Something to cheer about, Redhawks win first state cheer title

Members of the Marist cheerleading team celebrate with the program's first-ever state championship trophy on Saturday. The Redhawk squad won the Large School Division title at this year's IHSA Competitive Cheer State Final after two days of competition against 25 team in Bloomington. See more photos from Saturday's competition below.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

BLOOMINGTON - Sitting in a circle with their heads down with eight other teams around them, the Marist cheerleaders had their heads down, gripping their teammates' hands nervously while waiting for the announcement of this year's Large School Divison state champion at the IHSA Competitive Cheerleading State Finals on Saturday. When their name rang out over the P.A. system at Grossinger Motor Arena, they shrieked in unison and preceded to celebrate with unabashed joy.

"We were bridesmaids but never the bride, but today we got to be the bride," Redhawks head coach Jordan Miller said after the awards ceremony. "Our team has worked so hard. They really focused on themselves, their goals, and our values we have as a team. It really showed today on the mat, and fortunately, we got a win."

It was a historic moment for the program that has qualified for state every year from the get-go. Since 2005, Marist has finished second four times (2013, 2018, 2019, 2022) and third once in 2012. Saturday's state title was the first in school history.

Jordan said the key to his team's success was the fact that the girls on the team love each other.

"They put each other first," he explained. "They really focused on our team values rather than just the skills alone."

Marist finished the first day of competition in third place after receiving a score of 93.52 from the judges. Ahead of them, Lockport Township (96.64) and Edwardsville (94.72 ) gave nearly flawless performances to take the top two spots. Also advancing to the championship round were Sandburg (93.44), Andrews (90.72), Schaumburg (90.48), and Lincoln-Way East (90.23). Huntley earned an 89.24, Maine South 88.25, and Lincoln-Way Central 88.13 to round out the top ten, advancing to Saturday's finals.

Running the last routine of the day in the division, the team saw solid team performances from Edwardsville, who finished second, and Lockport, who came in third place. The squad's performance, to their surprise, earned the division's top mark of 96.32, surpassing the Tigers' 95.90 and the Porters' 94.99.

Marist's seniors played an important role this season.

"The senior class is really special to me. They are great athletes, but even better, they are just human beings," he said. "The rest of the team has some big shoes to fill, but I know we'll make them proud in the future."

This season's state championship squad includes Jaclyn Fitzmaurice, Jenna McAdams, Katelin Carney, Kaliyah House, Emerson McGuire, Sarah Tadevich, Gianna Marciano, Carrington Anderson, Emma Summers, Anna Connor, Mya Marciano, Julia Lorenz, June Giblin-Segal, Breanna Doherty, Kelsey Weber, Abigail Osborne, Molly Ryan, Brianna Kirchner, Madelyn Gutrich, Autumn Veal, Bridget Panerese, Mia Vincent, Mia Dusynski, Kaelyn and Howell. Miller's assistant coaches includes Tiara Patterson, Mary Mckenna and Beth Piper.

Photo Gallery

Photo-of-the-Day: January 9, 2022

SJO wrestler Austin Upton wrestles at state

Upton wins again

St. Joseph-Ogden's Austin Upton (45-4) tries to pin Mercer County's Jon Ricke (left) during their 170-pound Class 1A wrestleback semifinal match during 2013 IHSA Wrestling State Finals held at the Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL.. Unable to stick Ricke, Upton still advanced to the third-place match after defeating Ricke, 11-8. See more photos from this match and others from this year's state finals on iphotonews.com. The senior eventually finished fourth in the weight class after dropping the third-place bout in a close 3-2 finish to Wilmington's Sean Liaromatis (49-3), the #2 seed in the bracket.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Search the PhotoNews Media archives for more photos:

Search by athlete's name, team, school and more

4th-quarter comeback propels Unity to Class 3A football championship game

The last time the Rockets played a semifinal football game at home there was three inches of slush on the grassy turf of Hicks Field. Brutally cold with a sustained 15 mile an hour crosswind gusting to 30 at times, last Saturday's weather conditions were in stark contrast to that of the Blizzard Bowl of 2015.

Under a cloudless blue sky and gentle rays of sunlight heating the barely two-year-old artificial turf, the outcome, played by seniors who were still in junior high during the Blizzard Bowl, was identical. Three quarters of solid defensive play yielded yet another shot at a football state title, the sixth since 1994 when head coach Scott Hamilton took the reigns, after defeating visiting Mt. Carmel, 28-21.

Head coach Scott Hamilton is congratulated by fans after Unity's 28-21 win over Mt. Carmel. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

"What a crazy game," Hamilton said while Unity players and fans celebrated the team's fourth 2021 playoff victory. The number one seed in the southern playoff bracket, the Rockets played all four postseason games at Hicks Field. "We'll enjoy this one and wake up tomorrow morning and give her hell."

The Rockets jumped out in front on their first possession on an 87-yard drive capped off with quarterback Blake Kimball sprinting three yards toward the southeast court of the end zone, and to the dismay of dozens of Golden Aces fans along the barrier behind the end zone, diving just inside the orange pylon for the first TD of the game.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

With a little help from teammate Camden Mette, Unity's Boden Franklin strips the ball from Mt. Carmel's Blayne Sisson during first quarter action. The Rockets recovered the fumble to set up their next scoring drive. See more game photos from iphotonews.com.

Three minutes later, thanks to a fumble forced by junior Boden Franklin, Kimball was back in the end zone after a two-yard run to put his team up 13-0. With another easy PAT and looking at 14-point first-quarter deficit, Mt. Carmel was shell-shocked. Or, so it seemed.

