Sports Briefs: August 17-23

Sports briefs published in the Journal-Courier during the week of Aug. 17-23.

Roy Lovekamp 4-man scramble set — The Roy Lovekamp 4-man golf scramble will be held at Plum Creek Golf Course in Winchester on Sept. 21. Registration will be at 11:30 a.m. with a 1 p.m. shotgun start. The event benefits the Roy Lovekamp Student Fund, helping students prepare for church vocations in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The fee is $50 and includes green’s fee, cart, practice range, soft drink, hot sandwiches and snacks, as well as course prizes. Hole sponsor fee is $50 for tee box sign and other publicity. Participation forms are available from Fred and Judy Riemer at 243-1430.

Graham competes at state meet — Elizabeth Graham, of Jacksonville, recently competed in the 10-and-under division at the 2008 Illinois Swimming Age Group State Championship Meet held Aug. 1-3 in Chicago. Graham finished second at 41.03 in the 50-meter breaststroke and seventh at 1:35.17 in the 100-meter breaststroke. She also qualified for the 50 free, 100 free, 50 fly, 100 fly, 100 back, 200 IM, 200 freestyle, 200 medley relay, and 200 free relay events. Graham also represented Team Illinois in the 10&U division at the 2008 Central MegaZone Championship Meet held Aug. 6-10 in Indianapolis. The Central Zone is comprised of 15 Midwestern states. She finished seventh at 40.99 in the 50-meter breaststroke, 11th at 1:31.91 in the 100-meter breaststroke, and eighth at 2:28.37 in the 200 medley relay. She also competed in the 200 IM and 200 freestyle events. Graham is trained under the direction of Springfield USA coach Jeff Skeels.

Northridge Hills Fall League open — Northridge Hills will begin the Fall League Aug. 25. The league is an individual league with different types of formats each week. This will be a handicap league; if golfers have no handicap, the course will work with them to establish one. There is no up-front league cost. Each week players will pay $2 for the game and skins, which will all be paid back that night; and $2 if they chose to eat after the event. There is no signup for this league. Golfers can come and go as they wish. The course will have hole prizes and contests each week. Formats will include one-person scrambles, one-person mulligan night and low net individual play.

JHS soccer scrimmage today at 4 p.m. — The annual Red and White Soccer Scrimmage will be held at Jacksonville High School at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22. This will be an intrasquad scrimmage with both varsity and junior varsity playing at the same time.

Jacksonville volleyball meeting set — There will be an organizational volleyball meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Jacksonville High School on Thursday, Aug. 28. All interested persons are welcome.

JAB still accepting fall applications — Jacksonville Area Baseball is still taking applications for its 2008 Fall League. The division that is still open is age 8-10 (child’s age as of April 30, 2009). The division will be machine pitch, which will allow kids to work on their hitting and fielding on a more consistent basis. Boys and girls are both welcome to play. The league consists of 10 games that will be held in September and the first week of October. All games will be played during the week and will finish no later than 8 p.m. Games will be played Tuesday-Thursday. The cost for the leagues will be $40. To sign up, call Matt Johnson at 371-2373 by Aug. 25.

Beardstown Orange Pride Night Friday — Beardstown Junior/Senior High will hold its annual Orange Pride Night Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. at the high school football field to kick off all fall sports. Coaches and team members of fall junior high and senior high sports will be recognized. Following the team introductions, the high school football team will scrimmage. Everyone is encouraged to wear orange and black. Admission to the yearly event is a six-pack of drinks (water, Gatorade, soda, juice, etc.). The Junior Class and the Tiger Athletic Club concession stands will be open. Junior Class concessions will be serving drinks, snacks and candy, and TAC will be serving lemonade, corn dogs, nachos, pretzels and pork chops.

Virginia football scrimmage Friday — The Virginia/A-C Central football team’s annual Red and Black Scrimmage will begin at 7 p.m. Aug. 22. Admission is water or Gatorade. The athletic boosters will be serving food, including pork chops, hot dogs and brats. Boosters will begin serving at 6 p.m.

