Western Courier | April 3rd, 2019

Sports: Softball drops three straight against North Dakota State.

WesternCourier.com

Opinions: Is online shopping hurting small communities?

Wednesday, April 3, 2019 - Vol. 119 Issue 72

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McDonough County Election Results

By Steven Barnum news editor

Mayor Mike Inman will serve a third term as the Mayor of Macomb. As of 8 p.m., Inman collected 874 votes, which was a total of 95.31 percent of the total vote. There were 43 write-in votes for a total of 4.69 percent. Kristen-Diane Pollock was the most prominent write-in candidate challenging Inman.

"I want to thank all the folks that supported me," Inman said. "We have a good team of community leaders here in Macomb ready and willing to face the challenges that lie ahead in the next few years."

Melanie Falk will continue to serve as the Macomb City Clerk after running an unopposed campaign. The following candidates also maintained their seats after facing no challengers: Alderman Tom Koch, Alderman Mike Wayland, and City Treasurer Ron Ward.

In the closest race of the night, Alderman At-Large Don Wynn and challenger Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards each ended the night with 446 votes.

There were eight candidates for Macomb Board with a vacancy of three seats. As of 8:30 p.m., Steve Gray and Scott Torrance retained their seats

Emily Sutton (above) led all school board challengers as of 8:30 p.m.

each with totals in the neighborhood of 16 percent. With the same result tally, Emily Sutton would join the board after receiving the most votes of any candidate. Sutton has compiled 673 votes with a total of 18.14 percent of the vote.

Matt Duncan, current members, is in position to lose her seat on the board. Other candidates who did not receive enough votes as of this time to join the board are Sarah Oster, Kishor Kapale, Byron Oden, and Julie Campbell.

For Macomb Park, Phillip Weiss defeated Stirling Edwards by a vote of 803 to 629. There were 314 total write-in votes.

courtesy of tspr.org.

courtesy of tspr.org

Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards (above) tied with Alderman At-Large Don Wynn.

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NEWS

WesternCourier.com

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Macomb City Council will sell West Jackson Street property

felicia selmoncourier staff

Mayor Mike Inman (above) paid respect to State Trooper Gerald Ellis during Monday's meeting.

By Steven Barnum news editor

On Election Night Eve, the Macomb City Council approved an ordinance that will allow members of the public to submit proposals to buy property on West Jackson Street.

According to City Administrator Dean Torreson, a local judge ruled that 121 W Jackson and 123 W Jackson will become city property by the end of April.

The buildings were deemed abandoned as of March 26, so city leaders are planning to sell them once they receive the title for the property. The buildings offer more than 20,000 in square footage, but Torreson said their condition is deteriorating.

Requests to purchase the property require those interested to fill out a form detailing the following information: how much money they

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are willing to pay for the property; what their plans are; how long they plan to complete their plans; and what improvements they plan on making to make.

The proposal forms are due April 19 at the city clerk’s office. Torreson estimates that the city could select a winner for the purchase by May and approve the proposal by June.

With unanimous approval, the city council also accepted the proposal from the Macomb Flags of Love and Memorial Bricks.

The group met with the council last week during the committee whole meeting to discuss their plans to honor local deceased war veterans. They typically display 850 flags in Chandler Park, each flag representing a veteran. After running out of space, the group is seeking to include a memorial of bricks to their display.

City Attorney Kristen Petrie

Illinois State Trooper Gerald Ellis (above) was killed last week.

said that the display will be on the south side of the park’s fountain and that the group will be responsible for construction and maintenance. Mayor Mike Inman said that the group worked on their plan for two years and is eager to get started on the project. Given that the display is a popular memorial in the community, the council recognizes the significance.

“I’d really like to thank the committee for the work they’ve done to honor our veterans,” Alderman Annette Carper said. “I really appreciate that.”

In a separate decision, the city of Macomb also decided to reduce the rental registration fees. The initial fee will decrease from $75 to $25 and the late fee will fall from $150 to $50.

During next week’s committee of the whole meeting, aldermen will discuss issuing a special use permit

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sports editor Bradley Piros

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for an individual to use the property at 833 N Lafayette St. to maintenance vehicles.

Petrie said that nobody objected to the request at the planning commission meeting. If approved, the new license will only be able to keep up to 18 vehicles on the property at once, will have to construct a privacy fence, and must have the parking lot paved within one year.

