These are the prep highlights for Saturday, Sept. 3. To subscribe for the fall sports season, click here.
In football
➜ Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 46, Dwight 8. Michael Hackman rushed for three touchdowns to key the Blue Devils (2-0) to a comfortable home victory over Vermilion Valley Conference opponent Dwight. Hackman scampered into the end zone in each of the first three quarters and tallied touchdown rushes of 20, 5 and 58 yards, respectively. Karson Stevenson caught two touchdown passes and Liam Oxendine added six extra points and a 30-yard field goal.
➜ Milford/Cissna Park 36, Martinsville 20. Sawyer Laffoon tossed two touchdown passes — one to Carter Borgers and the other to Justin Tillman — to key MC/P (2-0) to a road win at Martinsville. Tillman’s 21-yard score pushed the Bearcats into the lead with 11:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, a lead that was built upon when Tyler Neukomm rushed for a 61-yard touchdown seven minutes later.
In volleyball
Altamont Tournament
➜ Cerro Gordo/Bement places sixth. Cerro Gordo/Bement (4-3-1) placed sixth in tournament play at Altamont. The Broncos tied with Nokomis (24-25, 21-15) before losing to Cumberland (22-17, 23-21) and Vandalia (21-18, 22-12) in pool play, which they followed with a win against Greenville (25-15, 25-11) and a loss to Heritage (25-19, 25-22) in bracket play. Skye Tieman recorded 33 digs and four aces over the course of the afternoon, with Joie Auth adding eight kills and four aces and Haylei Simpson contributing 25 assists.
Heritage was fifth behind Bryn Wyant (28 kills, 25 digs, four aces), Gracie Tate (33 digs, seven aces), Adena Paul (18 kills) and Mary Roland (71 assists, 29 digs).
Centennial Tournament
➜ M-S second, Central third. Mahomet-Seymour edged Champaign Central 25-17, 27-29, 15-11 in a gold-medal round-robin game, then lost to Bolingbrook 25-23, 25-21 to finish second (3-1) in Champaign. The Maroons lost to Bolingbrook in three games to place third, finishing the tournament 2-2.
Mattoon Invite
➜ Spartans take title. St. Joseph-Ogden went 4-1 and beat the host Green Wave to win the Mattoon Invite.
Monticello, led by all-tournament pick Sierrah Downey, finished fourth.
Manteno Tournament
➜ Watseka takes two in Manteno. Watseka (5-4) split its four matches at the Manteno Tournament, falling to Yorkville Christian and host Manteno and earning straight-set wins against Clifton Central and Flanagan. Megan Martin was named to the all-tournament team after recording 13 kills, five blocks and four aces over the course of the day, while Brianna Denault added 29 digs and Becca Benoit chipped in 18 kills.
Richland County Classic
At Olney
➜ ALAH picks up win in Olney. Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (3-4) picked up a 25-22, 25-20 win against tournament host Richland County on Saturday afternoon in its only triumph of the day. The Knights suffered a competitive loss to Unity (28-26, 28-26, 15-6) before defeats against Fairfield (25-22, 25-13), Newton (25-19, 25-18) and Carterville (25-11, 25-13). Charley Condill racked up 29 kills and 38 digs to pace the Knights’ attack with Alisha Frederick adding 77 assists.
➜ Tarr, McGraw trigger plenty of offense. Jayci McGraw racked up 38 assists and Ruby Tarr assisted on 27 points as Unity (4-6) picked up two wins at in Olney. The Rockets defeated ALAH and Hutsonville/Palestine (25-21, 25-21) but lost to host Richland County, St. Anthony and Mount Carmel on a busy Saturday afternoon.
Salt Fork Classic
➜ Storm surge on home floor. Salt Fork (6-1) won its own tournament by scoring wins over Arthur Christian (25-16, 25-21), Tuscola (25-13, 25-19) and Ridgeview (25-18, 25-13). Arthur Christian placed second with two wins, Ridgeview claimed third with one triumph and Tuscola finished the day winless. Despite the losses, the Warriors (0-8) were paced by 14 kills from Sydney Moss, 10 kills from Zoey Thompson and seven aces from Addisyn Petty over the course of the day.
In boys’ soccer
Urbana Tournament
➜ Maroons win title. Two first-half goals from Cooper Carson that flanked a strike from Ben Wellens helped Champaign Central to a 3-0 victory in the championship game against host Urbana (4-1). The Tigers split a pair of matches on their home field, downing Geneseo 1-0 in a morning victory before falling to the Maroons (6-0) in the afternoon. Ben Varga scored on a William Arana assist in the second half of the Tigers’ win over the Maple Leafs.
