Hillsboro High Sports | The Journal-News

Jenna Matli (left) was Lincolnwood’s number two scorer with a 55 and helped the Lady Lancers to a second place finish at their home meet on Monday, Aug. 14.

Lincolnwood Girls Golf Runner-Up At Home Meet

The Lincolnwood girls golf team hosted their first home match of the season on Monday, Aug. 14, shooting a 220 to finish second. North Mac and South County would be on either side of the Lady … more

8/17/23

Fans To Get First Look At Toppers

High school football season is here, almost. Hillsboro’s sports drink game is tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 18, at Sawyer Field. Introduction of the 61 players on the roster begins at 6 p.m. (an … more

by Ron Deabenderfer | 8/17/23

Hillsboro sophomore Colton Weiss was a sectional qualifier last year and picked up where he left off, taking 10th individually at the Toppers’ opening tournament, the Taylorville Invitational on Aug. 10.

Hillsboro Boys Pick Up Where They Left Off

The Hillsboro High School boys golf team started off the 2023 season with a pair of tournaments on Aug. 10 and 11 in Taylorville and Fillmore. The team returns four starters from last year and showed … more

8/14/23

Lady Hiltoppers To Host Alumni Volleyball Tourney

The Hillsboro High School volleyball team will be hosting an alumni volleyball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Hillsboro High School gym. The cost of the tournament is $75 per team and … more

8/3/23

Fans of Hillsboro soccer will be able to see their teams in a whole new light thanks to the generosity of a community that raised $80,000 to light the high school soccer field at the Hillsboro Sports Complex. Thanks to donations of labor, knowledge and funds, kids in Hillsboro will have the opportunity to play more soccer as lights will allow the high school teams to play more junior varsity games and move game times back to allow for more time for parents and fans to get to the games.

Soccer Project Shines Light On Community Effort

As good as, “If you build it, he will come,” sounds great in Field of Dreams , but what Kevin Costner’s character manages to avoid in the classic film is how to pay for it. … more

8/3/23

Four members of the Hillsboro girls tennis team, from the left, Layla Spinner, Aubrey Reincke, Claire Matthews and Zoey Spinner, competed in Greenville's end-of-summer tennis tournament on July 29. The players, who will be hosting a fundraising bake sale on Aug. 4, squared off against doubles and singles entries from Greenville, Mascoutah and Highland.

Hillsboro Girls Tennis Team Hosting Bake Sale

The Hillsboro High School Girls Tennis Team will be hosting a bake sale on Aug. 4, at the IGA and Montgomery County Realty parking lots. The sale will start at 9 a.m. and run until sold out or 1 p.m. … more

7/31/23

Montgomery County's all-conference baseball and softball players were Hillsboro's Anika Camp, Litchfield's Bella Roach; Hillsboro's Nathan Matoush, Litchfield's Carson Saathoff and Hillsboro's Ketch Mills.

Five Named To SCC All-Conference Teams

Five Montgomery County players were among those honored by the coaches of the South Central Conference on this year’s SCC all-conference baseball and softball lists. Hillsboro had three … more

7/20/23

Members of the Hillsboro High School football team lent a hand at the 21st Annual Rich Sanders Memorial Topper Golf Scramble on Saturday, July 15, at Indian Springs Golf Course near Coffeen. From the left are Treyton Kuhl, Alec Leetham, Drake McSperritt, Chase Knetzer, Hayden Tittsworth, Cole Lenczycki, Dylan Lessman, Zander Wells, Hunter Payne, Jace Stewart, Logan Gill, Wyatt Chappelear, Jaden Loskot, Rheece Malloy, Austin Newingham, Westin Fenton, Daniel Kenny, Caleb Page, Ethan Hamby, Brady Elliot, Cody Boerckel, Ethan Neece, Cody Payne, Liam Kalar, Olan Lentz, Landon Reincke, Trenton Phillips, Amony Anderson Claybrook and Elijah Patton

Toppers Benefit From Annual Golf Tourney

The team of Son Clayton, Jim Eickhoff, Danny Eickhoff and Alex Eickhoff took first place at the 21st Annual Rich Sanders Memorial Topper Golf Scramble on Saturday, July 15, but the big winners on the … more

7/20/23

Toppers Welcome Rochester, Lutheran North To Town

After making a return to the football playoffs last year, the Hillsboro Hiltoppers got the opportunity to learn some lessons from two teams that know a thing or two about winning in the postseason on … more

7/13/23

About 60 children from the Hillsboro School District and other local communities joined the fun with the Topper football staff and players to learn the fundamentals of football at the Troy Helton Memorial Youth Topper Football Camp.

Youth Enjoy Inaugural Troy Helton Football Camp

The family of the late Troy Helton, who passed away in January 2022, hosted the inaugural Troy Helton Memorial Youth Topper Football Camp June 7-9 at Hillsboro High School. About 60 children … more

6/12/23

Hillsboro High School tennis players Ryder Hoover (left) and Aubrey Reincke (right) got a little time on the courts with Alexandria Rayford recently. Rayford, the new weekday morning anchor at WICS-TV in Springfield, played tennis for Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, and talked to the girls about her experience there.