Also on next week’s agenda is a discussion regarding the budget for May 1, 2019 until April 30, 2020. According to Petrie, the budget will total $27,118,312 and Monday will be the official public hearing for the proposal.

To prepare for the 2020 census, Inman named four people with ties to Western Illinois University to the Census Committee. Based on a press release from the Census Bureau, Inman said that citizens can complete all necessary information online, on the phone or through

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mail. To make sure that the city receives the most accurate count and return rate, Inman and fellow members of the Census Committee will attend census-related conferences this week.

Inman congratulated students at Western for their leadership and dedication after raising $160,100 for children with cancer and life-threatening diseases. The campus event, “Dance Marathon,” was held Saturday.

“It was my pleasure to be associated with bringing them greeting and enthusiasm and support from the Macomb community as they engaged in the culmination of years worth of effort,” Inman said.

Inman also recognized Illinois State Trooper Gerald Ellis who was killed Saturday on Interstate 94 in Green Oaks, Ill. Ellis was a Western graduate and father of two children.

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CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS The WC needs your help to maintain accuracy. If you find a factual error, call the WC office at 309-298-1876 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Please ask to speak to an editor to ensure the inaccurate information can be corrected as quickly as possible.

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

NEWS 3

Dance Marathon surpasses goal of 150K

AMANDA WANDACHOWICZ/ PROOFREADER

Dance Marathon raised $160,102.06 to benefit pediatric hospitals and stood for 12 hours to empathize doctors and nurses who do so to help those in CMN Hospitals.

By Marc Ramirez edge editor

Western Illinois University hosted their sixth annual Dance Marathon to benefit children in the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in St. Louis. The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals are a non-profit organization that raises funds and awareness for more than 170 pediatric hospitals across North America. This year the event raised $160,102.06 and 100 percent of the proceeds go to the CMN Hospitals.

The Executive Board, Leadership and Morale teams have been working vigorously for the past 13 months to ensure a smooth running event. These teams managed to raise $61,375.28 internally within the organization.

However, these teams did much more than pull together an impressive amount of money. They planned the event, learned a dance that would be taught over the course of 12 hours and planned various entertainment activities in addition to getting Miracle Families to come speak to the students in attendance.

Arianna Nutile, Evan Wignall

and Libby Peterson all served as Morale Captains. They were responsible for putting together the music for the dances, creating the dance and teaching their team the dance, all in time for the big event. The Morale team was also responsible for meeting at least once a week to learn and perfect the dance.

When asked what her favorite part of the event was, Co-Director of Recruitment Shelby Mech replied that it was the constant uplifting environment of the night.

“I love being surrounded by such positive and strong people who are willing to come together and fight for a stronger tomorrow,” Mech said.

The group of participants started the event by sitting then standing when the spokespeople asked how many in the audience knew or could relate to someone being affected and or treated in a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Whether those affected were themselves, a family member, or a friend, all stood ready to help fight and pledge to stay standing for the remainder of the evening.

During the event, partici-

pants were introduced to the Miracle Children and their families. They told their stories from their diagnosis, to their fight and if they were lucky enough their remission. Miracle Families play a vital role in the event as they show why Dance Marathon exists, to help fight for those who can’t on their own.

“Dance Marathon is an organization that is very important to me,” Tate Dowell, Morale member said. “On a personal level, my brother was treated at one of these hospitals as a kid. So for me to be able to give back to an organization that has helped out my family so much is truly an honor. One of the greatest things about Dance Marathon is the ability to directly interact with families that we help. I know that if I put a smile on these families faces I can help ease a fraction of their pain.”

Dance Marathon encourages students to sign up for Executive Board, Leadership and Morale teams once they open up on PurplePost.

Students who weren’t able to buy Dance Marathon merchandise but still wish to, can do so in the Office of Student Activities.

TATE DOWELL/ COURIER STAFF

TATE DOWELL/ COURIER STAFF

TATE DOWELL/ COURIER STAFF

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OPINIONS

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

WesternCourier.com

Online shopping could kill small communities

JIMMY PIERSON/PRODUCTION MANAGER

Online shopping is convenient and less expensive, but I don’t think it’ll be beneficial in the long run.

