MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Monmouth College women’s track team remained one of the elite teams according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) which ranked them in the top 10 for the second consecutive week. The Fighting Scots’ women slipped from seventh a week ago to ninth in the Week 2 rankings released today by the USTFCCCA. The Scots were just four points away from maintaining their Week 1 and preseason position. Regionally, the Scots are fifth in the Midwest Region, down one spot from a week ago. Monmouth’s men dropped out of the Regional rankings this week after debuting at No. 9 in Week 1.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – It was business as usual last week for Monmouth College swimmer Gabe Baginski (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) who earned the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week for the second time in two weeks. Baginski earned first place finishes in three of his four events last weekend against Valparaiso. The sopho­more turned in a career-best to win the 1000-yard freestyle. His time of 10:21.03 ranks as the second-fastest time in the conference. He also touched first in the 500 freestyle with a mark of 5:00.40, less than two seconds off his season best. Baginski wrapped up the meet swimming the leadoff leg on the winning 200 freestyle relay. The quartet logged a 1:33.40. He had opened the meet with the leadoff leg of the runner up 200 medley relay which swam a 1:44.93. A math major, Baginski is the son of Stanley and Caroline Baginski of Aurora.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – For one day, Monmouth College will share the gridiron stage with USC, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Oregon, Harvard and Notre Dame, among others. Fighting Scots quarterback Alex Tanney (Normal, Ill./Lexington) will be one of a handful of NCAA Division III players to compete in Saturday’s Players All-Star Classic in Little Rock, Ark., featuring players from all college divisions projected as having NFL draft potential. A similar showcase last year produced more than 60 NFL players. After spending the last month at a training facility in Florida that works with current and potential professional athletes, Tanney will split time on the North squad with two other quarterbacks. He’ll also be put to the test against the highest level of collegiate competition. “This is a good chance for Alex to show what he can do on the big stage,” said MC coach Steve Bell of Tanney, who graduated from Monmouth in January with a degree in business. “It’s always  [ ... ]

CHARGERS SWEEP BLACK HAWK IN ARROWHEAD PLAY


GALESBURG ------It was a big night Tuesday at the John Lewis Gym as both Carl Sandburg college basketball teams came up with victory's.  The Sandburg women got the evening going with a 62-53 win over Black Hawk (11-10/2-4) to run their record to 2 and 3 in the Arrowhead Conference and 5 and 15 on the season.  In the nightcap, the CSC men put away the Braves (5-15/0-6) 74-62 for their first conference win while upping their seasons mark to 6-16.
In the opener Coach Mike Bailey saw his women's team finally finish a game. "We've been close a lot this season,"said Bailey, "but haven't been able to finish off an opponent.  Tonight we did."
It didn't look good early on for the Chargers as the Braves got out of the gate quickly to lead 10 to 1.  Despite their slow start and some poor free throw shooting, the Chargers were able to claw their way into a 25-23 lead at intermission.  At the start of the [ ... ]

MONMOUTH, Ill. – A three meet win streak ended for the Monmouth College swimmers last weekend as they faced Division I teams Valparaiso and Butler in Terre Haute, Ind. The Fighting Scots men fell 57-36 in the dual meet with Valpo. Monmouth’s women were clipped by Valpo 63-40 and lost to Butler 72-29 in the double dual competition. Gabe Baginski led the men’s squad, picking up a pair of individual wins and swimming a leg on a winning relay. The sophomore eclipsed his personal-best in the 1,000-yard freestyle where he swam a 10:21.03 to win by nearly a minute. He added another win in the 500 freestyle after clocking a 5:00.40. Baginski finished the meet by swimming the leadoff leg for the winning 200 freestyle relay team. Joe Testolin, Brett Dunn and Josh Dunn finished swam the final three legs as the squad turned in a 1:33.40 for the win over a pair of Valparaiso teams. Josh Dunn added the only other individual win. The senior’s 1:51.55 placed him first in t [ ... ]

MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Monmouth College men’s and women’s track teams set two school records as each placed second at last week’s Rose-Hulman Engineer Invitational. Competing at the largest meet to this point of the season, the Scots’ women finished a solid second in their nine-team field, nearly 30 points in front of the third place finisher and just 22 points out of first. The men were second in the field of 11 by a little more than 10 points. With just seven combined firsts, the Scots used their depth and a few outstanding performances to outscore all but one team on each side. Rachel Bowden picked up one of the women’s three wins. The junior tied her own school record in the 800-meters. She won the race in 2:18.70, equaling the mark she set a year ago and finishing nearly three seconds ahead of the runner up. The time also ranks her 16th in the nation. Allison Devor continued her dominance in the throws where she took top honors in the shot put and we [ ... ]

Grinnell                102 Monmouth          90   Monmouth led 47-45 at the half, but Grinnell outran the Scots 102-90 at Glennie Gym. The Scots took just two 3-pointers against the Pioneers and didn’t take their first trey until the final minutes. Monmouth pounded the ball inside for 62 points as six players posted between 12 and 14 points. The Scots went scoreless through the first four minutes of the game, but came on with a flurry as they battled from 13 points down with 12:26 left in the first half. A bucket inside by David Altman got Monmouth rolling on a 15-3 run over a five minute span to take their first lead of the game. Monmouth continued to put the heat on over the first seven minutes of the second half before the Pioneers erupted for a 10 point lead and held off the Scots to finish the game.

