Video: Newman @ Erie Volleyball

The Newman Comets hosted the Erie Cardinals in Three Rivers North volleyball action on Tuesday. Both teams came into the meeting at Newman with unbeaten division records. Watch the action to find out who remains at the top ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyGSyJWruSs

Athlete Q&A: Princeton's Zach Anderson

In Brief:

Zach Anderson is a senior captain on the Princeton Tigers soccer team. The Tigers won a regional championship last year and are looking to improve on that postseason goal this year. Currently, the Tigers are 8-1-1 on the season with regionals coming up in one month.

CC: What do you like and enjoy about soccer?
ZA: I just love the fact that there's no breaks. You're always thinking. You're always on your feet. It can go one way or another. But usually in soccer, the better team wins. It's not always true for other sports.

CC: What do you think makes it better than any other sport?
ZA: I'd probably say the hustle of the people. It's similar to basketball, because people who play basketball hustle as well, but just the people give everything they got for almost every game, and it's great to play with them.

CC: How did you first get involved in soccer?
ZA: I've been brought up in soccer. I've been playing since kindergarten, since I was this tall (puts out hand face down next to hip). My older sisters played, too, so it just kind of came with it.

CC: This is your primary sport, isn't it?
ZA: It's my favorite sport. It's my best sport.

CC: Do you have college plans after high school?
ZA: Maybe intermurals, but I'm not thinking because I'm looking at going to a D-1 school. I'm probably not going to play D-1 soccer. Maybe for fun.

CC: If you had any one moment from your high school career to date that you are most proud of, what would it be?
ZA: Hopefully a future one, if I am valedictorian. I've got a 4.0 right now. Hopefully that will be good enough for valedictorian if I keep it up. I'll be most proud of that, to be honest.

CC: Balancing sports and athletics is a tedious task, but how do you go about doing it?
ZA: There's a lot of time to sacrifice with friends and stuff, because I'm either at sports or i'm doing homework.

CC: What are your goals for this season?
ZA: So far we've been doing real well this year. We played Sterling, and they beat us pretty badly last year; now we tied them. I'm optimistic. We played Rock Island (on Aug. 31) and competed with them pretty well. So I'm hoping at least being a regional champion, maybe sectionals hopefully? Maybe further.

CC: Describe your role on this team.
ZA: As a captain, my main job is to keep everyone cool. Some people get hot-headed sometimes, and I just try to keep people out of trouble.

CC: What's been the biggest improvement since your freshman year when it comes to playing soccer?
ZA: I'd say ball control. My ability to one-touch pass something pretty accurately has improved a lot for me.

CC: What's been the best soccer advice given to you?
ZA: Keep cool.

CC: Finish this sentence about yourself: Other than soccer, no one can beat me at ...
ZA: It sounds corny, but I'd have to say academics.

CC: If there was one rule in soccer that you would like to see changed, what would it be?
ZA: Maybe if people could go out-of-bounds when the ball is in the air and save it, as long as they keep it off the ground. I think that would be a nice rule to have.

FAVORITES

Favorite place to eat at - Los Ranchitos

Musical artist - Seether

TV show - House

Class in school - Anatomy

High school rival - Hall

Pro athlete - Cristiano Ronaldo
Pro sports team - Chicago Bears

Boylan 35, Hononegah 34: Let The Tweets Tell The Story

Not since Week 9 of the 2004 season had the Boylan Titans lost a NIC-10 conference football game. Last week's 17-6 win over Auburn marked the Titans' 66th consecutive conference victory.

Much doubt about the survival of Boylan's streak was brought on by the strength of an improved Hononegah squad from a year before. The Titans faced the Indians at Kelsey Field on Friday night in a football game for the ages.

The hype surrounding the game brought many media types to the press box and sideline. Three televsion stations. Two newspaper reporters. Two radio stations, as well as a student-run station. And a publisher from some high school sports website.

Either way you look at it, the accounts of the most pivotal NIC-10 football game of the year are well-documented: By printed paper, television sports highlights, internet video, streaming audio, etc.

In an effort to provide a different presentation of the game, Northern Illinois Sports Beat offers over 60 Tweets about the game. The Tweets are presented in chronological order.

Because Twitter limits its characters to 140 for every Tweet, plenty (PLENTY) of shorthand was used. Actually, the character limit was 127 because of the automated inclusion of the hashtag #BoylanAtHono. Also, proper capitalization and punctuation wasn't utliized all that much because of the quickness of getting the Tweet out as fast as possible.

In an effort to clarify the Tweets, a explanation may be offered after the Tweet, noted by an *asterisk, italicized, and in (parentheses). Perhaps needing an immediate clarification is the fact that "Hono" is short for "Hononegah."

Leading off, the first Tweet marked the 1,000th Tweet by @CodyCutter35. Enjoy!

7:24 p.m. 1,000th Tweet ... But more importantly the Indian kick is up and we are underway at Kelsey Field at Hononegah!

7:26 Hononegah rec fumble on first Boylan play at Titan 25

7:29 Jake Wilson 11 run on rt side sweep. PAT good. 7-0 Hononegah 9:59 1st q. *(11 run = 11-yard touchdown run. Any future Tweets such as this indicate touchdown runs, unless otherwise tweeted)

7:32 Mac Nelson rec fumble at midfield. 2nd Boylan fumble in first 3 min

7:35 Ryan Sughroue with a nice reaching 1st down catch at the 39 ... Leads to an Alec Smith 39 run up middle. 7:28 1q. 14-0 Hono

7:40 Boylan rushes for1st 1st down of game. Throwing game not working, leads to punt

7:42 Adrian Marquez punt ret for TD negated by a block in the back at own 41

7:48 Two loss tackles by Boylan and delay of game penalty brings about Hononegah punt at midfield. Boylan takes over at own 10

7:52 End of one quarter: 14-0 Hononegah leads Boylan in football action

7:56 Boylan called a horsecollar. Hono into Titan red zone. Titans not tackling well tonite so far. *(called ON a horsecollar)

7:59 Boylans Graham Smolinski strips Adrian Marquez close to end zone. Coach Sughroue arguing that Marquez was in end zone.

8:00 Marquez hurt on play, went down hard on knee. Boylan ball at Hono 45.

8:01 Boylan qb change. Demry Croft replaces Brock Stull.

8:04 Hononegah DL Jacob "Dragon" Meyer carried off now. Ankle. Boylan hitting much harder now than earlier.

8:06 Boylan in Hono red zone for 1st time. 6:30 2nd q

8:08 5:30 2nd boylan going on 4th and 5 needing 15 for score. DOG penalty now moves to Hono 20 *(DOG = Delay of Game)

8:09 Seth Combs tackles Nick Pumila on short pass to force TO

8:12 Alec Smith 45 rush on rt end around into Boylan red zone. 3:33 left in 2q

8:14 Alex Martin 5 run up gut, short dive to score. 21-0 Hononegah 2:32 in 2q

8:16 Boylan had a 15 pi call to help Hono run. 2nd 15'er for Titans so far, this one cost them. *(pi call = pass interference; 15'er = 15-yard penalty)

8:20 Boylan punts at own 31 1:07 left in half. Hono needs another 89 to score 4

8:21 Knees to end half. 21-0 Hononegah leading Boylan

8:42 Boylan kicking off to start 2nd half against Hononegah

8:46 Ian Riggs tackles Smith for -3 on 3rd down to lead to Hono punt. titan ball at own 38

8:48 "0-0!" yells from Hononegah sideline to start 3rd

8:51 Stull back at qb for titans. 3rd down scramble falls short by Vincent Anderson tackle.

