Allerton Half Marathon gallery is back

Kasie Bean runs during the Allerton Half Marathon on April 11, 2015. As we continue the process of migrating our photo archive to a new online archive, this is one of 290 photos uploaded today from the charity race a year ago this past April. Proceeds from the race were donated to the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Bean went on to finish in 81st place overall with a time of 2:05:02.5. View more running photos from the race . . .

Flashback Friday: 10 silly photos from the inaugural Crazy K

This week's Flashback Friday feature takes a look at some of the awesome race photos we shot at five years ago at the Car-X Crazy K race held at the Champaign Country Fair Grounds back in 2011.

The was a lot of mud, sweat and soap from the annual race that raised money for several worthy charities in Champaign County.

According their website, "... the Crazy K has seen over 6,000 participants and has raised over $300,000 for more than 30 local charities, culminating in a record year in 2015." That's pretty impressive fundraising from an event that runs only once a year.

Below is a peak at some our best photos from the race. See hundreds more in the entire race gallery from the inaugural Crazy K in our photo archives here: Crazy K race gallery.

Competing on the Not Over the Hill Yet team, Shirley LeMay, of Champaign, crawls through one of the tunnels along the course at the 2011 CarX Crazy K. She finished 235th overall with a time of 32:25 in the team division. Over 600 athletes from around state participated in the 5K event that featured 10 other obstacles.

 
Jackson-10 team member Revi Chellappa, of Champaign, gets soapy in the car wash obstacle at the 2011 CarX Crazy K. She finished 561st overall with a time of 52:27 in the team division.

 
Dawson Dodds, who went on to become one the top area high school long distance specialists, slips while he trying to run up the mud hill obstacle at the 2011 CarX Crazy K. He finished first overall with a time of 23:37 in the middle school division.

 
Karen Berry and Sharon Harper, vocalists for Sister Groove & The Cross Town Jam, belt out a classic rock tune providing entertainment for spectators and the athletes during and after the race on Saturday.

 
Keeping his eyes shut tight, Travis Stanke, of Mahomet, jumps into the mud pit obstacle 100 yards from the finish line. He finished 19th place overall with a time of 28:32 in the open division.

 
Giving her all for Team FCA 3, Charis Washington, of Champaign, runs through the mud pit obstacle. She finished 271st place overall with a time of 33:44 in the team division.

 
Costumes were optional for the Crazy K race. Here, two participants make their way through the mud pit as fast as they can.

 
Grateful Dads team member Todd Esker, of Mahomet, slips as tries to runs up the mud hill obstacle. Esker went on to finish 35th overall with a time of 25:12 in the team division.

 
Amy Randall, of Champaign, grabs the hand of Team Larkin teammate Laura Curtis while on the mud hill obstacle. She finished the course 554th overall with a time of 51:54 in the team division.

 
Members of the "What were we thinking?" team, (left to right) Vaughn Wilson, Liz Wilson, Nickey Woods, Revi Chellappa and Angela Jackson pose for a group photo between obstacles on the course at the CarX CrazyK on Saturday. There hundreds more great photos in our Crazy K race photo gallery.

 

First volleyball gallery added to the PhotoNews Stacks

Back in August of 2014 St. Joseph-Ogden won their volleyball home opener with Bismarck-Henning, 25-11, 25-19. The win improved the Spartans' early season record to 2-0.

One of three volleyball galleries we've put in the new Stacks section of our online photo gallery, here is a look at five of the editor's favorite photos from that game. See and share all 41 photos here . . .


Spartans' Alyssa Beals leaps high above the net for a block on a Bismarck-Henning kill attempt. St. Joseph-Ogden won their season home opener, 25-11 and 25-19, over the visiting Blue Devils. SJO improves to a 2-0 record in early season play.



Jordan Ehmen communicates with fellow SJO players during game 2.



SJO head coach Abby McDonald directs players in game 2 against the visiting Blue Devils.



With teammate Olivia Owens looking on, Spartans' Rachel Mullen passes the ball forward to the setter.



Spartans' Kylie Michael (right) reacts after her team loses a point during game 1. The rest of the photos are here . . .

Five fab photos from Unity's opener at St. Teresa

Unity running back Keaton Eckstein is brought down from behind by St. Teresa's Joey Martini during their first half action of their non-conference game. The Rockets, last season's state runner-up in Class 3A, were stunned by a stubborn Bulldog program 27-0 in their 2016 road opener on Friday.

Unable to kick start their normal offensive juggernaut into anything above second gear, Unity was limited to moving the down the field in spurts. Four costly turnovers frustrated the team's effort to get the ball closer than 15 yards from the end zone nearly the entire game.

