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If the summer
season is any indication of what might happen, then it appears that
the Railers are not looking to rebuild… they are already
reloading.
Lady Railers varsity team
[click here for more Lady Railers pictures]
The Lincoln Lady Railers' summer season is over. But
what a summer it was! The summer season culminated in a stellar
performance by all three Lady Railer teams at the 191 team
multistate tournament in Rolla, Mo., at the end of July. The Lady
Railers entered three teams in the huge field, and each Lady Railer
team won first place in its bracket! At the varsity level, the Lady
Railers went undefeated and won the final match against a talented
team from Fatima, Mo., by a final match score of 25-12 and 25-15.
The Lincoln junior varsity squad, not to be outdone, also won its
bracket with a final match win over Nettleton, Mo., 25-15, 25-23.
The Lady Railers' youngest team pulled out a hard-fought victory in
its bracket over Lebanon, Mo., 19-25, 25-18, 15-13.
In addition to the team victories, and for the second year in a
row, the tournament's most valuable player honors went to a Lady
Railer. This year's MVP was LCHS senior Michelle Fitzpatrick.
Michelle repeats the honor that was awarded last year to Lincoln's
Brooklyn Robbins. Joining Michelle with all-tournament first-team
honors was Lincoln's senior middle blocker Erin Frick. Both Michelle
and Erin will be at the heart of a strong Lady Railer team that
begins its 2005 high school season next week.
The Lady Railers will have no time to sit back and relish their
summer success, since their first four matches will present tough
challenges for them. The season begins next Tuesday night at Peoria
Richwoods High School. The Railers then travel to Morton on
Thursday. The Lady Railers' first home match in the beautiful, newly
refurbished LCHS gymnasium will take place on Sept. 6 against
northern rival Bloomington. The Railers will turn right around on
Sept. 8 to face, at home, another nonconference rival, Normal West.
Season tickets are available at LCHS.
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Fitzpatrick and Frick will be joined on the Railer varsity by fellow
senior Shanan McLaughlin. Three talented and athletic juniors will
be critical to the team's success. They are Katie Conklen, Melissa
Ramlow and Natalie Boward. Sophomores, who will also be essential to
the Lady Railer's success, will include Ashley Meyrick, Kate
Schonauer, Ashley Bonaparte and Jamie McFadden. Coach Howe and
assistant coach Conrady are looking forward to helping this year's
varsity take their skills and their game to the next level of
success. This year's team will be looking to defend its Central
State Eight conference championship against some tough CS-8
competition and to carry their success on into the postseason. The
Lady Railers will also look to be tough at the junior varsity level,
with eight returning sophomores and three promising freshmen.
Returning sophomores will be Lindsey Coyne, Abbey Feldman, Kelly
Gosda, Bridgette Hyde, Kari Jones, Amy Ramlow, Chrissy Schonauer and
Cori Wendell. Freshmen joining the junior varsity will be Molly
Goodrich, Hilary Hobler and Samantha Lowman. Coach Crawford will
attempt to continue her success at the junior varsity level after
her recent successes with the freshman program over the last couple
of years.
At the freshman level, another fine group of young ladies will
move into the program, looking to continue the deep program that
allows the Railers to keep its competitive edge year after year. The
freshman players on the roster will be Laura Aughenbaugh, Emily
Berglin, Michelle Boyer, Kelsey Bunner, Brittany Colby, Felicia
Jackson, Kayla Jenkins, Kelsey Jurgens, Amy Kelley, Chelsie
Landstrom, Hannah McShane and Leah Shirley. The freshmen will also
have a new coach this year with the welcome addition of Amanda
Allred to the LCHS coaching staff.
Having reloaded, let the games begin! And as always, GO, RAILERS!
[Rick
Hobler]
Respond to the writer at
rhobler@lccs.edu.
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