  Grinnell                63 Monmouth          57   Monmouth led for the first 34 minutes, but couldn’t hang on in a 63-57 loss to Grinnell. The Scots jumped out to a 14 point first half lead, but the Pioneers chipped away in the second half, scoring 24 of their 28 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes and taking the lead after three straight Monmouth turnovers. A 3-pointer by Colleen Forrest with 2:43 left in the game gave the Scots the lead one last time, but Grinnell answered with a trey of their own and then hit three free throws in the final seconds to forge a tie with Monmouth for second place in the Midwest Conference. Zipporah Williams led the Scots with 14 points after going eight-for-nine at the free throw line.  

MONMOUTH, Ill. – No team scores were kept, but that didn’t keep the Monmouth College men’s and women’s track teams from turning in stellar performances at their own Fighting Scot Invitational last Saturday. Had scores been kept, the Scots women would have gotten the lion’s share of the points in the throwing events where they swept the top four spots in the weight throw and shot put. Allison Devor won both events, throwing the weight 55’4-3/4” and the shot 43’7-1/4”. Raven Robinson edged out Amanda Streeter for second in the weight throw with a personal-best 49’4-1/2”, one inch farther than Streeter. Freshman Erin Maul placed fourth with a mark of 42’3-1/4”. Robinson also threw a career-best in the shot put to place second. Her throw of 42’6” bested Kayla Corzine by two inches. Streeter was fourth at 39’8-1/2”. Robinson and Corzine’s efforts rank them ninth and 10th nationally. Alexa Allen came up with a pair of wins on the track whe [ ... ]

  Monmouth made it two straight over Carroll with a 64-63 win at Glennie Gym. The Pioneers nearly avenged their loss to the Scots last week, but Monmouth’s Kenny Foster hit two free throws with 1.1 seconds left and Klynton Bolinger deflected the ensuing inbounds pass to preserve the win. Trailing by four in the final two minutes, Monmouth’s Brent Burrows buried a three and then converted a steal and layup to give Monmouth a 62-61 lead. The Pioneers regained the lead on a bucket inside with a minute left before the Scots got their final possession with 18 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Foster was fouled in the act of shooting and knocked down both free throws for the win. Foster finished with a game-high 21 points and Burrows added a dozen.

Monmouth avenged a loss from one week ago in a 64-62 win over Carroll. The Fighting Scots looked like they might lose to the Pioneers for the second time in a week, but hit their free throws when they counted to pull out the win and stay in second place in the Midwest Conference. After six ties and six lead changes, Monmouth took the lead for good on a Haley Jones bucket with 5:54 left. Colleen Forrest’s 3-pointer put Monmouth up 56-50 with 1:19 left, but the Pioneers refused to go away and hit four treys in the final minute to stay within striking distance. The Scots – who hit just 57 percent of their free throws – went 8-of-10 at the line in the final minute to hold off Carroll. Jones and Marla Willard finished with 17 points while Kaley Corban chipped in 14.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College’s swim team racked up their third consecutive dual meet sweep with a men’s and women’s win at Millikin Saturday. With wins in both relay events, the Fighting Scots women rolled by the Big Blue 105-85. Monmouth’s men had a bit tougher battle, but edged Millikin73-66. The 4x200 medley relay team of Dani Gordon, Amanda Zaidel, Krysta Sparks and Colleen Zumpf put the women ahead in the first event, swimming a 2:01.29 for the win, just six one-hundredths off their season-best. Zumpf also swam a leg on the women’s meet-ending 4x200 freestyle relay with Rachel Holm, Kendra Kuehl and Erin Willhite. The foursome won by more than 12 seconds in 1:49.45. Willhite added an individual win, touching first in the 50 freestyle with a 26.54, nearly two seconds ahead of Gordon in second place with a 28.23. Gordon earned a win, taking the 100 backstroke in 1:08.82. Kuehl finished a full minute ahead of the field in the 500 freestyle with a [ ... ]

Neither team led by more than eight as Monmouth fell to Ripon 78-76. Trailing by eight with 43 seconds left in the game, Kenny Foster hit a pair of free throws followed by a Kendall Cox 3-pointer on the next possession to turn the heat up on the Red Hawks. Brent Burrows steal of a Ripon inbounds pass gave Foster an old-fashioned three on a layup and ensuing free throw to pull the Scots to within 75-74. After Ripon hit a free throw for a two-point margin, Foster hit his game-high 37th point to forge a 76-76 tie. Ripon picked up the win with a bucket with three seconds left and then after timeout, forced a turnover with a second left in the game.

