Saturday, September 10, 2011
Oswego sweeps Joliet Invite as program plans return to glory years
It’s been quite a while since the Oswego High School cross country program has been respected. Those days are about to change. The Panthers swept the boys and girls championships at the 18th annual Steelmen Invite on Saturday in Channahon. The girls and boys teams each placed three runners in the top 10 to win the 16-team invite. The girls scored 46 points and the boys had 57 points. “It’s been at least a decade since that’s happened here,” Oswego coach Dan Whipple said. “It’s been a long time. We’ve been trying really hard trying to get this program back to where it was in the 1970s and 80s.” Kelsey Hjorth left it all on the course, capturing the individual championship by finishing the three-mile race in 18:30. “My goal was to try to get…
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Naperville Central 1, Plainfield North 0. The Redhawks score late to set up a rematch with rival Naperville North in Tuesday's Class 3A Waubonsie Valley Sectional semifinals.
Without a player who is a star at pounding free kicks, Naperville Central girls soccer coach Ed Watson was watching to see who looked ready to fire one at a key point in Saturday’s Class 3A Naperville Central Regional title game against Plainfield North. “I always wait to see who wants to hit the shot,” Watson said. “She was the one that started to meander to the ball. I thought, ‘OK. She’s at least willing to go over and take the shot, so let’s give her one.’” ‘She’ was junior Katherine Short. And with 14:51 left in a scoreless game, she squared up a shot on a free kick from 28 yards out that snuck around Plainfield North’s wall and to the upper left-hand corner of the net. That proved to be the game-winner in a 1-0 Redhawks win. The win …
41.768655
-88.155555
Naperville Central High School
440 Aurora Ave, Naperville, IL
/articles/girls-soccer-shorts-goal-gives-central-regional-title
239787
/locations/4396476
Monday, May 2, 2011
The final scores: 25-22, 22-25, 25-10. Wildcats explode in finale after two tough opening games.
After two very competitive back-and-forth games, the denouement to the third was a disappointment by comparison. The Neuqua Valley Wildcats, after splitting the first two games 25-22, 22-25 with the Plainfield North Tigers, jumped to an early lead and sent the Tigers into a perpetual freefall, winning the deciding game 25-10. The Wildcats (24-5) controlled most of game one. They led 11-7 early before a Tigers (20-4) timeout pulled them back even. From then on, the Tigers kept clawing their way out of one-and-two point deficits until they made three unforced serving errors down the stretch, securing the game one win. Game two was game one in reverse. The Tigers, led by Jack Krieger and Jack Barber, were able to control the lead for …
41.661891
-88.22341
Plainfield North High School
12005 S 248th Ave, Plainfield, IL
/articles/neuqua-valley-dominates-in-clincher-over-plainfield-north
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/locations/4220610
Friday, April 29, 2011
Neuqua Valley 8, Plainfield South 5: Drew Bailey's three-run homer, lucky breaks help Wildcats to 10th win.
There was plenty of weirdness to go around in Friday’s baseball game between Neuqua Valleyand Plainfield South. The game, which was supposed to be at Plainfield, was switched to Neuqua at the last minute due to field conditions. The Wildcats (10-3-1), although they were playing at home, was listed as the road team. “We definitely got thrown out of our rhythm,” Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner said. That was especially true early. Wildcats pitcher Alan Foresta gave up a three-run homer to first baseman Victor Garcia after the defense missed two close plays. Foresta got a break, however, when Darrell Collins accidentally hit ahead of Ricky Salazar. After Collins struck out, Renner noticed the mistake and Salazar was automatically called …
41.7099
-88.194399
Neuqua Valley High School
2360 95th St, Naperville, IL
/articles/neuqua-wins-strange-game-over-plainfield-south
239530
/locations/4184539
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sports writer Paul Johnson ranks the region's top five girls basketball teams, plus a list of the five next best.
1. Bolingbrook (22-2): The Raiders continue to steamroll toward Normal, dominating a solid Homewood-Flossmoor team by 50 points and pummeling Plainfield East in the regional opener. Next up, Romeoville in the regional title game Thursday. 2. Benet Academy (22-6): The Redwings survived a tough test from Naperville North in the regional semifinals to set up a regional-title game against Wheaton Warrenville South at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Naperville North. 3. Naperville Central (23-8): The DuPage Valley Conference champions could face Neuqua Valley Friday for the regional title at East Aurora. The Redhawks slipped past Downers Grove North by nine in the regional opener, giving them 13 wins in their last 14 games. 4. Waubonsie Valley (23-4): …
41.768655
-88.155555
Naperville Central High School
440 Aurora Ave, Naperville, IL
/articles/hoops-give-these-girls-a-high-five-29
239787
/locations/3435338
Friday, February 11, 2011
Sports writer Paul Johnson ranks the top five boys basketball teams in the region, plus a list of the five next best.