"Good teams take advantage of things and they did," explained Unity head coach Scott Hamilton.

Eckstein, who led the Rockets ground attack, finished the game with 61 yards after 14 carries. Click here to see the entire game gallery . . .



Unity's Steven Migut and St. Teresa's John Bryles dive after a loose ball during their first game of the season. Migut, who also tossed two interceptions, finished the game 4-fo-12 for 69 yards passing and tallied a mere 33 yards on 11 carries in the loss.



Loyal Unity fans watch their team from behind the end zone during the Rockets' first game of the season.



Unity's Kyle Cooper tries wrap up St. Teresa's Jacardia Wright during their first game of the season. Cooper finished the contest with 4 solo tackles and 4 assist. With Wright's help the Bulldogs generated 448 yards of total offense in their non-conference victory.



Unity back-up quarterback Evan Miebach is chased by a contingent of St. Teresa lineman including Nik Velchek and John Bryles while playing in the fourth quarter of their non-conference game. The Bulldog defense held the Rockets scoreless allowing just over 200 yards of offense.

"We've worked hard at it. We do pursuit drills. We do our linemen drills every day. We do tackling drills every day," said St. Teresa head coach Mark Ramsey explaining how his team was able to keep last year's Class 3A runner-up out of the end zone. He was proud with the incredible effort his defensive players gave on the gridiron. "We aren't doing anything fancy. They just played hard."

Click here to see the entire game gallery . . .

2014 football archive live in the PhotoNews Stacks

Last week we announced a new section to our online photo archive called the Stacks. The Stacks, images published previously on the PhotoNews site, are slowly being built with exciting photos from our archives. The first pictures to moved into the new area of the website are our collection from the 2014 football season. Here's a look the editor's favorite photos from that fall.

September 12, 2014 - Urbana, IL - Urbana's Jaleen Jones bobbles a punt during second quarter action against Central. The Maroons defeated the Tigers 44-26 in regular season Big 12 Conference action on Friday. Central improved to 3-0 on the season while Urbana falls to an 0-3 start. See more photos from the rivalry game between Urbana and Central in our archives here.



November 1, 2014 - Tolono, IL - Rockets' Chandler Cousins is wrapped up by Bruins' Justin Shaw during first half action in their Class 3A first round playoff game on Saturday. Thanks to an explosive second half effort, Unity rolls to 34-18 win over visiting St. Bede. View all 73 images from this game in the PhotoNews Stacks ...



Members of the Rockettes, Unity's dance team perform during halftime of their football team's home playoff game against St. Bede.



November 1, 2014 - St. Joseph, IL - Spartan's Cole Berry makes a leaping catch in the end zone for his team in the first half against the Panthers. St. Joseph-Ogden defeated Erie-Prophetstown 48-34 in their Class 3A first round playoff game on Saturday. See more photos of Berry and the SJO football team against visiting Erie-Prophetstown here ...



September 6, 2014 - Champaign, IL - After faking a handoff to Austin Maltbia, quarterback Jimmy Fitzgerald looks to throw during the Chargers' home game against the visiting Marion High School Wildcats on Saturday. Fitzgerald, who suffered a season-ending injury near the end of the first half, scored two touchdowns in the rout. In the first half before the took the shot to his right knee, the Illinois football recruit passed for 195 yards and was 14 for 16 on completions. The Chargers went on to win 42-13 home win and improve to 2-0 on the season. See more game photos by Clark Brooks here . . .



August 29, 2014 - St. Joseph, IL - Spartans Janssen Sage and Nolan Woller bump in the air during team introductions at SJO's first game of the season. After two first quarter touchdowns, St. Joseph-Ogden went on to defeat visiting Paxton-Buckley-Loda in their season home opener, 27-7. Check out the 82 more great photos from the game in the PhotoNews Stacks here: SJO vs PBL photo gallery.



September 6, 2014 - Champaign, IL - Student fans do the Charger Rumble with their cheerleaders during the first half of Centennial's home football game against Marion on Saturday. The Chargers went on to beat the visiting Wildcats 42-13 improve to 2-0 on the season. The stunning victory moved the team to #4 in the Associated Press' Class 6A rankings. See more fan photos from the game . . .



September 19, 2014 - Champaign, IL - Montrel Moore carries the ball on the opening kick return in their 'home' game against Centennial. The Maroons suffered a 40-14 loss to the Chargers in their battle of the Big 12 unbeatens and 2014 Homecoming game on Friday. Forty-five more photos from the game can be seen here: Centennial vs Central game gallery.