The Roundup, Oct. 10, 2026: State golf tournament concludes, conference champs crowned in three sports
The final day of the state golf tournaments took place Saturday, with two boys golfers from Central Illinois finishing in the top five in Class 2A. On the girls side, the area also had a couple top-20 finishers.
Volleyball featured a number of tournaments that area teams excelled at, including Morton, Tri-Valley and Bloomington Central Catholic at the BCC Saints Fall Classic and Normal West at the St. Charles East Scholastic Cup.
BCC and Dunlap won soccer matches by wide margins and Peoria Notre Dame picked up another win, this time at Shea Stadium.
Cross-country ended the day a ton of invitational champions from around the area and girls tennis was headlined by conference tournaments, where Dunlap and Normal Community won the Mid-Illini and Big 12.
Check out all the scores, recaps and top performers from Saturday night in The Roundup!
In boys golf
In Class 1A: Delavan finished sixth overall in Class 1A after posting a 40-over round of 328 at Prairie Vista Golf Course, helping give the Panthers a two-day total of 656. Carthage Illini West won the state title with a score of 609. Grady Burrell led Delavan with a two-over 74 in the final round and a 150 total across two rounds to tie for 12th overall. Trace Knight-Garlisch tied for 28th with a two-round total of 158, after firing a 77 in round two. Caden Rassi took 68th after an 87 in round two, giving him a total of 169 and Drake Neuendorf placed 84th after a 97 that brought his total up to 186. Fieldcrest’s Carter Senko was the area’s top individual finisher, tying for eighth after his second–round 73 gave him a two-day total of 149. Brimfield’s Will Snyder grabbed 24th after his 76 put him at 156 across both rounds and Illini Bluffs’ Crew Fortin was right behind in 25th at 157, firing an even par 72 in the second round. Peoria Christian’s Elijah Ackerman took 57th with a 167 after an 85 in the second round and Chargers teammate Luke Holland tied for 71st (170) after an 86 on Saturday.
In Class 2A: Peoria Notre Dame’s Jack Coulter finished a strong season by taking third at the Class 2A state finals after shooting a three-under 69 at Deerfield Golf Course, bringing him to a five-under 137 across two rounds. Coulter made five birdies with those coming on holes 9, 10, 13, 15 and 18. He finished four strokes behind winner Owen Coniaris of Wheaton Academy, who was part of a squad that won the state title with a whopping 16-under 552. Normal U-High finished seventh as a team with a 612 36-hole total and a second round of 305. Jack Quinn of the Pioneers finished fifth with a 139 after firing a 69 on Saturday and Dawson Freeman took eighth at 146 after shooting a 75. Michael Ocheltree tied for 44th with a 157, shooting a 76 in round two and Ayden Trease rounded out the Normal U-High top four in 78th, carding an 85 on Saturday. Metamora’s Isaiah Farraher finished in a tie for 11th after a strong round of 74, his second 74 of the tournament. Washington’s Aiden Foster also finished well after turning in a one-over 72 to bring his total to 149, giving him a tie for 17th. PND’s Alex O’Leary finished in 52nd at 159 after an 83 in round two and Peoria High’s Kayden Turner tied for 67th at 165 after shooting an 83 on Saturday.
In Class 3A: Dunlap finished ninth in Class 3A with a 621 total score and a 313 team score on the second day of the state finals at The Den at Fox Creek. Evanston won the state title with a 581. Nolan Eccles led Dunlap by placing 18th with a 149 following an even-par round of 72. Jacob Shelby took 44th after his seven-over 79 brought him to 155 overall. Nick Herget shot an 80, bringing him to 162 and 76th overall and Carter Lippens was one shot behind in 78th following a round of 82. Pekin’s Colin Kemp placed 30th at 152, shooting an 81 in the second round and Dragons teammate Will Brown took 40th at 154 after a six-over 78.
In girls golf
In Class 1A: Metamora took third place at the Class 1A state finals at Red Tail Run Golf Course with a two-day total of 674 as the Redbirds fell to Breese Mater Dei in a fifth-score tiebreaker. Metamora shot a cumulative 325 on day two with Addie Mitchell’s 74, Gillian Tyra’s 80, Piper Crispen’s 81 and Natalie Zimmerman’s 90. Mitchell took 14th overall with a 156 while Tyra (168) was 32nd, Crispen (170) was 36th and Zimmerman finished 59th. Tri-Valley placed sixth with a 693 and Bloomington Central Catholic was right behind in seventh at 697. The Vikings shot a 338 on Saturday, led by a 75 from Elle Filarski (155, 11th place), an 82 from Lorelai Smith (169, 33rd), an 86 from Margaret Wargo (178, 56th) and a 95 from Izzy Mayes (191, 77th). BCC’s Caroline Braucht led her team with a Saturday 76 to finish 17th with a total of 159. Sydney Braucht added an 85 to finish 42nd with a 171 overall, Abby Stokes turned in a 91 to finish 60th with a 181 and Stella Hundman rounded out the top four with a 94, placing her 71st with a 186.
