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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Marcus Domask is a First Team All-Big Ten pick in men's basketball and a First Team Academic All-American selection this school year at Illinois.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. A First Team All-Big Ten standout on the basketball court, Marcus Domask is also a top performer in the classroom. The Illini guard earned Academic All-America First Team honors, the College Sports Communicators announced on Wednesday. It’s the second straight First Team Academic All-America nod for Domask, who holds a 4.0 GPA at Illinois while pursuing his master’s degree in recreation, sport & tourism.
➜ 2. Could Domask return for a sixth season of college basketball? Perhaps. Brad Underwood said Domask is pursuing legal options to get another year at Illinois.
➜ 3. It’s nearly time for the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon. Check back Saturday for our special section previewing the event that unfolds next weekend.
Blake Wolters — pitching for Mahomet-Seymour in a game in 2023 — has made his first two starts of his pro career for the Class A affiliate in the Kansas City Royals system.
Numbers game: 0
Earned runs former Mahomet-Seymour baseball star Blake Wolters gave up Tuesday in his second professional start. Pitching for the Columbia Fireflies, the Class A affiliate for the Kansas City Royals, the 19-year-old right-hander went 4 2/3 innings and allowed an unearned run while scattering four hits. He struck out five and walked two. Wolters, a second-round draft pick of the Royals last July and The News-Gazette’s Player of the Year in 2022 and 2023, is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA to go with six strikeouts and five walks in his first two starts with the Fireflies.
From left, Illinois women’s golf coach Renee Slone, sophomore Lexanne Halama, senior Siyan Chen, graduate student Crystal Wang, junior Isabey Sy, freshman Anna Ritter, freshman Mattie Frick and assistant coach Pina Gentile celebrate a historic occasion when the Illini won the Big Ten Title in 2023 in Pittsburgh. Illinois will try to win back-to-back Big Ten titles this weekend when the league championships get underway Friday in Maryland.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Big Ten women’s golf championships. Coach Renee Slone’s Illinois program will try to go back-to-back in winning Big Ten titles when the 14-team, 54-hole event tees off Friday from Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.
➜ 2. The Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate. The only home tournament for Illinois men’s golf begins Saturday at Atkins Golf Club in Urbana before play concludes Sunday, the final tune-up for coach Mike Small’s program before the Big Ten championships arrive next weekend.
➜ 3. Champaign Central at Mahomet-Seymour girls’ soccer. Two top area teams meet at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Mahomet. Should be a good one.
Patrick Striegel has taught social studies and coached track and field and football throughout his 16-year career at Unity Junior High School, Tolono.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Unity boys’ track and field coach Patrick Striegel. Striegel, a long-time assistant football coach at Unity, too, and the Rockets host their annual Unity Invitational on Friday, with 19 teams set to descend upon Hicks Field in Tolono starting at 4:30 p.m.
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is ... the Illini.
➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are ... Gary Wieneke, Bill Belichick and Phil Jackson.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeves are ... procrastination and entitlement.
