Homewood-Flossmoor holds off Maine South to win home wrestling invite

FLOSSMOOR| With Maine South breathing down its neck, the Homewood-Flossmoor wrestling team knew it would need to finish strong in order to hold off the Hawks.

South wins Medieval Classic opener in overtime

FRANKFORT | Thornton Fractional South senior Paul Pierce had been playing suffocating on-ball defense against Lincoln-Way Central, but the captain's two biggest plays Monday may have come when he left his man open.

Bloom Township stays undefeated in win against Rich East

PARK FOREST | Bloom Township head coach Jasper Williams knows an undefeated team can't stay the course for long if it can't crack the 50 percent mark from the charity stripe.

Spartans rally comes up short

CHICAGO HEIGHTS | Just when it look as though undefeated Marist would pull away and cruise to victory, the Marian Catholic girls basketball team showed that it had one more comeback left.

Homewood-Flossmoor's Michelle Mayer is The Times 2011 Illinois Female Athlete of the Year

Truth be told, Homewood-Flossmoor's Michelle Mayer had to deal with more disappointment her senior season than she would have liked.

Marian star Becca Gray is 2011 Times Softball player of the Year

The first time Marian Catholic coach Kerri Evans saw Becca Gray pitch was the first day of softball tryouts in March of 2008.

Homewood-Flossmoor's Katie Rice Hoger is 2011 Times Softball Coach of the Year

Entering the 2011 season, the Homewood-Flossmoor softball program had not won a regional title since 2004.

Mount Carmel baseball falls in third-place game

JOLIET | The Mount Carmel baseball players left the field Saturday afternoon with a feeling of deja vu, and it was a feeling they could have done without.

Lyons Twp. stops Mount Carmel

JOLIET | Mount Carmel had played 41 baseball games entering its Class 4A state semifinal contest Friday against Lyons Twp., and each time the Caravan had tallied at least a pair of runs.

T.F. South's Kessler to play in softball all-star game

T.F. South senior Sophie Kessler will be among some of the state's best softball players taking the diamond Sunday in East Peoria.

Youth and experience combine to make Caravan a baseball force

CHICAGO | With 17 juniors on the Mount Carmel baseball roster, and as many sophomores as seniors, there is certainly no denying that the team is a young one.

T'ridge grad Jeneva McCall eyes another NCAA track & field title

The first time Jeneva McCall saw the hammer throw in competition was as a high school freshman at the Virginia state track meet at James Madison University.

Mount Carmel sophomore Houston a key in Caravan's success

CHICAGO| Last week, Mount Carmel sophomore Jerry Houston delivered a seventh-inning single to lift the Caravan to a 3-2 win over Oak Park-River Forest

Andrew ends Homewood-Flossmoor's softball season

LOCKPORT | Homewood-Flossmoor pitcher Sarah Burke played with fire for five innings at Thursday's Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinal against Andrew.

High-octane attack has Caravan lacrosse on the rise

Mount Carmel High School is synonymous with sports excellence.

H-F's Burke is an ace on the mound

FLOSSMOOR | Homewood-Flossmoor pitcher Sarah Burke mowed through top competition this spring with the poise of a grizzled veteran.

Overtime goal sends Vikings soccer packing

NORMAL | The Homewood-Flossmoor girls soccer team felt it was the better team on the pitch in Tuesday's class 3A Normal Community Supersectional against Granite City.

Farkos is H-F soccer team's set-up player

At first glance, it appears the Homewood-Flossmoor's Ali Farkos has one of the toughest jobs on the soccer pitch.

Lockport lefty lowers the boom on Spartans softball regional hopes

NEW LENOX | The last time the Marian Catholic softball team saw Lockport pitcher Taylor Weissenhofer, the southpaw shut down the Spartans for six innings.

Homewood-Flossmoor girls soccer team gets revenge on Sandburg

CHICAGO | When Homewood-Flossmoor junior Ali Farkos found the back of the net with 12:41 left on the clock Friday night, the Vikings' bench erupted, with the cheers being led by head coach Charlie Ward.