I recognize that companies like Amazon offer a lot of positive contributions to our society.

The website’s prices are cheaper than you’ll find at physical stores, they have same-day delivery and they make life much easier for the handicapped, elderly and those without easy access to stores. It’s important to look at both the positives and

the negatives.

Secondly, I also realize that life is a competition and that it’s natural for bigger corporations to swallow up smaller, familyowned businesses. This happened to my parents’ variety store in the 1990s after Wal-Mart came into town and out-priced them on every item. They found other jobs and moved on, but not everyone is so fortunate. On a much larger scale, the ability to shop online is killing jobs that we can’t replace.

In many cases, job stability depends on location. In Macomb, many people relied on places like JCPenney and K-Mart for work, which are now gone.

Even Western Illinois University made cuts recently, which shows the risk that people take when working here. Another town in close proximity, Monmouth, will lose Shopko and Family Dollar.

In rural areas with opportunity that is already limited, it’s critical to maintain what is there.

Not to just pick on Amazon, but I do think that they’re the main reason why brick and mortar is disappearing. Jeff Bezos is an innovator and it’s hard to criticize someone so successful, but the amount of jobs he displaces compared to the amount he of-

fers through his company is not enough.

Then there’s the tax money that towns are not receiving with the increase in online shopping. Smaller communities like Macomb and Monmouth will likely experience the worst of this trend. The mayor of Macomb recently said that the way people are shopping in America now is partially why more and more towns will not have the money to repair roads or pay their employees.

I’m guilty of shopping online at times, but I still try to support local and physical businesses as much as I can. I would encourage everyone who has the opportunity to do the same before we lose too many jobs to

computers. Sure, some items are significantly cheaper to buy online and others we can’t find in stores, but we should consider the potential damage of no longer supporting local businesses.

I don’t know what the best solutions are, but with the impact on the economy that online shopping will create, I think that local towns will have to ask the government for help. I don’t advocate for a world without the Internet or Amazon because we should strive for convenience and competition; however, I’d like to see everyone find a healthy middle ground where they can both save money online with certain items while also contributing money to their community.

College allows you to pick your schedule College is a way for people to further themselves in life and practice different disciplines in an accepted institution. As time goes on, more jobs require someone to obtain a degree so that they can prove their workers are educated and qualified to do certain tasks.

Now, unless you were homeschooled, you had classes Monday-Friday and that was the way you lived basically from K-12. This type of approach has many pros and is why it has stayed this way for so long.

College, however, is completely up to the student and they

are able to choose their classes Monday-Friday.

Even if college had an option for students to have a two or three day class all week, would they take it? We will be discussing why or why not. To analyze such a topic, we must start where it all began: K-12.

What makes having classes every day helpful and what are the potential drawbacks for an adult receiving a higher education? As a kid, most of the time we are told we have so much time. Most of that time was taken up by doing a lot of nothing in the essence of trying to just

be a kid.

This is why when a kid must go to school for five days out of the week, it has little to no effect to most children. Another benefit for a child to be in school most of the time is to gain social skills. Most of us can remember having friends you only see at school that would push you to go when you did not want to.

Small things like these make school less monotonous which anyone, regardless of age, has to deal with. Well what about the education, the reason a student attends school? Well, most students are shown to perform better with more time to go over topics and ask a professor about something.

This extra time may seem mind-numbing for students that understand the material, but most times at least at this

level they are in the minority, so the school will either move that student up or they will have to be patient until the next topic is discussed.

Now, with college there is a difference. The biggest difference is that people going to college chose to go to college. So, within reason, a student has agreed to the rules and regulations that come with higher education. One of which is when the scheduled classes are given.

Usually a class will be either Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or Tuesday and Thursday.

So, either way you get two days off. Now, why would they change the way we do things since K-12? Well for starters some students are not even “traditional” students.

The term “non-traditional student” typically means that

they are an adult with a fulltime job. Some “traditional” students have a 9-5 as well, but these students are mostly trying to maintain their leisure and social life, not a family. Regardless, this is a huge driving force of scheduling college courses.

Another reason this is like this and should remain as such is what it teaches people.

Throughout our time in K-12, we are always told that once we go to college, people will not be holding our hand anymore and that is why time management is a skill that must be learned.

