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Two
Illini recruits on Global Games
international basketball squad
[MAY 24, 2002]
DALLAS, Texas — The United States
entry in this summer’s Global Games, played July 4-7 and 9 in
Dallas, Texas, was announced recently. Leading the 14-man roster are
consensus All-Americans Chris Bosh of the Dallas Lincoln High School
team, which was the Texas Class 4A state champion and USA Today
national champion, and Bracey Wright of The Colony (Texas) High
School. Bosh is headed to Georgia Tech in the fall, while Wright has
signed with 2002 NCAA runner-up Indiana University.
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In
addition to Bosh and Wright, Team USA will feature four other
student-athletes who have been selected as McDonald’s or Parade
All-Americans this past season. They are Kevin Bookout from Stroud
(Okla.) High School, Oklahoma University; Brad Buckman of Austin
Westlake (Texas) High School, University of Texas; Daniel Horton
from Cedar Hill (Texas) High School, University of Michigan; and
Antoine Wright of Groton (Mass.) Lawrence Academy, Texas A & M
University.
The other members of the team are DeAngelo Alexander from Midwest
City (Okla.) High School, Oklahoma University; Ike Diogu of Garland
(Texas) High School, Arizona State University; Jarrett Jack of
Worchester (Mass.) Academy, Georgia Tech; Bryan Hopkins of Dallas
Lincoln High School, SMU; Kenton Paulino from Maine Central
Institute, University of Texas; Arim Solares of Richardson Berkner
(Texas) High School, Central Connecticut State University; Deron
Williams of The Colony (Texas) High School, University of
Illinois; and Kyle Wilson from Jesuit (Texas) College
Prep, University of Illinois.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
"On paper, this is the finest team the United States has ever
fielded in this event" stated Michael Sorrell, Global Games
executive director. "We have assembled 10 of the top 50 high school
players in the country, and this team will feature many of the
student-athletes who have made this year’s class of seniors the
finest class in the history of Texas high school basketball."
Donnie Nelson, assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks, is this
year’s honorary chairman of the Global Games.
About the Global
Games
Entering its third
year of existence, the Global Games is an international basketball
tournament that annually brings the world’s top amateur basketball
players to Dallas, Texas. This year's event will feature men’s
junior national teams (ages 22 and under) from Mexico, Yugoslavia,
Croatia, Puerto Rico, Germany, Ukraine and a team from Africa. The
tournament will be played July 4-7 at Southern Methodist
University’s Moody Coliseum and July 9 at Reunion Arena.
[Kent Brown, University of
Illinois assistant athletics director / sports information director] |
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State high school track meet
[MAY 24, 2002]
IHSA boys state track meet is this
weekend. Girls state was last weekend. |
Follow these links for results:
Boys Class A &
AA
Girls Class A &
AA
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Lincoln has some lapses
and loses
[MAY 23, 2002]
Normally, after you start playing in the AA high
school state baseball tournament, you’re one loss away from ending
your season. Fortunately, that principle did not apply Wednesday to
the Lincoln Railer varsity. After playing an extraordinarily good
game on Monday for its opening regional win again Champaign Central,
Lincoln just seemed unprepared for a hastily arranged makeup game
against East Peoria on Wednesday, losing 3-7 to the visitors.
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Other than trying to
catch up from six games that have been rained out, the rationale for
the game was to give the guys a chance to fine-tune their game and
keep it sharp for this Saturday’s regional championship game in
Champaign. Now the question is whether the Railers can mentally
rebound after the disappointing performance. East Peoria brought a
good team with 20-plus wins and took advantage of a Lincoln team
that mustered only four hits and committed six errors.
Three of Lincoln’s
hurlers were able to log some mound time. They allowed East Peoria
only five hits and surrendered just two earned runs. Junior Ryne
Komnick started the game and went three innings, striking out one,
walking one and giving up one hit.
Senior Ryan Williams
pitched two innings while granting four hits (including a home run),
striking out one and walking one. While five runs scored against
Williams, four of those were unearned due to two Lincoln errors.
