| By Cody Cutter, NISB Publisher [email protected] Writer's Note: Welcome to the newest feature on Northern Illinois Sports Beat: The Friday 5. The feature is a �bits and pieces� article similar to several newspaper features in the area. I hope it can last, and I hope you enjoy it. (It has been rewritten once more because last week I accidentally wrote "Thursday" - well, it was Thursday night when I wrote it!) Today is Friday, April 17, 2009. There are 58 days remaining in the high school sports year. Only 92 days until the start of the 2009-10 prep sports season, and 103 days until high school football starts. Bass Sectionals To Take Place Next Week The inaugural IHSA Bass Fishing State Meet Series kicks off next week. The activity is the Association's newest state-wide sports and activities endeavor. It was approved by the IHSA Board of Directors in 2007. Sectional meets will take place on Friday, April 24 at 18 lakes throughout Illinois. Two boats from each sectional will advance to the State Meet. That will be held two weeks later, on May 8-9, at Lake Carlyle. There are 28 NISB-area schools that have entries to the competition. Each school enters up up to two boats, with no more than three fishers on each boat. An adult captain drives each boat, and can only make suggestions and coach during the meet. Pierce Lake in Loves Park has 11 schools competing: Byron, DeKalb, Fulton, Marengo, North Boone, Rockford Boylan, Rockford Christian Life, Rockford East, South Beloit and Sycamore. Eight schools � Amboy, Bureau Valley, Earlville, Erie, Seneca, Serena, Sterling and Sterling Newman � are competing at LaSalle Lake in Marseilles. Argyle Lake will host Galva, Geneseo and Moline fishers, while Banner Marsh in Canton will host IVC fishers. Streator and Steator Woodland will compete at Evergreen Lake in Hudson, and Plano and Sandwich will compete at Shabbona Lake. Richmond-Burton will compete at the Chain O'Lakes in Lake County. Sectionals will begin around 8:00 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m. The team winner is determined by total poundage of bass caught. There will also be an individual �largest fish award� in each meet. All fish are released immediately after weigh-ins. IHSA Media Advisory Committee Meets The IHSA News Media Advisory Committee met in the IHSA Office in Bloomington on Tuesday, April 7. The Committee made recommendations on IHSA media policy and individual sport terms and conditions. The Committee made a recommendation that would allow radio stations and websites to stream their live broadcasts on the Internet. The possible change in policy would help smaller stations and websites attract advertisers. It would also provide a global cybercast where those from far away can hear a team-based broadcast. Dates and game times of state final events were also discussed. The Committee would like to see the girls volleyball super-sectionals moved to either Monday or Tuesday. Super-sectional matches took place on Tuesdays before class expansion took effect in volleyball two years ago. The particular weekend is host to the cross-country and boys soccer State Finals, as well as the second round of the football playoffs. The recommendation allows media outlets who cover each of these events to increase, or restore, coverage of the volleyball super-sectional. Basketball State Final game schedules were also recommended to be changed by the Committee. A recommendation of all days for the four boys and girls tournaments is to start games at 12:00, 2:00, 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. This past season, Friday game times were 12:00, 1:45, 6:30 and 8:15 p.m. Saturday times were 11:00 a.m., and 12:45, 6:30 and 8:15 p.m. The changes will increase the window of time until deadline, and shortens the break between games of different classes. The Guy That Used to Run it Former IHSA Assistant Executive Director and Media Advisory chair Anthony Holman has a new job that's taken him to California. Holman, who resigned his position with the IHSA in May of last year, is a corporate sales manager for Maloof Sports and Entertainment in Sacramento, Calif. He began work in October. Maloof owns the Sacramento Kings of the NBA. New Home For Olympic Members The West Central Conference extended invitations on Tuesday to Orion, Rockridge and Sherrard � formerly of the Olympic - to join their conference. The invitation comes a month after the three, including Monmouth-Roseville, were invited and soon denied into the Lincoln Trail Conference. Monmouth recently joined the West Central in football only, while former Olympic school Macomb joined in full last month. It will be up to each school board to act upon the invitation. Monmouth will also need board permission to join in all sports. If invitations are accepted, the West Central would expand to 12 teams (10 football). Top Discus Throw At Cary-Grove It was only early April, and there has already been a discus throw over 190 feet. Huntley junior Marcus Poppenfoose threw 192 feet, 10 inches at the Al Bohrer Invitational at Cary-Grove this past weekend. Such a throw is nine inches longer than the IHSA State Tournament Meet record (192' 10� by Salem's Mike Minton in 1998). While the season may still be young, improvements are difficult to accomplish. Only three other documented throws in state history are longer than the effort put forth by Poppenfoose. The state record was set last season by Dan Block of Roselle Lake Park with a 201 foot, eight inch effort on April 24, 2008. Block took second to Brett Einbecker of Aurora Waubonsie Valley in last years's Class AA meet. Poppenfoose finished in fourth place. Poppenfoose threw a career best in the shot put at the Palatine Fremd Throwers Invitational on Thursday. He had a throw of 60 feet, three inches. Block won both throwing events with a 61' 2� shot throw and 184' 5� discus heave. Poppenfoose mustered a 171' 10� in the discus. Einbecker is the only person to throw over 190 feet twice with throws of 191 feet, eight inches and 197 feet, six inches. Niklas Arrhenius of Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah has the national record of 234 feet, three inches. Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at [email protected]. Want more Cody? Check out his NISB Blog, Because I Said So, at Cody�s Corner! |
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| Friday 5: 04/17/09 |
| Bass Sectionals To Take Place Next Week - Media Advisory Committee Meets - The Guy That Used To Run It - New Home For Olympic Members - Top Discus Throw at Cary-Grove |
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat - April 17, 2009 |
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