In Class 2A: Dunlap finished ninth as a team with a 654 at the Class 2A state finals at Hickory Point Golf Course after a Saturday total of 332 and Lincolnshire Stevenson won the team title with a 580. Sydney Hunt finished 26th after her second-round 74 brought her to 152 overall. Ella Streitmatter and Norah O’Leary both tied for 63rd (163) after O’Leary shot an 83 and Streitmatter turned in an 89 on Saturday. Audrey Aprahamian rounded out Dunlap’s top four after her 86 brought her to 176 and 83rd place overall. Normal U-High’s Hadley Hitt finished 32nd with a 154 after firing a 78 on Saturday and teammate Audrey Hitt came in 44th (159) following a 79. Morton’s Elizabeth Nieukirk wasn’t far back in 59th (162) after shooting an 82 in her final high school round.
In volleyball
At Bloomington: The second day of the BCC Saints Fall Classic included the final pool play games and some playoff action, where multiple area teams took podium spots. Morton came out of Pool A with a 2-0 win over Decatur Unity Christian before defeating Tri-Valley in the Gold Bracket semifinals, but the Potters would go on to lose the championship game to Mascoutah, 25-21, 25-22. Isabelle Mueller and Rebekah Stock both made the All-Tournament team for their performances. The Vikings finished Pool D with a 2-1 victory against Williamsville, and after losing to Morton, they defeated the hosts Bloomington Central Catholic in the third-place game, led by Annabelle Bischoff’s All-Tournament-level play. The Saints had previously defeated Metamora in Pool C thanks to a 30-28 second set, but lost to Mascoutah in the semifinals before losing the third-place game. Kampbell Niepagen had a great five games in her hometown, giving her an All-Tournament team spot. After their loss against Bloomington Central Catholic, the Redbirds were placed in the Silver Bracket, defeating Peoria Notre Dame in the semifinals and winning their fifth-place matchup with Williamsville 25-20, 25-16. The Irish had previously defeated Elmhurst IC Catholic Prep in Pool B before their loss to Metamora, but they did win the seventh-place game over Normal U-High by a score of 27-25 in both sets. The Pioneers started the day with a win against Ottawa in Pool A, then lost in their semifinal matchup to Williamsville before the seventh-place game. Dunlap was placed in the Bronze Bracket, having gone 0-2 on Friday but won its final pool play game against Bloomington. The Eagles then faced Decatur Unity Christian in a 25-22, 25-22 loss, putting them in the 11th-place game against Lincoln, where they won in two sets. The Purple Raiders won both of their games in the White Bracket, the semifinals versus Ottawa and the 13th-place game against Herscher. Other All-Tournament team members include Metamora’s Campbell Brown, PND’s Violet Gardner, Normal U-High’s Taylor Penn and Dunlap’s Rebecca Lopez.
At Monmouth: Canton dealt with multiple tough opponents at the Monmouth United Tournament, including the host’s crosstown rivals Monmouth-Roseville, where they lost 2-0. The Little Giants would then be handed another 2-0 defeat at the hands of Orion.
At Peoria: Peoria Christian hosted the ICAC Conference Tournament, defeating Brimfield and ROWVA-Williamsfield in two sets to move on to the championship game against Illini Bluffs. The Chargers started the game with a first set victory, 25-22, while the Tigers won the second set by a score of 25-15. And in the all-crucial third set, Peoria Christian won 25-19, securing the ICAC title and picking up its 26th win of the season.
At Schaumburg: East Peoria (14-13, 2-6 Mid-Illini) took a two hour, 30 minute drive to Schaumburg to compete against some Chicago area teams, and they produced some big results while they were there. The Raiders won in two sets against Grayslake North, Elgin and the hosts Schaumburg, but lost their final outing in two sets to Arlington Heights St. Viator.