The gloves really do come off once you arrive in college and it is to ensure that the graduates are prepared to have responsibilities unloaded on them, because no one can be a kid forever.

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Faculty Initiates Keith Boeckelman Minsun Doh Student Initiates

“Let the love of learning rule humanity.”

Chapter 137 Western Illinois University wiu.edu/PhiKappaPhi/

Graduates Adebo Olusegun Tunbosun Adedayo Olabode Adekakun D. Vincent Ashby Ezekiel Bocklage Kristian William Clayton Brittany Cordero Autumn A. DeKoster Amanda Reed Dermer Darin Dunphy Emmanuel Esan Chad B. Fess Emily Grooms Victoria Lee Hall Dakota W. Hicks Cole Alan Johnson Ifedayo O. Kehinde Jeffrey S. Lang Maggie Lesniak Berdimyrat Mammedov Mary J. Naughton Hannah K. Nelson Omoikhefe Ihinosen Oarhe Anna Marie Olson Manjula Mahesh K. Ranpati Dewage Sara Ryner Kadidia Samassekou Jeremy Snow Cassandra L. Wallace Jennifer S. Webb-Rea Seniors Douglas L. Averill Jake Bussa Sarah Coombes Alexander Charles Dermer Antonia Genisio Emilie Hahn Rachel Henderson Alexander Knack Benjamin Kolaczkowski John David Luster Ashley Nicole Meenen Leah Murphy Kelsey Daria Roberts

OPINIONS 5

Seniors (continued) Claire Elizabeth Ryterski LeRoy Sthay Nicole Trias Nicole Walker Eli M. Wherley Juniors Nicole K. Beebe Alex Edward Bogdan Bo Brasseur Ryan DeBois Audrey Lucille Fletcher Annabel L. Graettinger Nolan Clark Groenewold Ashley Hancock Payton Huffman Julianna Kessler Hamilton McSwain Paul D. Mitchell Jr. Carlyann Elizabeth Pyles Lance Robinette Allison Seehafer Aaron Christopher Steele Grayson W. Stoik Zachary J. Sutton Khrista Nichole Towle Student Scholarship Recipients Phi Kappa Phi Junior Scholarship ($1,000 each) Carlyann Pyles, junior foreign languages and cultures major Ryan DeBois, junior management major Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship ($500) Nicole Walker, senior double major in forensic chemistry and foreign languages and cultures Undergraduate Research Awards Lowell Grabill Undergraduate Research Award Jenna Brown “Can Fiction Represent History?: An Analysis of the United States from a Different View in History” Advisor: Dr. Marjorie Allison

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

SPORTS

WesternCourier.com

Why the NL Central is the hardest division in the MLB It’s now April 3, and that means it’s time for NHL and NBA Playoffs but more importantly, baseball.

The MLB consists of six divisions: the AL East, West and Central as well as the NL East, West and Central. I’m here to argue, or convince you, that the NL Central is the toughest division in baseball right now.

The NL Central consists of five teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds. None of them are bad. Three of them are really good and the other two are on a steady rise. Let’s break down each team and then regroup.

We’ll do this alphabetically and start with the Chicago Cubs. As hard as it is to admit as a Cardinals fan, the Cubs are good again. Good for them I guess, they deserve a ring. Currently they are last in the Central after four games going 1-3 with 8-6 and 11-10 losses to the Texas Rangers and an 8-0 shutout

to the Atlanta Braves. Of course the Cubs won it all back in 2016 and have most of those players returning yet again. Javier Baez leads the team now with a .389 batting average, two home runs, 6 RBI’s and 7 hits. This team has depth in the batting order including: Jason Heyward, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, Ben Zobrist and Willson Contreras.

And then there’s their two aces Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks, both of them with a start and a win on the season. The Cubs overall have the pieces to make another deep playoff run, that is if they don’t crash out in the NL Wildcard game again. First they have to make it out of the Central.

Onto the Cincinnati Reds. Led by a .400 batting average from Tucker Barnhart along with his .455 OBP, they have no problem hitting the ball. They also have Joey Votto at first base and Jose Peraza at second to holster down the infield.