8:53 Matt Sciame strips ball and runs it in for first Boylan score from close range. 21-7 Hono 8:35 2nd q

8:53 Nearly a backfield facemask on Boylan on the fumble run in

8:56 Backfield miscommunication collision for Hono on 2nd and long. Hono 3rd and 9 on own 31, 7:16 in 3q

8:58 Hononegah pass inc, punts, boylan ball at own 40

9:01 Jacob Cremeens sack of Stull brings 4th and 11 for Boylan. Punt. Hono ball at own 39.

9:06 Alex Martin and Jake Wilson w b2b 10+ runs to Boylan red zone. *(b2b = back-to-back)

9:08 Hono fumbles away at Boylan 23. 2nd iffy fumble call in favor of Titans. *("iffy meaning Hononegah thought otherwise)

9:11 Jacob Cremeens with 2nd sack of Stull, leads to punt. Hono fumbles again back to Boylan at Indian 39

9:12 Croft 21 pass to Stull on left side. Hono leading 21-14 w 42.6 in 3rd q

9:15 End of 3. 21-14 hononegah leading boylan

9:19 Boylan facemask brings Hono into red zone. 3rd 15'er for Titans

9:20 Sam Ballano 8 run up middle for Hono. 10:36 left in game 28-14 Indians lead Titans. Penalties killing Boylan tonite

9:28 Boylan 4th and 1 short at midfield. Hono ball 8:39 left

9:32 Hono goes on 4th and 2, 6:32 left. Short. Boylan takes over at own 41

9:35 Croft qb'ing. Runs for 40 yd wind on right side for score. 28-21 Indians, 5:33 left.

9:37 Hono kick return short. At indian 13

9:39 Zack Matthews sack -3 on Smith. Hono fumbles again. Titan ball on indian 2

9:39 Was a Td. *(Quinn Smolinksi returned it for the score. "Titan ball on indian 2" was incorrectly assumed that the play was downed at the 2-yard line)

9:40 Crazy game. 28-28 4:33 left.

9:43 Jake Wilson 65 run on rt side on first Hono play from scrimmage. 34-28 hono 4:20 left

9:48 3 min left. Boylan 4th and 6 at hono 35. 34-28 hono leading.

9:49 Croft to Stull complete. Tough grab. Now at hono 2

9:50 DoG pushes boylan to 7 *(another delay-of-game)

9:52 Second flag waved off *(apparent penalty before snap happened right after the delay-of-game penalty)

9:55 Sam McGuire 3 run around left end. 1:06 left. Pat kick tipped but good. 35-34 Boylan.

9:57 Hono ball at 20, 1:06 in game

9:59 Passing. Make. Miss. Christian Esquivel sack for Titans, -7. 48.3 left. 3-16

10:00 Inc on 3rd down

10:02 Graham Smolinski cuts off pass to Sughroue, Smith pass tipped by Boylan's Jake Bergstrom. Boylan knees. Ballgame. 35-34 boylan

Boylan senior lineman Christian Esquival:

"When I was on the sidelines, I was thinking about to make a big play. I saw my opportunity there. I knew they were coming because I kept thinking about it and focusing on it. And when I had it, boom! That's what happened."

"We had a struggle there in the first half. But with a little inspirational talk with the team, we pulled it right up, and thanks to the twelfth man, which is Jesus up there, he had his eye on us. We give a big thanks to Him for that."

Boylan head coach John Cacciatore:

"One play at a time. One piece at a time. I've been doing this for a little while. Fenwick is in my mind, and how we had to chip our way back in that one. Last week was another tight game. I wouldn't say that it was the way we wanted to do it, it's winning ugly, but we'll take it at this point and on to Harlem."

"I tip my hat to Coach (Chris) Rozanski, our defensive coordinator; every single day their defensive circuit works on strips. Every single day. I think there's nothing else the Chicago Bears have shown us that how important it is. It's not just the luck of the draw, it's not just bad ball handling. It's a skill that you work on."


Boylan senior quarterback/wide reciever Brock Stull:

"This is probably the most happiest I've been in a while. They moved me to slot later in the game, and we needed some big plays. With (Chase) Ferger being gone (to injury), I had to step up I felt like, and I did. The whole game the media was talking before, we actually felt like we were the underdogs. Should have been the opposite way. We were playing like we had nothing to lose and we showed it out there."

"We were never down. We had two games actually like this last year: one in the playoffs against Fenwick, and against Harlem last year. Same story as this. We knew that we weren't done, and had to play harder. And we did."


This account is by all means incomplete. What more do you have to add about one of the most memorable high school football games ever in northern Illinois? Add in your accounts in the "Boylan @ Hononegah" topic on our NISB Football Forum. Not a member of the Message Boards? Register today!

Football: Beating The Elements

Football is a game that is made of many physical challenges.

Feats of strength executed by those on the gridiron will make a difference between a sack and a touchdown. Hands, hips and feet twist and twirl around in and effort to subdue the opposing team.

Like a car's parts underneath the hood, many pieces all work together to make sure all is running smoothly.

However, on an afternoon where the sun shined bright and temperatures reached the triple digits, the individual parts of the vehicle that is the football team could break down at any given moment.

This is where the cooling system comes into play.

In practice, each player knows the schematics of what's being run, as well as what's run against them. However, the chances of knowing what to expect on the gridiron makes the game situations tougher. All of the thought processes being bottled up within a helmet can produce a bit of wear in the mind.

Temperatures ran high during the first week of the high school football season. As the sunlight sped its way down to the Earth at 5:15 p.m. on this Friday afternoon at Sterling High School, the sophomore Braves were about to do battle with Metamora's underclassmen.

With a game-day air temperature of 98 degrees as a high, the gridirons at Fulton, Rock Falls and Sterling tied for the hottest home games in northern Illinois. Sterling felt hotter, however.

Crisp Countdown

Two years ago, the playing field at Sterling's Roscoe Eades Stadium was considered to be in bad shape due to heavy rains and extra use over the years. Through fund raising and donations, field turf was installed in time for the 2012 season. This prevented the use of needing to water down the field and cause more harm to the playing surface.

Spraying was needed once more at the newly-named Sterling Chevrolet Field. Realizing the intense conditions of the opening football game of the 2013 season, Sterling High School called upon the city's fire department to hose down the football field at 2 p.m.

Playing on field turf increases the temperature by about 10 degrees from the air temperature. Still, after the fire department did its job, the mercury read a stifling 115 degrees on the turf along the Sterling sideline at 4:15.

About a couple of hours before kickoff, Sterling senior lineman Blake Hall and his varsity friends stood at the mouth of the stadium's tunnel talking about the heat, among other things.

They had been through it before and wouldn't let it bother them later in the night.

“We've been practicing on it for a long time,” Hall said. “We should be alright.”

At the steel table on the Metamora sideline were six water cooler jugs – three on top and three underneath. Sterling had just a single cooler on its table. However, modern technology controlled the cooling process for the Sterling sideline: A three-foot-high plastic piping cube pushes out water from several holes along the top to create a multi-fountain device. This is Sterling's newest hydration technique, having come in favor of the dolly-like water bucket, which uses a motor to spit out water from several handle-like fountains. This machine has been in the Sterling arsenal for the past couple of years, after an older system had numerous battery problems.

