After a year of abbreviated and misplaced seasons, sports enthusiasts enjoyed a return to normal in 2022. Some sports are in the process of rebuilding after a lean year, and some picked up and continued to build on previous successes. But one common thread was that everyone was happy to be playing or competing again. […]
Most sprinters spend their entire careers and never get their name etched as a holder of a track and field record. It took Dominique Thomas, a Marian Central Catholic graduate, exactly 7.50 seconds to race into the record books. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sprinter ran that time in the prelims of the 60-meter dash at […]
Ryan Jones, a Marian Central Catholic graduate and Marengo native, is extremely happy. He could be even happier after next year’s cross-country season. The University of Illinois-Springfield runner, who is listed as a junior on the roster, helped the Prairie Fire take sixth in the recent NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships. He was […]
Woodstock High School’s new wrestling coach is no stranger to the town or the sport, and he is committed to building a strong program for the Blue Streaks. Career teacher Eric Hunt spent 10 years coaching wrestling at various schools in the area, including Prairie Ridge and Huntley high schools and Carpentersville Middle School. Last […]
Not all of the men’s swimming teams in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin were competing, but Woodstock North graduate Nick Phillips, an Augustana College junior swimmer, likes the opening of the season. He, and the rest of the Augustana Viking men’s swimming team, battled three other CCIW teams at the Illinois Wesleyan University […]
Winning the Southeast Youth Football Alliance conference championship, the pinnacle of youth football in this region, was definitely a highlight for the St. Mary Fighting Irish eighth-grade team. The win, however, might prove to be the final hurrah for the 96-year-old organization, as there are no young teams following in their footsteps. On Oct. 29, […]
With five Woodstock High School juniors and two seniors in the 2022 varsity lineup competing at the cross-county state finals on Saturday, there is little doubt the Blue Streak team will return to the 2023 state finals. Led by a pair of brothers, juniors Ishan and Aryan Patel, the Blue Streaks finished 12th in Illinois […]
Brooke Amann, a Woodstock North graduate, has not only helped Tennessee Tech University win matches, she has helped the Golden Eagles win their last six in a row. The 6-foot-0 outside hitter helped her team double up a winning streak from three to six matches in the past week. Tennessee Tech posted a pair of […]
Regional semifinal wins by Woodstock and Woodstock North High Schools last week created a post-season crosstown showdown. With all the drama of a wild west gunfight, the match Oct. 27 was won in the final set with the Thunder riding off with the championship title, winning 2-1 (18-25; 25-18; 25-17). The Streaks dominated the first […]
Peter Walsdorf’s next goal: enter the 23’s for 8,000 meters. The Marian Central Catholic graduate, a Woodstock resident, has already run 24 minutes, 17.1 seconds this year. Most recently, the University of Kansas Jayhawk sophomore solidly broke into the 24’s again, running a 24:38.6 for the 8,000-meter race at the Weis-Crockett Invitational, which was held […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