Then there was the blockbuster

trade over the off-season. The Reds acquired starting pitcher Alex Wood and outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp for righthander Homer Bailey from the LA Dodgers. Cincinnati also received $7 million as the Dodgers were clearing cap space and praying for a Bryce Harper landing. In the end, the Reds came out on top of this deal as long as Puig and Kemp can swing their bats. They’re currently second to last with a 1-2 record after their game earlier this week was postponed against the Pirates.

Moving right along is reigning NL Central champions, the Milwaukee Brewers. I’ve decided that the Brewers are going to be my least favorite team while the Cubs have my least favorite fan base. The Brewers have this guy, his name is Christian Yelich, and he’s pretty good. He won the NL MVP award last season. He hit 36 home runs, had a .326 batting average, 110 RBI’s, .402 OBP and 187 hits. He was also a Golden Glove runner-up. They also have depth going down the batting order with the likes of: Lorenzo Cain, Ryan Braun, Jesus Aquilar, Mike Moustakas, Travis Shaw and Yasmani Grandal. Cain leads the team with seven hits and Yelich

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has already put four over the fence, also batting a .412 average.

He’s got the potential to win backto-back MVP’s, and I really only have one guy in mind that might stop him. Milwaukee currently sits in first place in the division, winning three games out of four against the Cardinals and picking up a fourth win against the Reds.

The eastern-most team in the Central is the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Last year they were led by left fielder Corey Dickerson with his even .300 batting average. Right fielder Gregory Polanco raked 23 home runs, 155 hits and 81 RBI’s.

First baseman Josh Bell led with a .357 OBP. The good news is, all of them returned this season and some other players are looking to step up. Stepping up is: Adam Frazier, Erik Gonzalez, Francisco Cervelli, Colin Moran and Starling Marte and all of a sudden they also have some depth. They sit third in the Central at the moment with a 2-1 record.

Last and certainly not least are the St. Louis Cardinals. Trading for six-time All-Star and threetime Golden Glove winner Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cardinals finally have that big name player

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to finally fill the void that Albert Pujols left after the 2011 season.

He’ll definitely give Yelich a run for his money for the NL MVP. Jose Martinez led last season with a .305 batting average and had 163 hits. Matt Carpenter led the NL with his 36 home runs (tied with Yelich) and had a .374 OBP. Marcell Ozuna had 88 RBI’s, leading the club. Once again, all of these players are returning. “Goldy” already has four homeruns in five games and Kolten Wong is batting .500.

Let’s not forget about nine-time Golden Glove winner, catcher Yadier Molina. I’ll be at the game when the Cards retire the number four, paying respect to arguably the greatest catcher of all time.

Lastly, with Harrison Bader, Tyler O’Neil, Paul Dejong and Yairo Munoz looking to have breakout seasons, the Cardinals have a shot at capturing the Central.

If I haven’t convinced you yet, that’s fine. Just go watch a series between the Cubs and Cardinals, or the Brewers and Pirates and you’ll understand just how hard fought every single win in this division is. It’s honestly a toss up and we’ll just have to wait and watch the absolute dog fight that is the NL Central through 162 games.

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

It may be the start of April, but Tampa will be feeling March Madness for another week as we enter into the NCAA Women’s Final Four at Amalie Arena.

On Sunday, the powerhouse UConn women punched their ticket to the tournament, marking the program’s 12th straight trip to the women’s Final Four.

Oregon joined them, winning their regional final to advance to their first Final Four.

Oregon was led by star guard Sabrina Ionescu, who finished with 31 points. Satou Sabally chipped in 22 points in the 88-84 win over No. 1 Mississippi State. Ionescu,

of another more costly upset Friday when the No. 6 UCLA Bruins entered the fourth quarter with a narrow 50-49 lead.

The Huskies made a comeback for a 69-61 win to continue their historic streak. The win over the UCLA put UConn into the Elite Eight for the 14th consecutive tournament. No other team in history has an active Elite Eight streak longer than two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Notre Dame is heading back to the Final Four for the ninth time after a 84-68 win against Stanford on Monday night.

Jackie Young scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the defending national champions back to the Final Four.

The Fighting Irish will face UConn in Tampa Bay on Friday in a semifinal rematch

Sports 7

The Madness continues in Tampa Bay who is projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft, has already had a triple-double in the tournament to join Stanford’s Nicole Powell as the only players in Division I history with multiple triple-doubles in the NCAA Tournament.

