Memory Monday: St. Joseph-Ogden wins state semifinal over Althoff Catholic

With this year's SJO volleyball team heading to Redbird Arena later this week to once again compete for the Illinois High School Association's state champion trophy, today's Memory Monday looks back to the volleyball program's final four opener three years ago.

Parker Francisco (left) and Bree Trimble celebrates a point for the Spartans during game one of their state semifinal contest against Althoff Catholic back on November 11 in 2016. The Crusaders jumped out a 5-0 lead and never looked back in the set to spanking SJO, 25-10. However, Francisco, who would finish the first day's battle with 10 kills and 5 digs, and the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team let loose and rallied back to take the next two sets advancing to the Class 2A title game against Eureka. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Oh, yeah! Jannah Mullen celebrates a point for the Spartans in the final set against the Crusaders. After dropping an ugly first set to Althoff, the Spartans take the final two 25-18, 25-8. Mullen served the team's only ace of the game and finished the Friday semifinal credited with three digs. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Resilient, relentless Bree Trimble passes the ball to the front row in game one. The sophomore contributed nine digs and two assists in the Friday afternoon victory three years ago today. The Spartans shook off the first set loss and won the next two to take the match and improve their season record to 31-3. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Members of St. Joseph-Ogden's Maroon Platoon cheer for the volleyball team during second set action. With only four kills in the first set, the student cheering section didn't have much to cheer about. However, their team stormed back to pound 32 bombs in the last two sets to punch their ticket into Saturday's title match against the Eureka Hornets. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Left: SJO head coach Abby McDonald realigns her players on the floor during set one of SJO's match against Althoff. Right: Senior Kylie Michael leaps with excitement after another point for SJO. Michael led the Spartan offense with at match-high 18 kills and 12 digs. A redshirt freshman during the 2018 season at Eastern Illinois University, she played 68 sets to finish the season with 132 kills along with 115 digs and 26 blocks. (Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Jannah Mullen lunges to make a dig and keep the ball in play during second set action. She was one of six seniors on the 2016 squad that would go on to place second in Class 2A. Mullen continued her volleyball career at Lakeland College where as a sophomore last year she was named second-team All-Region. She led the team with 520 digs, 19th in NJCAA Division I last November. Check the gallery, online for a limited time only, for more than 100 other photos from this match here: PhotoNews RAW Collection (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

St. Joseph-Ogden parents and fans cheer for their team during a timeout in the second set. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Reaching for greatness Parker Francisco leaps above the net to block a Eureka kill attempt. The two-sport athlete's leadership was key in the Spartans advancing to the Class 2A title match on Saturday at Redbird Arena. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Spartans Bree Trimble and Kylie Michael share a hug after the conclusion of their third set against the Hornets and with the realization that in 24 hours SJO will be playing for the program's first-ever volleyball state championship title on Saturday. For a limited time only, see more than 100 photos from this match and the championship game later this week at PhotoNews RAW Collection. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Spartan basketball opens at Tip-Off on November 18

Ten days from tomorrow the St. Joseph-Ogden girls basketball team open their 2019-20 season at the Lady Falcon & Bunnie Tip-Off Classic on Monday, November 18. Here is the schedule and locations for the early season tourney.

Here's the schedule and information for the upcoming Lady Falcon & Bunnie Tip-Off Classic. Good luck @SJOGirlsHoops pic.twitter.com/qqqvmO8Vpg

— Sentinel News (@Sentinel_News) November 7, 2019

Spartans runners head to state

Both the boys and girls cross country teams at St. Joseph-Ogden will be in the running for this year's Class 1A IHSA State Finals on Saturday.

The men's squad finished third in the team standings after last Saturday's sectional meet in Effingham. SJO's top five runners accumulated 158 points behind Urbana U-High (96 points) and sectional champions Monticello with 42 points.

Junior Brandon Mattsey finished the course at 16.56 and Eric Poe clocked in at 17.16. Both runners turned in times nearly minute slower than their times near the end of September due to the muddy, marsh like conditions along the course.

"Our coach had us run without socks," said Poe, a second-year veteran. He was the 22nd runner to cross the finish line. "It made it much easier to run with just spikes."

Saturday will be a first Poe, who will be running in his first state cross country meet. He excited about the opportunity to run against some of the top runners in the state.

"Every team there, every runner is high quality," he said. "The quality of the runners that will be there, that's what I'm excited about."

The senior is glad he left football, he played his frosh and sophomore season, as his fall sport and jumped into the sport of cross country.

"I don't regret the decision," he said with pride. "I'm very thankful for the coach I have and my teammates who have been helping me along. It is not an easy sport."

Also running for the Spartans at the sectional meet was Charlie Mabry, who turned a time of 17.40. Three other runners - Elijah Mock (17.50), Logan Wolfersberger (17.52) and Luke Stegall (17.53) - finished under the 18 minute mark. Lukas Hutcherson was the last St. Joseph-Ogden off the course at 18.49.

The Spartans will run their final race of the season at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday. The girls race starts at 9 a.m.. An hour later boys race starts at 10 a.m..

If you plan to head to Peoria for the state meet, here are the bib number of SJO runners to look out for: 702 — Ethan Blackburn (Fr.), 703 — Braden Clampitt (So.), 704 — Zach Dahman (Fr.), 705 — Lukas Hutcherson (Jr.), 706 — Charlie Mabry (So.), 707 — Brandon Mattsey (Jr.), 708 — Elijah Mock (So.), 709 — Taddy Pettit (Sr.), 710 — Eric Poe (Sr.), 711 — Josh Sexton (Sr.), 712 — Luke Stegall (So.) and 713 — Logan Wolfersberger (Jr.).

The SJO girls will be wearing the following numbers for their race: 253 — Addie Allen (So.), 254 — Kaytlyn Baker (Fr.), 255 — Sidney Davis (So.), 256 — Hanna Eastin (Jr.), 257 — Kailyn Ingram (So.), 258 — Ava Knap (So.), 259 — Ashlyn Lannert (So.), 260 — Ally Monk (Sr.), 261 — Jillian Plotner (Sr.), 262 — Hannah Rajlich (Sr.), 263 — Hope Rajlich (So.), 264 — Kendra Riddle (So.), 265 — Malorie Sarnecki (So.) and 266 — Taryn Sexton (So.).