Monmouth cooled Ripon’s hot first half shooting as the Fighting Scots came from 11 down to clip the Red Hawks 70-61. Ripon shot nearly 70 percent from the floor in the first half, but Monmouth’s defense came to play in the second 20 minutes, holding Ripon to just 5-of-22 shooting after the break. Haley Jones’ bucket early in the second half started a 13-0 Monmouth run as Marla Willard and Zipporah Williams combined for nine points in three minutes. The Scots took the lead on a Willard jumper 14:21 left and never looked back. Willard and Williams each collected a double-double. Willard scored 14 points with 12 rebounds and Williams added 13 points with 11 boards. Jones finished with 15 points.

The Carl Sandburg College basketball teams split an Arrowhead Conference double header Thursday evening at the John Lewis gym with Black Hawk East.The CSC women (4-12/1-2) rallied to win the opener 59-55 over the Lady Warriors(8-8/0-2) with the visitors taking the men's game 67-53. Coach Mike Bailey's womens quintet was plagued by turnovers and their inability to convert layups missing 15 in all, but still managed to eke out the victory. "I'm happy with the win, of course," said Bailey., "but we know we didn't play very well offensively. Despite all the turnovers and the missed layups we kept our defensive intensity." The Chargers trailed 25-24 at the half but their defensive effort kept them close. Sandburg opened the second half with a 13-3 run over the first six minutes to build a nine point lead. Unfortunately when Bailey went to his bench things went flat. "Our bench did not play well tonight at all. When they entered the game, the chemistry we had dis [ ... ]

Carl Sandburg College women's basketball (3-12, 0-2) traveled to Dixon, IL Tuesday night and were defeated by Sauk Valley Community College by a score of 64-46. CSC trailed 30-20 at the half. Kate Morrissey was the only Charger in double figures with 14 points and added 11 rebounds. Lydia Box led Sauk Valley with 27 points. CSC plays Black Hawk East at home Thursday night with tip scheduled to start at 5:30pm. CSC Mike Bailey-"Can't score. Season long battle. Stats were about our average- 31% FG tonight and 48% FT. Kids play hard, defend, but can finish plays which when you miss that many it can lead to transition opportunities."

MONMOUTH, Ill. – The continued success of the Monmouth College football team has resulted in a national coaches’ magazine seeking the advice of assistant coach Dave Ragone. An article written by Ragone, who just completed his 12th year as special teams and offensive line coach for the Fighting Scots, appears in a recent edition of Gridiron Strategies. The publication, distributed by American Football Monthly, is geared toward football coaches and shares information and drills from guest writers. “Their editor e-mailed me last May,” said Ragone of his inclusion in the magazine. “I enjoy sharing my knowledge with other coaches, whether it’s writing, doing clinics or speaking engagements.” The editors singled out Ragone based on the continued success of the Scots’ punt unit which he oversees. In 2010, Monmouth averaged more than 42 yards and netted 36 yards per punt. Seventeen of those punts landed inside the 20. “We’ve been fortunate to have ha [ ... ]

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College’s Gabe Baginski (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and Erin Willhite (East Moline, Ill./United Township) made it a Fighting Scots’ sweep for the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week in swimming and diving as Monmouth won dual meets Friday and Saturday against Illinois College and Knox. Baginski accounted for eight wins in eight last weekend. He won all six of his individual events and both of his relay events also touched first. Swimming on short rest Saturday, Baginksi swam a 1:50.87 to win the 200 freestyle by five seconds. He also touched first in the 200 backstroke in 2:06.15 and won the 500 freestyle in 5:11.36. He swam the leadoff leg of the winning 400 free relay, winning by nearly a full minute in 3:35.84. Friday’s individual wins included the 200 butterfly with a personal best 2:16.69, the 200 back with a time of 2:13.39 and the 200 IM by clocking a 2:10.32. He closed out the meet swimming the leadoff leg of the win [ ... ]

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Allison Devor (St. Charles, Ill./East) and DeAndre Smith (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) made it a Monmouth College sweep of Midwest Conference Field Event Performers of the Week for indoor track and field. Devor logged the two of the top throws in the nation as Monmouth’s women won the nine-team Sol Butler Invitational last weekend. She won the weight throw by more than 5’ with a nation’s best 56’6.75”. Devor also won the shot put, uncorking a throw of 45’3.5” which ranks as the second-best throw in Division III. The mark was just one inch off her personal best. A junior physical education major, Devor is the daughter of Peter and Joan Devor of St. Charles. Smith threw a personal best last week as the Fighting Scots men finished second in the nine-team Sol Butler Invitational. His personal best shot put of 50’2” won by 4’ and ranks as the seventh-best throw in Division III. Smith was less than an inch shy of his lifetime best in [ ... ]

