Archive for August, 2008

Tennis team gets aggressive

August 31, 2008

A point the Lady Trojans will be working on this year is adjusting playing styles, according to head coach Eric Bright.

Currently, the varsity players are playing more of an aggressive style.

“They really hit the ball with some pace and really get strong when they’re on court,” Bright said. “They hit the ball with some strength.”

One of the players that are aggressive is senior Ashley Miller.

“My strong point, I know, is my volleys,” she said. “I just like the net.”

Rushing the net can have disadvantages, though. She said her weakness is trying to make cross-court shots more accurate, a tactic that can really make volley type players dangerous on the court.

In contrast, the lower varsity players play more defensively, Bright said.

“They sit back more and react to what the other players are doing as opposed to picking their own pace,” he said.

While he thinks that style is good for them. He’d like them to become more aggressive as the season progresses.

The two senior players are helping the team in practice to try and accomplish this, along with fixing other mistakes.

“When I spot something that they’re doing wrong, I just try to help them improve and show them how to do it better,” Amanda Thomason said.

Miller also helps the team, but likes to help them more mentally as well.

“I always tell the girls when they’re getting ready to play to just stay positive and just have fun and don’t get scared,” she said. “If you get scared, look meaner so they think that you’re the mean one.”

CHS freshman football team impressive in opening game

August 31, 2008

     When asked about what he expected from his team Charleston High School freshman football head coach Jeff Miller said “I think we are going to be pretty solid.”

     After an impressive win over Taylorville High School, it seems that the well-experienced coaching trio of Jeff Miller, Cliff Campbell (Special teams coach) and Carl Wolf (Defensive coordinator) have put together a “pretty solid” team. CHS played behind a strong 3-5 defense and got good production from both the running and passing games, leading them to a 38-14 victory.

     After the game Miller said that the CHS freshman team had exceeded all expectations that he had.

Charleston-Taylorville GamePost

August 30, 2008

Taylorville Tornadoes (0-0) vs. Charleston Trojans (0-0)

Saturday August 30th

Trojan Hill

Charleston, IL

7pm kickoff

Radio: Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU-FM

www.weiuhitmix.net

Much has been made of the rivalry between Charleston and Taylorville. It dates back to when Taylorville was an Apollo conference foe. Tonight they make their last trip to Trojan hill for the forseable future as the rivalry is expected to retire after next season. In the non conference meetings, Charleston is 3-11, getting it’s first win in Taylorville with a 30-13 win to open the 2007 campaign.

Taylorville is coming off a down season where they slipped to 2-7. One of the biggest blows to the Tornadoes was the loss of Senior quarterback/defensive back Alex Siempelkamp, who broke his leg in the second game of the season, he returns this season as the leading returning tackler. Taylorville’s 20 seniors look to improve on last season’s 2-5 record in the Central State 8 conference and return to the playoffs for the 10th time in twelve years.

Charleston however is on the other side of the coin. Charleston last year was looking to come off a disappoining season in 2006. The Trojans bounced back and made a deep playoff run, reaching the 5A quarterfinals before losing to Marion. Brothers Mario and Jameel Johnson both return to the Trojan sidelines this season as the leading returning rusher and receiver respectively. Charleston is looking to win it’s second consecutive game against Taylorville.

There has been much made of the relationship between Taylorville coach Scott Alberssen and Charleston coach Brian Halsey. The two off the field friends enjoy playing the strategy game against each other. Halsey has held out the names of his starters for this first game, including the name of his starting quarterback. Both Taylor Bartlett and Ryan Hale have taken snaps this summer for Halsey and we won’t know who the starter is until they run out on the field for the first offensive series.

Aside from the last visit for Trojan Hill for Taylorville, its also the last trip for coach Alberssen. He has announced that this season will be his last in Taylorville. Alberssen is 92-58 in 16 seasons as the Tornado coach.

7 pm at Trojan Hill tonight. The football season will officially begin.

Oakley named new AD

August 29, 2008

Brad Oakley, CHS’s boys track and girls cross country coach, was named athletic director for the high school at Thursday night’s school board meeting. “I’ve been working on my administrative degree for a while,” Oakley told the Charleston Times-Courier. “This is a step in the right direction. I like being around the kids in different sports. It seems like a great fit.” Oakley, in his second year at CHS, will also coach freshman boys basketball this school year. Previously, Oakley coached varsity boys basketball at Cumblerland. Jerry Calandrilla, the currrent AD, will leave Sept. 12 to take over his new duties as principal of Sullivan High School.

Red and Gold Barbecue

August 28, 2008

The annual Charleston Booster Club red and gold barbecue means one thing. FOOTBALL. $6.00 gets you in the door of the Charleston Middle School cafeteria and into the football game against Taylorville. The Barbecue will be served from 11 am to 6 pm saturday. The season opener against Taylorville will then come your way at 7 pm at Trojan Hill. If you can’t make it out, you can listen on WEIU radio at 88.9 or online at www.weiuhitmix.net.

CHS soccer schedule tough in ‘08

August 27, 2008

The 2008 soccer schedule has a mix of tough conference and non-conference games for the Trojans. Included on the schedule are recent visitors to the 2A state tournament in Naperville, Champaign Centennial and Urbana, both from the Big 12 Conference. CHS will also play the majority of their conference games at home, as well as once again playing regional host.

