Sports roundup
Mary Clark
Jacksonville resident Mary Clark made history at the Western Illinois Senior Olympics (WISO), breaking records in the following events:
- Swim 25 yd (Freestyle) – Time of 36.44
- Javelin – Throw of 32’4”
- Shot Put – Throw of 21’2”
Held at Western Illinois University and across the Macomb community April 25-26, the WISO brought together athletes aged 50 and over from six states.
“We are incredibly proud of Mary and her remarkable performance,” said Victor Montejo, co-chair of the WISO Committee. “Breaking a record at this level reflects not only talent but also dedication, perseverance and a passion for active living.”
[Photo Submitted: Tammi Bories, chair of the event organization, left, stands with Jacksonville’s Mary Clark, the record-setting athlete.]
High School Baseball
It’s now down to conference tournament time. Jacksonville is once again the home of the WIVC Conference tournament. The two-day tournament pits the top five teams in the conference against one another for a chance at the conference crown. Seeds include: (1) West Central, (2) Calhoun, (3) Brown County, (4) Carrollton and (5) Routt. Teams in the WIVC will be split between the Greenville and Jacksonville Sectionals for postseason after pairing were announced this week for 1A and 2A.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville had an even split of games this past week going 2-2. The Crimsons had wins on the road this week at SHG and Riverton, but lost to SHG and Bethalto-Civic Memorial at the end of the week. The Crimsons have six games left until the postseason. They are currently 15-14 overall. Pairings for regionals will be announced this week.
High School Softball
Conference tournament time has also started for girls’ softball. Future Champions will host the girls WIVC Conference tournament this week. Seeds for the girls include: (1) Carrollton, (2) Calhoun, (3) Triopia, (4) Pleasant Hill and (5) Greenfield-Northwestern. Triopia and Calhoun will be the hosts in the 1A sectionals in the area, which start on May 19.
Triopia freshman Mia McCombs has had a big week. McCombs homered three times and drove in 10 runs last week in a doubleheader against Quincy and Payson-Seymour that added to her huge week at the plate. McCombs went 1-3 with a double and an RBI for the Lady Trojans 6-1 victory over Beardstown on May 5. She added two more hits in a 12-2 win over South Fulton on May 7. It was a good week for the Trojans going 3-1, with the lone loss coming to Pittsfield on Saturday 9-8. Mylee Tracy recorded 17 strikeouts in a 6-0, 2-hit complete game shutout against Jacksonville on May 8.
Jacksonville Middle School Track
The JMS Girls’ track team continues to smash through records this year. On May 6 in a quadrangular meet, the 7th grade 4x100m relay team of Lamarie Fortune, Kayshia Bowen, Marley Schlieker and Kaynee Moore broke their own school record by shaving off a couple tenths of a second at 52.58. The 8th grade 4x400m relay team of Adalyn Heinemann, Rebecca White, Elizabeth Guidish and Zorina Bohannon cut four seconds off the old record for a time of 4:30.73. The 7th grade girls won their meet while the 8th grade girls came in second by just two points. Sectional track meets are scheduled for next week.
Illinois College Athletics
The IC baseball and softball teams bowed out of the Midwest Conference tournaments within the last two weeks. The baseball team finished 22-18 overall.
IC Softball finished the season at 25-18 overall, ending the season with a pair of close losses in the conference tournament. Junior pitcher Jordan Closs took home a bunch of hardware for the season including being named the Midwest Conference’s Pitcher of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and first-team All-Conference. Closs, who transferred to IC from St. Francis College, finished the season 13-4 with a 1.78 ERA. She tossed the first two perfect games in school history. She also authored a scoreless innings streak of 55 2/3, the eighth-longest in NCAA Division III history and the longest in the division since 2011.
Months after claiming the school’s first women’s indoor track and field conference title, Illinois College completed the double by claiming the program’s first women’s outdoor championship on May 11 at the 2025 Midwest Conference Outdoor Championships at Whiting Field on the campus of Lawrence University. Sophomore Aleese Trimingham was named the meet’s Outstanding Track Performer while freshman McKenzie Murray was named the Newcomer of the Meet. Senior Brooke Oakley was awarded the conference’s Elite 20 Award, which recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average in the championship. As it did during the indoor championships in March, the team title came down to the final event, and when the Lady Blues’ 4×400-meter relay team of Kami Rhoades, Murray, Trimingham and Oakley captured the event in a school-record time of 4:00.74 for the win.