At St. Charles: Normal West (24-6, 7-0 Big 12) only dropped one set in its five-win run at the St. Charles East Scholastic Cup, coming in its first match against Aurora Waubonsie Valley. Afterwards, the Wildcats went on a roll, defeating Romeoville, South Elgin, Crossroads Christian and the hosts St. Charles East, each victory coming in two sets. Laine Thompson and Eden Hafermann earned All-Tournament team honors as Thompson finished the day with 63 assists and 14 aces and Hafermann totaled 46 kills and 29 digs. Allie Hernandez ended the tournament with 43 assists and 10 aces to her name as well.
Princeville 2, Farmington 1: Princeville (14-13, 5-2 Lincoln Trail) defended its home court well against a hungry Farmington (3-27, 0-4 Prairieland) team who took the second set 25-14. However, the Princes battled through the third and defeated their opponents 25-22. Despite the loss, Kaitlynn McGee had an impressive 21 assists for the Farmers, Lynsey Shriber totaled seven kills and 11 blocks and Cayne Lambin led the team in digs with 15.
Just the scores
Rockridge 2, Peoria 0 (At Sherrard Tournament)
Lions: 2-14
In boys soccer
At Jacksonville: Bloomington (15-6-1, 4-5 Big 12) competed at the Jacksonville Tournament, starting the day by defeating the hosts 1-0. Then in their last match against Galesburg, the Purple Raiders put on a scoring clinic, winning 6-1.
Bloomington Central Catholic 6, Fithian Oakwood 1: Bloomington Central Catholic (12-6-2, 4-0-2 Illini Prairie) extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games, defeating Fithian Oakwood in a non-conference matchup. Ben Meyer contributed two goals for the Saints while the other scores came from Mason Clark, Matthew Carlock, Leo Triveno and Connor Chalmers.
Dunlap 7, Richwoods 0: Dunlap (15-4-1, 4-1-1 Mid-Illini) has also continued its undefeated October run, beating Richwoods (13-6-1, 5-3-1 Big 12) in dominant fashion, led by a hat trick from Vincent Natale. Jackson Orris and Andrew Yanska also contributed to the Eagles’ seven goals.
Peoria Notre Dame 3, Naperville Central 0: Peoria Notre Dame played its Saturday game at Shea Stadium, home of the Bradley Braves soccer team, where they won against another Illinois soccer powerhouse in Naperville Central. Joey Alwan started the goalscoring for the Irish, followed by Gavin Sickelmaier and Tyler Ho also finding the back of the net. Goalkeeper Max Schmidt kept a clean sheet, not letting a single Redhawk convert a chance at goal.
Just the scores
Canton 2, Springfield Southeast 1
Little Giants: 8-7-1
Morton 7, Rock Island Alleman 0
Potters: 11-5-4
Normal Community 3, Chatham Glenwood 2
Ironmen: 8-10-3
Normal U-High 4, Coal City 1
Pioneers: 16-7-1
Normal West 3, Mahomet-Seymour 2
Wildcats: 15-6
Washington 5, Pekin 0
Panthers: 14-1-2
Dragons: 4-11-2
In boys cross-country
At Delavan: At the Delavan Invite, the hosts took second place in the team standings with 54 points, only eight points below first-place Clinton. Coriell Green’s second-place time of 14:38.8 ended up being his personal best in the 2.96-mile race and alongside him in the top 10 was Evan Lemme (15:31.1), who finished eighth. IVC’s third-place campaign was led by Aiden Duhs (15:19.6) in sixth and Jackson Rupiper (15:37.7) in 10th. Jace (15:44.4) and Drew Toland (16:03.9) finished in 12th and 15th for Delavan, just beside IVC’s Colter Hedden, Alex Crull and Brody Miller’s 16th, 18th and 19th-place times of 16:04.1, 16:10.1 and 16:12.8. Farmington’s Jack Heisel (18:15.1) led the team in 43rd with Noah Shelby (18:16.5) finishing right behind him in 44th.
At Heyworth: Tri-Valley took home both the individual and team titles at the Heyworth Invitational, finishing 31 points ahead of the hosts. Ryan Garneau’s time of 16:14.1 secured him first place alongside two other Vikings in the top 10, Jacob Julian (16:53.3) and Carson Cattaneo (17:35.2). Tremont’s Everett Henderson (16:40.0) took the final place on the podium, 13.3 seconds ahead of Julian’s fourth-place time, and Finley Burton (17:09.7) rounded out the top five for the Turks. Heyworth were led by Kameron Leesman (17:16.1) in seventh and Colton Stiehl (17:34.8) in ninth. Tri-Valley’s Evan Brown (17:52.3) and Camden Roth (17:59.7) finished just outside the top 10 in 11th and 12th and Owen St. Peters (18:29.0) took 20th place. 14th through 17th were all taken by area talents: Heyworth’s Parker Kollross (18:02.0), Tremont’s Cooper Sharpe (18:03.3), Bloomington Cornerstone’s Graham Maxwell (18:15.7) and Illini Bluffs’s Will Emhoff (18:19.9). Finally, Fieldcrest were led by Gavin Dikeman’s 19th-place time of 18:27.4.
