Villa Grove sports wrap for track, softball and baseball
By Tony Hooker
High School Track and Field
Boys finish second at Lincoln Prairie Conference meet
Braydon Dowler earned 4 1st place medals to lead Villa Grove to a second-place finish at the LPC conference meet on May 6. Dowler won the 200m and the 110m hurdles and also was a part of winning quartets in the 4x100m and 4x200m relays. He was joined on the 4x100m squad by Mason Carter, Gunner Cline and Layne Rund, and on the 4x200m quartet by Cline, Carter and Luke Zimmerman. Rund won the 400m and finished 3rd in the high jump. Kyler Williams brought home first in the triple jump for VGTF as well. Carter finished in 3rd in the 100 and 200 and Zimmerman streaked to a 6th place finish in the 100 as well. Kurt Zimmerman contributed with a 4th place finish in the 3200m and ran 5th in the 1600m as well. Ryan Schlueter cruised to a 3rd place spot in the 800m and the 4×400 relay team of Luke Zimmerman, Rund, Schlueter and Will Jones rounded out the scoring by placing 3rd.
Girls run hard at LPC meet
The 4x800m relay quartet of Emma Buesing, Madison Logan, Nadia Callison and Scarlett Howard finished 3rd at the LPC meet. Buesing also earned a 3rd place finish in the 1600m. Carly Eads and Ryan Lillard rounded out the Blue Devil scoring effort by finishing 4th and 5th respectively in the discus.
Junior High Track and Field
7th grade boys finish second at Junior High Okaw Conference meet at Tuscola
Nolan Shadwick won the 110m hurdles, Carter Dowler soared to a first-place finish in the high jump and Max Wilson set a personal best to win the shot put as VGJH finished second at the JHOC meet in Tuscola on May 2. The 4x400m relay quartet of Dowler, Shadwick, Wes Woller and Daniel Gent also took home first place. Woller also ran 2nd and Dowler 3rd in the 400m run. Other placers for the Blue Devils include Gavyn Alumbaugh, (5th in the 100m) Jacob Christman, (5th in the 200m) Robert Mitsdarfer, (4th in the 800m and 4th in the 110m hurdles) and Carson Kappes (2nd in the long jump) the 4x100m relay team of Christman, Shadwick, Kappes and Alumbaugh finished 2nd, and the 4x200m quartet of Dowler, Maddox Piercy, Gent and Wilson earned a 3rd place medal.
8th grade boys run 4th
Jacob Golightly’s earned the only first place finish at the JHOC meet, winning the 110m hurdles. Landon Chambers and Golightly went 2-3 in the long jump, Golightly finished 4th in the 400m, and Chambers ran fifth in the 100m for VGJH. Logan Hauersperger finished 6th in the 1600m, as well. Hauersperger, Golightly, Cole Cardiff and Chambers teamed up to finish second in the 4x100m relay, and Brody Sanders, Silas Jones, Bailey Keith and Kendrick Roy ran 4th in the 4x200m relay to finish out the scoring for Villa Grove.
8th grade girls finish 4th
Evalice Callison soared to a first-place finish in the high jump to lead VGJH to a 4th place team finish at the JHOC conference meet. Bayle Martin earned second place in the 100 m, 200m, and long jump. Lyndsay Zoch finished 6th in the 400m and the 4x100m relay team of Rebekka Bloom, Callison, Lauren Carter and Martin took 3rd place.
8th grade girls shine at IESA Sectional meet
Baylee Martin won the 100m and Evalice Callison took home first place in the high jump to lead a strong contingent of Blue Devils who qualified for the IESA state track meet, which will be held in East Peoria on May 12-13. The 4x100m quartet of Bekka Bloom, Callison, Lauren Carter and Martin also qualified for state.
7th grade boys send several to state
Nolan Shadwick finished second in the 110m hurdles and Max Wilson finished runner up in the shot put to qualify for the IESA state meet. The 4x400m relay quartet of Carter Dowler, Shadwick, Daniel Gent and Wes Woller also finished second and made a date with state.
Golightly qualifies for state at 8th grade sectional meet
Jacob Golightly cruised to a second-place finish in the 110m hurdles to qualify for the IESA state meet, to be held on May 12-13 in East Peoria.
Softball
Nuked by Bombers
The normally loud Blue Devil bats were silenced by Argenta Oreana pitching on May 1, falling 4-1. Hayden Thomas doubled and scored the only run for VG. Alex Brown was the tough luck loser, giving up 3 earned runs on 9 hits while fanning 6.
Horse around with Trojans
Piper Kiser tossed a 1 hit shutout, striking out 10 while not walking a batter as VG defeated Armstrong-Potomac 11-0 on May 4. Alex Brown tripled, drove in 3 runs and doubled for the Blue Devils. Kiser helped herself by going 2-3 with a pair of runs scored, Maci Clodfelder drove in two and Kayln Cordes and Alison Pangburn continued to wreak havoc at the top of the order by scoring twice each.
Baseball
Packed by Wolves
Villa Grove gave up a run in the top of the 7th and fell to Okaw Valley 5-4 on May 1. Cooper Clark took the loss in relief of Sam Bender, who went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 6. Thomas Vandeventer led the way at the dish, going 2-2 with a double, two RBI’s and a run scored. Gavin Kiser went 2-3 with a double and an RBI, and Parker Knierem also doubled, drove in a run and scored once.
Cage Hawks
An eight run 5th inning broke open a tight contest, and Villa Grove tacked on 5 more in the sixth inning of a 17-4 win over Heritage on May 4. Gavin Kiser went 2-4 with a homer, 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored, Luke Zimmerman homered and scored 3 times and Brady Clodfelder went 3-4 with a pair of doubles, 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Peyton Smith also scored three times and Thomas Vandeventer went 2-4 with a triple, 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.