September 24, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Sparty party: A daily roundup of SJO varsity sports (Sept. 22, 2026)

The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ soccer team delivered a win at home, while the Spartans’ cross-country teams gear up for the Spartan Classic this Saturday in St. Joseph. Here is a quick rundown of what happened this past weekend and on Monday with the Spartans:

In boys’ soccer
Newman, Stevens shine

St. Joseph-Ogden waited out a lengthy weather delay and earned a 3-2 nonconference home win against Newton on Saturday at Dick Duval Field in St. Joseph.
Senior Steven Newman scored two goals and sophomore Lucas Stevens handed out two assists to lead the offensive charge for the Spartans, who improved to 8-3 on the season.
Sophomore Karter Peoples scored the other goal for SJO, the first goal of his Spartans career, and junior Miles Atwood made one save in net.

In cross-country
Spartans run at Detweiller again

Before St. Joseph-Ogden hosts its annual Spartan Classic this Saturday that runs through the streets of St. Joseph and finishes at the high school, the Spartans took to the course at Detweiller Park in Peoria for the second straight Saturday.
The SJO girls’ team placed 46th out of 67 teams at the Richard Spring Invitational, while the SJO boys’ team finished 67th out of 80 teams at the event hosted by Peoria Notre Dame that featured teams from all across the state and teams from all classes.
Sophomore Charlene Barbee led the SJO girls’ team by finishing 165th out of 564 runners with a time of 19 minutes, 41.06 seconds. Junior Tessa Walker was the next SJO runner to finish when she placed 197th in 19:56.71, while senior Abigail Bello (21:17.38, 339th), sophomore Allie Bott (22:01.68, 395th) and sophomore Taylor Vaughn (22:25.94, 420th) rounded out the team scores for the Spartans.
Senior Collin Burnett paced the SJO boys’ team with a time of 16:02.98 to place 156th out of 658 runners. Senior Aiden Hundley had the next best time for SJO in 17:04.15 to place 370th. Senior Nate Farney (17:21.86, 426th), junior Hunter Dilley (18:31.59, 551st) and junior Nathan Henkel (19:23.58, 599th) also competed for the Spartans.

In girls’ tennis
Farber leads the way

St. Joseph-Ogden defeated St. Teresa 6-3 on Monday in a dual match at Atkins Tennis Center on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana.
The Spartans won four of the six singles matches and two of the three doubles matches to obtain the victory.
Senior Madison Farber won 8-3 at No. 2 singles and senior Audrie Helfrich won 8-2 at No. 4 singles, while sophomore Alissa Knights and freshman Katherine Parrish won their matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
The duo of Farber and senior Sophie Schmitz won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles, while the tandem of junior Ava Bronowski and freshman Laney Wied won at No. 3 doubles.
The Spartans return to the court at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday when they play Watseka at Atkins Tennis Center.

In golf
Loschen, Clem stay steady

The season is winding down for St. Joseph-Ogden, which faced off against Unity in a dual match on Monday after the Spartans played in the 18-hole Paris Invitational on Saturday.
Unity shot a 168 to defeat the Spartans at the University of Illinois Blue Course in Savoy as SJO carded a 175. Senior Garrett Loschen earned medalist honors on Monday, leading the Spartans with a round of 39. Freshman Calvin Clem had the next best score for SJO with a 44, while senior Tripp Palmer and freshman Noah Resendiz each shot a 46.
At the Paris Invitational, held at Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Paris, the Spartans finished tied for sixth out of 11 teams with a 355. St. Anthony won the tournament with a 299, while Teutopolis (318), another St. Anthony team (334), Altamont (354) and another Teutopolis team (354) rounded out the top five teams.
Loschen and Clem had the best showings for the Spartans, with Loschen shooting an 84 and Clem providing an 85. Resendiz added a 91, while Palmer and senior Finn Miller both shot a 95.

In volleyball
Lions tame Spartans

St. Joseph-Ogden saw its five-match win streak come to an end after Marshall defeated the host Spartans 25-22, 25-20 on Monday night in a nonconference match. SJO is now 11-5 on the season and returns to the court at 7 p.m. on Thursday when it hosts Unity in its first Illini Prairie Conference match.

What’s on tap
The SJO boys’ golf team is competing on Tuesday in the Illini Prairie Conference Meet held at Lake of the Woods Golf Course in Mahomet, while the SJO boys’ soccer team has a chance at its first Illini Prairie Conference victory of the season when the Spartans play at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Unity in Tolono.

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