By Henry Stachera (Sports)

With the school year in full swing, our sports teams have been putting on a show for the student body. Student athletes have been in practice for quite some time now, and they have been winning! 

Our girls volleyball team is currently 17-4 and 5-2 in the CS8 conference, ranking 4th. They have been on a tear recently, with their tenured seniors paving the way to dominance. Last year, the Solons went 15-14, struggling to remain above a 50% win rate. They also sadly fell to Sacred Heart Griffin (SHG) during the city tournament. This year’s city tournament was a few days ago, and our Springfield High School girls not only won the entire thing but also took home the win against SHG, claiming the battle for Washington Street. 

While the ladies crush at the net, our SHS boys soccer team is running through teams at the goal. Although losing in sectionals last year, the boys are back at it with an outstanding 11-6-1 record to this point, while in a close second place for the CS8 conference with a current conference record of 5-0-1. The boys have been on a heater recently, having crushed Springfield Southeast High School (SSHS) with a score of 7-0! As of late, seniors Parker Hinds, Gavin Oyler and Samuel Reyes have had some outstanding showings, with Hinds and Oyler each having a hat trick. The boys will next play against Rochester tonight, Oct. 2. They may likely secure a spot at State this year.

Last but most certainly not least is everybody’s favorite—Senators football. Our gridiron guardians are off to a hot start, with a quick 4-1 record, with their only loss coming in the form of a heartbreaking shootout to Decatur MacArthur, ending 43-42. They gave the Senators a great Homecoming win on Sept. 12, walloping Lanphier High School (LHS) 63-0, marking the beginning of a 2-0 conference lead. The football team is hoping to reach the playoffs again this year after making it on a 5-5 record last year, but falling to East Saint Louis 67-0 in the first round. Their outlook is good as the team is starting hot thanks to Western Illinois University commit senior Mekhi Newman at wide receiver, senior Kale Thurman also as a receiver, and most importantly senior Brody Scheffler leading the team as the field general quarterback, who in his own right has come into his own this year, performing at a much higher level than his sophomore and junior years.  

It is important to note the performance of schools like the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC), as many of our SHS students plan to attend these programs after graduation. Although LLCC does not have a football program, they have been recruiting other sports such as baseball, to put together a pretty impressive squad for the 2026-2027 season. Scheffler has already announced his commitment to the LLCC baseball team to hopefully show off in his community college career. UIUC, on the other hand, is supposed to have an impressive football team, being ranked in the AP polls’ top 25 teams. Before their massive loss to the Indiana University (IU) Hoosiers 63-10, UIUC was ranked #9 in the country. Even with the loss, they still have a great chance to make the playoffs and show that ILLINI is here to stay. 

Courtesy of Channel 1450