Senior Blake
Schoonover pitched the last two innings for Lincoln and struck out
three, walked none, gave up no hits and one (unearned) run. The only
run tallied against Schoonover was scored by a runner who reached
base on a dropped third strike.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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In spite of the six
Railer errors, there were several defensive bright spots for
Lincoln. Junior catcher, John Peters, threw out a runner trying to
steal second. In the third inning, shortstop Blake Schoonover made a
great play to stop an infield single deep in the hole and quickly
threw home to cut down another possible score. And Schoonover,
second baseman Andy Knopp and Matt Boyer turned a double play to end
that same inning.
Only four Railers had
hits in the game: Andy Knopp, Ryan Williams, Mike Martin and Ryne
Komnick (who doubled off the left-field fence). Komnick and Martin
scored Lincoln’s only runs, in the second inning.
The 17-15 Railers still have a very good
ballclub that has much better potential than their record indicates.
The senior-predominant team (with seven senior starters) has what it
takes to make some waves in the state tournament. If they come ready
to play this Saturday as they did in the first regional game,
they’ll still be playing into next week.
[Rich
Knopp]
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Area high school
baseball results
[MAY 23, 2002] |
Illini Central
110 504 0 — 11-11-0
Dee-Mack
300 100 1 — 5- 5-0
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For Illini Central:
J. McDaniel and T. Scott
Outstanding hitters: T. Scott (2 HRs), A.
Williams (HR), Scott (2 hits, 4 RBIs), McDaniel (2 hits, 2 RBIs), C.
Norton (2 hits) |
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Area high school
softball results
[MAY 23, 2002] |
Woodland 000
000 0 — 0-4-3
Olympia
100 130 x — 5-7-0
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For Olympia: J. Shay
and A. Lessen
Outstanding hitters: T. Gaither (2 hits),
T. Prager (2 hits) |
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Area high school track
results
[MAY 22, 2002] |
Boys
200 meters — 1. S.
Joyce, Olympia, 22.2; 8. C. Schneider, Lincoln, 24.7
110 high hurdles — 2.
B. Sholty, Olympia, 14.7
300 intermediate
hurdles — 2. B. Sholty, Olympia, 39.9
Long jump — 8. K.
Aderman, Lincoln, 19-9½
High jump — 2. N.
Reas, Olympia, 6-4; 7. T. Neisler, Olympia, 5-8
Pole vault — 4. J.
Slager, Olympia, 10-6
Shot put — 1. J.
Schultz, Olympia, 52-9¼
Discus — 1. J.
Schultz, Olympia, 161-2; 6. J. Hieronymus, Olympia, 130-11
400 relay — 2.
Olympia, 44.6
800 relay — 5.
Olympia, 1:33.8
1,600 relay — 4.
Olympia, 3:31.8
3,200 relay — 6. Olympia, 8:43.3; 7.
Lincoln, 8:47.2
[to top of second column in
this section] |
Girls
200 meters — 6. S. Prater, Olympia, 27.1
400 meters — 3. K. Freshour, Olympia, 1:02.6; 5. B. Robbins,
Lincoln, 1:03.5
800 meters — 5. M. Rader, Olympia, 2:30.6
1,600 meters — 7. J. Floyd, Olympia, 5:58.4
100 hurdles — 7. K. Hish, Olympia, 17.8
300 hurdles — 3. K. Hentzen, Olympia, 47.9; 8. B. Fredricks,
Olympia, 52.2
Long jump — 6. B. Robbins, Lincoln, 16-4½
High jump — 3. M. Rader, Olympia, 5-0; B. Crawford, Olympia, 4-10
400 relay — 8. Lincoln, 53.2
800 relay — 7. Lincoln, 1:59.7
3,200 relay — 8.