At Metamora: Almost 300 runners from across the state competed at the 50th annual Gene Jones Runnin’ Red Invite hosted by Metamora, which saw Eureka take third in the team standings and Washington’s Ben Gorsage finish the course in second place with his 14:22.2 time. Ethan Adams (14:59.3) finished as the second Panther in the top 10, placing sixth. Eureka’s Adam Perry (14:55.2) took fourth place, Bloomington’s Eli Hartman (14:57.1) finished fifth and Dunlap’s Dalton Miller-Klunke (15:03.5) completed the race in seventh. Peoria Notre Dame’s Maxwell Kirby (15:07.1) and John Baker (15:09.1) were the last two runners in the top 10. Morton’s Keyston Beyer (15:20.3) and Normal West’s Donovan Wright (15:23.7) led their schools in 14th and 18th, followed by Abe Martin (15:28.5) securing 20th for the Potters. Metamora’s Zane Kingham (15:33.4) also ran a personal best in his 23rd-place finish.
At Pontiac: El Paso-Gridley had a great third-place finish at the Prairie Central/Pontiac Invite, led by Weston Hodel’s 16:03.7 time, which earned him the third spot on the podium. Just above the Titans, however, was Bloomington Central Catholic, who had two top-10 finishers of their own in Liam Kohn (16:29.4) and Nicholas Jelinek (16:38.2). Right in between those two was EPG’s Luke Hinthorne’s ninth-place time of 16:37.4. BCC’s Joseph Blankenship (17:08.1) and Paul Koetters (17:11.2) finished in 17th and 20th place, respectively, while EPG’s Chance Price (17:08.4) took 18th. Limestone were led by Noah Harken’s (18:39.0) 48th-place finish, just eight seconds off his personal best.
At Williamsville: The annual Sangamo Conference Meet featured Olympia, who finished fourth on the boys side with 97 points. Ty Gale (15:46.3) led the Spartans in Williamsville with his fourth-place finish while Graham Walters (18:25.1) and Connor Collins (18:37.1) finished in 25th and 26th, respectively.
In girls cross-country
At Delavan: Elyse Brinkmeyer (17:44.9) finished second for Delavan as the girls team placed third in the team standings. For IVC, who placed second as a team, Elleigh Grochowsky (19:52.6) and Carmen Miller (20:01.7) took eighth and ninth individually. Farmington’s Addison Martin (20:28.5) crossed the finish line in 13th just behind Delavan’s Khloe Stockham (20:13.9). IVC’s Norah Skalet (20:39.2), Michaela Huhn (20:41.8) and Emelyn Faivre (20:44.5) took 17th, 19th and 20th place followed by Emma Minton’s (21:06.8) 21st-place finish for Delavan.
At Heyworth: Tremont and Tri-Valley battled for the team title at the Heyworth Invitational, with the race coming down to just four points. Jessica Henderson (19:09.2) and Averi Kennett (19:23.9) finished in second and third to help the Turks pull off the victory. The Vikings didn’t disappoint, however, with Sophia Gronowski (20:29.4) placing ninth, right above Tremont’s Lola Risinger (20:47.4). Illini Bluffs’s Audrey Dickinson (19:55.8) took eighth place in her sixth top-10 finish of the season. Tri-Valley continued to impress with another five runners in 11th through 20th, those being Elianna Baumann (21:19.0) in 12th, Selena Alsaqri (21:38.1) and Joslyn Baughman (21:53.6) in 14th and 15th and Gracie Van Hoof (22:22.1) and Hannah Rodgers (22:34.8) in 18th and 19th. Fieldcrest’s Khloe Nussbaum (23:17.4) and Bloomington Cornerstone’s Haley Kinzinger (23:31.0) led their schools in 25th and 26th.
