Hieronymus Hypothesis

It is a loss shared by the whole community and the many lives Dave touched in his humorous, but funny way. To know Dave was to love Dave.

Lanham took over as quarterback for Princeton in its biggest game of the season despite taking very few snaps all season when the Tigers squared off against Lombard Montini in Saturday’s Class 3A quarterfinals.

Twenty six years after graduating from Hall, he’s returned to the Red Devils football program as an assistant this fall under first-year head coach Logan Larson. He is coaching the linemen and the JV team.

Ryley Egan, 18, rode to a National Equestrian Championship at the Arabian Youth Nationals in Oklahoma City this summer.

The 1976 PHS grad took part in school history as a member of the Panthers’ 1977 Division 2 National champion cross country team.

The Tigers are taking full aim to get past the quarterfinal hurdle this year. Should they not, however, PHS coach Ryan Pearson would not necessarily consider the season a failure.

The newly retired Bureau Valley coach is back from a whirl wind tour out east of seven Major League ballparks in 14 days. It was a retirement gift compliments of his wife, Anne, and kids, Alex, Ellen and Adam.

Stevens was highly influenced by the late Tiger head coach Randy Swinford, who had a special touch in handling teen-age boys, especially when it came to discipline.

Perona was batting .323 in his first 11 games back with the Pistol Shrimp, rejoining the club on July 1, with one homer, eight runs and 10 stolen bases and a .521 on-base percentage.

Former Princeton Tiger baseball standout Garret Cornman (class of 2006) is getting his taste of collegiate umpiring this summer in the Prospect League.

Princeton's Eli VanAutreve, a 33-year-old father of two, walked away as a member of the coveted Lion’s Den – the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy – after competing in the Firefighter Challenge last week at the Midwest Regional in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Monier, 32, had a 50-percent chance to carry the SOD1 ALS gene. A year ago, she bravely was tested for it and found out she does carry the gene.

Geno was all about Princeton, cheering loudly at Tiger football games and slapping the players on their shoulder pads and a fixture at center court for basketball games.

They’ve now lost 22 family members to the dreaded disease, including their mother, Jan, in 2013 at age 59, their grandfather, Mick Payne, and uncles, Jeff and Jay Payne.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in December of 2022. Playing basketball and scoring points was not Rick Allen’s life mission. He spent decades in counseling, helping others overcome similar personal struggles he had in life.

The Three Rivers Conference may be a rural, small school conference, but that hasn’t kept it from producing big-time athletes.

There have athletes throughout the decades who have transcended the game much more than their abilities on the field ... Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods. You can add Caitlin Clark to this list.

Garrett Duffin, who was a standout at Princeton High School (2015), is in his first year as Director of Player Development for the Minnesota State men’s basketball program.

Dave Shepard was all set to make his debut officiating the IHSA state boys basketball tournament in March of 2020. Then COVID hit, sending him and the teams home the night before the games were to begin.

Here's one easy fix to boost the one weekend state finals format

The Railsplitters made themselves right at home for the Class 3A LaSalle-Peru Supersectional against Dixon at Sellett Gymnasium, whose red and green colors match that of the host school.

PHS athletic director Jeff Ohlson said the Tigers will no longer play rival BV as the Storm are leaving the Three Rivers Conference without having given the two-year notice as required by conference bylaws. PHS took the same stance with St. Bede, Amboy, Fulton and Morrison.

“I always really wanted to play for him in high school. I played for him in AAU ball. He coached me in everything. High school was a really big dream of mine and I never got the chance."

Berry, who passed away last Sunday evening, Feb. 4, in Las Cruses, New Mexico, is ranked No. 16 among Bureau County scorers with 1,552 career points. He was the top scorer in Bureau County two years running, including a 24.7 scoring clip as a senior in 1963-64.

He’s played in all 19 games for the Spartans with one start, averaging 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds over 22.3 minutes a game, shooting 45% from the field, 39.5% on 3s.

