Big Picture: Spartans topple Sabers, 8-0

Closing our Big Picture series featuring players from St. Joseph-Ogden's class of 2020 are six intense photos from the Spartans' road game against St. Thomas More back on April 24, 2019. On that windy day on the prairie, SJO blanked the host Sabers, 8-0.

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Big Picture: McCarty strikes out 12, Spartans hammer Panthers in home game

Back on April 12 in 2019, the Spartans rolled to overwhelming 9-1 victory over visiting Paxton-Buckley-Loda in a non-conference meet up in the 'Joe'. The St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team collected six hits with juniors Drew Coursey and Jaden Miller pounding a couple RBIs apiece.

Despite giving up a fifth-inning home run by Keyn Humes, SJO hurler Keegan McCarty picked up the win striking out 12 batters in five innings.

Adam Frerichs, Sam Wesley, Kaden Jacobs, Nick Boggs also recorded hits against PBL.

Here are the editor's top picks from the 170 action photos from the game.

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Senior spotlights with Aubrey Kern, Cody Johnston & Kristen Costa

Aubrey Kern

Clubs & Activities

Volleyball (1 year)
Student Council, Maroon Platoon

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
Older brother

Hobbies:
Hanging out with family and friends

Favorite SJO memories:
Going to all of the home games and Homecoming and Prom week.

Favorite classes:
All of her English classes and Biology

Favorite teachers:
Mr. Risley and Mrs. Kinney at St. Joseph Middle School and Mr. Kiel Duval and Mrs. Heather Lindenmeyer at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

College:
Parkland College, Undecided major

Advice to future SJO students:
Have as much fun as you can and to not take anything for granted.

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Cody Johnston

Clubs & Activities

Bass Fishing, Scholastic Bowl, We The People, Rube Goldberg Team, Marching Band, SADA

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Hobbies:
Fishing, riding motorcycles, and playing video games

Favorite SJO memories:
He earned first place in his We The People unit, and he also earned first place in percussion at one of his marching band competitions. Cody also enjoyed participating on the Rube Goldberg team.

Favorite classes:
Biology, Physics, U.S. History, Civics, and Calculus

Favorite teachers:
Mr. Risley at St. Joseph Middle School and Mrs. Jeanna Kerner, Mr. Robert Glazier, Mr. Marshall Schacht, and Mrs. Lianne Rash at SJO

College:
Parkland College, majoring in Engineering

Technical training:
Electrical Union Apprenticeship

Advice to future SJO students:
Pursue extracurricular activities and to do your homework.

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Kristen Costa

Clubs & Activities

Student Council-Class President, Student Council-Student Body President, AMP, Spanish Club, Maroon Platoon, NHS, Drama Club, We The People

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
One younger brother, one older brother, and one older sister

Hobbies:
Singing, donating her time for volunteer work, and hanging out with friends and family

Favorite SJO memories:
Her greatest memories involvement in Student Council. She was elected into the IASC (Illinois Association of Student Council), and she was the first ever SJO student elected to serve as Vice President of this organization. Kristen also really enjoyed planning out the Kickapoo District Convention for Student Council.

Favorite classes:
All of her Spanish classes and Biology

Favorite teachers:
Mr. Dassow and Mrs. Ford at St. Joseph Middle School and Senor Zak Sutton and Mr. Marshall Schacht at SJO.

College:
Illinois College, majoring Spanish education (K-12).

Advice to future SJO students:
Enjoy what you have when you have it, and do not take anything for granted.

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Text & photos provided by St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Spartan Spotlight with senior Danie Kelso

Danie Kelso

Clubs & Activities

Track and Field (4 years)
Cross Country (1 year)
Bible Club

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
One older and one younger sister

Hobbies:
Reading and running

Favorite SJO memories:
She said her greatest memories at SJO centers around track and field. During her freshman year, her 4 X 400 M relay advanced to State, which was an unbelievable moment for her. During her junior year, her 4 X 200 M relay placed first at IHSA State Track & Field Finals, which was incredible, she added.