At Metamora: Eureka was also the top area team on the girls side of the Gene Jones Runnin’ Red Invitational, finishing in second in the team standings, but the top individual runner was Bloomington’s Lorelei Hulsing, who ran an impressive 17:42.5 time to claim first place. The Hornets were led by Ava Otto’s third-place time of 17:53.3 and Sierra Herrmann’s fifth-place time of 17:59.5. Pekin’s Morgan Coker (18:18.3) and McKinlee Williams (18:22.5) finished in seventh and eighth, respectively, followed by Normal U-High’s Chloe Layman (18:34.9), who tied for 10th. Bloomington’s Josie Skeate (18:56.5) took 16th, Pekin’s Lauren Ladendorf (19:04.2) finished the course in 19th and Normal U-High’s Addison Richardson (19:04.8) ended the race in 20th. Other notable performances include Normal West’s Judy Moran-Williams (19:15.6) in 24th, Dunlap’s Sanjana Siddaraju (19:30.3) in 27th and Peoria Notre Dame’s Shannon Zopel (19:30.8) and Audrey Shane (19:34.3) in 29th and 30th.
At Pontiac: Four of the top 10 times were run by members of the El Paso-Gridley team, including Haven Miller’s 19:10.6 that put her in first. Following her was Kiley Knapp (19:17.4) in second, Verity Nowark (20:01.9) in seventh and Mya Griffin (20:29.9) in 10th. EPG’s dominance at the Prairie Central/Pontiac Invite continued into the top 20, where Audrey Roth (20:30.0) and Emersyn Harms (20:36.0) finished 11th and 12th and Ellie Webster (22:06.0) took the 20th spot, not to mention Holly Nowark (22:10.1) taking 21st. Limestone’s Kaia Hale finished in 14th place with her 20:59.2 time and Bloomington Central Catholic’s Keiley Carmean ran a 23:22.0 for 30th place.
At Williamsville: Olympia’s girls team also took fourth place at the Sangamo Conference Meet with 83 points. Mira Kistner finished on the podium with a third-place time of 18:24.4 followed by Emma Ekiss (21:05.7) in 18th and Juliet Williams (21:16.6) in 20th. Kinsley Gale (21:57.9) and Natalie Petri (22:14.3) rounded out the school’s top 30 finishers in 22nd and 24th.
In girls tennis
At Bartonville: Limestone High School hosted the Mid-Illini Conference Tournament, where in the #1 singles final, Dunlap’s Anna Yu took on Morton’s Chloe Kendall. Yu took the win 6-4, 6-1, which helped Dunlap win the team title for the fifth time in a row. The Eagles had a couple other winners at the tournament as Isabella Gusso won gold in the #2 singles bracket, the team of Katherine Brewer/Sia Verma finished first in the first doubles flight and Lillian Hampton/Nandana Ajikumar took second in the other doubles flight.
At Peoria: The Big 12 Conference Tournament was hosted at Richwoods High School as a number of area talent took home individual titles. Normal Community had a player in each flight final, with Taylor Curtis and EllaKate Byrd winning the third and fourth flights, respectively. Angela Caceres, Vienna Quach, Kinley Kosack and Audrey Douglas all finished second in their flights, finishing a single point ahead of Champaign Central and winning the team title. Peoria Notre Dame’s Madelyn Couri finished third in the first flight, defeating Normal West’s Lucy Hansen to claim a podium spot. Richwoods had two fourth-place finishers in Olivia Myers and Anna Robison and Normal West’s Charlotte Hendrix took fourth in the sixth flight. Caceres/Kosack won the second doubles flight while the teams of Quach/Curtis and Byrd/Cora Kietzman lost in the final of their respective flights. Myers/Lydia Day gave Richwoods fourth in the second doubles flight, and in the third, Hendrix/Laina Rodeghero also placed in fourth.
In girls swimming at diving
At East Moline: Dunlap spent the day at the East Moline United Invite, placing fifth out of the 11 teams at the meet and lowering some of their best times of the season. Myka Engel finished sixth in the 100-yard backstroke and the Eagles’ 400-yard freestyle relay team of Engel, Aven Hittle, Natalia Ayala-Otero and Camille Martin took fifth.
At Urbana: Bloomington Central Catholic sent its swimmers to the Tiger Invite in Urbana, where the team finished eighth out of 10 teams competing. Adia Dean took 12 of the Saints’ 67 points by finishing 10th in the 200-yard individual medley and 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke. Ruth Ziemer competed in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly events, where she finished 10th and 13th, respectively. Cecelia Robson swam a 31.50 in the 50-yard freestyle and a 1:10.18 in the 100-yard freestyle while Claire Niebur led the team in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:34.91. The 200-yard freestyle team finished in 2:05.15, placing eighth in the event and the 400-yard freestyle team secured a 12th-place finish with their 5:27.80 time. BCC ended the invite with six personal-best times as well as five season-best times.
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