All resources were put to use on this oven of an evening.

Sterling athletic director Greg King chatted with the group of varsity players in the tunnel; kids whom he had been in charge of in the football program until a couple of years ago. Having turned over the head coaching reigns to Jonathan Schlemmer, King's duty on this particular evening of preparing the stadium for the game becomes more abundant.

After recollecting about a hot evening in Edwardsville many years ago while serving as a Rock Island assistant coach, King called on a couple of varsity players to bring over a large fan from the school's Fieldhouse to the Sterling sideline.

Metamora's fan had already been placed on their sideline.

“One of the first things you got to do is you have to make sure your kids are smart throughout the day and get a lot of water throughout the day,” King said. “You want the kids to play, and they've worked so hard, but at the same time you want to make sure it's smart.”

King served on a committee with the IHSA to look at the heat-related changes in off-season and preseason practices. The IHSA made substantial changes to the first couple of weeks of practice this year to limit excessive heat exposure.

“Listening to the doctors from the Korey Stringer Institute, it's some pretty serious stuff,” King recalled. “You want the kids to have fun, but be safe at the same time.”

Several Metamora players went through pre-game warmups shirtless, minus the black-colored pads and the black-colored helmets.

“When we got here today, we went a little less with shoulder pads and helmets,” Metamora team doctor Timothy Kaufman said. “We emphasized a lot with water every time they come out, and lots of ice bags on their neck to keep them cool.”


Sweltering Sidelines

The increased awareness on this scorching evening also increases the concentration for Sterling athletic trainer Andi Sumerfelt.

“I have the ice baths in case of any heat illness,” Sumerfelt said. “The best way to recover is to cool their body temperature down with cold water immersion. So I make sure I have the tank ready for that. We have fans on both sides. I have Gatorade for both teams, as well as plenty of water.”

In addition to focusing on injuries and soreness to the football players, coordinating a hydration routine was a big part of Sumerfelt's afternoon. Water was not only being provided for hydration in the bodies, but also being provided for the surface of the bodies. She set up a pair of stations along the sideline where players would be soaked with water. At each station, one of her assistants would soak a large yellow sponge into a water jug and ring it out over the top of a player's head.

“It has ammonia spirits in them and it helps open the pores so they can breathe better, as well as cool them down because it's ice and water together,” Sumerfelt said.

Her other assistants, a select group of kids from Sterling's junior tackle program, were in charge of the green Gatorade bottles that were placed in the orange racks. The kids had to be alert for timeouts, stoppages in the game, and for certain players coming on from the field.

This being the season's first game, Sumerfelt taught the kids on how and when to deliver the water to the sophomore players. Eventually, one of the water boys had to be helped to the cooling station at halftime.

Breaks became few, as Sumerfelt describes such a night as having one thing happen after another before finding a break at the half.

“When it's hot like this, I always make make sure – any time of the day, whether it's practice or a game – I have an ice bath ready and ...”

Things were cut off all of a sudden when Sumerfelt received a motion from the Metamora sideline about someone with an asthma attack. As she raced across the field, a stretcher from the CGH ambulance also flew by. After a few minutes, all help needed was completed.

“The coaches made sure that they drank plenty of water throughout the day, as well as sodium,” Sumerfelt said. “It is depleted in the sweat, so they made sure they got a little extra sodium today to help prevent any cramps.”

And if there's not enough sodium, help can be found in a pickle jar.

“Pickle juice is very high in sodium,” Sumerfelt added. “We have one guy that cramps all of the time and he brings his own pickle juice and drinks it. It really helps prevent them because of the sodium that's in it.”

The water boys served not only the sophomore players, but also to the game officials.

“Hey, get some for the officials, guys!” King asked a couple of the kids from an open area on the sideline during a a timeout.

Veteran area referee Don Cook's squad was working both the sophomore and varsity contests. This particular sophomore game featured officials' time outs during changes in possession and longer quarter breaks. The lengths of the quarters were shortened on this evening from ten minutes each to eight.

“Tonight there's all kinds of water,” King said. “We got some fans here. We're going to shorten the sophomore game by quarters from ten minutes to eight minutes with a lot of water breaks in between.”

Fighting the heat and each other, the Redbird sophomores scored the game's first touchdown against the Braves on its opening drive. The Redbirds would cruise to a 21-8 halftime lead under the calling of quarterback Jacob Mitchell.

Also a member of the varsity roster, Mitchell was only scheduled to play the opening half. With his sophomore game done, Mitchell made his way to the bench where he relaxed with his pads off, with an ice bag wrapped in a towel hanging over his neck.

“You just got to keep your head up and stay focused to block out the heat as best as possible,” Mitchell said. “It's not a big factor once you're playing. You don't really think about it too much. You just got to block it off and stay hydrated all week. That's what everyone did. Our coaches told us to stay hydrated and we did.”

Mitchell was examined in this process by Dr. Kaufman. The evening was a busy one for him in between keeping the Redbirds hydrated and coordinating the efforts by the team's two water boys in freshman uniforms.

Metamora's cooling setup involved plastic cups of water placed on wood trays with holes in them, with the water boys carrying them out waist-high whenever time was called.

“We really emphasized hydrating the whole week,” Kaufman said. “You can't hydrate just today, you got to hydrate three or four days prior. So we really talked about having good meals, good rest, and to hydrate this week. That's the key thing.”

Just don't take in too much water at the wrong time, as was the case for Mitchell.

“He drank a little too much water there in the end and felt like he was going to throw up for a few minutes,” Kaufman said.


More Than Enough Water

Metamora's sophomore team would put the Braves at 0-1 with a 28-14 win. The elements improved as the game came to a close with large clouds looming over the stadium.

“Thankfully the clouds came out and cooled it off pretty quick to help,” Kaufman said.

Halfway through the first quarter of a scoreless varsity game, the hot weather had finally transitioned into one with a large draft of cool air. As the quarter drew to a close, the drafts became more prevalent. That meant the arrival of the second weather-related concern for the evening: a thunderstorm.

Small droplets of rain spat every few seconds during the four-minute mark of the first quarter. After that, the drops got larger and eventually cascaded over the turf in round, shiny chunks reflected by the lighting system.

Touchdowns by Sterling's Draque Peneflor-Heier and Metatmora's Zach Rohrback made for a 7-7 game that lasted until the 8:32 mark of the second quarter.

Lightning had been spotted from the stadium at 8:10 p.m. to enact a 30-minute postponement.

The postponement lasted longer than 30 minutes.

And it's ongoing.

On an evening when water was badly needed for the football players, the water ended up winning. No major heat-related incidents were reported from Sterling's sideline, and other than the asthma attack on the Metamora sideline, no other heat-related incidents were reported there.

The water ended up winning in the varsity game also, to the point where the game couldn't be resumed at any point during the night and had to be pushed back to 7 p.m. the next evening. Too much lightning scattered the sky to cause scheduling crunches for Metamora, whose caravan drove about 75 miles to get to Sterling.

Crunches were also made to the stadium schedule for Saturday. Roscoe Eades Stadium's other tenant, the Newman Comets, were scheduled to have a 7 p.m. varsity kickoff against Rockridge. Since the stadium's main tenant had no choice but to reserve its priority, this put Sterling's two high school athletic directors on the phone with each other.

King, Newman athletic director and football coach Mike Papoccia, and the administration from Rockridge worked out a deal where Newman's varsity kickoff would take place at 3 p.m.

So ended a rough evening for both varsity programs, whose game now has this gaping interruption. So ended a rough evening for Sterling's sophomores, given a season-opening loss to think about before suiting up once more to take on Mendota next Saturday. So ended a rough evening for Metamora's sophomores also, whose bus broke down in the heat not too far from Sterling.

The heat was a factor in having King giving out a freshman-level rarity: an air-conditioned charter bus to be used for the drive to Metamora this morning for a 10 a.m. kickoff, where the sun will shine directly over Malone Field.

“I told my son, who's a freshman, to take a water bottle with him for all his classes,” King said.

Athlete Q&A: Rockford East's Sean Miller

In brief:

Sean Miller is a senior golfer from Rockford East. He kicked off the 2013 season with a win at the Boylan Invitational at Ledges Golf course in Roscoe on Aug. 19. Miller has been a sectional qualifier in each of the past three seasons, and qualified for the IHSA Class 2A State Meet during his freshman year.


CC - What do you like and enjoy about golf?
SM - Golf is a challenge. I'm always trying to improve. It's a lot of fun.

CC - What do you think makes golf better than any other sport?
SM - Because you can also be part of a team and compete as an individual. So you can have personal success and team success, which is more rewarding than just having the one.

CC - How did you first get involved in golf?
SM - My dad got me started when I was about five or six.

CC - What do you think is one moment from your high school career to date that you're most proud of?
SM - Making it to State in a 6-man playoff my freshman year.

CC - What was that experience like?
SM - It was unreal. Just so nervous. I had to hit last and ended up advancing on the first hole. It was great. I was feeling it.

CC - Do you have any goals for this season?
SM - Just to continue to improve and end up getting back to the State level.

CC - Describe your role on this E-Rab Golf team.
SM - I try to be a leader and to be an inspiration to the rest of the players.

CC - What do you think has been the biggest improvement in your golfing since your freshman year?
SM - Definately my mental attitude. I'm not beating myself up over each and every bad swing I make, and just knowing how I missed and how I can get away with it when I do miss.

CC - What has been the best golf advice given to you?
SM - Swing, go find it, and get it back in play.

CC - Finish this sentence about yourself: Other than golf, no one can beat me at ...
SM - Academics. I'm in the top 3% in my class. That's something I pride myself on.

CC - Balancing athletics and academics is tough. How do you go about doing that?
SM - It's always been academics. It's a priviledge to be able to play sports. If you don't have the grades, there's no chance your going to play.

CC - If there was one rule in golf that you'd like to see changed, what would it be?
SM - Being able to pat down spike marks on the greens. Someone could draw a circle around the hole with their foot, and you can't do anything about it.


FAVORITES

Place to eat at - Stone Eagle
Musical artist - Brantley Gilbert
TV Show - That 70's Show
Class in school - Math
High School Rival - Danny Gorman of Boylan
Golf Course (other than your own) - Illinois State University
Pro athlete - Rory McIlroy
Pro sports team - Cincinatti Reds

Team Spotlight: Rock Falls Cross Country

Rock Falls cross country coach Mark Truesdell talks with
his runners during the first day of practice on August 14.

The runners are out once again at Centennial Park. Cross country season is underway for Rock Falls High School.

August 14 was the official kick-off of the season, with 25 boys and girls gathering near Centennial's Larson Shelter for the first official day of practice.

Running around the park's pond for the duration of the practice session, the kids took in advice and guidance from cross country coach Mark Truesdell – who took to his bicycle to make sure he could meet each runner while they learned the feel of the course.

When it was all over with, newcomers Bailey Smith and Michaela Spreier felt first hand what it was going to take to fit in with a quality program.

“It's different than summer running because there's more people here and you have to push yourself harder,” said Smith, a freshman.

“It's harder than I expected it to be, compared to the summer runs,” said Spreier, a junior. “The competition is harder. There's more people. There's more expectation now that we are in the actual season.”

Despite having separate teams, the boys and girls all practice together. That is how things go in the program, which has seen its girls squad achieve plenty of State Meet success – five State qualifying teams – during the eight years Truesdell and assistant coach Mindy Porter have been in charge.

“I'm looking real forward to training them,” Truesdell said. “Summer is hit-or-miss with the kids because they have a lot of stuff going on. Now that we got them all locked together, we can get an idea of what we have. We got a good mix of young and old.”

Last year, the girls squad placed fourth at the IHSA State Meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria. Katie Anderson led her team with a 32nd place finish at State, and followed not too far behind by Sandra Gomez (58th) and Maklay Velazquez (69th). The trio will look to maintain the success and keep its running pack tight despite losing half of last year's team to graduation.

“Our goal is going to be the top three again,” Gomez said regarding the State Meet. “If we all work real hard during practice and just click during meets, we can reach our goal and perform.”

Needless to say, some of the success rubs off onto the boys in the practice setting.

Goals are high among the Rocket boys, whose team will also look to reload from senior losses.

However, the team has high expectations for Hamblen, who received word from Truesdell on the first day that his pace was already that of typical postseason success.

Pounding the ground on those summer runs with sophomore Seth Williams has helped both runners. Williams racked up about 450 summer miles, with Hamblen running about 200.

“We're pumped,” said Hamblen. “Coach was telling us that we could get in the 15's. That pretty much guarantees us a spot to go to State.”

“He's basically saying that with our talent that we're having right now, and we're pushing each other, me and him are taking the top spots right now,” Williams added. “We're really hoping for State this year.”

Cayden Erickson, a junior, and Kasey Anger, a senior, also return to the Rockets from last year's sectional qualifying team.

“I think this season is going to be very interesting,” Erickson said. “We lost a lot of runners, but we gained a real good one in Brayden. I think he's going to be real good if he's pushing hard. If we push hard together, I think we'll be real good as a team.”

“We got some good runners coming in,” Williams added. “We got some people that left last year, so we got some leftover varsity from last year. Kasey and Cayden are two good runners, and then we're really hoping that our runners that weren't varsity last year that are coming up to varsity now. Hopefully they can step up this year and do better. That's what we're really looking forward to this year.”

The program's first meet of the season is the Rocket Run at Centennial Park on August 27. Eleven meets are on the calendar for this season, in addition to the Big Northern Conference meet at Harvard on Oct. 19. Postseason competition begins on Oct. 26 with regionals.

Of the 11 meets, Williams is looking forward to the Charger Classic hosted by Aurora Central Catholic on Sept. 28.

“I'm looking forward to Aurora,” Williams said. “It's all downhill and is a very fun run. That was my first good meet (last year).”

Gomez is looking forward to the Twin City Meet on September 17 at Hoover Park in Sterling, where the Rockets will race against neighboring rivals Newman and Sterling.

“It's a fun meet and it's real fun to run,” Gomez said.

Still Football In Pecatonica This Year

Pecatonica head coach Eric Bergin instructs players during a
special teams drill during practice on Aug. 19.

Contrary to reports, there is still a football program at Pecatonica.

When news of the cancellation of this season's varsity schedule came out in March, the Rockford Register Star offered the ominous phrase, “the Indians will not exist.”

So much for that.