Lincoln, 11:47.6
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Lincoln
begins regionals
with win number one
[MAY 21, 2002]
After several canceled games
due to weather conditions, the Lincoln varsity baseball team was
still ready to play. Seeded fourth in the state sectional of 16
teams, the Railers pulled together for a 6-2 victory over Champaign
Central in Champaign on Monday. While accumulating only six hits,
Lincoln got some scoring help from timely singles and a couple of
home runs by seniors Danny Schick and Andy Knopp.
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Matt Boyer, who had been fighting the flu for a few days, had enough
in the tank to go seven strong innings on the mound. Boyer held
Champaign Central to just five hits, three of which came in the
seventh inning, when Central scored its only two (unearned) runs.
Boyer struck out three and walked three, striking out the last
hitter of the game with the bases loaded.
Boyer was aided early in the game with double plays in each of the
first two innings. After walking a batter in the first inning, a
ground ball to Blake Schoonover at shortstop became an inning-ending
double play, as the ball went to Andy Knopp at second base and on to
Ryne Komnick at first. In the second inning, the same circumstance
arose. This time, with the walked runner stealing second, a ground
ball to Knopp was shoveled to Schoonover, who just got the sliding
runner and threw to first in plenty of time to complete the double
play.
[Matt Boyer picked up his seventh
win of the season
for the Railers.]
Boyer faced only three batters in each of the first four innings and
again in the sixth inning. In the fifth inning, although Boyer gave
up two singles, he struck out a batter to end the inning with no
score. In the seventh inning, with a 6-0 lead, Boyer found that
Central was not going to lie down without biting. After a Lincoln
error (its only one of the game) and a walk, a slicing line drive to
left-center field appeared to pose a major threat to Lincoln’s run
cushion. However, left fielder Ryan Williams made a diving catch,
snapping the ball just before it hit the turf.
With two outs, Lincoln seemed in control again. However, three
singles in a row plated two runs and left the bases loaded, with the
tying Champaign run at the plate. The hitter should have been
Central’s leadoff man and first baseman. However, he injured a knee
in the second inning, when an errant throw by the right fielder hit
off his kneecap and bounced all the way out of bounds in the air.
Although he played another inning, his knee gave out again and he
had to be replaced. A pinch hitter was used for his replacement in
this situation, and Boyer proceeded to strike him out.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Lincoln scratched out its first run in the first inning. Mitch
Sheley singled and Andy Knopp was hit by a pitch. Ryan Williams
moved Sheley to third but forced Knopp out at second. Williams then
stole second, and although the catcher’s throw was cut off by the
shortstop, Sheley was able to cross the plate and beat the throw
back home.
Blake Schoonover scored Lincoln’s second run, in the third inning.
He reached on an error, stole second and was driven home on a
two-out line drive up the middle by Andy Knopp. In the fourth
inning, Danny Schick led off with a high solo homer to left field,
making the score 3-0. In the fifth inning, smart hitting and more
power were coming from the Railer bats. With two outs and two
strikes, sophomore left-handed hitter Mitch Sheley did little more
than stick his bat out at an outside pitch to guide the ball just
over the third baseman’s head — something he’s done repeatedly this
season to achieve a .429 batting average. Sheley set the stage for a
first-pitch blast off the bat of Andy Knopp. The ball went well over
the fence in left-center field, for the Western Illinois recruit’s
fourth home run and 22nd RBI of the year.
[(Left to right): Danny Schick solo
homered, Andy Knopp had a two-run homer and RBI single, and Mitch
Sheley had two hits and scored twice.]
Michael Aper scored Lincoln’s sixth run in the sixth inning. Aper
pinch ran for Boyer, who reached on a walk. Aper stole second and
moved to third on a wild pitch. After a walk to Michael Martin,
Martin took off for second. The ensuing play ended up with both
Martin and Central’s second baseman lying on the ground, and Aper
alertly scampered home for the score.
The Railers will
travel to Champaign again on Saturday to play either Champaign
Centennial or Mahomet, who will face off this Tuesday. Lincoln now
stands at 17-14 on the season and has won seven of its last eight
games. (Due to the tournament schedule, the LCHS baseball banquet at
the Knights of Columbus has been rescheduled to Thursday, May 30.
