In a thrilling Senior Night, SJO girls tennis rallied from a 4-2 singles deficit to beat Centennial 5-4. Standout doubles performances clinched the win.
CHAMPAIGN - The St. Joseph-Ogden girls tennis team delivered one of its most memorable performances of the season last Thursday, edging Champaign Centennial 5-4 in a dramatic dual meet on the Chargers’ Senior Night.
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brook
SJO's Ainsley Rhoten attacks a short ball during her doubles match against Urbana, Rhoten and partner Shelby Warns, won their #1 doubles match at Centennial, upsetting Ria Modi and Taylor Diep. The Spartan pair also won their previous #1 doubles match against Watseka juniors
Rose Koester and Elika Hardisty on September 30.
Fueled by clutch singles play from veterans Samantha Kelso and Lily Rice and a clean sweep through doubles, the Spartans (now 8-3 overall) earned a program-defining road victory heading into the final week of the regular season.
Kelso (8-3), who’s playing the best tennis of her prep career, set the tone early with a straight-sets win over Centennial’s top player, Ria Modi, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 1 singles. The senior extended her win streak to four, following victories over St. Teresa, Watseka and Urbana.
Rice (9-1) responded with poise and determination at No. 2 singles, bouncing back from a tough September 29 loss to Urbana’s Ananyah Tangmunarunkit. The senior battled through three sets to outlast Taylor Diep 6-2, 3-6, 10-6, earning her second consecutive win.
Centennial briefly took control of the match after claiming the remaining singles courts, with strong showings from Krishna Patel, Asma Cheema, Romi Sagiv and Veronica Hooper against Spartan competitors Audrie Helfrich, Avarie Dietiker, Maddie Wells and Ava Midkiff. The Chargers’ surge gave them a 4-2 lead heading into doubles play.
With their backs to the wall, the Spartans’ doubles lineup came through in dominant fashion.
At No. 1 doubles, Ainsley Rhoten and Shelby Warns took down Modi and Diep in a tense 8-7 (2) tiebreaker, while the No. 2 pairing of Madison Farber and Kenley Ray rolled to an 8-2 win over Patel and Ellie Marinichev. The clinching point came from the No. 3 team of senior Karleigh Spain and junior Sophie Schmitz, who defeated Believe Mondika and Shaniece Clayborn 8-6. The duo improved their combined varsity records to 8-3.
St. Joseph-Ogden continues a strong late-season surge with two regular-season matches remaining, hosting Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley on Thursday at Atkins Tennis Center and closing at Maroa-Forsyth next Monday before postseason play begins.
From assassination plot to prison: Sophie Roske’s case highlights mental health, gender care, and political accountability.
byTerry Hansen Guest Commentary
Sophie Roske, a transgender woman, was sentenced to 97 months in prison for her plot to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Prosecutors sought a minimum sentence of 30 years.
Judge Deborah Boardman explained that Roske voluntarily abandoned her assassination plan, expressed remorse, had no prior criminal record, and was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Boardman also questioned whether Roske would receive adequate mental health treatment in prison, citing President Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for federal inmates.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and conservative media outlets like the New York Post and National Review have expressed outrage over the 8-year sentence.
Yet by their standards, the scores of January 6 rioters who breached the Capitol while chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" should also have been sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. After all, they are domestic terrorists who attempted to execute the Vice President. Instead, they have all been pardoned by President Trump.
Appallingly, in an interview with Jonathan Karl of ABC News, Trump actually defended the January 6 rioters' "Hang Mike Pence!" chants.
How can anyone claim to oppose political violence while supporting a person who pardoned January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers and publicly defended their violent chants?
Terry Hansen is a retired educator who writes frequently about climate change. He lives in Milwaukee, WI.
TAGS: Sophie Roske assassination plot, Brett Kavanaugh threat, Supreme Court security, transgender inmate prison sentence, mental health and criminal justice, gender-affirming care ban, January 6 rioters pardons, political violence in the U.S., Trump executive orders, criminal sentencing controversy