Declining numbers forced a switch to a junior varsity schedule for this season for the Indians, who did not have enough players to play the last three weeks of a winless season in 2012. Nearly 10 months later, the practice field just to the south of the school is being used once more.

On Aug. 19, the first Monday of practice, 16 freshmen, sophomores and juniors suited up for first-year head coach Eric Bergin. That evening, the players worked on running plays and kickoff returns, afterward splitting up so that Bergin could work alone with five linemen.

The practice concluded with sprints across the practice field to and from, with Bergin counting down the seconds until the next whistle for the next sprint. There, the fastest runners always finished first and the slowest runners were encouraged by the rest of the finished teammates. All of which survived to make it to the practice-ending huddle.

With 16 players, most will be seeing duty on both a new-look offense and defense. Obviously all would like to play, but they cannot be overworked. Thus, the never-ending concern for Bergin and his coaching staff.

“We've been practicing hard,” Bergin said. “It's a new process for them, a new offense and a new defense is being installed. We're working on that, and we'll go from there. Hopefully we stay healthy and don't have any dings and stuff like that to avoid the situation we had last year. We'll line up with our 16 kids and we'll play. That's what we'll do and try to build it from here.”

The Indians will open the season on Friday evening at Lena-Winslow against the Panther JV squad. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will mark the first time since September 28 that Pecatonica purple and gold donned the gridiron.

Be it junior varsity or varsity, Collin Viel, one of three juniors on the Indian team, is just happy to play.

“We're very excited because we're getting to play,” Viel said. “We're juniors and we're supposed to be playing varsity this season, but since the numbers and all those problems, we just get to play now. That's a good thing for us.”

“Everyone says that it sucks that we're playing JV, but I'm just excited to be playing games,” junior Alex Thayer added. “I'm glad to have a season.”

Under the junior varsity scheduling arrangement, the Indians will suit up against the junior varsity squads of its Northwest Division foes of the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference. Included in the schedule are two Saturday dates with Ashton-Franklin Center (the team's lone NUIC crossover game, as well as the Homecoming game) in Week 5 and archrival Durand in Week 6; as well as a Monday night tilt with South Beloit in Week 3.

Numbers and size may be small, but speed is plenty for the Indians. They will look to use that to their advantage in the nine-week grind.

“We have some kids that can run, so we'll use that to our advantage,” Bergin said. “We have a little bit of speed we can use and we'll try to get them out in the open and do some things off of that.”

Despite an abrupt end to last year's season, the remaining players have worked hard toward erasing the adversity, whether it is putting in the effort physically in the offseason, or trying to recruit more bodies to join the program.

“The tempo has picked up a lot,” Viel said. “We've had harder practices and had more running and lifting a lot. It's just a lot more up tempo now.”

While dropouts have run rampant, additions have been made. One of which is the Indians' third junior, Skyler Alongi.

Having lived in Orangeville at the start of high school, grades were an issue for Alongi until they were finally good enough to earn a spot on the team.

“I'm excited because this is my first year playing football, ever,” Alongi said. “We've been getting in shape the whole offseason, so hopefully we'll be good.”

Asked what would make a great sell to get more bodies out for the program, the three juniors offered their own bit of persuasion.

“It's a lifetime experience,” Viel said. “You don't get to play football again. We're a small school, so a lot of us won't be going to these high-end colleges and playing D-I football. So it's just this experience. You come out, you play as a family, you play with your friends, you get to experience it, love it.”

“Last year everyone didn't want to go out because we were bad,” Alongi said. “It's not going to change your football team around by not going out.”

“I think if you don't play now, this is a part of your life that you're going to regret for the rest of it,” Thayer said.

The plan is to try to field a varsity team once more in 2014. But before that, all will hinge on what happens this season.

“We got 16 kids out here that want to play football,” Bergin said. “We're starting ground zero right here, and these kids are a part of it. After this year, hopefully we'll be a team of sophomores and juniors, and hope to keep building from there.”

2013 Pecatonica Indians Football Schedule
Friday, Aug. 30 - @ Lena-Winslow (7 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 6 – vs. Eastland/Pearl City (7 p.m.)
Monday, Sept. 16 - @ South Beloit (5:30 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 20 - @ Dakota (7 p.m.)
Saturday, Sept. 28 – vs. Ashton-Franklin Center (12 p.m.)
Saturday, Oct. 5 - @ Durand (11:30 a.m.)
Friday, Oct. 11 – vs. West Carroll (5:30 p.m.)
Friday, Oct. 18 - @ Forreston (5:30 p.m.)
Friday, Oct. 25 - @ Galena (5 p.m.)

Four Illinois Sports See Participation Increases

Boys cross country was one of four high school sports in
Illinois to see an increase in the number of participants,
according to the National Federation of High School's
 participation survey.

Whatever the high school sport may be, Illinois has its usual collection of them. Typically, those sports attract the biggest crowds and have the largest number of participants.

The National Federation of High Schools on Monday released data for its 2012-13 high school athletics participation survey. High school athletic participation in Illinois decreased for the second year in a row, falling from 346,896 students in the 2011-12 school year to 339,944. The fall continued from a high of 350,114 students in 2010-11.

All but four sports registered decreases in participation last year. Increasing numbers were boys cross country, girls soccer, boys swimming and diving, and girls track and field.

Participation in boys cross country has increased each year for the past five years. In 2012, 11,319 Illinois high school boys ran cross country, while 10,129 ran in 2008. Two years ago, 10,762 kids ran cross country, marking an increase of 2.76 percent.

Boys swimming and diving saw the largest percentage of increase among high school students in Illinois. In 2012, 6,744 Illinois high school boys participated in swimming and diving programs, an increase from 6,484 from the prior year.

Track and field numbers for girls in Illinois also rose last year. In 2012, 19,283 Illinois high school girls participated in track and field programs, an increase from 19,283 from the prior year.

Girls soccer numbers increased slightly from a year ago, increasing to 16,144 from 16,107 in Illinois.

Participation numbers for girls soccer, boys swimming and diving, and girls track and field were increases last year after decreases from 2010.

Football continues to be the most popular high school sport in Illinois in terms of participation, with 46,889 kids suiting up last year. However, the overall number has decreased in each of the past five years, with 51,334 kids out for the sport in 2008. Volleyball ranks second in terms of participation in Illinois high schools with 22,492 participants, down from 22,329 a year ago.

Among sports in Illinois with over 5,000 participants, boys tennis numbers went down significantly from a year ago. Numbers in boys tennis fell from 7,712 kids in 2011 to 6,670 in 2012.

Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in the number of high school sport participants behind Texas (798,333), California (777,545) and New York (389,475). Ohio is fifth in the nation with 327,919 students, with Pennsylvania (315,492), Michigan (304,438), New Jersey (270,423), Florida (243,397) and Minnesota (230,421) rounding out the top 10.

Of the top 10, only New Jersey had an increase in participants. Thirty of the 51 state high school associations reported increases.

State Softball: Quitting Is Not An Option

In three of its last four games, the Sterling Softball team was
trailing going into its last at-bat, and proceeded to put
runners in scoring position each time.

A late-game lesson just in time for the new high school sports season ...

Big plays might make sports games seem insurmountable at certain points. However, the finishes are almost always at a predetermined period of time down the road. Leading up to that ending, a trailing team's challenge of coming back when time is short begins to take shape.

The Sterling High School varsity softball team understood that situation when time was short during the final inning of its sectional final game against Marengo on June 1.

