David Adam, MRN Editor
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The 2020 and 2021 classes are being inducted into the Quincy Notre Dame Hall of Fame together this year. Boltz will be inducted on Friday, Nov. 26 before QND’s boys basketball game.) Dan Boltz was one of the top basketball players for Quincy Notre Dame during the 1950s when the Raiders strung together…
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NORMAL, Ill. — When asked during Saturday’s post-match press conference how many times Southeastern volleyball coach Tim Kerr had cried, senior Taylor Wagner said, “Too many to count.” “Counting here? Probably 10 at least,” said Tim’s daughter, Ani. Tim is known for getting choked up about just about anything, ranging from college signings, athletic banquets…
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NORMAL, Ill. — The incomplete team with the imperfect defense nearly pulled off the improbable upset. Tiny Augusta Southeastern, vying to become the school with the smallest enrollment to win the Illinois High School Association Class 1A volleyball state championship, stunned No. 1-ranked Champaign St. Thomas More 25-22 to win the first set Saturday morning…
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NORMAL, Ill. — Carrie Shaffer couldn’t help herself. Shaffer, a setter on the last Augusta Southeastern team to reach the state volleyball tournament, sent a note to her daughter, Abigail, on Thursday night to offer thoughts about what to expect in Friday morning’s semifinal match. Well, maybe more than a note. “I sent her a…
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NORMAL, Ill. — It’s difficult to believe any team that has won 39 of 41 games could be considered an underdog. The Southeastern volleyball team seems to have embraced this unlikely role for two weeks. The Suns’ last four victories have been against teams ranked in the top 10 of the MaxPreps Class 1A state…
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NORMAL, Ill. — Christine Stephens got to watch most of her daughter’s volleyball matches this fall, but not in the way most moms do. Arguably the best high school volleyball official in West-Central Illinois, Stephens is in gymnasiums many nights during the fall. When her freshman daughter, Amanda, takes the floor for the Augusta Southeastern…
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NORMAL, Ill. — Springfield Lutheran volleyball coach Katie McCulley knew what was coming. Her team played Southeastern in the finals of the New Berlin Tournament in September, and she saw first-hand what 5-foot-10 freshman Amanda Stephens could do when the Suns won in two sets. So it didn’t surprise McCulley when Stephens dominated Friday morning’s…
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CLINTON, Ill. — Four points. Four lousy, stinkin’ points. The Quincy Notre Dame girls volleyball team dominated the first set, overcame a disastrous second set and rebounded to lead 21-15 in the third set of Friday night’s Class 2A super-sectional volleyball match at Clinton High School. “You could taste it,” senior captain Maggie Drew said.…
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KNOXVILLE, Ill. — The score was about to be tied. Instead of setting the ball to Kennedy Adair, Macomb’s Avery Rexroat opted to use her left hand to dump the ball deep and into the corner of the Quincy Notre Dame backcourt. Once the ball landed on the floor, Macomb would tie the first set…
Read Full Article Prep Boys Soccer At Canton High School, Canton, Mo. Class 1 District 3: Canton’s Trevor Biggerstaff had two goals in a 3-0 first-round victory over Elsberry/Silex on Monday. The Tigers advance to the semifinals and will play Lutheran St. Charles at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Women’s College Basketball At Student Activity Center, Quincy, Ill. JWCC 55,…
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GREENFIELD, Ill. — The Brown County volleyball team is going places that no other team in school history has gone. The Hornets won their first regional championship in school history last week. They followed that accomplishment Monday night with a 25-17, 25-19 semifinal victory over Raymond Lincolnwood in the Class 1A Greenfield Sectional. Up next…
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KNOXVILLE, Ill. — This was more like it. After being forced to sweat out three sets in last week’s regional championship game against Illini West, the Quincy Notre Dame volleyball team was dominant in Monday’s Class 2A sectional semifinal. The Raiders crushed Port Byron Riverdale 25-13, 25-13 at Knoxville High School. QND (31-4), ranked No.…
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ABINGDON, Ill. — The mantra for most coaches in the postseason is to “play them one game at a time.” Southeastern coach Tim Kerr kind of thumbed his nose at that thought. After watching his team defeat Princeville 25-27, 25-19, 25-20 on Monday night in the semifinals of the Class 1A Abingdon Sectional, Kerr admitted…
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CANTON, Mo. — After his first season as the Culver-Stockton College men’s basketball coach, Aaron Hill brought in a freshman-dominated recruiting class. The Wildcats posted a 5-23 record in 2018-19. Hill brought in another freshman-dominated recruiting class the following year. The Wildcats were 5-14 last season. While many of those early recruits are still on…
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QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame team needed just one play to wrap up a first-round victory in the Class 4A playoffs over Bethalto Civic Memorial. The Eagles were facing third and 20 from the QND 33-yard line with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The Raiders, however, couldn’t come up…
