Galesburg High School

Schleich, Walker pace GHS boys track at Geneseo

Richard “Reed” Schleich won the 400 meters and Antwon Walker captured the high jump title to lead Galesburg at the Geneseo McCormick Invite on May 8.

Schleich ran the 400 meters in 51.46 seconds and added a 10th-place finish in the 200 in 23.45. Walker cleared a personal-best 2.00 meters to win the high jump.

Galesburg finished sixth in the boys varsity team standings with 54 points, tying Limestone. United Township won the team title with 165 points, followed by Dixon with 144, Metamora with 113 and Geneseo with 110.5. In the combined varsity and B relay standings, Galesburg placed fifth with 80 points.

Rahkim McCellan added a runner-up finish for the Silver Streaks in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 13.01 meters. Daxton Eastburg placed fifth in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 15.68 meters.

Galesburg also scored in the relays. The Silver Streaks’ 4×400 relay team of Praise Nwagbo, Demetrius Watson, Aaron Johnson and Weston Anderton placed fifth in 3:32.93. The 4×100 team of Schleich, Kevin Phillips, Watson and McCellan finished seventh in 43.42, and the 4×200 team of Nwagbo, Chadrack Bizau, Shawn Taylor and McCellan was eighth in 1:33.52.

In B relay competition, Galesburg placed third in the team standings with 26 points. The Streaks’ 4×400 B relay team of James Bidingua, Xaiden Seaton, Franklin Hilligoss and Taylor placed second in 3:39.51, while the 4×800 B relay team of Levi Rogers, Cole Furrow, Robby Keller and Liam Cecil finished third in 9:22.91.

Other Galesburg varsity results included Bizau placing 12th in the 200 in 24.47 and 23rd in the 100 in 12.10, Prosper Aremu finishing 24th in the 100 in 12.13 and 12th in the long jump at 5.92 meters, and Watson placing 11th in the 300 hurdles in 42.58.

In the distance events, Hilligoss placed 12th in the 800 in 2:12.31. Isaac Becker finished 12th in the 3,200 in a personal-best 11:24.50, while Jalen Abbott was 13th in a season-best 11:26.29.

Weston Anderton placed 10th in the discus at 42.57 meters, Cale Johnson was 13th in the discus at 41.43 and 22nd in the shot put at 12.82, and Courtneah Hanley recorded a personal-best 36.44 meters in the discus.

The Silver Streaks will compete in the Western Big 6 Conference championships at 2 p.m. May 14 in Moline.

Silver Streaks baseball earns split at SJO Invite

Galesburg split two games May 9 at the St. Joseph-Ogden Invite, opening with a 17-5 win over Reed-Custer before falling 8-4 to host St. Joseph-Ogden.

The Silver Streaks pounded out 16 hits in the opener, scoring seven runs in the first inning, three in the second, two in the third and five in the fourth.

Noah Nalley went 3-for-3 with two home runs, four runs and three RBIs, while Grady Hickey was 4-for-4 with a double, two runs and four RBIs. Hayden Ralston added two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

Easton Pickrel earned the win, allowing four runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in three innings. Nalley worked the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out three.

Galesburg carried a 4-3 lead into the fifth inning against St. Joseph-Ogden, but the Spartans scored two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to take control.

Nicolas Ojeda drove in three of Galesburg’s four runs with a home run, while Nalley went 2-for-3. Caden Riley added an RBI, and Alfred Ayala reached base three times and stole a base.

Ralston took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in five innings.

The split left Galesburg at 10-18. St. Joseph-Ogden improved to 26-2. Galesburg is scheduled to play at Sterling at 4:30 p.m. May 11.

Galesburg girls soccer edges Canton on late Matumona goal

Emmanuela Matumona scored off a rebound with 30 seconds remaining, lifting the Galesburg girls soccer team to a 1-0 nonconference win over Canton on May 9 at CBI Bank & Trust Stadium.

The winning play started when Haleigh Jezek-Irle took a shot from about 10 feet in front of the goal. Canton goalkeeper Olivia Sprecher made the save, but the rebound came back into play. Matumona, positioned on the back side, put the ball in for the game-winner.

“When the ball came to me, I was like, ‘Yes, this is my opportunity to go,’” Matumona said.

Jezek-Irle said the play developed after Grace Hansen helped create the chance.

“Grace, our center back, came down, had a great run, passed it to me, passed it right back,” Jezek-Irle said. “I had a great shot, but their goalie moved very well. But luckily, Emma’s on that back side and finished it for me.”