The “1 and 1″ bonus has been taken away from the game this year thanks to a new mandate by the National Federation of High School Sports. New this season, high school teams shoot two free throws for common fouls when in the “bonus.”

Favorite game to cover: The St. Bede softball team rallying to knock off two-time defending state champion Glasford Illini Bluffs 7-6 for the 1A state championship.

He was ready for his time to shine this year. Then, in the very first game of the 2023-24 season, he went down with another knee injury. This time to his right knee and his senior season ended just as soon as it started.

The Princeton Tigers football team has reached the IHSA Class 3A Quarterfinals for the third straight year only to fall each time. The latest was a 27-9 loss to Lombard Montini Catholic on Saturday.

‘”Gibby” started out as a manager for the Badgers his freshmen year in Madison. He’s been promoted to “Defensive Student Assistant,” moving upstairs to the press box during games when the new staff came in with head coach Luke Fickell last November.

Newly crowned Bureau County fair queen Kelsea Mongon, 17, of Princeton turned her tiara in for Saturday’s demo derby at the fairgrounds. Not only did she run in the derby, she won it.

Nugent, 47, a K-5 PE teacher for Bureau Valley, lived out his a dream. He didn’t get to play for the Cardinals, but he did throw out a first pitch at Busch Stadium.

The players know baseball is a business, but it doesn’t make it any easier when they see their teammates and buddies traded away.

They were adored by the whole community and all Tiger fans, who gave the team a resounding sendoff to state and followed them to Champaign by caravan.

McKenzie Cain has been the cheer sponsor at Princeton High School for three years, directing her girls in leading the cheers for the Tigers football and basketball teams. This time, the cheers were for her.

Princeton has the largest class of area schools going off to play collegiately with 10 athletes in five different sports.

A panel of local players, coaches and a sports writer will share history of Bureau County basketball history in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association event at 1:30 p.m. Saturday

It was the roar of the Tigers in the Three Rivers Conference once again this year - the Sherrard Tigers.The Sherrard Tigers repeated as BCR Three Rivers All-Sports Champions.

This year’s Walnut 5K for ALS was a smashing success. They had a record number of registrations (541), finishers (457) and proceeds ($25,789).

Bureau County basketball history will come alive Saturday, July 15, in Mineral from those who have played it, lived it and written about it.

The fight against ALS is very personal to the Monier siblings, who have served as co-directors for the Walnut 5K for ALS since 2021. They have lost 22 family members to the killer disease, including their mom, Jan, their No. 1 fan, on Jan. 24, 2013.

Softball has been in Davey’s blood having been head coach for the program for parts of five decades, stepping away only when he went away to study for two years and returning until he became Abbot.

Abbot Phillip Davey walked into the Louisville Slugger Complex with great pride to watch the St. Bede softball team chase a State championship. He was the head coach for the program for many years, from its early stages until becoming Abbot in 2011.

Earning the nickname “Grandpa” as the gray beard of the diamond, Wedekind blasted the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning over the left field fence in the Spartans’ game in the NCAA Super Regional on Saturday, May 27.

The terms “grandpa” and “old man” are freely used around the Spartans’ camp in regards to the grizzly bearded “super senior” catcher.

John Cruz had coached baseball at La Salle-Peru, Hall, Princeton, Putnam County and IVCC along with Ashford and Rockford universities. After five decades in the game, the 72-year-old is retiring.

Nothing like a father-son hunt, especially when you both get a turkey

Mickow, a 2008 Princeton High School graduate, made his Boston debut Monday, finishing 21st overall, the ninth fastest American with a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, 37 seconds

Mickow, 33, said this year’s marathon was a loaded field. Evans Chebet, 34, of Kenya, repeated as race winner with a time of 2:05:54.

It is a close race, but the Sherrard Tigers have a leg up on the Princeton Tigers once again through the winter sports season.