Sports roundup
Carson Friedman medals for Hawks
RANTOUL — Two strokes separated all four scorers for Prairie Central as the Hawks topped host Rantoul 162-166 in an Illini Prairie Conference boys' golf match at Willow Pond Golf Course Tuesday.
Carson Friedman led the Hawks with a 39, which tied for low honors with Rantoul's Ross Gawenda. Easton Friedman, Teegan Quinn and Connor Gibson each checked in with a 41 for Prairie Central. Tucker Stollin had a 46 and Jack Schahrer shot 53.
Prairie Central won the JV match 190-225 with Tony Schafer taking medalist honors with a 44 for the Hawks. Cooper Gentry carded a 46 while Acer Kratochvil, Lane Whitfill and Lakin Bachtold each finished with a 50.
El Paso-Gridley-Eureka
EL PASO — Sarah Bond found the home course to her liking as she took medalist honors in leading El Paso-Gridley to a 202-235 girls' golf win over Eureka at El Paso Golf Course Tuesday.
Bond finished with a 40 to lead the Titans (7-1). Lydia Hall was next with a 52 while the quartet of Sophie Hall, Caroline Quam, Chloe Atkins and Hannah Kurz each tallied 55.
Pontiac swimming
SPRINGFIELD — Freshman Ryan Bean made a huge splash as she helped Pontiac win 10 of 12 events to sink host Springfield (Southeast) and Lincoln in a girls' swimming triangular meet Tuesday.
The Indians collected 117 points, defeating Lincoln (77) by 40 points and Southeast by (37) by 80.
Bean was part of two winning relays and claimed two individual races in being a four-time victor for the Indians. Bean teamed with Eliza Stock, Emma Nelson and Kassyn Harcharik in taking the medley relay in 2 minutes, 21.32 seconds to open the meet.
Next was the 200-yard freestyle where Bean cut through the water for a winning time of 2:29.45. Bean came back five events later to win the 100 freestyle in 1:06.02, which was 11 seconds faster than runnerup and teammate Stock.
Bean's final event was the 200 freestyle relay where she teamed with classmate Haidyn Francis, Harcharik and Nelson to win in 2:06.86.
Nelson was also four-time winner for the Tribe. Besides the two relays, Nelson captured the butterfly in 1:7.09 and the breaststroke in 1:30.33.
Also posting win for the Indians were Ellora McCollough in the individual medley with a time of 3:09.79, Harcharik in the 500 free at 6:58.53, Stock in the backstroke at 1:30.33 and the 400 freestyle relay quartet of McCollough, Cora Morris, Francis and Stock in 5:26.05.
Besides Stock in the 100 free, Pontiac scored runnerup points in the 200 free with Francis (2:41.71), in the 50 free with Harcharik (31.23 seconds) and in the butterfly with McCollough (1:30.99).
PJHS-Saunemin
After spotting Saunemin a two-run lead in the top of the first inning, Pontiac responded with five runs in the home-half of the inning and went to post a 17-7 victory in junior high baseball Tuesday at the Rec-Plex.
The Warriors added two runs in the second, allowed three in the top of the third and then answered with a pair of five-run frames in the third and fourth innings. The Eagles added two runs in the fifth.
Connor Shelton had two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs for Pontiac (5-4). Tyler Newbury and Mason Dronenberg had two hits apiece while Kenny Vanover had a hit and four runs batted in. Ryland Stewart contributed a hit and three RBIs while Lincoln Stanberry had a hit and two RBIs. Conner Mackinson and Danney Brown had a hit and RBI each.
Stanberry got the start on the bump for PJHS. He fanned six in two innings. Mackinson and Newbury each recorded two punchouts in one inning apiece and Shelton fanned one in closing out the game.
St. Mary's-MVK
A four-run fifth inning pulled St. Mary's out of a hole and the Saints were able to withstand a last-inning threat to edge Mazon-Verona-Kinsman in a softball contest Tuesday.
The Mavericks took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning with a five-run outburst. It was a 5-3 game when St. Mary's batted in the fifth.
McKenna Woodcock scored on a two-out base hit from Alexis Legner to break a tie. Another run scored on a Courtney Krause base hit for the two-run edge.
A triple by the Mavericks scored one run and left the tying run on third with two outs in the last of the seventh. A line out to Mallory Masching two batters later ended the game.
Payton Rogers had three hits while Krause had two hits and drove in a run for the Saints (17-2). Woodcock also had two hits and Neveah Vogt and Legner each had a hit and RBI. Harper Francis singled.
Bevin Brummel struck out five in going the distance for the win.
PJHS Cross Country
Pontiac and Odell competed in a junior high cross country meet Tuesday with Herscher (Limestone) and Ottawa.
In the girls' race, Natalie Borders led the Warriors with a second-place time of 14 minutes, 44 seconds. Halle Opperman was third overall with a time of 15:19. Leela Zygadio had a time of 18:08 for 14th overall and Kate Lauritsen was 18th at 18:48. The final scoring runner was Breelyn Sperka at 28th place in 21:30.
Odell finished five points behind Limestone for second. The Rams were led by Taylor Henson, who crossed the line in 15:46 for fourth place. Close behind were teammates Faith R at 16:41 in sixth place and seventh-place runner Michaela Sandoval at 16:45. Casey V was 12th at 17:42 and Ruby Starms was right behind in 13th at 17:48 to complete the scoring. Tinley Henson (18:49), Lilly Joyner (19:03) and Anna (19:13) also ran for the Rams.
Limestone dominated the boys race with 10 runners finishing in the top 13 places. Logan Mackinson finished third overall in 13:14 as the top runner for Pontiac. Ladon Keith was eighth overall with a time of 14:29 for the Warriors. Adrian Gill placed 14th overall with a mark of 15:45 and teammates Jacob Lauritsen (15:49) and Tyler Beebe (16:08) came in 16th and 17th, respectively, to complete the scoring for PJHS.
Gavin McKinney (16:38), Calan Harms (20:12), Drew Fiorini (20:32), Malcolm Quickel (26:21) and Josiah Vroman (28:51) also competed.
Michael J (15:48) and Luke Josefik (18:37) ran for Odell.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Sports Roundup Carson Friedman golf El Paso-Gridley Sarah Bond
