and field results

[APRIL 27, 2002]

Boys

At Pekin

Olympia took second with 74 points against (in order of place) Pekin, Peoria, Notre Dame, Geneseo, Washington, Peoria Richwoods, Peoria Manual, Limestone, East Peoria, LaSalle-Peru, Farmington, Macomb.

Olympia individual results:

400-meter dash –  1. Joyce, 50.8; 4. Dillenburg, 52.3

800 run – 3. McClain, 2:05.0

3,200 run – 6. Lingle, 10:52.8

110 hurdles – 1. Sholty, 15.0

300 hurdles –  1. Sholty, 41.4

High jump –  4. (tie) Raes, 6 - 0

Discus –  3. Schulz, 148 – 1

1,600 relay –  2. Oly, 3:35.2

3,200 relay –  2. Oly, 831.3

[APRIL 29, 2002]  We thought the Cubs and Cards would be all right this season. But after the first month, the Redbirds are struggling and the Cubbies aren’t even showing up on the radar detection screens. Then we thought that at least the White Sox would bring some honor to our area. That was until they ran into that buzz saw known as the Oakland A’s. Wow, what a weekend of drubbings that was?! Greg Taylor and I have taken some real heat from some of you fans about our thoughts regarding our favorite teams, and we definitely want to give you equal time. Either e-mail us here at the paper or call us toll-free at 1 (877) 963-9669 on our weekly sports show between 6 and 7 tonight on FIX 96.3 FM and give us your two cents’ worth!

One of the reasons that the LDN hired me and keeps me in the sports editor’s position is because of my uncanny ability to pick outcomes of both games and series. I recently predicted that the Chicago Black Hawks would toast the St. Louis Blues in six games at the most. The Blues won in five. As you can see, my skill is almost beyond compare. By the way, this is one of the reasons I don’t gamble and don’t recommend it. I was simply going by the way the Hawks had manhandled the Blues throughout the regular season. I did not know that the Blues would wake up and that the Hawks would give up on their net-minder, Thibault. I still don’t think that the Blues are destined for a long playoff stint. But, maybe now that they’re through round one, they’ll relax and upset some people. I do think that playoff hockey is about as exciting as the sports world has to offer.

Many Logan County residents have made their way over to the beautiful Conseco Fieldhouse the last few weeks to watch the Pacers snag the last NBA playoff spot. And this weekend they had a chance to take a formidable 2-1 lead in their series over the No. 1-seeded New Jersey Nets. They let the game and probably this series slip away. When you’re at home and have a chance to jump on someone, you just have to make the plays and somehow find a way to make it happen. They didn’t. Now they will have to return to the Meadowlands. That is, if they can regroup and take care of business Tuesday night. I think their season is near the end.

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Mini-camps just completed…

The NFL teams just completed their mini-camps. Dick Jauron was very impressed with his young charges at the Bears camp. He feels that the Bears picked up some help and that we will soon see some of these youngsters on the field for Chicago. We’ve included some stuff on the Rams camp. We assume the photos include Lincoln’s Andy King, but no one confirmed that for us.

Virtually anything and everything that was scheduled for Saturday was officially rained out. We will try to get you rescheduling info as soon as it becomes available. It wasn’t a total loss. I did find some quality mushrooms. And unlike others, I will share my information!

Lincoln College visits Lincoln Christian College today at LCC, and we believe the first pitch is projected to be hurled at 2 p.m. LC has the upper hand this year, as they seem to be playing better at this point in the season, and LCC is really struggling. LCC just doesn’t have the pitching this year and their defense has let them down too many times. Maybe they can put it all together today and make for a competitive matchup. The LDN encourages all sports fans in the area to make it out to LCC this afternoon and cheer on these young ballplayers.

[Jeff Mayfield]

Announcements

[MAY 2, 2002]  Starting this summer, the Lincoln Area YMCA will offer a coed track-and-field program for youth 5 to 12 years old and teens 13 to 18 years old. Participants will learn the fundamentals of track and field, as well as stretching, warm-up and cool-down.

LCHS track-and-field coach Michelle Aeilts, along with other volunteers, will teach participants the benefits of building a strong body, mind and spirit through running.

This new program will be offered in two six-week sessions. Session A, June 3-July 8, is for teens, and Session B, July 15-Aug. 19, is for youth. The program will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the LCHS track.

For more information, call 735-3915 or (800) 252-3520.

[APRIL 17, 2002]  Central Illinois Select Soccer Club will have open tryouts for all interested players May 13-17, May 20-24, and June 17 and 19. Tryout dates and times for specific age groups are shown at www.cis-soccer.org/Tryouts/Tryouts.htm.   

All tryouts will be at Nord Field, located on Six Points Road, two miles west of Morris Avenue in Bloomington. More detailed directions are available at www.cis-soccer.org/Clubfolder/Facilities.htm. 

For more information about tryouts and CIS traveling soccer, visit the club’s website, www.cis-soccer.org.; e-mail Steve Berry, director of coaching and player development, at cissocceracademy@hotmail.com; or call (309) 378-4699.

Baseball and softball at the Lincoln Park District

[APRIL 17, 2002]  You know summer is coming when it’s time to sign up for baseball and softball. At the Lincoln Park District, registrations are still being taken for boys and girls. Teams will be drawn at the end of the month. Men’s and women’s softball registration will close the first Saturday in May.

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