WICS Anchor Rayford Talks Tennis With Lady Hiltoppers

Four members of the Hillsboro High School girls tennis team had the chance to pick the brain of a former college player and welcome a new face to the Midwest recently. Auburey Reincke, Ryder … more

6/8/23

Members of the Hillsboro High School girls soccer team who earned spots on the all-conference team were honored by Coach Dave Mattson during an end-of-season awards banquet on Tuesday, May 30, at the Hillsboro Sports Complex. From the left are third team all-conference members Ava Pollard and Allie Kuhns; second team all-conference members Avery Walden, Sierra Compton and Isabella White; and first team all-conference honorees Sally Mattson and Kinley Richardson.

Ten From County Earn All-SCC

Seven Hillsboro players and three Litchfield players earned all-conference accolades from the girls soccer coaches of the South Central Conference by virtue of their play this past season. … more

6/1/23

With the O'Brien Field press box in the background, Hillsboro High School senior Tanner Clayton goes up for one of his attempts at clearing 3.8 meters in the pole vault at the IHSA Class 1A State Finals track meet in Charleston on Thursday, May 25.

Hard Work Pays Off For Toppers With Trip To State

Brayden Fowler, Tanner Clayton and Blaze Helton knew their track season was going to come to an end last week, but the question for the three Hillsboro High School seniors was whether it would be the … more

by Kyle Herschelman | 5/30/23

2023 A Test For Hillsboro Baseball Team

When a team in any sport on any level wins only 10% of their games, multiple reasons come together, and all are hard to separate. The physical, statistical reasons are easier to sniff out than the … more

by Ron Deabenderfer | 5/30/23

After finishing fifth at state last year in the high jump, Hillsboro Junior High eighth grader Jaida Linn cleared 5'1" and beat Beardstown's Jenny Bongo in a jump-off to claim the state championship in the event on Saturday, May 20, at the IESA State Finals in East Peoria.

Linn Reaches New Heights At State Meet

For the fifth time since 1985 and the first time since 2017, Hillsboro Junior High is the home of an IESA track state champion. Hillsboro eighth grader Jaida Linn cleared a 5’1” in … more

5/25/23

Hillsboro's Dylan Lessman (center) sprints toward the finish line in the 200 meter dash at the Gillespie Sectional on Thursday, May 18. Lessman finished 10th in the 200, but also scored points for the Toppers in the 100, where he finished sixth, and 400, where he finished third.

Topper Track Has A Senior Moment At Sectional

There is a lot of young talent on the Hillsboro boys track team, but on Thursday, May 18, at the Gillespie Sectional, the night belonged to the three seniors on the Hiltoppers’ roster. … more

5/22/23 | 1 comment

Sixteen young athletes from Hillsboro Junior High will be in East Peoria on May 19-20 for the IESA State Finals track Meet after qualifying for state at the sectional in Gillespie on May 13. In front, from the left, are Aubrey Baldwin, Jaida Linn, Briley Kirby, Amya Greenwood and Kamdyn Putnam. In the second row are Kaelin Cress, Aubrey Huber, Bailey Chappelear, Sophia Watkins and Piper Walk. In the back row are Joseph Lanter, Hunter Davis, Jermaine DeClue, Tytin Wells and Sawyer Hindle. Not pictured is Elijah Patton.

Dragons Have Medals In Mind At State

Two relays and two high jumpers from the Hillsboro Junior High girls track team advanced to the IESA Class 3A State Finals after their success at the Gillespie Sectional on Saturday, May 13. The … more

5/18/23

Hillsboro Boys Send Five To State

The Hillsboro Junior High boys track team qualified for state in five events on Saturday, May 13 at the IESA Class 3A sectional in Gillespie. Four of the five events are on the eighth grade … more

5/18/23

Bailey Leach of Pleasant Plains (#17) tries to shield Hillsboro's Sierra Compton from the ball during the first half of the sectional semifinal game in Riverton on Tuesday, May 16. Leach had one of the Cardinals' six goals in their 6-0 win over the Hiltoppers that moved them on to face Sacred Heart-Griffin in Friday's championship game.

Plains Ends Toppers Season In Sectionals

Suffocating. That was how the Hillsboro defense played on Tuesday, May 16, in the Riverton Sectional semifinal soccer game against Pleasant Plains, especially in the first half. Unfortunately, the … more

5/18/23

Litchfield's Emma Walch takes a cut at Anika Camp's offering from the circle during the regional quarterfinal game between the Purple Panthers and Hillsboro on Monday, May 15. Walch, one of four seniors on the Litchfield squad caught the pitch square and sent it over the fence for the final two runs in the Panthers' 7-3 victory over the Lady Hiltoppers in Greenville.

Panthers Knock Off Hillsboro At Regional

It took a few innings, but once the Litchfield-Mt. Olive softball team got rolling on Monday in Greenville, they were hard to stop. The Panthers overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score seven runs … more

5/18/23