April 14, 2026 | WALLS 102 - Part 3

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Casey Etheridge, Princeton win own Howard-Monier Invite

Princeton coach Dave Moore walked up to Casey Etheridge at the end of the Howard-Monier Invite at Rathje Track Tuesday evening and said, “Casey Etheridge, one heck of a day.”Indeed it was. All the senior standout did was sweep the hurdles and take part in the winning relays in the 4x100 and 4x400, the latter setting a new meet record. His efforts helped lead the Tigers to a first-place finish over runner-up Kewanee by 24 points, 193.5 to 169.5.“I keep progressing and our team keeps progressing,” he said. “The growth our team’s [had] since my sophomore year has just been amazing. We went from not contributing much at each meet to being up there top 3 every meet. I think the strides we’ve been making each year is really cool and shows how hard we’ve been working.“Ayden (Agushi) from his freshman year to now, he’s went from above a minute 400 to into the 52s. And Gavin (Lanham) was really a never sprint sport kid and we got him to go out and he’s done great things in our relays. A lot of people are making contributions so it keeps getting better. It’s fun to see.”Etheridge capped the night running the lead leg of the 4x400 relay along with Lanham, Tyler VandeVenter and Agushi, setting a meet record of 3:34.02.He ran top times in the hurdles with a 15.29 in the 110s and 40.0 in the 300 lows.“The nice thing about the hurdles, it’s easier to tweak your form if you work on it,” he said. “I think a lot of that is Coach Moore, especially the 110s. He encouraged me to run them last year. I’ve come so far from last year to this year. My best time last year was a 15.92 and then first outdoor meet this year I was at 15.84 and today I was 15.29.”Moore said he had to talk Etheridge into not only come out for track last year, but to run the 110 hurdles.“And look at him now. He ran (state) qualifying (times) in the 110s today and the 300s,” Moore said.In the 4x100, Etheridge teamed up with Agushi, Lanham and Beckett Funderberg for a winning time of 45.09.“We’ve got a good nucleus of kids, Casey Etheridge being one of them,“ Moore said. ” ... Ayden Agushi’s done himself a big favor getting in pretty decent shape this year. It’s just a matter of time before we get Gavin (Lanham) and Tyler (VandeVenter) in shape and we’ll bring the times down even more."Landen Hoffman had such a breakout freshman year for Princeton a year ago, coming just a final throw by senior teammate Ian Morris from winning the Class 2A state championship. But as good as a year he had, Hoffman could never take flight in his home ring.On Tuesday he did, flinging the discus with a winning toss of 50.38m“I’ve never had a great day here until today,” Hoffman said. “I’d always come here and not quite do as good as I’d do at a different meet. But today, did pretty good. Got the farthest one I’ve thrown here so far, throwing 20 feet further this year than I did last year. “I was looking for the 50-meter mark and I got it today. So I knew I had it, but there’s a lot more left. I’ve been really consistent at the high 150s (feet) so I know that soon we’re going to have a really good one.”Throws coach Curtis Odell said it’s just the first step for Hoffman.“He’s been working hard and has one goal, to be state champion. He’s been practicing hard and has had a few good meets in a row,” Odell said. “To be throwing over 50 meters on April 14th is a great place to be. He’s just getting started.”Hoffman also won the shot put at 13.52m with teammate Common Green, a newcomer to throws, landing third (12.01m).Agushi won the 400 (53.19) and placed second in the high jump (1.98m) while Tyler VandeVenter won the 800 (2:08.9), Augustus Swanson won the 1,600 (5:13.39) and the Tigers’ 4x200 relay of Funderberg, Lanham, Gavin Cain and Ethan Knaak clocked a winning time of 1:37.55Princeton also got seconds from Aiden Robinson in the long jump (5.92m) and the 4x800 relay (9:23.86), Hall’s top finishers were Joseph Caracheo, second in the 3,200 (12:24.81), and Gabe Wamhoff, second in the 200 (24.35) and third in the 100 (11.73). Serena’s Connor Hollenback raced off with the 200 with a top time of 23.95.Kewanee’s Dontel Wommack won the pole vault (3.35m) and triple jump (11.32m). The Boilermakers also got wins from Noah Feltner in the 3,200 (10:59.49), Chris Rowe in the long jump (6.53m) and the the 4x800 relay (9:10.18) and Annawan-Wethersfield’s Danny Heston won the 100 (11.49).

Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

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Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

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Keighley Davis scored two goals as Princeton improved to 9-0 with a 2-1 victory over Mendota on Tuesday.

Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

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Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

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Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

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Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