Shaking it off, the Golden Aces started pulling them out of their sleeve. The first, with less than a minute on the scoreboard, Zeke Hadra scored on an 11-yard run. Then, a second barely two minutes into the second quarter to tie the ballgame up at 14-all courtesy of Mt. Carmel quarterback Blayne Sisson's 70-yard gallop through the Rocket defense.

Mt. Carmel wasn't finished. Hadra threw down another ace in the form of a 10-yards touchdown sending both teams into the locker room with MTC looking golden at 21-14.

"Everything looked so bad the whole second quarter, the whole third quarter, and we couldn't do anything," Hamilton said.

Though it has been a rare occurrence for the Rockets to be behind on the scoreboard, teams don't win 17-straight football games by giving up.

"For whatever reason, whether it was the Monticello game, or if you look back to some of the other games last year, they just hung in there," Hamilton said. He also highlighted his team's struggle against Paxton-Buckley-Loda, whose football program loudly announced their entrance into the mighty Illini Prairie Conference this year. He was proud of how they responded with their 'it ain't over until its over' attitude. "They just don't ever give up on each other."

In the first series of the fourth quarter, Rockets' Will Cowan snags a interception in the Unity end zone. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Kimball and Matt Brown, who broke out for a 56-yard run on the drive, move the ball down the field. Pushed out of bounds at the 15-yard line, the Rockets had to wait until Kimball barreled into the east end zone for a third time to tie up the score.

"These guys just don't quit," Hamilton said, holding back tears of joy. "Their character is unbelievable."

Re-energized the Unity defense squad created another scoring opportunity with another interception. Camden Mette comes up big with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter. Not long after that, Brown finds his way into the end zone and the Rockets get the PAT to go up 28-21. The Rockets are just 5 minutes, ten seconds away from going to state.

"As he does all the time, Coach (Tony) Reetz got it figured out upfront," Hamilton said. A couple of defensive stops, a little game-clock finesse, and Unity would be preparing to play their 14th game this season. "Coach (Dave) Fink and our defensive guys took care of it on that end, and it's off to DeKalb we go."

Refusing to give up ground, the Unity defense stood tall stalling Mt. Carmel's desperate efforts to get a first down. The Rockets take control of the ball on their own 40 and meticulously wind down the clock down for the win.

Next up, the final test. Unity, who will play its first postseason road game at Huskie Stadium on the campus of Northern Illinois University, will square off against Byron.

The Tigers, who will make their third consecutive state final appearance, lost both previous contests by four points. In 2018, Monticello prevailed at Memorial Stadium, 24-20, and Williamsville held on to beat Byron 46-42 in DeKalb for the 2019 title.

Game time is at 4pm.

Photo of the Day - November 2, 2020

With less than 100 yards to go on a rain-soaked track, St. Joseph-Ogden's Josh Dees stay ahead of Tremont's Park Thompson as they approach the finish line in heat one of the 800-Meter run at the Illinois High School Association Boys Track & Field State Finals in 2009. Thompson overtook at the finish line to finish .29 of a second ahead of the SJO senior who clocked in at 1:58.81. Both runners qualified for Saturday's Class 1A championship race. Dees went on to finish seventh for the Spartans in the event.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - October 26, 2020

Dick Duval and SJO football advances to state title game — While players celebrate up and down the sideline, St. Joseph-Ogden head coach Dick Duval and his coaching staff - including now head coach Shawn Skinner, son Kiel Duval and Marshall Schacht - head midfield to shake the hands with the Greenville coaching staff after their Class 3A semifinal football game. The Spartans advanced to the division's title game after defeating the Comets 44-21 November 23 ,2013. Heading into the showdown with Stillman Valley, the high-powered SJO offense and hard-nosed defensive squad rolled forward with an eight-game wins streak behind them. Duval and the Spartans would go on to bring home the program's 5th state runner-up trophy after an epic, controversial battle and a heartbreaking 43-41 overtime loss to the Cardinals.
(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - October 23, 2020

Stephanie Canfield tries to steal second base — Stephanie Canfield tries to beat a tag at second on a steal during St. Joseph-Ogden's 2012 supersectional game against Chicago Christian. Knight's Ashley Quinlan got the pick-off tag for the third out with SJO leading 4-0 after their second at-bat. Canfield and the Spartans dealt a 11-1 thrashing while punching their ticket to the Class 2A state finals on May 28. Later in the week, the SJO softball team finished the season with a third-place state trophy.
(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - October 22, 2020

St. Joseph-Ogden's Alex Arteaga lands in the sand pit during a long jump attempt at the 2012 Spartan Classic. The senior finished his career as a state qualifier in both long and triple jump events. He also all-state honors in the 300 intermediate hurdles and was a member of the 1,600 relay crew that finished third at the IHSA state meet that year. The Washington University recruit went out a career best of 41-9.75 in the triple jump and sailed 20-10.25 down the runway in the long jump at O'Brien Stadium.
(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - October 14, 2020

Loren Brooks pole vaults at state track — St. Joseph-Ogden pole vaulter Loren Brooks starts over the bar on her way to clearing 8'6" during Thursday's prelims at the 2012 IHSA Track and Field State Finals. Brooks, a sophomore, failed on this attempt but later cleared the bar. She failed to make the qualifying height in order to advance to Saturday's finals.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - October 8, 2020

Spartans beat Pontiac in straight sets

St. Joseph-Ogden's Rylee Stahl passes the ball to the front row during her team's home Illini Prairie Conference match against Pontiac in October of 2019. SJO defeated the visiting Indians 25-12, 25-17. Finishing the remainder of the season undefeated, Stahl and the Spartans closed out the season with a final record of 37-5 after securing a third-place state trophy at the Illinois High School Association volleyball state tournament.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks