Sophomore Zach Ruwe placed sixth and Heritage was the runner-up on Saturday (Oct. 2) in the boys’ Lincoln Prairie Conference cross-country meet in Arthur.

Ruwe’s 3-mile time was 17 minutes, 7.29 seconds. He ended sixth in a 46-runner field.

Heritage’s other participants were: Robert Holloman (13^th in 18:40.18), Hunter Montgomery (15^th in 18:55.59), Rowan Denmark-Collins (16^th in 19:12.65), Lukas Carey (23^rd in 19:40.65) and Aidan Ashbrook (25^th in 19:54.28).

Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond coasted to the team title with a score of 20 points. Heritage had 59 points. Five schools entered full teams.

The Hawks return to action on Tuesday (Oct. 5) in a four-school meet at Paris.

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Zach Ruwe set the pace on Tuesday (Sept. 21) for Heritage in a four-school boys’ cross-country meet at the UI Arboretum, in Urbana.

Ruwe finished second in a 45-runner field, covering the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 52.11 seconds.

He helped the Hawks to a runner-up team finish.

Urbana Uni High (33 points) was the winner, followed by Heritage (41), Tuscola (69) and Villa Grove (90).

The other Heritage runners were Hunter Montgomery (fourth in 18:36.00), Robert Holloman (11^th in 19:2.65), Rowan Denmark-Collins (12^th in 19:18.78), Lukas Carey (15^th in 19:50.57), Aidan Ashbrook (28^th in 21:43.86) and Cohen Sands (31^st in 22:37.65).

The Hawks return to action on Thursday (Sept. 30) in a 10-school meet at Monticello.

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Led by individual champion Zach Ruwe, the Heritage boys’ cross-country squad captured team honors on Wednesday (Sept. 8) in the Cumberland County Invitational at Neoga.

Ruwe ran the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 31.64 seconds.

Four of his teammates secured top-10 placements.

Hunter Montgomery was third in 19:17.68. Rowan Denmark-Collins was fifth in 19:39.36. Aidan Ashbrook was sixth in 20:34.97 and Lucas Carey was 10^th in 21:16.34.

The Hawks’ other competitor was Cohen Sands, who ended 15^th in 23:25.53.

Three squads fielded full teams.

Heritage was first with 24 points. Toledo Cumberland was second with 44 points and Villa Grove was third with 57 points.

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The Hawks placed ninth on Saturday (Sept. 4) in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic cross-country invitational.

The 26-school event was a flighted race where the No. 1 runners from each school ran only against each other, with other races held for the second through seventh runners from each school.

Heritage was ninth with a score of 295 points. The meet champion was St. Joseph-Ogden with a score of 68 points.

The best Heritage time of the day was by Zach Ruwe, who was 11^th in the race for No. 1 runners with a 3-mile time of 18 minutes, 23.9 seconds.

Heritage’s lone medalist was Hunter Montgomery, who earned a fifth-place finish in the race for No. 3 runners. His time was 19:16.1.

The team’s other competitors were: Rowan Denmark-Collins (11^th in No. 2 race at 19:24.9), Robert Holloman (ninth in No. 4 race at 20:15.9), Aidan Ashbrook (ninth in No. 5 race at 20:46.3), Lukas Carey (ninth in No. 6 race at 21:40.9) and Cohen Sands (12^th in No. 7 race at 23:05.9).

Heritage will return to action on Wednesday (Sept. 8) against Neoga at Mattoon’s Lake Land College.

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The Heritage Hawks placed seventh on Saturday (Aug. 28) in the 10-school Saber Corn Classic cross-country meet at St. Thomas More, in Champaign.

Individually, Zach Ruwe finished in eighth place in a 78-runner field with a 3-mile time of 17 minutes and 57 seconds.

Other Heritage placers were: Hunter Montgomery (36th in 20:35), Rowan Denmark-Collins (39th in 20:55), Robert Holloman (40th in 20:57), Aidan Ashbrook (41st in 21:07) and Cohen Sands (73rd in 28:15).

The Hawks will return to action on Saturday (Sept. 4) at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic.

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Heritage Volleyball

Bri Struck and Bree Buck were the catalysts on Thursday as Heritage dispatched visiting Cerro Gordo 25-16, 27-25 in a Lincoln Prairie Conference match.

Struck piled up seven kills, six digs and five aces. Buck’s stat line included six kills, four digs and three blocks.

Olivia Sorensen handed out 14 assists. Anna Sanders contributed seven digs and Malani Smithenry finished with four digs.