Down 5-1 with two outs in the seventh inning, the Golden Warriors' last breath brought new life into the team. They were able to score five runs without getting that fatal out to win the sectional championship and later advance to the IHSA Class 3A State Finals at EastSide Centre in East Peoria on June 6-7.

Sterling brought to East Peoria the knowledge of what it is like to have backs against the wall and to get themselves out of it.

Head coach Rick Henderson attributes this to attitude – a popular motto within the program.

Sterling's first game at State was against Marquette High School of Alton, Ill. The Golden Warriors were unable to win the game, falling 3-2 to try for either third or fourth place in Class 3A. Much of the troubles came against Marquette pitcher Alexis Silkwood, one of Illinois's top pitchers.

“We've had attitude shirts that we've bought for the past five years. We try to preach attitude, attitude, attitude,” Henderson said after the game. “They took that right into the batter's box today against one of the best pitchers you're going to see in a while. Every single player stepped in there with an attitude, with a belief, with something on their mind that they could do to help this team. I saw no quit. All season, let alone today.”

Marquette posted a 3-0 lead in the third inning and the Golden Warriors were only able to tally up on before the bottom of the seventh inning. That's when Sterling junior Karlie Mellott banged out a leadoff homerun off Silkwood past the right field fence. That momentum shift brought back the feeling of fighting with time running out, although coming up short in the end.

“We never quit,” Mellott said. “We never quit. All the way down the stretch getting here, with the tough game in the sectional, we never give up. We're all in the dugout yelling, cheering everybody else on, picking everybody else up. You can't teach that. As a team, that's so great to see.”

“We never let up. Every time we're in the dugout, we're always constantly cheering and making sure that we have each others backs,” said fellow junior Darien Bardoner. “You can see on the field when one of us strikes out, the next one does something to pull each other up. We've always had each other, and that's how we've been since we were little. It paid off for a sectional championship, but we were so close this time.”

Now having to face off against Tinley Park High School in the consolation game, this would be the team's last showing of the season. Despite posting a 4-2 lead after five innings, Tinley Park came back to go up 5-4 before the bottom of the seventh, and the backs against the walls again.

Mellott, leading off once more, doubled to left field and later came to third on a sacrifice. With the tying run 90 feet away, a grounder to the shortstop ended the second comeback run in a 24-hour span.

Despite being an all too familiar feeling, Sterling's dugout appeared cheerful and determined once more during that seventh inning.

“Although we didn't come out winning any games, it's still a great experience to be here,” said Sterling senior Stephanie Kester, who pitched both games for her team. “It takes a good team to be here, and we did that.”

It is safe to say that the fourth-place finish was made possible by the team's attitude.

“People are going to ask them questions not about how you lost, but about how in the world you keep fighting like you do,” concluded Henderson, who recently stepped down as head coach to spend more time with family.

Cutter: Success Multiplier Will Break The Levee

What if you had the power to determine which level of the playoffs your team will compete in?

Just like East St. Louis football, Illinois's winningest prep gridiron program.

When it comes to the Flyers, forget about ineligible transfers and things like that which have put a black eye on the program. What is impressive about the success that they have recently put up is that they are being successful in a different area than what they "should" be in.

They "should" have been in Class 6A in the past few years. With an enrollment this year of 1,438 students, that "should" mean the Flyers are solidly in the middle of 6A.

East St. Louis has participated in Class 7A all of this time - a class that is made up largely of competition from far more resourceful Chicagoland schools.

At one time, East St. Louis's enrollment put them on the bottom end of the 7A ranks. However, an enrollment decline (a problem for the city for the past 50 years) bumped them down into the next-lowest class in 2009.

By that time, the Illinois High School Association's class-expansion wave, which started in 2007, was in full swing. With many more classifications of play in the picture, the IHSA created a provision which offered any Illinois high school athletic team to play up one level in classification.

East St. Louis's football team isn't the only sports program to take advantage of this opportunity.

When the provision started, the boys golf teams from Chicago Christian in Palos Heights (1A to 2A) and St. Viator in Arlington Heights (2A to 3A) chose to play up one level of classification. However, after the 2010-11 school year, both teams chose to go back to its normal class.

Since then, a new sport-specific classification rule was established by the IHSA Board of Directors in the summer of 2011. Also new to the fold was the sport-specific private school waiver opportunity, passed in 2011 by the IHSA member schools after years of unsuccessful tries.

The boys basketball team of Chicago's St. Rita of Cascia fell into the 3A field after having been granted a multiplier waiver, based on the fact that they haven't won a regional championship in the past five years. In fact, the Mustang program has only won three regionals in its history: in 1982, 2000 and 2003, and all done falling short of a sectional title.

The Mustangs finished 16-11 in 2012 and 19-8 this past season without regional titles. St. Rita chose to stay in 4A. They fell to DuSable 54-52 in its own regional final on March 1, and fell 64-56 to Whitney Young in the 2012 regional final at Young.

If you don't include the competitive cheerleading programs from downstate Mt. Carmel and East Alton-Wood River, the "play up" tally includes one public school and three private schools. Also remember that the three private schools have already seen its enrollment figure inflated by the IHSA's 1.65 Multiplier.

East St. Louis's football team and St. Rita's boys basketball team have set an example for wanting to challenge themselves. Worth noting, the IHSA's motto reflects what these two programs have done: "Challenge yourself."

Several prep sports teams exist in Illinois that have proven to be successful in recent years, and provoke this thought: "Why don't they choose play up a class?"

When the girls basketball team from Quincy Notre Dame won two straight Class 2A titles in 2011 and 2012, that thought ran rampant among critics statewide given its athletic talent and its schedule strength. Then the Lady Raiders were bumped up to 3A due to enrollment, not by choice, and proceeded to win the 3A championship in February.

In 2010, Boylan's football team won it all in Class 6A. Despite a small enrollment dropoff, the Titans competed in Class 7A the following year due to classification, and not by choice, and proceeded to win it all once more.

Even public schools have proven that playing up a class doesn't make the path tougher. Dakota's volleyball team, after winning Class 1A in 2011, had a small enrollment bump that pushed them across the cutoff line into 2A. The Indians went on to take second place in 2012.

Morris's football team went from being the Class 5A runner-up in 2004 to becoming the Class 6A champion the following year.

Four teams, including two area teams, have proven that the next class up isn't all that scary. That's proof that having a forced success multiplier rule doesn't make things any tougher on schools that have achieved success.

So what is the point for bringing it up?

Washington superintendent and principal Jim Dunnan brought the idea up during the IHSA Football Advisory Committee meeting in November. Then again on June 10 during the IHSA Board of Directors' monthly meeting. At the latter meeting, the Board approved a recommendation to form a committee to review the implementation of a "success factor" formula.

According to the minutes of the Football Advisory Committee in December, "Dunnan delivered a report regarding the Class 5A disparity in non-public school title game dominance of that class over the past 13 years."

"We are beginning to see ‘success factors’ or ‘tradition factors’ being considered or implemented as a part of the formula to determine school classifications at several state associations around the country," stated IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman in a press release. "Dr. Dunnan presented the Board with some well thought-out ideas, and ultimately, the Board felt like forming a committee to further explore this subject was worthwhile."

In the past 12 years (since football's expansion from six to eight classes), private schools have won 11 state championships in Class 5A. The exception was Metamora's win in 2007. Joliet Catholic, New Lenox Providence, Sacred Heart-Griffin, Wheaton St. Francis and Montini have won the other 11 championships. Montini has won the past four titles.

