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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Armstrong-Potomac junior pitcher Traxton Roberts committed to the Kentucky baseball program on Thursday.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Congrats to Traxton Roberts. The hard-throwing right-handed junior pitcher from Armstrong-Potomac verbally committed on Thursday evening to play at Kentucky starting in the 2028 season. The Wildcats went 31-26 last season and made the NCAA tournament for the 12th time in program history.
➜ 2. Former Champaign Central cross-country standout Aleigha Garrison has continued to thrive in college. Garrison now competes for Parkland College, and she crossed the finish line first on Thursday at the Heartland Invitational with a winning time of 18 minutes, 41.7 seconds.
➜ 3. Another sign time flies: high school postseason play is on Tuesday and Wednesday with golf regional tournaments.
The Illinois soccer team is on the cusp of reaching 10 wins before October arrives.
Numbers game: 6
Illinois soccer players who have scored goals this season. Sarah Foley leads the Illini with a team-high six, but Emma Yee (five goals), Cayla Jackson (four goals), Lia Howard (three goals), Sydney Stephens (two goals) and Ellen Persson (one goal) have all contributed to Illinois carrying a 9-1-1 record, including 2-1 in the Big Ten, into Sunday’s 1 p.m. home match with Ohio State (4-1-5, 0-0-4) at Demirjian Park in Champaign. Beat the Buckeyes and Illinois will reach a double-digit win total for the first time since 2018.
Southern Cal quarterback Jayden Maivia is the Big Ten’s passing leader heading into Saturday’s game at Illinois.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. No. 21 Southern California at No. 23 Illinois football. Stopping USC quarterback Jayden Maivia is a main focus for the Illini. Understandable since Maivia leads the Big Ten with 1,223 passing yards. But containing Trojans running back Waymond Jordan, who enters Saturday second in the Big Ten with 443 rushing yards, is key, too.
➜ 2. Illinois volleyball at No. 10 Purdue. The Illini opened up Big Ten play against a talented Oregon team on Friday night at Huff Hall and have a quick turnaround to play the Boilermakers (10-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
➜ 3. Cincinnati Bengals at Denver Broncos. Ex-Illini Chase Brown looks to get going for the Bengals on Monday night.
Unity senior Claire Meharry plays volleyball and basketball for the Rockets.
Ask an athlete
Three questions with Unity senior Claire Meharry, who plays volleyball and basketball for the Rockets:
➜ 1. Three athletes I’d like to have dinner with are … Adalia McKenzie, Cori Allen and Riley Barker.
➜ 2. The TV show I most like to binge-watch is … “Grey’s Anatomy.”
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … disorganization and clutter.