This was Oregon’s second consecutive Elite Eight appearance after falling to then-No. 1 UConn, 90-52, to end their 2017-18 season.

University of Connecticut’s first upset came when they weren’t rewarded a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Women’s Tournament. The No. 2 Huskies were on the verge

from last year. They beat the Huskies and Mississippi State on last-second shots by Arike Ogunbowale to claim their second NCAA title.

Joining Notre Dame with other spot, is No. 1 seed Baylor. The Bears upset the No. 2 seed Hawkeyes 85-53 in the Greensboro Region final of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Baylor earned its first Final Four berth since 2012.

Lauren Cox has 22 points and 11 rebounds, Didi Richards added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Chloe Jackson had 14 points and the Bears (35-1) the top overall seed, won their 27th straight game by shooting 53 percent, clamping down on the AllAmerican Megan Gustafson and her teammates, holding the nation’s best shooting team to a season-worst of

32 percent.

The 6-foot-4 Cox who is a third-team AP All-American pick and 6-7 second-team All-American, Kalani Brown, dominated both the glass and the matchup with Gustafson, the nation's leading scorer at 27.9 points per game.

Baylor is the third team to win each of their game by 25 plus points en route to the Final Four since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994, joining 2010 and 2013 UConn. Both teams went on to win the national championship game.

On Friday, the No. 2 seed Oregon will face off against No. 1 seed Baylor at 7:00 p.m. Following that game, No. 2 seed UConn matches up with No. 1 seed Notre Dame in Tampa. The National Championship will be held on Sunday at 6 p.m.

The Big Dance heads to Minneapolis Welcome to the big dance!

After two weeks and 60 games, only four teams remain to claim the title as national champion.

The contestants are: Michigan State, Texas Tech, Virginia and Auburn.

Only 7,000 brackets submitted the correct final four out of 1 billion. So do we even bother guessing what will happen next? Yes, because shattering expectations is what this tournament is all about.

So far, the biggest expectation that was broken was Michigan State beating the top team in NCAA, the Duke Blue Devils. Coming off three easy victories beating

Bradley University, Minnesota University and Louisiana State University, they stared the juggernaut in the face and brought their A game.

Following in the leadership of head coach Tom Izzo and junior guard Cassius Winston, this team was ready for the challenge. Izzo may be the angriest coach in college basketball. He is known for his screaming matches, red bubbling face and an attitude that is only geared towards winning. Cassius on the other hand, takes his coaches’ words and seems to translate them in a peaceful and exquisite fashion that produces on the court and calms

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everyone down.

Mix that with a strong supporting cast and some March luck, and this team is ready for any challenge that comes their way.

In fact, their next challenge is here in the form of Texas Tech. Their road was a little bit bumpier than Michigan State.

To start, they graduated five of their six top scorers this year and the team is made up of no ESPN top-100 recruits, a man from Italy, transfers and a firstyear head coach that knows no limits.

Texas Tech wasn’t supposed to make the tournament at the start of the season and now they have proven that the best defense in the country can win championships. Sophomore Jarret Culver has had a monster season that launched him onto every draft board in the country.

What makes Texas Tech so

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different is their defense. Some of the best weak side helped the defense in the NCAA with rotations and switches that leave the best offenses scrambling. They have bought into Chris Beard’s scheme that defense can win championships. Now they have their chance to prove it.

On the other side of the bracket, Virginia is taking on Auburn University. The Cavaliers are also all about defense. They lead the NCAA in opponent’s points per game behind the mind of Tony Bennett. Their zone defense stifles even the most prolific offenses. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that they have made it this far, but it seems odd.

That is because the last time they did this was in 1984 and they lost in the first round last year, as the No. 1 seed. The first No. 1 seed to be upset in

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the first round of the NCAA tournament ever. The looming shadow of doubt is finally gone as they rebounded well and are looking to advance to the National title game.

Auburn could care less about all of that. They are here as a No. 5 seed and the Cinderella of this year ’s tournament.

Don’t worry about Auburn, though, they have experience being the underdog, just ask Tennessee. Auburn won the SEC basketball tournament also as a No. 5 seed, beating the Volunteers as the No. 3 seed.