  • CHARLESTON HIGH SCHOOL 2008 BOYS’ SOCCER SCHEDULE
  • Monday Aug. 25 St. Teresa (JV-1st) 5:30 p.m. Home
  • Wednesday Aug. 27 Red & Gold Olney @ CHS Field (JV-1st) 5:30 p.m. Home
  • Friday Aug. 29 Red & Gold (Sister City) TBA Home
  • Saturday Aug. 30 Red & Gold (Sister City) TBA Home
  • Tuesday Sept. 2 Monticello (JV-1st) 4:30 p.m. Home
  • Thursday Sept. 4 Mattoon (JV-1st) 5:00 p.m. Home
  • Saturday Sept. 6 MacArthur H.S. (JV-2nd) 11:00 a.m. Away
  • Thursday Sept. 11 Urbana H.S. (JV-2nd) 4:15 p.m. Away
  • Saturday Sept. 13 Mahomet-Seymour (JV-2nd) 11:00 a.m. Home
  • Monday Sept. 15 St. Anthony (JV-2nd) 4:30 p.m. Away
  • **Thursday Sept. 18 Effingham H.S. & JV-1st 4:30 p.m. Home
  • Saturday Sept. 20 Olney (East Richland) (JV-2nd) 11:00 a.m. Home
  • **Tuesday Sept. 23 Teutopolis H.S. (JV-2nd) 5:00 p.m. Home
  • Thursday Sept. 25 Mt. Zion H.S. (JV-2nd) 5:00 p.m. Home
  • Saturday Sept. 27 Danville H.S. (JV-2nd) 11:00 a.m. Home (Senior Day)
  • Monday Sept. 29 Sullivan High School (JV 2nd) 4:30 p.m. Away
  • Wednesday Oct. 1 Champaign Central (JV-2nd) 4:15 p.m. Away
  • Friday Oct. 3 Peoria Mid-State Classic TBA Away
  • Saturday Oct. 4 Peoria Mid-State Classic TBA Away
  • Wednesday Oct. 8 Centennial (JV-1st) 4:30 p.m. Away
  • IHSA POST SEASON PLAY: (please note that Charleston will host a Regional)
    Fri./Sat. Oct. 17 & 18 Class AA – Regional Quarterfinals
    Tues/Wed Oct. 20 & 21 Regional Semifinals
    Fri./Sat. Oct. 24 & 25 Regional Finals
    Tues./Wed. Oct. 28 & 29 Sectional Semifinals
    Fri./Sat. Oct. 31 / Nov 1 16 Sectional Finals
    Tuesday Nov. 4 8 Super-sectionals
    Fri./ Sat. Nov. 7 & 8 State Finals

Annual Red-Gold tournament tough test for CHS

August 27, 2008

After a season-opening win over Decatur St. Teresa, CHS soccer starts the annual Red-Gold tournament Wednesday at home against Olney. The rest of the tournament will be moved to Sister City Park’s Nino Fields. This includes Friday’s 5:00 matchup against Centralia, and Saturday’s 9 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. games against MacArthur and Jacksonville.

Salem returns as defending champ in ‘08

August 27, 2008

At last fall’s Apollo Conference girl’s tennis tournament, Salem took first place out of eight teams with 20.5 points, 5.5 points over second-place school Effingham. Charleston took fifth place with nine points. While Charleston had no players or doubles teams that advanced past the second round, in the consolation bracket Charleston placed two singles players and a doubles team in the quarterfinals before losing out.

Out of the top three doubles teams, two of them were made up of all seniors (the team from Olney and Salem) leaving only the second place team, which was made up of two juniors from Robinson, to return this year to try and claim the doubles title. None of the top three single players were seniors last year, though, with Salem, Effingham and Paris returning their top player. This should lead to a tough singles tournament on October 3 when the Apollo Conference is hosted in Charleston.

Dau to run for Eastern

August 27, 2008

Charleston graduate Claire Dau will be trading in scarlet and gold for blue and silver this season as she runs across town for the Eastern Illinois Panthers cross country and track teams. According to the Charleston Times-Courier, Dau, a freshman, received a partial scholarship to the university after finishing fifth in the area 1,600-meter — clocking in at 5:58.8 — and third for the 3,200-meter with a time of 12:38.7. Dau is a mass communications major at Eastern.

CHS volleyball has several 6-footers

August 27, 2008

CHS’s varsity volleyball team includes seven seniors and three players who are over 6 feet tall. Megan Corrie, a senior right hitter, is 6 feet. Solveig Gudmundsdotter, a senior, and Emily Rose, a junior, are both 6 feet 1. The complete roster is listed below. The team is coached by Beth Lancaster.

Name # Yr Height Position

Megan Black 27 Soph. 5’7” S

Bailey Bosler 22 Sr. 5’3” RH

Brandi Coffey 28 Jr. 5’3” S

Megan Corrie 30 Sr. 6’0” MB/RH

Brittany Dunifer 17 Sr. 5’7” OH

Solveig Gudmundsdotter 38 Sr. 6’1” RH

Stephanie Harper 34 Sr. 5’11” MB

Karly Phipps 18 Sr. 5’9” RH

Braddi Reed 9 Sr. 5’5” DS/L

Emily Rose 10 Jr. 6’1” OH

Bri Roy-Rankin 8 Soph. 5’9” MB

Hannah Stear 15 Soph. 5’4” OH

Alex Werden 25 Jr. 5’8” OH