Only one Class 5A title game win has been a shutout: Providence's 42-0 win over Pontiac in 2002. The only other 5A title game decided by more than two touchdowns was Montini's 70-45 win over Joliet Catholic in 2011.

Dominance?

Dominance would be Montini blowing out every opponent in the playoffs in winning its state titles. This past year, only one of Montini's playoff games was decided by more than two touchdowns: its 54-13 opening-round win against Midlothian Bremen. Sycamore came within two points from stopping the streak, but fell 24-22 in the second round.

Notice we're still talking about football here, because that was Dunnan's focus. Whether or not examples were made in other sports, such as girls basketball or wrestling (two of Montini's other successful sports), are not known.

The only "dominance" that exists is that of the accumulation of state championship trophies each year.

If the state championship trophy has become the point of the need to change everything, then we have a serious problem in Illinois high school sports.

If the state championship trophy has become the point of the need to change everything, then we have forgotten about the primary purpose of these particular extra-curricular offerings: and that is an educational experience. When the statements on the public address system mention something about an "extension of the classroom," it's not just filler statements or a warm-up paragraph for the announcer's voice.

In recent years, especially after 2007's class expansion wave, we have seen an increase in student transfers from one high school to another. With that general increase is the increase of sports-related transfers.

Having a success multiplier will eventually pave the way for other, less fortunate schools to add to its trophy cases. This also creates the opportunity for more athletic transfers, judging on the strength of a certain team with potential. It has also increased the desire for winning against the educational setting.

While the proposal does absolutely nothing to stop the bleeding that is the increase of athletic-related transfers, an even bigger problem would come up if this were to take place.

That is a public-private split within the IHSA.

I would sure hope that Dunnan isn't paving the way for a football team or two to be in a situation that Brentwood Academy of Tennessee was in nearly 20 years ago. In a five-class football playoff system, Brentwood - whose enrollment figure would have meant playing in Class 2A - played up to 5A and kept on winning, taking home the 5A title in 1995. This was one of the prime factors in Tennesee's public-private split.

By forcibly bumping up successful teams that have a tenancy to reload instead of rebuild, you give them a reason to find a way to come back and compete. As mentioned before, Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball, Boylan football, Dakota volleyball and Morris football are four teams that have proven that the step up is not a fatal blow to a program's goals and determinations.

East St. Louis football has proven to be competitive in Class 7A as well.

Going back to a splitting scenario in Illinois: If this is done, the classifications and tournament structures would be unique enough to where all of the less-fortunate private school teams would have to find a way to compete with the more successful ones. In turn, this would exponentially push the gap between publics and privates to a whole new level. And if you do split publics and privates in just postseason competition, privates in public conferences would create more of a dominance gap.

Such a split would decimate Chicagoland public sports programs that have the potential of losing athletes to more stronger means of athletic competition in the private school setting. While this could increase the enrollments of private schools, it also increase the potential for undesirables in the religious sense in their hallways.

So the rosters would grow to epic proportions, but issues such as negotiations for playing time and the like would redistribute the bodies to the other, closer private schools.

Also, areas not effected by private school influence would feast on the shells of the rest come postseason.

Privates would crush publics if a split were to occur. The quality of public sports competition would be at an all-time low. Then comes, between that large gap between public and private, the rise of club volleyball, ASA softball and other non-school-associated sports competition for those who don't feel challenged and attend public schools (because of many reasons, including finances).

This would bring about something that has been feared for many years in the IHSA: The demise of school sports and the rise of club sports.

If state champions - dynasties, that is - were dominating every game en route to their trophies, then it would be a problem. But that's not happening in Illinois. The "domination" only exists in the form of the accumulation of trophies, in particular those that read "state champions". Hence obsession with winning increases and the will to learn decreases.

High school sports is an educational experience outside of the traditional classroom setting. Let's keep it that way. Schools can say all they want about stuffed trophy cases increasing student morale, but stuffed trophy cases do not bring schools an increase in state aid from Springfield. Whether you're 14-0 or 0-9, no season is a failure. Those are just numbers.

We don't need a "success multiplier" in the IHSA. It distorts more than it helps.

2013-14 Area Enrollments and Classifications



The Prophetstown Girls Basketball team will move
from 1A to 2A next season.

 The Illinois High School Association on Tuesday released its list of enrollment figures to be used for the 2013-14 school year.

Enrollment figures used were tallied in 2012-13 Fall Housing Report, which tallied school enrollment as of September 30.

With the release of the enrollment data, the IHSA has also announced several classification changes that affect some area teams. Included in such changes were the announcements of multiplier waivers either granted to or eliminated from certain private school teams.

In all, 43 area teams were affected in IHSA playoff classification either through enrollment changes or through waiver status.


Fall Sports

In volleyball, Forreston, Indian Creek, Newman and Rockford Christian Life fall from 2A to 1A. North Boone falls from 3A to 2A, while Ottawa moves up from 3A to 4A.

In both boys and girls cross country, Sandwich falls from 2A to 1A, Alleman moves up from 1A to 2A, DeKalb falls from 3A to 2A, and Rockford East and United Township move up from 2A to 3A.

In boys golf, Byron, Kewanee and Oregon fall from 2A to 1A, while Belvidere North and Boylan fall from 3A to 2A.

In boys soccer, East also moves up from 2A to 3A.


Winter Sports

In both boys and girls basketball, Somonauk falls from 2A to 1A, Prophetstown moves up from 1A to 2A, Stillman Valley falls from 3A to 2A, and Ottawa moves up from 3A to 4A. In only boys basketball, St. Bede moves down from 2A to 1A via the multiplier waiver.

In wrestling, the Polo/Milledgeville/Eastland cooperative falls from 2A to 1A, while East moves up from 2A to 3A.


Spring Sports

In baseball, Belvidere North and Boylan fall from 4A to 3A.

In softball, Belvidere North falls from 4A to 3A, while Boylan moves up from 3A to 4A.

In both boys and girls track, North Boone falls from 2A to 1A and Ottawa moves up from 2A to 3A.

In girls soccer, Marengo moves down from 2A to 1A and Boylan moves down from 3A to 2A.


Enrollment Trends

The combined Northern Illinois Sports Beat area enrollment fell from 57,447 to 56,270.

Of decreases of eight percent or more, Newman's enrollment fell from 262 to 228, Boylan's enrollment fell from 1,151 to 1,055, and Guilford's enrollment fell from 1,950 to 1,769. Of increases of eight percent or more, East's enrollment rose from 1,509 to 1,741.

According to NISB data, enrollment continues to fall at Amboy, Bureau Valley, Byron, Forreston, Hinckley-Big Rock, Orangeville, Princeton and Sandwich - schools with noteable decreases in enrollment in the past six years.

Amboy's enrollment has fallen from 354 in 2007 to 257 in 2012. Bureau Valley has fallen in the same time period from 434 to 335, Byron from 611 to 506, Forreston from 348 to 242, H-BR from 272 to 209, Orangeville from 168 to 119, Princeton from 701 in 2008 to 551, and Sandwich from 832 to 724.

The area's two eastern-most athletic divisions, the Northern Illinois Big 12 East and the Big Northern East, has seen an overall drop in enrollment from last year. The area among both divisions had been growing steadily over the past decade. The NI Big 12 East fell from 7,712 students to 7,670. The BNC East fell from 4,951 to 4,846.