Leutz Lake to host water ski event — The Jacksonville Area Water Skiers will be hosting a USA Water Ski Sanctioned tournament this Saturday, Aug. 23 at Leutz Lake (1486 Merrit Road). The public is invited to attend. Skiing begins at 8 a.m. The tournament will feature national medal winners, such as Ben Leutz in slalom. There will be a fun class division to encourage new skiers. Anyone interested in competing should call Darr Leutz at (217) 243-0033 before 3 p.m. on Friday. Food and drinks will be available for purchase as a fundraiser for the Jacksonville Blazing Stars Swim Team.

Our Saviour 3-on-3 hoops tourney set — The Our Saviour Family Fun Festival will host its annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, sponsored by Landes Trucking. The tournament will be held Aug. 30 at the Routt High School gymnasium from 9 a.m. until completion. Check-in will begin, and the gym will be open, at 8 a.m. There will be three divisions each for boys and girls: grades 3-4; grades 5-6; and grades 7-8. Trophies will be awarded for first and second places in each division, and T-shirts will be given to all participants. Signup forms are available at the Routt High School office, Dunham Sporting Goods or by calling Joe Eilering at (217) 245-4615. Entries must be received at Routt High School or mailed to the address on the form by Aug. 28 for teams to be eligible.

JHS football scrimmage Aug. 22 — The Jacksonville High football team will hold its annual drink scrimmage Friday, Aug. 22 at Kraushaar-Rosenberger Field. The freshman team will begin the event with a scrimmage at 6 p.m., followed by the sophomore squad at 6:30. The varsity team will take the field at 7 p.m.
Cost of admission will be one six-pack of sports drink (not soda) per person, or one 12-pack per family. The Crimson football team begins its 2008 season a week from Friday at Jerseyville.

O’Brien hits hole-in-one at Northridge — Tom O’Brien aced the 145-yard seventh hole at Northridge Hills. O’Brien used a 4-iron. The shot was witnessed by Sharon O’Brien.

IC football practice now under way — New head coach Garrett Campbell welcomed 87 candidates Aug. 13 when preseason football practice got under way at Illinois College. Forty-seven lettermen were among the first-day attendees, including 18 student-athletes who started at least one game for the Blueboys in 2007. Prominent returnees include junior defensive back Dustin Libbra (Gillespie) who earned special teams most valuable player and honorable mention All-Midwest Conference honors last fall; and senior linebacker Michael Kilgus (Fairbury/Prairie Central), a second-team All-MWC pick in 2007. Junior wide receiver Michael Jennings (Fort Madison, Iowa) and senior defensive back Jason Murphy (Charleston) also garnered All-MWC honorable mention status a year ago and are among the returnees. Other returning starters in camp include seniors Tyler Shupe (Mendon/Unity) and Aaron Taft (Rochester) on the offensive line; Zach Reed (Carthage) and Justin Darwent (Jacksonville/JHS) at receiver; Matt Schaefer (Scott City, Mo.) at running back; and Dink Simmons (Carlinville) and D.J. Jackson (Webster Groves, Mo.) at defensive back. Juniors who started at least one game last season included Matt Taylor (Peoria/Richwoods) and Kyle Herron (East Alton-Wood River) on the offensive line; Mitch Niekamp (Camp Point/Central) at quarterback; Ricky Padilla (Jacksonville/JHS) at linebacker; and David Fritzinger (Belleville/East) at defensive line. Sophomores include punter Brent Grant (Bethalto/Civic Memorial) and return specialist Chris Bockius (St. Louis/Affton). The team will open the season at home Saturday, Sept. 6, when it hosts Millikin University.

Cook hits hole-in-one at The Links — Patty Cook, of Jacksonville, hit a hole-in-one on hole No. 8, a 113-yard par 3, Tuesday at The Links Golf Course in Jacksonville. Cook used an 8-iron. Witnesses were Sharon Manker, Patty Meado and Dianna Carter.