Favorite classes:
U.S. History and Anatomy and Physiology

Favorite teachers:
Mrs. Stierwalt at St. Joseph Grade School, Mr. Risley at St. Joseph Middle School, and Mrs. Stacey Kietzman and Mr. Marshall Schacht at SJO.

College:
Millikin University majoring in nursing

Collegiate Sport:
She will join the Big Blue NCAA Div. III track & field program this fall

Advice to future SJO students:
Do not take anything for granted.

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Track & Field Career Bests

60 Meter Dash	8.71
100 Meter Dash	13.82
200 Meter Dash	29.45
400 Meter Dash	1:04.9
800 Meter Run	2:41.45
2 Mile	18:17.0
3 Mile	23:44.0
5k	27:00.0
4X200 Relay	1:47.35
4X400 Relay	4:32.12

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Above: Kelso, with Spartan teammates Atleigh Hamilton, Hailey Birt and Maclayne Taylor pose for photos at the top of the Class 1A podium after winning the title race at the 2019 Illinois High School Association Track & Field State Finals on Saturday, May 18, in Charleston. The program finish the state meet in a two-way tie for third with St. Teresa.

Below: Kelso fires out of the blocks in her relay squad's 4x200 prelim at the 2019 state track meet. Along with fellow junior Hailey Birt, sophomore Atleigh Hamilton and senior Maclayne Taylor the Spartans dominated their heat with 1:45.07 finish to qualify for Saturday's finals. (Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

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Text provided by St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Rowland makes DACC Honor's List

St. Joseph resident Libby Rowland was named to Danville Area Community College's Spring 2020 Honor's List.

In order to earn Honors List recognition eligible students must carry a class load of 12 or more credit hours and have a B+ (3.5) grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

This is the second consecutive semester the 2019 SJO graduate has made the list.

SJO celebrates Class of 2020 scholarship winners

This year's Honors Night was celebrated in a different format. Due to the state restrictions on large gatherings during the Covid-19 pandemic, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced this year's award winners via video made available on YouTube.

"Even though we are not together in our gym and there were several scholarships that were not able to be given this year, the following is an amazing representation of how intelligent and talented our young people are," said SJO principal Gary Page in his introduction.

Watch the video below to learn about the 21 scholarships earned by the Class of 2020.

SJO Class of 2020 Scholarship
Award Winners

Jenna Schaefer
Chamber of Commerce Scholarship
Illinois State Scholarship
National Merit Scholarship Letter of Commendation

Tristan Fuqua
St. Joseph Masonic Foundation Scholarship

Hannah Rajlich
Papa Pridemore Memorial Scholarship
Illinois State Scholar

Taddy Pettit
Papa Pridemore Memorial Scholarship

Jenna Albrecht
C-U Optimist Club Scholarship
American Legion Award
Lexi Barbour Memorial Scholarship

Lindsey Aden
FFA Alumni Scholarships
Illinois State Scholar
Anderson's Scholarship
Farm Bureau Womens Committee Scholarship
Champaign County Farm Bureau Scholarship
National Merit Scholarship Letter of Commendation

Mallory Ames
FFA Alumni Scholarships
Illinois State Scholar
Bayer Fund Farmers Grow Ag Leaders Scholarship
Ag Future of America Scholarship
Vincent O’Greene Memorial Scholarship

Brodie Sullivan
FFA Alumni Scholarships

Katelyn Berry
Illinois State Scholar
Daughters of the American Revolution

Emily Bigger
Illinois State Scholar

Ginny Bytnar
Illinois State Scholar

Andrea Cunningham
Illinois State Scholar

Faith Dahman
Illinois State Scholar

Hannah Dukeman
Illinois State Scholar
Illini Prairie Conference Scholar Athlete

Erica Guelfi
Illinois State Scholar
John Phillips Sousa Award
Lutheran Community Foundation Scholarship
The National Merit Scholarship

Ava Mills
Illinois State Scholar

Eric Poe
Illinois State Scholar

Kenly Taylor
Illinois State Scholar

Stephanie Trame
Illinois State Scholar

Isabelle Vliet
Illinois State Scholar

Zoey Witruk
Illinois State Scholar

Brayden Weaver
Sons of the American Revolution
Illini Prairie Conference Scholar Athlete