Meal reservations, for $10, are due by May 22 and may be made by
calling 735-4723.)
[Rich
Knopp]
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Area high school
baseball results
[MAY 21, 2002] |
Riverton
Regional
Championship game
Olympia 002
003 0 — 5-9-1
Williamsville
000 000 0 — 0-2-2
For
Olympia: Cam Cheek (4-0), Steve Raleigh (7)
and Rush Olson.
Outstanding hitters:
Raleigh, 4 hits, double; Jeff Darnall, 2 RBIs.
Outstanding pitcher: Cheek, 2-hitter, 4 strikeouts, no walks. |
Lewistown
Regional
Championship game
Lewistown 000 020 3
— 5- 8-2
Illini Central
010 240 x — 7-11-0
For
Illini Central: Jason Thomas (3-2), Brandon
Grimsley (7) and Travis Scott.
Outstanding hitters:
Josh McDaniel, HR, 3 hits, 3 RBIs; Bryce Cunningham, 4 hits; Matt Brayfield, 2 hits.
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Area high school
baseball results
[MAY 20, 2002] |
Lewistown Regional
Havana 000 100 2 —
3-3-0
Illini Central
500 021 x — 8-6-2
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For
Illini Central: Bryce Cunningham (7-1) and
Travis Scott.
Outstanding hitters:
Josh McDaniel, HR; Scott, HR, 3 RBI; Cunningham, HR.
Outstanding pitcher: Cunningham, 3 hits, 9 strikeouts. |
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Area high school
softball results
[MAY 20, 2002] |
At Stanford
Eureka
000 000 0 — 0-0-2
Olympia
114 000 x — 6-6-1
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For Olympia: Amanda Wilson (11-1) and Amber Lessen
Outstanding hitter:
Tricia Gaither, 3 hits.
Outstanding
pitcher: Wilson, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks.
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State high school track meet
[MAY 20, 2002]
Follow
these links for results from the Illinois High School Association state track meet: |
Girls Class A &
AA
Boys Class A &
AA (coming this weekend)
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Area high
school track sectional results
[MAY 18, 2002]
In
Class A track sectional competition at Havana, Olympia High School
boys placed first with 132 points. Following Olympia in order of
team placings were Eureka, University High, Midwest Central,
Lewistown and El Paso. Individual and relay winners for Olympia and
Illini Central are listed below. |
* Indicates state
qualifiers
Olympia
100 meters — 5. Tim Weaver, 11.6
200 — 2. Austin Brand*, 23.5
400 — 2. Scott Joyce, 52.3*; 6. Nick Raes, 54.4
800 — 6. Jacob Slager, 2:11.0
110 hurdles — 1. Brandon Sholty*, 13.8; 5. Thomas Neisler, 16.6
300 hurdles — 1. Sholty*, 40.5
High jump — 1. Nick Raes*, 6-0; 4. Neisler, 5-8
Triple jump — 4. Travis McClure, 38-3½
Pole vault — 2. Jacob Slager*, 10-6; 4. Neisler, 9-0
Shot put — 1. Jimmy Schultz*, 53-0
Discus — 1. Schultz*, 147-8; 3. Josh Hieronymus, 136-2
[to top of second column in
this section]
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400 relay — 1. Olympia*, 44.3
800 relay — 1. Olympia*, 1:34.3
1,600 relay — 2. Olympia*, 3:33.9
3,200 relay — 3. Olympia*, 8:26.9
Illini Central
800 — 3. Brandon Grimsley, 2:04.2
300 hurdles — 6. Scott VanEtten, 43.0
High jump — 6. (tie) Clint Wells, 5-6
Discus — 5. Josh Auxier, 127-0; 6. Josh Hayes, 125-10
1,800 relay — 6. Illini Central, 3:51.1
3,200 relay — 4.
Illini Central, 8:48.9
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Take off the parkas
— baseball’s back…
But for how long?
