Colbert Column

and poured on six more in the third en route to a four-inning win over the Missiles.

Leading hitters for Forreston were Rylee Broshous, who doubled, tripled and drive in three runs; Jenna Greenfield, who went 3 for 4 with a triple and three RBIs; Brooke Boettner, who went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles; and Kara Erdmann, who had two RBIs.

Alaina Miller threw a complete game for the win, striking out three, walking one, and allowing three hits and two runs.

Marissa Sturrup took the loss, pitching 2 1/3 innings. Kendra Hutchison threw 1 2/3 innings in relief, striking out two, walking zero, and allowing three hits and three runs.

Girls track and field

Cardinals win at home: Forreston-Polo scored 119 points to edge out Lena-Winslow/ Pearl City (116) in a five-team meet in Forreston.

West Carroll took third (96), Galena-East Dubuque-River Ridge finished fourth (94), and Stockton-Warren was fifth (72).

Letrese Buisker won the 300 hurdles (54.60 seconds) and high jump (4 feet, 10 inches), and took third in the 100 hurdles (17.25 seconds) for the Cardinals, and Sydni Badertscher won the shot put (10.41 meters) and discus (97 feet, 4 inches). The quartet of Courtney Grobe, Jayleigh Newill, Autum Pritchard and Bekah Zeigler took the 4x800 (12:30.40).

Kamryn Stockton was runner-up in the 3200 (17:01.08), Ennen Ferris was second in the high jump (4-8) and third in the 200 (29.71 seconds), and Zeigler took third in the triple jump (28-10 1/2).

Hawks win 8 events at sectional prep:

Oregon hosted a sectional prep meet at Landers-Loomis Field, notching 20 top-three finishes. No team scores were kept.

Jenae Bothe won the shot put (11.00 meters) and discus (38.45 meters) to lead the Hawks. Miranda Ciesel won the 800 (2:58.79), placed second in the 400 (1:14.65), and took third in the long jump (3.84 meters). Rylie Robertson won the 300 hurdles (55.54 seconds) and took second in the 100 hurdles (17.85 seconds), while Sonya Plescia won the pole vault (2.29 meters) and was second in the triple jump (8.56 meters), and Ava Wight won the triple jump (9.43 meters) and placed second in the 200 (13.61 seconds).

Ellen Hodson won the 1,600 (6:39.77), and Sophie Stender won the 100 hurdles (16.75 seconds) for Oregon. Paige Beauchem was second to Bothe in the shot put (9.09 meters) and discus (26.86 meters), and Jennica Ciesel was runner-up in the 1,600 (6:55.75) and high jump (1.47 meters).

Avery Sellers took third in the shot put (8.75 meters) and fourth in the discus (23.00 meters), Alease McLain was third in the discus (25.67 meters), and Mariah Drake placed third in the high jump (25.67 meters).

Boys track and field

Cardinals 2nd in Milledgeville: Forreston-Polo scored 109 points to finish behind only Galena-East Dubuque-River Ridge (113) at the Missile Invite.

Lena-Winslow took third (102) and Newman finished fourth (96). Host Milledgeville-Eastland placed sixth (42).

Matthew Beltran was a triple-winner for the Cardinals, taking the 110 hurdles (15.61 seconds), 300 hurdles (43.34 seconds) and high jump (1.92 meters). Brock Soltow won the 400 (54.21 seconds), Avery Grenoble was second in the 200 (23.15 seconds), and Carson Jones was runner-up in the 800 (2:12.49). The Cardinals also ran to second in the 4x800 (8:49.43).

Boys track and field

Dukes 5th in Geneseo: Dixon scored 141.5 points over the three flights to finish fifth at the McCormick ABC Invite in Geneseo. Other local teams in attendance were Forreston-Polo (89 points), Rock Falls (87), Erie-Prophetstown (84) and Fulton (27).

Forreston-Polo got wins from Thomas Falk in the C 800 (2:18.17) and Matthew Beltran in the A 110 hurdles (15.24 seconds). Beltran also placed second in the A high jump (1.87 meters), and Carson Jones was runner-up in the A 1600 (4:50.16). The foursome of Wyatt Queckoboerner, Payton Encheff, Falk and Jones placed second in the A 4x800 (9:02.98).

Bass fishing

Polo 4th at sectional: The Marcos hauled in a total weight of 14 pounds, 5 ounces to finish fourth at the bass fishing sectional at Pool 13 of the Mississippi River on May 5.

