High School sports started over the weekend with football. On 95.3 JackFM the Ottawa Pirates suffered a tough loss on the road at Morris. Marquette won on by Forfeit over Christ the King due to bus issues.
Other results in football: Seneca won big at Clifton Central, Mendota fell to Newman Catholic, LP lost at home to Sycamore, Streator were defeated by Wilmington and on Saturday, St Bede lost to Hall.
At the IHSA Class 1A Ottawa Sectional in tennis, The Lady Pirates won their 32nd sectional team championship. The team of Rylee O’Fallon and Jenna Smithmeyer defeated teammates Isabel Heimsoth and Emma Walker in the doubles championship match, also teammate, Emma Cushing, placed second in the singles to earn a state trip.
The LP Lady Cavaliers also advanced three to state. Singles champion Carlie Miller and the team of Ava Lannen and Emelia Hachenberger in doubles.
Results in cross country
Streator Kody Danko was the champion of the Illinois Central Eight Conference boys meet at The Eastwood Golf Club. teammates Ryan Seaton placed eighth and Chance Robart finished 19th.
In the girls race, Abby Pierce placed 14th, Lily Kupec was 16th, Izabelle Dean finished 18th and Katie Monaghan was 20th for the Lady Bulldogs.
At the Interstate Eight Conference meet at Baker Lake in Peru, the Ottawa boys finished fifth with Liam Tipple placed 16th and Lucas Farabaugh was 24th. The Lady Pirates squad was led by a seventh-place finish from Grace Carroll, Kendra Martin was 10th and Addy Miller finished 13th.
At the Peoria Heights Patriot Invitational at Detweiller Park, Marquette’s Joe Amicon and Carson Zellers competed with 292 runners in the boys race. For the Lady Cru, Maggie Jewett and Morgan Nelson ran with 245 girls in the event.
Streator placed 4th at the Mendota Invitational in volleyball. Top performers for the Lady Bulldogs at the Invite were Alexa Jacobs, Bella Dean, Ellie Isermann and Sophia Pence.
Serena defeated Earlville 2-1 in the Regional soccer Championship. Camden Figgins scored both goals in the victory. The Huskers will now advance to the Mendota Sectional.
Also in soccer, the Ottawa Pirates season ended with a 3-2 loss to Morris at the Class 2A LP Regional.
In Swimming
The LP / Ottawa CO-OP team competed at the Mustang Varsity Invitational. Top ten results for LPO: Lily Miller, Mikenna DeSpain, Lily Mustered and Evvie Jeppson placed 7th in the 200 Medley Relay. Mustered, DeSpain, Jeppson and Addison Nance finished 7th in the 200 Freestyle Relay and Clara Guglielmetti took 9th in the 100 Freestyle.
The Ottawa Dolphins won on the road over the Illinois Valley Dolphins.
Triple event winners were: Cole Bressendorf, Maya Burke, Bo Weitl and Quinn Wilkinson
Junior High Girls Basketball
At the Holy Family Tournament, Marquette Academy defeated their host 34-11 to win the championship. Hunter Hopkins and Anna Hjerpe led the Lady Knight, each scoring 10 points.
Shepherd competed with Princeton. The 7th Grade team lost 23-13. Leela Gromm had 5 points The 8th Graders won 42-11. Leading the way for the Lady Rams were Ashlynn Ganiere with 16 points and Reese Purcell adding 14 points.
The Yankees forced a Game Five with the Guardians after a 4-2 win in Cleveland. The Yankees will host the winner-take-all Game Five today in New York. The winner will advance to face the Houston Astros in the ALCS. The Astros swept Seattle in their division series. Meanwhile, the NLCS will feature the Phillies and Padres after both finished off their respective NL division series on Saturday. .
The Blackhawks scored five unanswered goals in a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks at The SAP Center. The Hawks improved to 1-2 and will host Detroit on Friday.
On Sunday Night Football the Eagles stayed unbeaten at 6-0 with a win over the Cowboys in Philadelphia.
The LA Chargers and Denver Broncos are facing off for an AFC West showdown on Monday night football. The Chargers are 3-and-2, The Broncos are 2-3.
College Football over the weekend
Notre Dame lost to Stanford, The Fighting Illini are nationally ranked after a win over Minnesota at Memorial Stadium. NIU crushed Eastern Michigan and ISU snuck past South Dakota 12-10.
Joey Logano grabbed the checkered flag at the NASCAR South Point 400 in Las Vegas.