By Jeff Mayfield
[MAY
20, 2002]
As sure as I write this column about
how well the St. Louis Cardinals have looked of late, they will
probably go into another nosedive! However, just as I wrote
passionately that it wasn’t the fact that they were losing that
bothered me, it was the way they were losing that really
tripped my trigger; in the same way, I’m not just jumping back on
the bandwagon just yet! |
And yes, they have been winning of late — somewhere around seven of
their last nine. But it’s the way that they’ve been winning
them that makes me the happiest. I love to see guys bunting runners
over and getting them in scoring position. I don’t care what Chip
Carey and Mike Shannon say. If you want to play for big innings,
move to the American League. Over here where real baseball is
played, we play for a couple of runs, get six or seven solid innings
from our starters and turn it over to the bullpen before we head to
dinner.
You know, I even saw Fernando Vina lay down a suicide squeeze!
They’re hitting behind the runners and moving them all around.
They’re playing better defense. And now, some of the walking wounded
have returned to the lineup. But how well will Woody Williams,
Garrett Stephenson and the others hold up? Only time will tell. But
it sure has been a better product to watch the last week or so.
I
have to admit, it was just too painful for me to watch the two weeks
previous to last, so my boy and I have put on our parkas to work on
our golf swings in the back yard. A much better use of our time, if
you ask me.
The Cubs, on the other hand, won a thrilling extra-inning contest
north of the cheese curtain over those pesky Brewers. Did they save
Don Baylor’s job for another week? Only time will tell on that front
as well.
Cub fans are buzzing about the major league debut of rookie
sensation Mark Prior, which is scheduled for this Wednesday. Not
only can this kid pitch, he can also hit, which may be even more
important to the north-siders at this point in the season.
I
still think that the Cubbies will rebound in time to get into
this race, but maybe not before some kind of a shake-up.
And just when you thought it was safe to get back into the division
race, some idiot woke up the Houston Astros. Boy, do I NOT want to
see them coming on like gangbusters?!
And on top of all that comes the ridiculous news of yet another
pending baseball work stoppage? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I
really wish I was. I don’t know where Donald Fehr lives, but it is
apparently nowhere near where the other 6 billion people on our
planet live! How you could even remotely consider a baseball strike
after everything the American public has been through the past year
is totally beyond me! And then when you consider that baseball
attendance is already lagging 6 percent behind where it
normally is on this date, you have to question the intelligence of
even considering such a move.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Some people think that the fans will keep going back no matter how
many times they strike. If that’s true, where are the 6 percent of
people that have yet to show up this season? I know I used to go out
to the ballpark 10 to 12 times a year. After the last strike I
reduced that number to one or two times a season, and I will not go
back more than that until my son gets old enough to drag me to the
ol’ ball yard himself! Even that’s a long shot at this point, as he
thinks that hockey is about the greatest thing his little
17-month-old eyes have ever seen. He especially likes the
celebrations surrounding a goal and when somebody high-sticks his
opponent in a friendly manner!
Here’s hoping that somebody with a little common sense can get both
sides together, minimize the greed a little bit and get this thing
resolved before they kill the golden goose — or, as my son calls
him, the golden duck (right now, to him any bird is a duck)!
If not, we’ll take our parkas off and go out in the back yard and
work on our home run trots without the concern of all of those
stinkin’ prima donnas!
Updates?
With all the rain we’ve been having, I’m not sure we’ve been given
any local or area scores or updates in any sport. IF you are a coach
or an athlete and would like some special mention, please call us or
e-mail us with your info. Or better yet, call Greg Taylor and me
tonight TOLL FREE at (877) 963-9669 on the new FIX 96.3! Tonight
will be our last radio show for the 2002-3 school year… at least in
this time slot. We may re-emerge at a different time and day!
Thanks to all of our
loyal readers here at the LDN and to our loyal listeners on the
call-in program. Have a great week, everybody!!!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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Announcements
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Summer
coed track-and-field program
[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.
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Central
Illinois Select soccer tryouts
[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.
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