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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
From left, Illinois men’s tennis players Jeremy Zhang, Kenta Miyoshi and Zach Viiala joined coach Brad Dancer on the air with News-Gazette sportswriters for ‘Monday Night SportsTalk,’ at the Esquire in downtown Champaign this past winter. On Thursday, Miyoshi was named the Big Ten Player of the Year.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Congrats to Bryson Houchens of the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team and Brilynn Barnett of the Salt Fork softball team. The pair is our latest high school Athletes of the Week, powered by Copper Creek Contractors. Read more about the duo in next Tuesday’s paper.
➜ 2. Kenta Miyoshi earned an individual honor on Thursday no Illinois men’s tennis player had received since 2017: Big Ten Player of the Year. Miyoshi, who has a 28-10 record in singles play this season, is the first Illini to win this award since Aleks Vukic did so eight years ago.
➜ 3. The News-Gazette’s 93rd All-State boys’ basketball team will be published in Saturday’s paper. Jaxson Davis of Warren headlines the team as its Player of the Year.
Former Illini Devon Witherspoon at the 2023 NFL draft in Kansas City, Mo.
Numbers game: 22
first-round NFL draft picks Illinois football has had through the years. Devon Witherspoon is the most recent after the cornerback went fifth to the Seahawks in 2023 and Tony Butkovich was the first after he went 11th to the Los Angeles Rams in 1944. The second and third rounds of the NFL draft continue Friday night from Green Bay, Wis.
Runners in the first wave set off from the starting line when the 2024 Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon and Half-Marathon got underway in Champaign.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon. The 5K run/walk gets the weekend going at 7:30 p.m. Friday (if the rain holds off), before the full 26.2 miles of the marathon, half marathon and 10K start at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. The best part? Every individual who completes the course finishes at the 50-yard line inside Memorial Stadium.
➜ 2. Unity Invitational. The annual boys’ track and field meet, featuring 19 teams this year, begins at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Hicks Field in Tolono.
➜ 3. Champaign Central Invitational. A seven-team girls’ track and field meet featuring the host Maroons, along with area teams Centennial and Mahomet-Seymour, is at 9 a.m. Saturday at McKinley Field in Champaign.
From the left, the Koeppel family: Dillon, Missy, MaKayla and Matt.
Ask an AD
Three questions with Clinton athletic director Matt Koeppel:
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is … the Indianapolis Colts.
➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Tony Dungy, Mike Krzyzewski and Vince Lombardi.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … leaving something unfinished. When I have a task or a problem, I like to get it done or solve it as quickly as possible.
