The start of a new school year means MV’s fall sports season gets up and running. A total of 8 sports are played over the Summer to the end of October, and a considerable amount of success followed many of these programs with the hard work they put in over the summer. 

Let’s take a look at every sport one by one and see just what happened with them this season.

We start with the 2022 IHSA 2A XC Regional Champion Men’s Cross Country team. The Running Rams won their first Regional Championship since their 2015 season, and it was a special one, to say the least. 

“I am definitely excited about next season. I am looking for an even more successful year next year,” stated Trey Mygatt ‘24. 

However, they weren’t finished after their Regional Championship win. The Running Rams went on to compete at State for the first time since 2000 and finished 25th overall at the meet. 

In terms of Women’s Cross Country, Head Coach Connie Harre-Blair became the leader in Conference Championships of any MV program. Coach Harre-Blair has coached Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field since the mid-1970’s.

Lady Rams Volleyball ended their season with a 5-26 record, finishing 5th in the South Seven. During the playoffs, the Lady Rams were defeated by the Centralia Orphans with a final score of 2-0 to be eliminated. 

Men’s Soccer capped off their season with an overall record of 1-17-1, 5th in South Seven. Their only win occurred in the 5th game of the season against the Effingham Flaming Hearts in a 9-6 finish. 

This season, the Women’s Golf team won the first Conference Championship in the program’s history. “This season was fun and enjoyable. I loved practicing with the girls and we had a lot of fantastic wins,” stated Maggie Bradford ‘26.

During the Men’s Golf season, Junior Riley Tompkins competed in the boy’s golf Sectional at Waterloo. The team also competed at the Regional Playoff level and placed 7th out of 9 teams overall.

Two of the Women’s Tennis team’s players were sent to State during their season. Alice Feltrin and Katie Fisher qualified for State in the doubles category and competed at the IHSA State Tennis Tournament, going out with one win under their belt. 

Rams Football is definitely back. The Rams started their season with a convincing 40-0 win against the Taylorville Tornadoes and went on to finish with a 5-5 (7-3 without forfeit) record. The Rams won the South Seven conference and earned their spot in the IHSA 5A Playoffs. The Rams matched up against the AP #1 ranked Kankakee Kays and pushed them to the limit, being defeated 16-14, the second-most points the Kays have allowed all season. This was an outstanding turnaround for the Rams, as they finished with an 0-9 record last season.

This season was an exciting one to look forward to during the summer, from Head Football Coach Dan Mings making his return, to our Cross Country team on their road to a state appearance, the fans had a feeling this season was going to be a special one. 

We at the Vernois News Sports Department are thankful to have such a great season of sports here at MV, and we wish all these teams, coaches, and future seasons for other programs good luck.