The Silver Streaks controlled much of the match but struggled to convert possession into goals until the final minute. Galesburg coach Jessica Jones said Canton made it difficult by crowding the defensive end.

“You always respect your opponent,” Jones said. “Canton’s a good team. She’s rebuilding just like I am. And they were very smart. They packed that box full of defenders and made it very difficult for us to get around.”

Jones said the Streaks need to be more willing to shoot when opportunities come.

“We talked a lot about just taking the shot,” Jones said. “Today we seemed hesitant to do that. So moving forward, we’ve got to have the confidence and the wherewithal to just go for it.”

Still, Jones said coming away with the victory was important.

“They always like to give me a heart attack, and today they definitely did,” Jones said. “I would have obviously liked to see us score sooner and score more. … But coming out with a W is a great thing.”

Jezek-Irle said the win was especially satisfying after Galesburg lost a match in which Rock Island scored the tying goal with 20 seconds left to play before winning in overtime.

“That was a really disappointing game because I felt like the only difference between this game was I felt like we were the better team,” Jezek-Irle said. “We just had to work for it. … I’m really glad we came out with this one and got a win this week.”

Matumona said Galesburg has improved late in the season because of sharper practices and increased intensity.

“We’ve been practicing hard every day, and the intensity has gone up the last few days,” Matumona said. “We just want to keep going and finish our season strong.”

Jezek-Irle said the Streaks’ offense has started to click. She has three goals and two assists over the last three games. The freshman has 17 assists this season, which Jones said is the school record for assists. She is five goals away from setting the team record for goals.

“I really think offensively we’ve just been working together way more, especially late in the season,” Jezek-Irle said. “So I’m just really proud of where we’re at.”

Galesburg, now 9-8-1, has a busy final stretch before regional play. The Silver Streaks are scheduled to play at Bloomington Central Catholic on May 11 before returning home to face Macomb on May 12 and Peoria Christian on May 14 for Senior Night. All three matches are scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Knox College

Knox athletes set program records at MWC meet

Knox athletes set program records, recorded season and personal bests, and won a conference award at the Midwest Conference Meet.

Lance Miller led the Prairie Fire by setting a program record in the 1,500 meters and earning the Midwest Conference Elite 20 Award for athletic and academic excellence.

Miller set the program record in the 1,500 on May 8, running 3:54.04 to finish fourth. He added a sixth-place finish in the 5,000 on May 9 in 15:16.55.

Miller’s efforts on and off the track earned him the league’s Elite 20 award, which recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA among those competing at the conference championship finals site.

Elle Haddon set a Knox record in the javelin May 8 with a throw of 36.15 meters to finish third.

Stephanie Nelson moved into fourth place all-time at Knox in the shot put and placed eighth with a toss of 11.23 meters. She also finished 10th in the discus at 34.94 meters and fifth in the hammer at 43.59 meters.

Ryan Lautzenhiser advanced to the 400-meter finals May 8 with a personal-best 50.74, the fourth-fastest time in the preliminaries. He placed fifth May 9 in 51.48.

Colson Elisme finished sixth in the men’s shot put May 9 with a season-best throw of 14.84 meters, moving him to third in Knox history. Elsie Conwell placed eighth in the 3,000 steeplechase, improving to fifth in school history with a time of 12:52.82.

Ethan Strutzel scored points for the men’s team with a sixth-place finish in the javelin at 45.25 meters.

The Prairie Fire men’s 4×400 and 4×100 relay teams each finished eighth with season-best times.

The Knox men’s team finished ninth overall with nine points, while the women’s team placed eighth with 12 points.

Hicks named first-team all-MWC

The Midwest Conference announced its all-conference softball teams after the tournament, with Knox senior Maddie Hicks earning first-team honors as an at-large selection.

Hicks, from Stansbury Park, Utah, was named to the second team after the 2024 season.

This season, Hicks led the Prairie Fire with 35 hits and was 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts. She ranked second on the team in batting average at .368, third in OPS at .854 and third in on-base percentage at .465.

Hicks drove in 12 runs, scored 12 runs and had 37 total bases. She also led the team with 15 walks while striking out only twice in 95 at-bats.

Hicks became the first Knox softball player named first-team all-Midwest Conference since Amber Eisha and Kayla Behrens earned first-team MWC South honors in 2014.