Piatt's OT: Rantoul band has 'amazing experience' at IHSA state basketball tournament
Mar. 14—To this point, I have covered nothing but prep sports for The News-Gazette. I can already hear some of you saying "Well, yeah. You're the prep sports guy." I only bring that up because I've got a pretty cool opportunity this week, and I'll be on my way to it by the time y'all read this.
At least, I think it's pretty cool. It might be a little more mundane for our Illini beat reporter, Scott Richey. I'll be joining Scott — no doubt becoming the bane of his existence during our near-eight-hour drive to the Target Center in Minneapolis — to cover the Big Ten men's basketball tournament.
For both content and self-interest purposes, I'd love to see the No. 2 Illini square off with top-seeded Purdue for a third time this season. It's an exciting opportunity for me, and I'm looking forward to filling out countless brackets on Selection Sunday, hopefully on our way back to Champaign after the Boilers beat Illinois again.
Speaking of exciting opportunities:
A look back
Rantoul band plays at state
There may not have been a team in The News-Gazette's coverage area playing for a boys' basketball state title last week at State Farm Center, but one of our bands was there.
The IHSA selected Rantoul Township High School's band as one of just six across the state to perform in-game music during the state tournament. The Eagles played last Friday during the night session for the Class 3A and 4A third-place games.
"It's been really fun," Rantoul band director Jennifer Mandel said between games. "Personally, it's really neat for me because I admire the University of Illinois band program. It's really neat to be here, where people I really admire conduct. I just love that our students have this opportunity to be in this space and play here. It's a really great experience for them."
The IHSA sent out information last fall about the selection process. Bands had to submit a video, roughly seven minutes long, of them playing music. The picks were made in January, and the timing in which Mandel found out was perfect.
"It was super exciting," Mandel said. "I was able to tell all the students before one of our home basketball games that we were playing at. They just erupted in cheers, and it was really cool to see that."
Clarinet players Lylo Newman and Angelle Wrovel enjoyed the experience, especially playing in the same spot as Illinois' band.
"It's really surreal," Newman said. "It's cool that we're all the way down here and right up on the action."
On top of that, they got to watch the best high school basketball teams in the state compete on the biggest stage.
"It's just an amazing opportunity," Wrovel said. "It's really fun watching basketball this competitively. At the state level, it's a lot cooler."
Most importantly, the Eagles had fun with it. Mandel said her favorite songs to conduct are "Fireball" by Pitbull and "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel. Both have become popular band songs over the years with members dancing and singing along during certain parts.
They were already tired by the end of the first game, but they made sure to bring the energy all night, which springboarded them into spring break.
"It's just another step along the way of growing our program and being out performing in the community," Mandel said.
Vote for Athletes of the Week
This week's boys' finalists are Lucian Bright (Champaign Central track and field), Noah Daniels (Mahomet-Seymour wrestling), Abraham Lenear (Urbana track and field) and Drew McTaggart (Watseka track and field).
The girls' candidates are MaKayla Koeppel (Clinton track and field), Farah Scott (Centennial track and field), Natalie Thomason (Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin track and field) and Lorelie Yau (Urbana track and field).
It looks like three athletes on each side are still in the hunt. If you haven't already, be sure to cast your vote by noon Thursday under the "Prep Sports" tab on news-gazette.com.
A look ahead
Winter sports All-Area nominations
I have officially started the process of compiling information for our winter sports All-Area teams. Coaches and athletic directors, please keep an eye out for emails from me asking for your nominations. I'm looking forward to putting together a few more teams.
Our All-Area wrestling package will be the first to run, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 23, followed by boys' swimming and diving (March 30), girls' basketball (April 6) and boys' basketball (April 13).
Shoutouts
Nickiya Shields Danville girls' track and field
Broke the Vikings' triple jump record with a first-place distance of 38 feet, 9 3/4 inches last Saturday at the Rantoul Invite.
Drew McTaggart Watseka boys' track and field
Broke the Warriors' 3,200-meter run record with a time of 10 minutes, 28.82 seconds last Saturday at the Hoosier State Relays Qualifier. He also anchored the distance medley relay to a school record (12:04.64) in the meet.
Carson Maroon St. Joseph-Ogden boys' track and field
Broke the Spartans' mile record with a time of 4:22.30 last Saturday at the Central Illinois High Performance Classic.
Brysen Vasquez Salt Fork boys' track and field
Broke the Storm's indoor records in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes with times of 22.74 and 51.55 seconds last Saturday at the Rantoul Invite, earning Athlete of the Meet honors.
Tyler Curl Prairie Central boys' basketball
Signed his letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Olivet Nazarene University on Monday.
Cassie Zimmerman, Blue Ridge softball
Drove in the game-winning run for the Knights with a walk-off RBI single in a 4-3 win over Donovan on Monday.
Abby Sabalaskey, Westville softball
Pitched a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts and only one walk in the Tigers' 2-0 win against Tuscola on Tuesday.
Larry Sparks, St. Joseph-Ogden softball
Won his 100th game as the Spartans' coach with a 6-3 victory against Salt Fork on Tuesday.
Cole Kemper, St. Thomas More baseball
Drove in the game-winning run to give the Sabers a 7-6 walk-off win in nine innings over Hoopeston Area on Tuesday.