With the wind at its back, the Princeton girls soccer team created plenty of scoring chances Tuesday.The Tigresses put six shots on goal in the first half, had several other shots hit the post or crossbar and had 10 corner kicks.Princeton managed to convert two of those opportunities and held on in the second half for a 2-1 victory over Mendota in Mendota.“We were able to find some good passing,” Princeton coach David Gray said. “We made plenty of chances. We hit the post two or three different times. We got behind them quite a bit. We just have to find that finishing touch. We struggle a little bit on turf to be as sharp as we are on grass, on the surface we’re used to. That little bit of lack of sharpness, I think, is what keeps us from hitting some of those chances.”The Tigresses controlled possession for most of the first 20 minutes and had seven corner kick opportunities during that time.On its eighth attempt, Princeton found the back of the net.Junior Chloe Moffitt booted the ball into the box where senior Keighley Davis kicked it in for a 1-0 lead.“It got kicked about into the middle of the field,” Davis said. “One player missed it and then I just went and kicked it.“I think we did pretty well (on corner kicks), but I think we still need to get more touches on it and get the first ball there.”Davis extended the lead to 2-0 with 9:50 left in the first half when she fired a shot off Mendota keeper Ariana Sanchez and trickled just past the goal line.“I thought it was done,” Davis said about her shot. “I just kept watching and then I saw it cross the line.”The Tigresses held the 2-0 lead at halftime.“Some of it was good and some of it was bad,” Davis said about the strong wind. “I think we used most of it to our advantage, but I think we need to slow down a little bit and know if we’re with the wind or against the wind how our kicks (need to be).”The 2-0 lead was enough for Tigresses as the Princeton defense allowed just one shot on goal, which came with two minutes left in the first half.The Trojans scored with 4:07 left when Kamilah Preciado blasted a corner kick that deflected off a Princeton defender’s shoulder and into the net.It was just the second goal scored against Princeton in nine games this season.“The defense and (goalkeeper) Addie (Dever) are playing great,” Gray said. “I think the four in the back and Addie in goal have made a huge difference, but also our midfielders are doing the defensive work in the midfield, so it’s really been a team effort defensively. You don’t have the defensive record we have with only two goals in nine games without the team defending together well.”Princeton improved to 9-0 and has outscored its opponents 26-2.“I think as well as we’ve played and what our record is, there’s still a lot of room for us to grow,” Gray said. “I think we’re going to have to because some of the teams we’re going to have to beat to get where we want to go are going to be really strong.”Mendota coach Nick Myers said he was pleased to see his team give itself a chance late in the game.“I thought we did pretty well,” Myers said. “We knew they were really good. The first half I thought we withstood their pressure with them having the wind. They had plenty of opportunities. We had a lot of shots taken on us, but we were able to hold them to two.“Our girls don’t give up ever. They always fight through every single game. We talked after the game that we only got one shot off, but we had one corner where there’s a fluky mistake and now it’s 2-1 and the game changed with four minutes left. Princeton starts to get a little panicky and our girls get a little momentum. We talked about how you have to keep fighting because you never know.”The Trojans (3-5-3) scored for the fifth game in a row after scoring just two goals through their first seven games.“Our first few games, we couldn’t find the back of the net,” Meyers said. “But coming into today, we got a result in six out of our last seven games with either a win or a tie and we’ve scored in five consecutive games. Things are coming together. I think even though it was a loss, a 2-1 loss to Princeton is going to put a lot of confidence in our girls going forward.”

Keighley Davis scores twice to lift Princeton over Mendota

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Anna Riva’s two-run blast helps La Salle-Peru top Ottawa

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Anna Riva’s two-run blast helps La Salle-Peru top Ottawa

After her first at-bat in Tuesday’s Interstate 8 Conference game against Ottawa, La Salle-Peru senior Anna Riva knew she had to make some adjustments.“My first at-bat I was dropping my hands, just swinging to swing and struck out,” Riva said. “My second at-bat I just kept telling myself to keep my hands up, keep my weight back and just wait for the pitch to come to me.”Then in the fourth with two outs, Riva smashed a 2-2 pitch from Pirates’ ace Addie Russell down the line and over the left field fence for a two-run homer to put the Cavaliers ahead for good in a 3-1 victory. “I’m pretty sure it was a riseball, and really it was the same pitch in the same spot I had struck out against my first time up,” Riva said. “It felt great off the bat, I just knew it was gone.”The win improved L-P to 12-8 overall and 1-2 in I-8 play, while Ottawa fell to 8-5 and 2-1.The visitors grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Kelsey Frederick walked to lead off the game, advanced to second on a ground out, and scored on a Makenzie Chamberlain line drive single to right.The hosts quickly tied the contest in their half of the inning as freshman Teagan Darif homered off L-P pitcher Taylor Vescogni just inside the left field foul pole.“I knew [Darif] has been hitting really well this season, but her being a freshman I really wasn’t sure how to pitch to her having not faced her before,” Vescogni said. “I left a change-up out over the plate and she didn’t miss it.”It was the lone blemish on the day for Vescogni, who finished the complete-game effort allowing just five hits, while walking none and striking out 13.“I felt good the whole game, but after Ava’s home run to put us up two it really relaxed me,” Vescogni said. “I knew the last few innings I didn’t have to be perfect.“I felt like my change-up overall was pretty good and really paired well with my riseball. I’ve pitched against a lot of the Ottawa players, so I have a pretty good idea of how I want to pitch them. But today I felt like if I really needed a key pitch I was going to go off-speed.”In the L-P fourth, Russell struck out the first two hitters before Vescogni singled to center ahead of Riva’s blast.Russell finished also allowing just five hits while walking two and striking out eight in her seven innings in the circle.Ottawa was able to put its leadoff batter on base and move them up to second base in the second, fourth, and fifth innings. But the second ended with a caught stealing at third and the fourth closed on a line drive double play. Chamberlain finished with two of the Cavs’ five hits, while Ottawa’ Piper Lewis and Resse Purcell each had a pair of singles.“I thought Addie pitched pretty well, I thought we played solid defense, but the key in my mind was we just didn’t put enough balls in play today,” Ottawa coach Adam Lewis said. “We put ourselves into some possible scoring chances with getting the leadoff on and to second but just weren’t able to get the next hit we needed.“Taylor and Addie get similar results but in different ways. Taylor is going to pile up strikeouts with the stuff she has, and Addie is going to get a majority of her outs on weak contact. They both did the things that make them successful. It’s one of those games you know going in the chances to score are going to be very limited and they were.”Both teams are scheduled back in action in I-8 games on Wednesday with L-P hosting Rochelle and Ottawa traveling to take on Sycamore.

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