Payton Cain
American Legion Award

Danie Kelso
Lutheran Community Foundation Scholarship

Eliza Lewis
Lutheran Community Foundation Scholarship

Nathan Maier
Lutheran Community Foundation Scholarship

Cody Johnston
St. Joseph Youth Baseball Little League Scholarship

Brendan Cooperider
St. Joseph Youth Baseball Little League Scholarship

Kendall Ayers
National Choral Award

Joshua Sexton
National Band Director’s Award

Rylee Stahl
Tammy Walsh Memorial Scholarship

Anna Wentzloff
Tammy Walsh Memorial Scholarship
St. Joseph Masonic Foundation Scholarship

Zach Seeley
Army

St. Joseph Community Festival scaled back due to Covid-19

The pandemic wounded yet another annual summer tradition this year. The St. Joseph Community Festival committee announced that this year's celebration will be scaled down considerably as the state continues to navigate through it reopening phases.

In a statement released on Facebook, the festival committee announced that after conversations with the American Legion, the village officials and management from the carnival vendor, a decision was reached to cancel most of the events for this year's festival.

"With all of the unknowns at this time due to the coronavirus it is hard to plan what might or might not be allowed in August," Josh Reese wrote in his post in the St. Joseph, IL - Information and Community Events public group on Facebook. "We are planning on keeping a few events."

As of June 10, the planning committee plans to offer the following events:

Saturday, August 1
12pm • Antique and Lawnmower Tractor Pull Location: The Sports Complex

Saturday, August 8
7am - 10am • St. Joseph-Stanton Fire Department Pancake Breakfast

6pm • Community Festival Parade
Location: Downtown

Dusk • Festival Fireworks
Location: Sports Complex

The Pancake Breakfast is listed as tentative. The SJSFD still needs to acquire applicable temporary food permits from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. The tractor pull was schedule to one week earlier due to the availability of the sled.

Reese signed off with a piece of good news after thanking the community for their support. The dates for next year's festival are scheduled to be held on August 12-14 in 2021.

SJO senior spotlights with Brady Lewis, Asjah Fonner & Tyler Jones

Brady Lewis

Clubs & Activities

Coffee Club

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
A younger brother

Favorite SJO memories:
He has been a part of the Coffee Club at SJO for the past two years and enjoyed making and delivering coffee to SJO staff members every Thursday morning. Each member of the staff was always happy to see Brady, with or without coffee in hand.

Favorite classes:
Classes with Mrs. Beth Beckett

Favorite teachers:
Mrs. Manwaring, Mrs. White, Mrs. Bayles, and Mrs. Beckett.

Advice to future SJO students:
Always do your best.

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Asjah Fonner

Clubs & Activities

Drama Club

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
A younger brother

Hobbies:
Creative writing and reading

Favorite SJO memories:
She enjoyed everything about Drama Club and will always remember being a part of the musicals during both her junior and senior years.

Favorite classes:
Journalism and all of her English classes

Favorite teachers:
Mr. Risley at St. Joseph Middle School and Mrs. Alisyn Franzen at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

College:
Parkland College majoring in Secondary English Dducation. She plans to transfer to Eastern Illinois University after two year.

Advice to future SJO students:
Push yourself to finish your homework, and don’t give up on what makes you happy.

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Tyler Jones

Clubs & Activities

Drama Club
Football (1 year)

Hometown:
St. Joseph

Siblings:
Four older and three younger brothers

Hobbies:
Running and playing video games

Favorite SJO memories:
His greatest memories at SJO include his experiences in Drama Club during his freshman and sophomore years, working in the SJO greenhouse during Horticulture class, and attending post prom as a junior.

Favorite class:
Horticulture

Favorite teachers:
Mrs. Kirk at St. Joseph Grade School, Mrs. Ford at St. Joseph Middle School, and Mrs. Kelly Steffen and Mrs. Ashley Krisman at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Military Commitment:
He joined the Army National Guard and reports for Basic Training at Fort Benning on June 15.

College:
Parkland College majoring in Physical Therapy.

Advice to future SJO students:
Do not procrastinate.

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Text & photos provided by St. Joseph-Ogden High School.