Normal Community, Normal West and Bloomington High School play in a co-op for girls lacrosse. A new IHSA rule makes it ineligible for playoffs starting in 2027.

Sam Antonacci blossomed into the 2023 NJCAA Division II National Player of the Year by his sophomore season, leading Heartland to a 57-5 record and the national championship. In 2024, Antonacci was drafted in the fifth round by the Chicago White Sox.

While the second season coming to an end, head coach Phillip Barski and the Bloomington Bison want to keep playing hockey at Grossinger Motors Arena. With games Friday and Saturday, the team is close to earning its first-ever postseason berth.

Brandon Holtz called it “a great week, a great experience,” and here is what we know: Holtz learned a great deal in his time at the famed Augusta National Golf Club.

A 2017 Normal West High School graduate, Kinley has been around a lot of winning in his young career as a television sports director. While at KSNT in Topeka, Kansas, he covered a Kansas men’s basketball national championship and two Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl wins. Now this: Illinois’ run to the men’s basketball Final Four as sports director at WCIA in Champaign.

The Illinois State women's basketball team fell to Marshall University, 66-41, in the WNIT championship on Saturday in Huntington, West Virginia.

Illinois State is one of only two institutions that can boast that it had both of its basketball programs playing in the national semifinals.

The ISU men are set to make their first trip to the NIT since 2017, while the Redbird women are returning to the WNIT, where they were a semifinalist last year.

The Redbirds fell to No. 10 seed Evansville, 75-70, in the MVC Tournament semifinals at Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

The third-seeded Redbirds, who improve to 20-12 on the season, advance to Saturday’s 4 p.m. semifinal against No. 10 seed Evansville which upset No. 2 seed Belmont, 76-63, earlier Friday.

The short story of Josh Roop’s upcoming induction into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame is told in numbers. In 19 seasons, his Tri-Valley High School teams have won 76 percent of their games, highlighted by a state championship and two runner-up finishes. A 156-49 record includes 16 trips to the playoffs.

Former Heartland Community College baseball standout Sam Antonacci had a moment in the spotlight Tuesday after playing a key role in Team Italy’s upset win over Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.