Harper sparks SJO soccer to another win

The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ soccer team has proven this season it can find the back of the
opponent’s net.

Frequently.

The latest example happened on Tuesday, with the Spartans cruising to an 8-2 win at Illini
Prairie Conference rival Unity in Tolono.

Zach Harper carried SJO (12-2-1) to another Illini Prairie win as the Spartans are now 2-0 in
league matches heading into Thursday’s conference match at St. Thomas More that begins at
4:30 p.m. in Champaign.

Harper scored four goals and also handed out an assist, one of eight Spartans to contribute
either a goal or an assist against the Rockets.

Alex Acosta added two goals, with Waylon Jones and Logan Mills also scoring goals. Along with
Harper and Mills, Nico Harris, Tyler Hess, Waylon Jones and Quinn Stahl each had an assist in
the win.

The victory against Unity came after SJO opened Illini Prairie play with a 7-1 home win against
Chillicothe IVC this past Saturday at Dick Duval Field in St. Joseph.

Acosta delivered three goals and three assists to lead the Spartans against the Grey Ghosts,
with Mills tallying two goals. Harper and Davin Alvarez each supplied a goal, with Harper and
Steven Newman recording assists. Jaxson Colvin made seven saves in goal for the Spartans.
After Thursday’s match at STM, the Spartans resume play at 9 a.m. this Saturday with a
nonconference road match against Georgetown-RIdge Farm/Westville in Georgetown.

In volleyball
St. Joseph-Ogden split a pair of matches to start this week.

In an Illini Prairie Conference match on Tuesday night, Unity beat the Spartans 25-23, 25-18 on
Tuesday night at the Rocket Center in Toronto. Tinley Ideus led SJO with six kills, while Hadley
McDonald and Ava Seggebruch each finished with two kills. Emma McKinney handed out 11
assists and Seggebruch made 10 digs.

In a nonconference home match on Monday night, SJO defeated Marshall rallied to hold on for
a 24-26, 25-13, 25-20 victory. Seggebruch paced the Spartans (9-7, 0-2 Illini Prairie) with 14 kills
and 12 digs for a double-double, while McKinney and Ally Schmitz each compiled four kills.
McKinney directed the SJO offense with 23 assists and also made seven digs. Katie Erickson
(nine digs), Addi Childers (three kills) and Emerson Williams (two kills, five digs) also chipped in.
SJO is scheduled to return home for a 7 p.m. Illini Prairie match on Thursday against Pontiac.

In cross-country
St. Joseph-Ogden competed in one of the state’s biggest meets this past Saturday at Detweiller
Park in Peoria.

The Spartans’ boys’ team placed fifth in the boys’ open race that featured 47 teams. Jack Fisher
paced SJO with a fifth-place time of 16 minutes, 7.75 seconds and teammate Lance Retz wasn’t
far behind with a 13th-place finish in 16:40.54. EJ Beckett (17:14.48, 43rd place), Colin Burnett
(17:18.57, 50th place) and Nate Farney (17:56.42, 106th place) also contributed to the SJO
team score.

In the girls’ open race, SJO placed 18th out of 40 teams, but had two of the three top individual
finishes.

Savanna Franzen took second in 18:24.83, with teammate Grace Bressner placing third in
19:05.73. Abigail Bello (21:52.28, 134th place), Sydney Steinbach (24:30.04, 321st place) and
Kiah Riessl (26:05.86, 411th place) also chipped in.

Both SJO teams will be in action this Saturday morning in a familiar environment: the streets of
St. Joseph. The annual Spartan Classic begins at 9 a.m. with the girls’ race first followed by the
boys’ race. The event starts in downtown St. Joseph and ends at the track at Dick Duval Field
near the high school.

In girls’ tennis
St. Joseph-Ogden lost 7-2 against Pontiac in a dual match last Thursday at Atkins Tennis Center
on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign.

Lily Rice picked up the lone singles win for the Spartans with a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles.
In doubles play, Samantha Kelso and Madison Clampitt earned a 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 win at No. 2
doubles for the other point by the Spartans.

SJO is set to get back on the court at 4:15 p.m. this upcoming Monday with a match against
Urbana at Blair Park in Urbana.

In boys’ golf
St. Joseph-Ogden finished fourth at the eight-team Illini Prairie Conference Meet on Wednesday
at Lincolnshire Fields Country Club in Champaign.

The Spartans, who did not have an individual among the top 10 finishers, carded a team score
of 336. Monticello won the tournament with a score of 296, followed by Prairie Central (310) and
Pontiac (330).