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Members of the La Salle-Peru softball team were honored for their play on the field and their performance in the classroom.
Kaitlyn Gibson, Paige Kirkman, Taylor Martyn, Alexia Michael and Maddy Pangrcic were voted all-conference after helping the Cavaliers to a 20-6 overall record and a 10-3 mark in the conference.
Gibson, Martyn, Evin Becker, Lauren Klein, Ava Lannen, Chloe Mitchell, Avah Moriarty and Lauren Phillips were named academic all-conference.
L-P soccer players named all-sectional
La Salle-Peru senior goalkeeper Lea Selquist was named Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association All-Sectional.
Freshman teammate Litzy Lopez was honorable mention all-sectional.
The duo helped the Cavaliers to their first winning season (11-9), along with the program’s first postseason win.
Area softball players earn All-TRC honors
Softball players from Princeton and St. Bede were among 13 players named as 2021 First Team Three Rivers East All-Conference.
Princeton junior Katie Bates was one of two players chosen unanimously as pitcher along with E-P sophomore Ayiah Jones.
Bates was joined on the first team by teammates Olivia Alter (catcher), McKenzie Hecht (infield) and Isa Ibarra (outfield).
St. Bede placed three players on the first team, junior Payge Pyszka (P), sophomore Addie Bontz (OF) and freshman Reagan Stoudt (utility).
Other first team selections were junior Kendall Bennison (P), junior Lainey Kelly (IF), senior Josie DeBord (IF) of Kewanee, junior Jaden Johnson (OF) and senior Adysson Scott (IF) of league champion E-P.
Second team selections include junior Hannah Muehlschlegel (OF) of Princeton, senior Claire Morrow (IF) and junior Ryann Stoudt (IF) of St. Bede and junior Tyra Sayler (IF) of Bureau Valley.
Honorable mention went to senior Zoey Morris (IF) and junior Maggie Filippini (P) of Hall, junior Darla Kepner (C) and Bre Broers (IF) of Bureau Valley, junior Taylor Wetsel (OF) of Princeton and seniors Marissa Boehm (IF) and Addie Lee (OF) of St. Bede.
IBCA honors area coaches
Princeton boys basketball coach Jason Smith and Fieldcrest boys basketball coach Matt Winkler were named Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coaches of the Year.
Smith led the Tigers to a 7-3 overall record and a 7-0 mark in the Three Rivers Conference, while Winkler guided the Knights to a 12-1 overall record and an 11-1 mark in the Heart of Illinois Conference.
Annie Needs earns All-American honors
St. Bede graduate and Calvin University senior Annie Needs capped her track and field career in style as she turned in an All-American performance at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.
Needs ran a 10:56.05 to place sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She is the fifth Calvin women’s athlete to earn All-American in the event.
Needs was in 18th place but used a late surge to move into the top eight for All-American honors.
“The lead pack went out really fast,” Needs said in a Calvin press release. “I knew that a pace like that was unsustainable for me so I fell back and ran my own race. I tried to focus on one hurdle at a time. Then I started to pass a few runners and I could see eighth place, then seventh and then sixth. It was pretty exciting.”