Auburn hasn’t lost in over a month. Twelve straight wins earned them their first trip to the Final Four. Now, they only have to win two more to put the world on its head and become the national champions. Only three games remain, four teams and a dream. Who will take it all?

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Softball swept by North Dakota State in three-game home sereies

By David Koier courier staff

The weather wasn’t on anyone’s side this weekend as the Western Illinois Leathernecks softball team not only battled the North Dakota State Bison, but also had to battle the rain. Due to the rain over the weekend, the doubleheader on Saturday faced a few rain delays that pushed game one back two hours and had game two moved to Sunday.

While game one was being delayed two hours, the two teams found different ways to stay warm and stay loose while still having fun. The two teams met behind home plate during the delay and mixed together to form one giant team circle. With music blasting over the stadium speakers, the two teams played a game that saw NDSU and Western players alike dancing, laughing and singing. This circle showed that even though they are rivals on the field, collegiate athletes can still be friendly and show sportsmanship off the field.

Game one of the series pitted two of the best pitchers in The Summit League in Emily Ira and KK Leddy.

Leddy and Ira appear constantly on top of The Summit League pitching leaderboards with both appearing in the top five in ERA and strikeouts. Leddy topped the Summit in wins (13) and strikeouts (124).

The first two innings of game one saw only a few base runners from both teams but each ace was able to prevent them from scoring. It wasn’t until the top of the third that NDSU was able to find home plate. A few infield singled followed by a few Bison bunts gave NDSU a 4-0 lead after the top of the third.

A homerun by Bison shortstop Montana DeCamp widened the lead to five. The Leathernecks weren’t able to hit the Bison ace and after four full innings the score was still 5-0.

The Bison led the fifth inning with back-to-back singles, causing Western head coach Beth Golitko to pull her ace and place senior Payton Abbott on the rubber. The Bison were able to keep their bats hot and found home plate seven more times in the fifth inning. Golitko made one more substitution on the mound as she replaced Abbott with freshman pitcher

Danielle Rodriguez who was able to get the final out of the half-inning.

The Leathernecks couldn’t best Leddy and a three up, three down bottom of the fifth gave NDSU the 12-0 game one win.

Both teams had to get up bright and early the next morning as game one of the now Sunday doubleheader began at 10 a.m. Just as in game one, Western couldn’t keep up with the red hot bats of NDSU. After three innings of play, Western trailed 6-2 but were able to get on the board due to solo home runs by both Sydney Hollings and Rodriguez. The homer

by Rodriguez marked her first hit as a Leatherneck.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Purple and Gold trailed the Bison 10-3 and were not about to go down without a fight. After NDSU starting pitcher Paige Vargas let up six hits to lead off the bottom of the seventh, NDSU skipper Darren Mueller brought in Leddy to close out the game.

Western was able to score four but weren’t able to complete the comeback as NDSU took game two with a score of 10-7.

The Leathernecks took an early lead in game three after Hollings hit a two run double in the bottom of the first. A single by Abby Carlin and a double by Meghan Henson in the bottom of second gave Western a comfortable 3-0 lead.

A three run homerun in the top of the fifth by Bison catcher Maddie Hanson tied the game for NDSU. Two more Bison players would cross the plate in the top of the seventh inning, giving the team their first lead of the game.

Hollings tried to get something started for the Leathernecks in the bottom seventh as she hit a single down the right field line that scored Jasmine Lara, bringing the Necks within one. The comeback, however, wouldn’t take shape and the Bison completed the three game sweep with a 5-4 win.

Western moved to 1-5 in conference play while the Bison sit atop The Summit League undefeated against Summit opponents.

Western travels to South Dakota State this weekend for a three game series against the Jackrabbits. Game one of Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled for noon.

JOSH PURNELL / PHOTO STAFF

Meghan Henson jogs back to behind home plate.

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Abby Carlin waits for a sign before throwing her pitch.

Right Here at Home for Summer School Western’s 2019 Summer Session offers numerous classes to fit your schedule and your major!

Advance registration for currently enrolled students is April 1-19.

Open registration begins April 22.

Stay on track ... or get ahead ... through a variety of classes in general education and undergraduate and graduate degree programs, delivered in face-to-face, online or extension formats.

Additional summer opportunities include youth summer camps, internships and study abroad.

Visit wiu.edu/summer for more information.