➜ Bulldogs finish third. An eventful weekend for Mahomet-Seymour (5-2-1) ended with a 1-1 draw against Geneseo that clinched a third-place finish in the tournament. Earlier in the day, the Bulldogs were defeated by eventual champion Champaign Central in a shootout, as well. Zach Beyer and Isaac Warren received all-tournament honors.
Williamsville Tournament
➜ Argenta-Oreana downs Taylorville. The Bombers (2-4) dispatched the Tornadoes with relative ease thanks to three goals from Austin Stoner and additional strikes from Ryan Wood, Rylan Lawson and Karson Spangler. Lawson added three assists and goalkeeper Mason Penn saved six shots.
Uni High Shootout
➜ Host Illineks claim tournament title. Uni High (3-3-1) claimed victory in its own tournament after beating Normal Cavalry, 5-0, and Arthur Christian, 4-0, as well as drawing with Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, 2-2. The Illineks were paced by four goals from Noah La Lave over the course of the day, as well as two goals apiece from Leo Gal and Teo Chemla. Goalkeeper Arjun Kala registered 12 saves for the Illineks throughout the tournament.
Nontournament
➜ Centennial 5, Bloomington 1. Beni Kavumvala and Victor Fernandez each scored two goals to lead the Chargers (2-2) to a road win over Big 12 Conference foe Bloomington. Tyler Luchinski added a score at the end of the first half and Nehemiah McKissick assisted on three goals.
➜ Oakwood/Salt Fork 7, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 0. A quartet of goal scorers led O/SF (5-1-1) to a road win over the Knights. Grant Powell earned a hat trick, Reef Pacot scored twice and Ty Smoot and Saul Carrillo added scores as the Comets offense tallied 13 shots on goal.
In boys’ cross-country
➜ At Charleston. Champaign Central’s Caleb Mathias’ time of 16 minutes, 6.01 seconds ranked third among 162 runners at Eastern Illinois University. Four more runners from Champaign County finished in the top ten; Centennial’s Aaron Hendron (16:10.28) and Mahomet-Seymour’s Augustus Gaudio (16:17.39) rounded out the top five, with Central’s Peter Smith (16:20.86) and Nick Bonn (16:29) close behind. Central won the team championship with 55 points, edging second-place Mahomet-Seymour by 25 points.
➜ At Chrisman. Iroquois West standout Bryson Grant topped all runners at Chrisman’s Cow Chip Classic with an effort of 16:03.6, besting second-place finisher Lance Retz (16:48.1) by nearly 45 seconds. Retz’s St. Joseph-Ogden squad placed second behind Monticello, which was keyed by strong runs by Logan Sikorski (17:20.4), Jacob Elston (17:28.4), Caleb Wood (17:40.8) and River Derby (17:51).
In girls’ cross-country
➜ At Charleston. Mahomet-Seymour standout Ava Boyd placed second in the Charleston Trojan Invitational at Eastern Illinois University with a time of 19:13.85. Danville’s Allison Thompson placed sixth at 20:10.86, with Centennial’s Brooklyn Sweikar (20:28.68) and Tuscola’s Kate Foltz (20:29.47) placing ninth and tenth, respectively. The Bulldogs placed fourth in the 15-team field.
➜ At Chrisman. Unity topped a 23-team field at the Cow Chip Classic in Chrisman thanks to sub-20 minute efforts from Erica Woodard (19:14.1), Emily Decker (19:24.4) and Olivia Shike (19:42.2). Woodard placed fifth overall in a crowded field that also included Uni High, which placed fourth as a team behind Kate Ahmari’s 18:31.4. Monticello’s Mabry Bruhn (18:20), St. Joseph-Ogden’s Savanna Franzen (18:41.5) and Paxton-Buckley-Loda’s Trixie Johnson (19:05.1) also had strong showings.
In girls’ swimming
➜ At Charleston. St. Thomas More captured four victories in a dual meet at Charleston, but the Trojans edged the Sabers for the overall title 64-61. Paige Stark swam the 200-yard individual medley in 3:12.09, while Mary Beth Franey posted victories in the 50-yard freestyle (27.33 seconds) and the 100-yard freestyle (1:09.44). The Sabers’ foursome of Stark, Hannah Goebel, Bekah Goebel and Franey also won the 400-yard freestyle relay at 4:50.41.