Illiana soccer gone with the wind

NEW LENOX | Two teams had to deal with frigid temperatures in Thursday's Class 2A Lincoln-Way West Sectional semifinal, but, for the most part, only one team had to deal with the wind.

Woods, Beecher set for Class 2A Coal City Sectional

Beecher senior Skyler Woods insists there is nothing special in her town's water.

Marian's Glenn throws second straight no-hitter

NEW LENOX | Having clinched the East Suburban Catholic Conference title last Friday, and with a potential big matchup in the regional final on Saturday, Marian Catholic knew it had to avoid the trap game Tuesday.

Spencer's big days sends T.F. North to the baseball regional semis

CALUMET CITY | The T.F. North baseball team was planning to play small ball Monday afternoon.

Illiana's Leah Van Drunen comes back after injury

Two years ago, everything on Illiana Christian's Leah Van Drunen seemed to be breaking.

Beecher softball holds off Peotone for regional title

BEECHER | Technically speaking, this was an upset.

Krilich's blast lifts T.F. South past Illiana Christian in baseball

LANSING | The T.F. South baseball team has struggled over the last couple of weeks.

Illiana Christian girls win soccer regional

SOUTH HOLLAND | When members of Illiana Christian's soccer team were running sprints back in February, it was to prepare them for days like Friday.

Vikings' comeback falls short against Glenbard South

LANSING | Down six runs before even getting a chance to bat, Illiana Christian knew it would have to chip away at Glenbard South's lead Wednesday.

Mathews making her presence felt in the pool

You couldn't blame Homewood-Flossmoor junior Rebecca Mathews if she was feeling a little bit of déjà vu right now.

Illiana advances to regional final for third straight year

SOUTH HOLLAND | Illiana Christian girls soccer coach A.J. Turkstra admitted before Tuesday's Class 2A Illiana Christian Regional semifinal that he didn't know what to expect from No. 4-seeded Brooks.

Ehimwenman leads H-F to first track sectional title since 2005

FLOSSMOOR | Returning to the Class 3A Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional after a 24-hour layoff didn't bother Vikings standout Abie Ehimwenman.

Senior Alex Daviera leads Beecher's softball attack

Back in the days of Alex Lagesse and Ashley and Jalyn Shearer, Beecher softball was a pitching powerhouse.

Rain suspends Class 3A H-F girls track sectional

FLOSSMOOR | For anyone who has been paying attention to the weather in the last two months, this news won't come as a surprise.

Marist extracts revenge on Marian

CHICAGO HEIGHTS| On Monday, Times No. 1 Marian Catholic rallied in the seventh inning to pick up a road win over East Suburban Catholic Conference rival Marist.

Ladycats crush Vikings in five innings

BEECHER | Tuesday afternoon's contest between Beecher and Homewood-Flossmoor had the potential to be a duel between two of the area's top three teams.

Rebels score 13 unanswered runs in rivalry baseball game

LANSING| Through the first three innings of Monday's district baseball game, passers-by may have thought T.F. North and T.F. South had traded uniforms.

Homewood-Flossmoor's Hannah Ongman leads water polo team

After finishing fourth in the state last year, expectations were as high as they have ever been for the Homewood-Flossmoor girls water polo team heading into this season.

South falls to Lemont in softball

LANSING | Much was at stake in Friday's conference softball showdown between T.F. South and Lemont.

Thornridge track star is Ford tough

Last year did not end on the high note Gary Ford had been seeking.

Illiana completes baseball sweep of Elmwood Park

LANSING | Two days after pounding out 14 runs in a win over Elmwood Park, Illiana Christian changed the script on Thursday.

New coach, six seniors leading St. Francis to best soccer season

Coaching carousels don't usually bode well for teams at any level, let alone high school.

Crete-Monee dominates on the track to top Bloom Twp.

CHICAGO HEIGHTS | As Tayler Whittler came from behind Wednesday night, so too did her Crete-Monee team.

Spartans top highly regarded Bengals

CHICAGO HEIGHTS | Facing its toughest test of the season on Tuesday, Marian Catholic did not get off to the start it was looking for against Oak Forest.