Routt Volleyball Trivia Night Aug. 23 — The Fourth Annual Routt Volleyball Trivia Night will be held Aug. 23 at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 320 E. State St. Troy Armstrong is this year’s host. Food sales will begin at 6 p.m., with a menu of pork chop sandwiches, sloppy joes, nachos, sloppy nachos and desserts. Trivia will begin at 7 p.m. Cost is $10 per player, and teams can consist of 6-12 players. To sign up a team, call Pat Gibson at (217) 245-7071 or the Knights of Columbus at (217) 243-1015.

Orange Pride Night set for Aug. 22 — Beardstown Junior-Senior High School will host Orange Pride Night at Nick Carter football field Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. Fall junior and senior high school teams and their coaches will be introduced, including football, volleyball, cross country, golf and cheerleading. The football team, under new head coach Aaron Elmore, will play a scrimmage game. Fans are asked to bring a donation of bottled water or sports drink for the teams as admission to the event. Everyone is encouraged to wear orange.

Carrollton Football Scrimmage set — The 2008 Carrollton Football Sports Drink Scrimmage will be Aug. 23. Admission will be one sport drink (Gatorade, PowerAde, etc.). The Punt, Pass and Kick contest will start at 4 p.m. Register by 3:30 p.m. at the gate. The hog roast meal will be from 5-8 p.m. The football scrimmage starts at 5 p.m. Players are selling tickets; tickets will also be available at the door.

Ben Leutz takes 2nd at Ski Nationals — At the 2008 USA Water Ski National Championships held in West Palm Beach, Fla. Aug. 12-16, members of the Jacksonville Area Water Skiers (JAWS) finished as follows: Ben Leutz, age 9, tied for second place out of 23 qualified skiers in the Boys 1 Division (10 and under) in slalom with a score of three buoys at 28 feet off of a 75-foot tow rope at 30 mph. Savannah Leutz, age 12, placed 15th out of 42 skiers in Girls 2 (11-14) Division in slalom with a score of one-half buoy at 32 feet off at 32 mph. Darr Leutz finished 29th out of 93 skiers in Men 4 Division with a score of one-and-a-half at 38 feet off at 34 mph.

Steidinger takes top Late Model prize — After having a great qualifying run and winning his heat race, Wes Steidinger’s J1 team won the UMP Late Model championship at the Morgan County Speedway Friday night and took home the top prize of $6,000. Rodney Melvin got an early jump on Steidinger, but on lap nine Steidinger took the lead and never looked back. With many challenges by Steve Sheppard Jr., Steidinger was able to maintain a great lead and come home in victory lane ahead of Sheppard, Kevin Weaver, Jason Feger and Dennis Erb Jr. “The car felt great all night, and it’s nice to be back on track,” Steidinger said. The UMP SummerNationals race was rained out July 2. The makeup race was a non-SummerNational points race for the drivers, but they do still receive points toward their UMP totals.

JHS cheerleading camp Sept. 11 — Jacksonville High School cheerleaders will hold a cheer camp for grades K-6 on Sept. 11 from 4-6 p.m. at Jacksonville High School. Camp participants will be invited to attend the Crimson football game Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. to participate in pre-game activities and cheer for the Crimsons from the stands during the first quarter of the game. The fee is $25 per child ($15 for each additional sibling). The deadline to register is Sept. 4 to guarantee a T-shirt. For a reservation form, call Coach Best at Jacksonville High School at (217) 243-4384 or see any JHS cheerleader.

Kirchhofer aces hole at The Links — Taylor Kirchhofer, a 16-year-old Jacksonville resident, aced hole No. 11 at The Links Golf Course. Kirchhofer used a 5-iron on the 197-yard, par-3 shot. Witnesses were Taylor Pettit, Reed Turke and Grady Erickson.

Disc golf course opening Aug. 23 — The Beardstown Park District will hold a grand opening for its new disc golf course on Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. The course is located behind the driving range at Roberts Park. Demonstrations and instruction, along with golf, will be given by course designer Bill “Wilbur” Wallis, president of the Peoria Frisbee Club. Free refreshments will be served.
For more information and directions, phone 323-2555.