Chief among the BNC East's enrollment decline was Marengo's fall from 821 to 777 this past year. Marengo, located on the southwest corner of McHenry County, has seen its enrollment fall from a high of 908 students in 2007.

Yorkville, the area's fastest-growing school, rose from 1,565 to 1,622, and has grown from a tally of 1,295 in 2007.

(You can view the area's six-year master enrollment chart by visiting this link to NISB's General H.S. Discussion Forum, and downloading the enrollment chart from there.)

St. Bede Positive Through State Run

When the IHSA went to a four-class system in softball in 2008, the number of dreams of reaching EastSide Centre went up.

St. Bede was one of those softball programs that had never reached the IHSA State Softball Finals. Ever.

The Lady Bruins reached a supersectional game only once before, back in 2006. In fact, that was just the second time that a St. Bede girls sports program reached the supersectional: In 2000, the girls basketball team was the first to win a sectional title in a 28-2 season.

History was on the minds of the Lady Bruins as they tried to navigate their way to East Peoria for the first time.

After finishing the regular season 19-5, the Lady Bruins had little problem getting through their own regional against Somonauk and Mendota, including the sectional semifinal against Alleman. Then came a 10-inning battle with Stillman Valley in which the Lady Bruins narrowly escaped with a 1-0 win.

The supersectional hump was finally passed at Mary M. Bell field among Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. The Lady Bruins defeated Aurora Central Catholic 6-1 and finally reached its destination that was the IHSA State Finals.

St. Bede's boys had reached the IHSA State Finals six times in baseball, most recently in 1992, and was in football's final four in 2000 in Class 2A. Now it was the girls' turn.

Light rain clouded EastSide Centre throughout all of Friday. One of the 1A semifinal games was moved to the alternate diamond, and a decision was made to get in all of the day's games as quickly as possible. St. Bede's semifinal game with Tremont was scheduled to start at 3 p.m. However, the game was pushed ahead to 2 p.m. due to the weather.

The shuffling would be enough to confuse a lot of people, but the Lady Bruins didn't seem to mind.

Head coach Bill Prokup, on the other hand, had just a slight problem.

"The only complaint I had about it is that we were here on time, and they weren't," Prokup said. "They moved back the game 20 minutes. I don't think the kids were effected, it was more my temperament.

"The kids wanted to play. They would have wanted to play at 11 o'clock I think. I texted them early on and said 'we're going to move practice, and they were all ready. I got 14 of the 16 texts back within five minutes. So I knew they were out and were eager."

They were out and eager right away.

Leadoff hitter Lydia Starhia was hit by a pitch by Tremont starter Jaycee Craver and advanced to second base on a groundout by Barbi Prokup. During the next at-bat with Lady Bruin pitcher Lanie Schweickert, Starhia stole third base to set up a possible bunting situation.

Schweickert did just that, and with the squeeze was able to reach base and bring home Starhia for a 1-0 lead.

However, the undefeated Turks came right back to equalize it when a wild pitch brought home a run. The momentum was all Tremont's after that, as they tacked on three more runs after five innings of play. In the fifth inning a rain delay appeared to stop all momentum, but the Turks tacked on two more for a 6-1 advantage.

With the score appearing as if the Lady Bruins were going to have a difficult time getting back, the seventh inning provided a boost of support. It was their last chance.

With one out, pinch hitter Lexie Miranda lined a double into left center field. After Sharhia walked, Miranda advanced to third to put runners on the corners for Barbi Prokup. One more Lady Bruin run was put up when Miranda came home on a fielder's choice, which could have been an game-ending double play. Starhia was forced out at second when Prokup's grounder reached Tremont shortstop Kali Sanders, who stepped on second base and made a throw to first. However, the throw was errant and Prokup reached and Miranda's run counted.

Tristin Phegley ran for Prokup, who reached second on the error. After she advanced to third on a passed ball and Schweickert drew a walk (and replaced on the paths by Julia Pohar), runners were on the corners for Emmi Christensen.

Christiensen provided the inning's second run with a single that scored Phegley. With two on and still two out, Morgan Dean came to the plate.

In the fourth inning, Dean nearly cleared the right field fence that perhaps would have started the Lady Bruin momentum swing earlier. In this last chance, it seemed fitting that Dean would have the opportunity to make something happen.

"Mo is crushing the ball," Prokup said. "I don't know if it would have been a different game if that ball would have been over the fence. It caught underneath the yellow and it was a lined shot. I think that would have helped us gain a little momentum back after that first inning."

Dean swung hard but bounced a ball toward Sanders, who threw to third to force Pohar and end the game.

The 6-3 loss was St. Bede's first of the postseason. The goal of winning the Class 2A State Championship was dashed. Feelings would be sour in these instances, right?

Hardly.

"I think we're all just really, really happy to be here," Dean said. "The first girls team from St. Bede Academy, which means a lot. Just the fact that we're here and we're playing is really uplifting and really fires us up."

"It's a great experience, and they're excited," coach Prokup said. "That's what you want to see. As a coach and a parent, that makes me feel pretty good. I'm disappointed that we lost, but you know what, we played a good team."

After the game, the girls all went back to the bus to find that lunch from Panera Bread was delivered to them. Some of the girls went back to the picnic table under a tent along the right field fence to eat and soak in the experience of being at the State Finals.

The positivity was flowing, as the girls relished in the fact that they were doing something incredible when it comes to the Academy itself.

St. Bede, a school which became co-educational in 1973, had a boarding program that lasted until the early 1980s. So it was a natrual sense of family and pride in the surroundings that has survived through the teachings over the years.

Such as thinking of each other. Not just the certain individuals, but the entire student body.

"This senior class of boys and girls at St. Bede has been wonderful," coach Prokup said. "They're very athletic and have had a lot of career victories. They're going to walk out of here with their heads high. This is the first ladies team to ever get down here, and no one can take that away from them."
Rebounding for the next day seemed like an easy feeling, despite the loss. After all, one of the most complimented aspects of the four-class state finals is that all teams that advance get to play twice.

The Lady Bruins practiced with a hitting session back home before coming back to East Peoria. When they got there, the 1A championship game was in the middle of a rain delay. One that went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on.

The decision was made that 8:15 would be the first resumption point. Before that, different scenarios came about. One of which would be having the 2A championship game played before the third-place game. With time constraints, a possibility of a tie for third place between St. Bede and Nashville could have arisen.

However, the IHSA made an unprecedented call for the State Softball finals. The 2A games were to be played on Sunday. St. Bede and Nashville started play at 11 a.m.

Unfortunately, the Lady Bruin offense was nearly silent in a 1-0 loss.

But they brought home the fourth-place trophy in IHSA's Class 2A. They finished 24-7 on the year (not 18-6, as thought by those in the press box after the IHSA program left out seven games on the season smmary tally).

"I think we came out a bit slow," Schweickert said of the first game. "But it's just a really big accomplishment for us to get this far. We have a great group of girls. If we came out as we did in the last inning there, we would have been closer."

"There's a little disappointment, but what keeps us going is that we have all these unbelieveable fans," Dean said. "We keep the fact that we still get a trophy at the end and bring home a little hardware. All the fans - no matter what happens, they just keep us going. We try to keep each other going in the dugout. That's all that matters."