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QUINCY — The call was unexpected. So was the offer. In the matter of a few days, Murphy Grant’s professional life changed forever. He was in Quincy last weekend, accepting his induction into the Quincy University Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 23, celebrating with family and college friends. Three days later, he was back…
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QUINCY — Only out of the kindness of the Indianapolis coaching staff did the Quincy University football program avoid tying a school record for defensive ineptitude on Saturday, The Greyhounds had the ball at the Hawks’ 2-yard line with about two minutes remaining to play. Even though the reserves were in the game, and the…
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ALTON, Ill. — A solid offensive output in the first half, followed by an extraordinary defensive performance in the second half, was the perfect combination to prime the Quincy Notre Dame football team for the postseason. Senior running back Ben Kasparie scored three touchdowns in the first half, and the Raiders held Alton Marquette to…
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QUINCY — The numbers achieved by the Quincy University football team on Saturday were impressive. The Hawks rolled up 450 total yards and scored 48 points. The defense recovered three fumbles and intercepted three passes. QU had a 31-7 lead over McKendree early in the third quarter and led 41-21 with 13:31 remaining in the…
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QUINCY — Adon Byquist took care of things in the first half, and two touchdowns in the first minute of the second half sealed a 48-0 victory for the Quincy High School football team over hapless Rock Island Alleman in a Western Big Six game on Friday night at Flinn Stadium. The victory evens the…
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QUINCY — Al Davis, the Hall of Fame general manager and owner of the Oakland Raiders, based his philosophy of football on speed. “Speed kills. You can’t teach speed. Everything else in the game can be taught, but speed is a gift from God,” Davis once said. The speed of the Lutheran St. Charles football…
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AUGUSTA, Ill. — From the moment her team stepped on the bus Tuesday night, Quincy Notre Dame volleyball coach Courtney Kvitle liked what she saw. “Tonight was the first time I felt like they were on a business trip,” Kvitle said. “They weren’t goofy, they weren’t overly excited, they were just happy. They were here…
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QUINCY — Gary Bass had tears in his eyes when he spoke to his Quincy University football team after Saturday’s 31-28 victory over Missouri S&T at QU Stadium. He cried because he was happy. He cried because he was sorry. Bass had just watched Miners placekicker Zach Glaess miss a game-tying 40-yard field goal attempt…
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'We played flat out terrible': QND buried by state-ranked Mahomet Seymour in third-quarter avalanche
QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame football team was still in the game. The Raiders trailed 14-0 at halftime, but they forced a three-and-out by Mahomet Seymour on the first series of the third quarter. A poor punt gave QND the ball at the Bulldogs’ 42-yard line. A running play on first down moved the…
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PETERSBURG, Ill. — Jason Knuffman has determined the best way to coach his daughter is not to coach her at all. That strategy seems to be working well for both of them. Hana Knuffman shot a 7-over 79 to finish in second place, and the Quincy Notre Dame girls golf team turned in its best…
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QUINCY — Moments after learning they had won the Class 2A regional championship on Thursday afternoon at Westview Golf Course, the Quincy High School girls golf team was … well, relaxed. They sat on the back deck of the Westview clubhouse, looking at their phones, chatting and eating snacks and petting a couple of dogs.…
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MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — Liberty’s Blake Arnold waited for nearly an hour and a half to find out if a playoff was needed. “I didn’t do much. Just sat around and talked. Maybe hit 10 putts (on the practice green in front of the clubhouse),” he said. Arnold and Blake Deitrich of Illini West both…
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy High School golf team picked a great time to post its best score of the season. The Blue Devils finished with a season-best 305 strokes, one behind champion O’Fallon, in the Class 3A regional tournament at Arlington Greens Golf Course. Cameron Bergman shot a 73 to place second, followed by…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Ross Thompson didn’t let a rocky start to his round bother him. Zane Douglas didn’t let a rocky start to his season bother him. The Quincy Notre Dame boys golf team posted a 323 — its best second score of the year — to finish in third place at the Class 2A…
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CANTON, Mo. — Four freshmen and three sophomores are in the starting lineup for the Canton softball team. So much youth typically means much patience will be needed as a team matures. That’s not how it works in Canton. The Tigers won the Missouri Class 1 state championship in 2017, lost in the state championship…
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