1. Benet Academy (24-0): The margins of victory keep getting smaller, but the wins keep coming for the Redwings. Last week’s wins clinched their second straight East Suburban Catholic championship. 2. Downers Grove South (20-3): The Mustangs continue to roll, overwhelming Willowbrook and Downers Grove North to make it 13 straight wins. DGS gave up only 46 combined points in the two wins. 3. Neuqua Valley (20-4): The Wildcats recovered from a mid-season lull to win four of their last five games. Avenging their first loss of the year at East Aurora Thursday would give them a great shot at winning the Upstate Eight Valley title. 4. East Aurora (16-5): The Tomcats join the region with this week’s launch of the Montgomery site. UConn-bound Ryan…
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sports writer Paul Johnson ranks the region's top five girls basketball teams, followed by a list of the next best.
1. Bolingbrook (19-2): The Raiders have been so dominant in 13 games against Illinois opponents that anything short of another Class 4A state title will not do. The average margin of victory thus far in Illinois has been 80-30. Astonishing. 2. Benet Academy (19-6): A non-conference win over Hinsdale Central has given the Redwings 11 wins in their last 12 games as they prepare for Naperville North in regionals next week. 3. Naperville Central (21-8): The Redhawks continue to storm up the rankings after a big win over Wheaton North Monday clinched at least a tie for the DuPage Valley Conference crown with one game to go. 4. Waubonsie Valley (20-4): Warriors have a couple of winnable road games left in the regular season before preparing to …
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Neuqua posts four individual regional champions, Brook has three and Plainfield North boasts a pair.
The Neuqua Valley High School wrestling team set a dubious school record this sesaon after losing 11 dual matches. That’s the most in program history. And, it was by design—not the losses, but facing possibly the toughest schedule in the state. What it did was bring the Wildcats together and paved the way for individual and team success during the state series. So far, so good. Neuqua Valley won the school’s sixth regional championship by outdueling Bolingbrook 192.5-177.5 at the Raiders’ regional Saturday. “Ever since the beginning of this year, we’ve been looking to win the regional championship,” Neuqua 152-pound senior Luke Pigott said. “This is a big goal of ours. As a team, I think we’re doing pretty well and we can do pretty well at…
41.68978
-88.09062
365 Raider Way, Bolingbrook, IL
/articles/neuqua-valley-edges-host-bolingbrook-for-fifth-regional-wrestling-title
/locations/3303832
Friday, February 4, 2011
Sports writer Paul Johnson ranks the top area high school boys basketball teams from 1-5, plus a short list of the next best.
1. Benet (22-0): Redwings keep on overcoming every challenge, but the road to facing Simeon Feb. 19 is no picnic. St. Patrick, Marist and Niles Notre Dame are no guarantees in East Suburban Catholic play. 2. Downers Grove South (18-3): Mustangs’ surge continued with a win over Morton, avenging one of their three losses this season. Oh, and that makes 11 straight wins and counting. 3. Neuqua Valley (19-4): Wildcats bounce back from Waubonsie loss by dominating Bolingbrook. The schedule sets up nicely for a strong regular-season finish as well. 4. Oswego (14-5): Panthers push closer to a Southwest Prairie Conference title with wins over Plainfield East and South. A chance for a second win over both Oswego East and Plainfield Central await …
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sports writer Paul Johnson ranks the area's top high school girls basketball teams 1-5, followed by a short list of the next best.
1. Bolingbrook (17-2): Raiders dominate Sandburg and receive their inevitable Class 4A Romeoville Sectional top seed. 2. Benet Academy (18-6): The Redwings are on the rise after their upset of Loyola gave them 10 wins in their last 11 games. Tuesday’s Hinsdale Central game was postponed. 3. Waubonsie Valley (18-4): The Warriors were dominated by Upstate Eight Valley champion Bartlett in Round 2 of their season series, but can get back on track Thursday against Neuqua. 4. Naperville Central (19-8): The Redhawks earned at least a share of the Sweet 16 Tournament title after wins over New Trier and Schaumburg Saturday; have won 9 of 10 overall. 5. Minooka (18-4): Indians upended by Lockport after winning 14 of 15. Minooka still has a …
Susan McDougall
2:57 pm on Saturday, September 10, 2011
My son is on the OHS team, and let me just say that Dan Whipple deserves a lot of credit too. He provides great leadership to the team and puts in an incredible amount of time and effort into motivating those runners. more ›