Riverdale won with a total weight of 18 points, 10 ounces, while Moline was second (18 pounds, 6 ounces). Three qualified for the state meet, with Polo earning the spot as the alternate. Team members were Logan Nelson, Jeffrey Donaldson, Kale Grobe and Kameron Grobe.

Fulton finished sixth (11 pounds, 7 ounces), Newman took 10th (7 pounds, 5 ounces), and Erie-Prophetstown placed 11th (5 pounds, 8 ounces).

SPORTS COLUMN

Sof tball, baseball teams prepare for state tournaments

With girls track and field sectionals and soccer regional finals May 13, the postseason has begun for spring sports. Baseball, softball and boys track kick off next week.

Forreston girls received a coveted No. 1 sub-sectional in softball. Normally, the NUIC produces some of the better teams in the state, but this year lacks that one or two outstanding squads.

The conference was wide open and so is the sectional. Orangeville, opposite of Forreston, is the other No. 1 sectional seed. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether it will be Forreston, Orangeville, Dakota, Durand, Pearl City or maybe a darkhorse winning out.

One such darkhorse is Polo, which is poised to make the Dakota regional final.

In 2A softball, Oregon has a much tougher path to navigate with its No. 3 s u b - s e c t i o n a l s e e d b e h i n d N o r t h Boone and Rock Falls. And waiting on the other side of the sectional bracket is powerhouse Marengo.

In conference play, it looks like North Boone and Rock Falls are battling it out for first, with Oregon, Stillman Valley and Dixon close behind.

Like 1A softball, 1A baseball is wide open. Forreston is seeded No. 2 behind Fulton. If they win their regional as they are favored to do, they would likely see Lena-Winslow, a team they beat 6-1 in the first week of the season.

However, after losing its first four games, Le-Win went on a 14-game winning streak before losing to Winnebago on Saturday.

For Oregon and Polo baseball, it has been a case of primarily freshmen and sophomores playing against varsity competition. Neither team has won a conference game and look to rebuild.

GUEST VIEW

Andy Colbert

Jenae Bothe of Oregon continues to make a name for herself in the throwing events, breaking both school and conference records in the discus.

At Rockford Christian last week, her effort of 137-3 smashed Allison Kereven’s school record by 12 feet, much the same way she obliterated the shot put record a couple of weeks earlier. Not only that, but Jenae broke the school record at least three times that afternoon.

Her father John promised to buy me dinner before the sectional meet if I would be present for any of Jenae’s shot or discus attempts.

Why?

Because I’ve only watched one of her shot puts and two discus attempt and each time a school record was broken. A good luck charm? Maybe, but I have to admit not being present for the 137-3 so I won’t hold Mr. Bothe to the free meal.

That mark of 137-3 is better than anything thrown in 2A or 3A. However, it is only fourth-best in a stacked 1A field.

Much has been made of sporting teams using Native American names as a mascot, especially at the college and professional levels.

With the IHSA promising to review this subject, I became curious as to how many schools use Native American nicknames.

As of now, the following schools use Indians – Altamont, Brimfield, Dakota, Carlyle,Chicago Lane, DuQuoin, Johnston City, Lawrenceville, Lewsitown, M a r e n g o , M a s c o u t a h , M e r e d o si a , Minooka, Neoga, Payson, Pawnee, Pontiac, Rockton Hononegah, Sandwich and Winnebago.

Other holdouts are the Cahokia Commanches, Nokomis and Sullivan Redskins, Midlothian and Annawan Braves, Mackinaw Chiefs, Aurora West and Stockton Blackhawks and Morrisville Mohawks.

That is down from a high of about 60 schools that used Indian mascots over 50 years ago. Some of those schools have folded up, but many dropped the Indian monikers because of public scrutiny.

The latest skirmish involved Morris and a decision by its school board to drop Redskins. That did not go over well with locals and a new mascot has yet to be found.

Speaking of mascots, these are the most widely used in Illinois – Rockets, Pirates, Panthers, Trojans, Bulldogs, Lions, Tigers, Vikings, Eagles, Cardinals, Falcons, Hornets, Devils, Wildcats, Knights, Warriors and Rams.

• Andy Colbert, an avid runner, has been a sports writer for Shaw Media and has covered high school sports in Ogle County for more than 30 years.