The Monmouth Roseville Titan's Wrestling Team will honor their seniors on Tuesday January 17th against Galesburg at Central Grade School. Sunny 97.7 WMOI is the home for your coverage of Titan Wrestling. Pregame Coverage begins at 5:50 with Sam Brooks, with the match beginning at 6. The match can also be heard online at 977wmoi.com

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College’s Kenny Foster (Chicago, Ill./Orr) averaged a double-double last week and was named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week in men’s basketball for his outstanding play. Foster helped the Fighting Scots earn a split with Carroll and Lawrence. The 6-3 guard poured in 25 points and pulled down 11 defensive rebounds in Friday’s 77-70 win over Carroll. Foster helped keep the Pio­neers at bay by hitting all four of his free throws in the final 30 seconds as the Scots logged their first win over the Pioneers since 2006. He scored another 25 points and pulled down 10 boards in Satur­day’s narrow 67-63 loss at Lawrence. For the week, Foster aver­aged 25 points and 10.5 rebounds while going 12-for-12 at the free throw line and shooting 46 percent from the floor, including making half his 3-point attempts. A physical education major, Foster is the son of Charisse Coleman of Chicago.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Four nationally ranked performances highlighted the Monmouth College men’s and women’s track teams’ season debut. Monmouth’s women won the nine-team Sol Butler Classic at the University of Dubuque while the men placed second. Rachel Bowden, Allison Devor and DeAndre Smith got off to a good start as each turned in a top 10 performance. Devor won both the shot put and weight throw with nationally ranked throws. Her shot put of 45’3-1/2” won by more than 5’ and was just one inch off her personal record. The throw ranks her second in the nation. The junior did one better in the weight throw where she won with the nation’s best throw at 56’6-3/4”. Bowden was less than three seconds shy of her personal-best in winning the 800-meter run. The junior clocked a 2:20.25, ranking her third nationally. Smith took top honors in the men’s shot put while making his mark on the national rankings. Smith’s toss of 50’2” was more than 4’  [ ... ]

SCOTS’ WOMEN RANKED IN NATION’S TOP TEN MONMOUTH, Ill. – The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has ranked the Monmouth College women’s track team as one of the nation’s elite. The USTFCCCA released their preseason rankings this week and place the Scots seventh nationally. Monmouth’s women return national qualifiers in five events including two-time All-American thrower Allison Devor. Monmouth was ranked 10th at the end of the last indoor season, but picked up 70.16 ranking points to move up three spots in the first poll for 2012. This marks the first year the USTFCCCA preseason rankings were compiled for Division III. The next round of rankings will be released Jan. 25.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – If the Monmouth College track team is to continue its seven-year run of sweeping the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor Midwest Conference titles, the Fighting Scots will have to do it without many returning league champions. Monmouth’s men return no league winners from the indoor season and the women have just one returning indoor title holder. The Scots do have a lot of potential despite the lack of individual conference champions. “It will be a new experience for a lot of our athletes,” reported coach Roger Haynes. “Our success may hinge on the progress our freshmen and sophomores make. We’ve got a lot of kids who were twos and threes last year and they’ll need to step up to No. 1 this year in order for us to be successful. We’ve got some potentially elite performers in pretty much every area.” Indoors, Monmouth’s men return two runners with conference titles from a year ago. Senior Shane Reschke (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) an [ ... ]

The 2012 editiion of the Chicago Cubs Caravan will be making a stop in Peoria on Thursday, January 12 at 5:00 p.m. at the RiverPlex. Six former Chiefs players, three with Major League experience highlight the event**. *Tony Campana, Chris Carpenter & Casey Coleman* are the three with Major League experience on the Caravan. They will be joined by former Chiefs and top Cubs prospects: *Brett Jackson, Josh Vitters and Matt Szczur*. In addition new pitching coach*Chris Bosio*, new first base coach *Dave McKay* and new bench coach *Jamie Quirk* will be joined by scouting director *Joe Bohringer*, assistant GM *Shiraz Rehman* and emcee *Dave Otto*. The event at the RiverPlex will begin at 5:00 PM with doors opening at 3:30 PM. Following the 45-minute autograph session, the program will begin promptly at 5:45 PM. *Tickets are $15.00 and include the autograph session, beer, soda, hot dogs, chips and cookie.* Tickets are available at the Peoria Chiefs office [ ... ]