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NewsTribune sports roundup for Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023

IVCC cross country makes its debut; Hall volleyball wins Midland Invite

Princeton graduate and IVCC freshman Christian Yepsen runs during the Spartan Classic on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023 in Batavia.

Princeton graduate and IVCC freshman Christian Yepsen runs during the Spartan Classic on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023 in Batavia. (Photo provided by Matt Baker)

JUNIOR COLLEGE CROSS COUNTRY

At Batavia: The IVCC men’s and women’s cross country teams made their debut Saturday at the Spartan Classic.

The IVCC men placed ninth in the 8K meet, which included junior college and four-year university teams.

“As a brand-new team, I’m really excited with how we performed,” IVCC coach Matt Baker said. “We have international runners who have never run cross county along with our local athletes who are competing at collegiate distances for the first time. They all put in great effort, and I’m looking forward to how they continue to grow this season.”

Princeton graduate Christian Yepsen led the Eagles as he placed 78th in 34:49.4.

Also running for the Eagles were Zviko Bingura (85th, 36:24.2), Azael Vargas, a Putnam County graduate, (39:32.60), Shingai Manyonga (40:14.10), Tafara Kaguru (42:14.30) and Rawland Jasi (44:59.60).

In the women’s 6K race, Hall graduate Yovanna Reyes finished in 34:53.2.

“We’ll be back on this course at the end of the season for the NJCAA Region IV meet,” Baker said. “This was a great opportunity for the team to experience the course early in the season.”

BOYS GOLF

At Kewanee: Hall’s Landen Plym shot a 75 at Baker Park Golf Course to place second at Kewanee’s Boiler Invitational.

Bureau Valley’s Wyatt Novotny placed fourth with a 79, St. Bede’s Luke Tunnell finished eighth with an 82, the Bruins’ Ryan Slingsby was 11th with an 83, the Storm’s Logan Philhower was 15th with an 85, and Henry-Senachwine’s Jacob Miller was 16th with an 85.

St. Bede carded a 344 to place second, the Storm (347) finished fourth, Hall (354) was sixth and the Mallards (378) were ninth among the 19 teams.

At Metamora: La Salle-Peru carded a two-day score of 717 in the Metamora Invitational.

The Cavaliers had a 350 on Friday and a 367 on Saturday.

Michael Milota shot an 84 to lead L-P on Saturday, while Riley Cetwinski added an 87.

BOYS SOCCER

At Schaumburg: Mendota won a pair of games at the BodyArmor Series on Saturday.

Johan Cortez, Isaac Diaz and Bryan Herrera each scored a goal in the Trojans’ 3-0 win over Geneseo, while Kaleb Kleckner and Mauricio Martinez each had an assist.

Cortez scored the lone goal with six minutes left in Mendota’s 1-0 win over Hononegah.

The Trojans improved to 11-0-1.

VOLLEYBALL

At Varna: Hall won the Midland Invitational.

In pool play, the Red Devils defeated Lowpoint-Washburn (25-21, 25-16), Midland (25-12, 16-25, 15-13) and LaMoille (25-9, 26-24).

Hall beat Henry-Senachwine 15-25, 25-21, 15-13 in the championship.

The Mallards went 3-0 in pool play with victories over Brimfield, Peoria Heights and Stark County.

At Downs: Fieldcrest went 2-2 at the Tri-Valley Tournament.

In pool play, the Knights lost to Orion (23-25, 25-12, 25-21) and Washington (25-20, 16-25, 25-21) before beating Mt. Pulaski (25-21, 25-11) and Bismarck-Henning (25-14, 25-23) in bracket play.

Allie Wiesenhofer had 44 digs and 43 aces for the Knights (11-3), while Macy Gochanour had 47 assists.Bella Fortner added 40 assists and seven aces.

COED CROSS COUNTRY

At Peoria: Henry-Midland’s Daniella Bumber placed an area-best 43rd in 23:19.8 in the Class 1A division of the First to the Finish Invitational at Detweiller Park.

St. Bede’s Sierah Shaver was 323rd in 26:54.2.

In the boys race, Henry-Midland’s Noah Dorsey finished 183rd in 18:31.6, while St. Bede’s Greyson Marincic was 325th in 20:23.3.