Kingman Gym in Ottawa makes Elite Eight in statewide Twitter poll

High school sports fanatics on social media throughout Illinois agree that Kingman Gym at Ottawa High School is one of the best gyms in Illinois.

Whether it can earn the title of being the best gym of all in Illinois is up to voters to decide in a Twitter contest this week.

Kingman has made the round of eight, and voting to determine the final four will begin Monday on Twitter at @hslogoscom.

Levi Maierhofer, a junior at Seneca High School, organized the bracketed contest from a pool of nearly 400 schools. Pictures of each gym were posted in each head-to-head challenge, the first of which began May 11.

The top eight gyms were reseeded before voting resumed Monday, with Kingman earning the No. 4 seed. Each round will take 48 hours to complete. The Final Four will be determined Wednesday and then will go up for a 48-hour vote that will conclude Friday.

The state's most popular gym will be announced June 1.

The contest exceeded Maierhofer’s expectations, he said. Some first-round matches only had about 200 votes, but one recent match garnered more than 3,000.

“Fans really are rallying around their teams again, and coaches and fans keep spreading it among each other,” he said.

Other schools in the round of eight include Western Big 6 venues such as Sterling's Musgrove Fieldhouse, Moline's Wharton Field House and Quincy's Blue Devil Stadium. Other high schools in the hunt are Lane Tech in Chicago, Collinsville, Frankfort High in West Frankfort, and Evanston.

Cast your vote

Go to twitter.com/hslogos.com to view the contest. Those who have Twitter accounts can vote for the best high school gymnasium in Illinois.

The Times also is on twitter. Follow us at @mywebtimes.

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