Heritage (11-3 overall, 3-1 conference) plays at Chrisman tonight.

Villa Grove Volleyball

Madison Burwell delivered six kills and teammate Kyleigh Block had three kills and three aces on Thursday as the Blue Devils (7-6) topped visiting Sangamon Valley 25-14, 26-24.

VGH Football

Blake Smith accounted for five touchdowns on Friday – three on passes and two on quarterback runs – as Villa Grove/Heritage reached the .500 mark with a 54-14 win over Sangamon Valley in Niantic.

VG/H (2-2) led 27-6 after the first quarter and 40-6 at halftime.

Shirley opened the scoring with a 1-yard TD scamper.

He completed 4 of 4 passes for 73 yards and hooked up with Carson Howard twice for TDs, covering 24 and 32 yards. Lerik Sorenson also had a 15-yard TD reception.

Kehm Shirley, who rushed for a team-high 106 yards, scored one TD.  As a team, VG/H rolled up 310 yards o the ground.

Ezra Ely scored one TD and converted six extra-point placements. The Blue Devils’ other TD was by Luke Zimmerman on a 31-yard run.

Villa Grove/Heritage returns to action at home on Friday against Cerro Gordo/Bement (2-2)

VGH Golf

Zach Buesing shot a 39 on Thursday at Tri-City Country Club to lead the Blue Devils in a three-school meet. VG/H did not have enough players to post a team score.

VGH Boys’ cross-country

The Blue Devils placed 19th in Saturday’s 42nd Tuscola Invitational at Wimple Park.

The team-leader, with a 3-mile time of 18:52.88, was freshman Rowan Denmark-Collins.

All five of the VG/H participants are freshmen or sophomores.

Teammates following Denmark-Collins were sophomore Kylee Witte (129th in 22:04.37), sophomore Kaleb Miller (144th in 23:45.5), freshman Fletcher Hannah (158th in 26:17.88) and sophomore Konner Pearman (160th in 26:28.04).

Meet champion Urbana Uni High had a team s core of 26. VG/H’s point total was 497.

The team returns to action on Tuesday against Urbana Uni High at the UI Arboretum.

VGH Girls’ cross-country

Kyleigh Price was the Villa Grove/Heritage leader in Saturday’s 42nd-annual Tuscola Invitational at Wimple Park.

Her 3-mile time was 24 minutes, 31.95 seconds.

Other top teammates were Emma Buesing (80th in 24:41.01), Madison Logan (106th in 27:21.80) and Kate Eisenmenger (114th in 29:07.47).

Price, Buesing and Logan are all freshmen. Eisenmenger is a junior.

The Blue Devils did not have enough runners to be scored as a team. The meet champion was Unity with 32 points.

VG/H returns to action on Tuesday at the UI Arboretum against Urbana Uni High.

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Heritage High School volleyball evened their season record (1-1) with a two-set sweep at Salt Fork on Thursday, 25-22, 25-23.

Olivia Sorensen handed out 17 assists. Bri Struck (seven kills) and Aliya Holloman (five kills) were the offensive catalysts. Struck and Anna Sanders each collected six digs.

Holloman served two aces and totaled two blocks. Bree Buck also had two blocks.

Heritage will return to action on Tuesday at Oakwood.

Villa Grove/Heritage Football

The Blue Devils suffered a 55-14 first-game loss at state-ranked Tuscola on Friday. Tuscola was tied for second in the first Class 1A state poll.

Kehm Shirley was the top VG/H ground-gainer, rushing for 106 yards on 15 carries. As a team, the Blue Devils had 181 yards rushing on 38 attempts.

Shirley scored one touchdown. Logan Nohren scored the second TD on a 3-yard pass from Blake Smith.

Smith was 5 for 15 passing for 60 yards. Carson Howard hauled in two of the receptions, totaling 24 yards.

The other VG/H points were on two conversion kicks by Zayzen Price.

Tuscola built a 34-0 lead before Shirley scored on a 10-yard run.

The Blue Devils return to action on Friday at home against Tri-County (0-1).

Girls’ cross-country

Villa Grove/Heritage finished 14th as a team in Saturday’s Saber Corn Classic, at St. Thomas More.

Teammates Kyleigh Price and Emma Buesing finished next to each other. Price was 57th with a 3-mile time of 24 minutes, 3.9 seconds. Buesing was 58th in 24:13.8.

Other team leaders were Kate Eisenmenger (74th in 27:14.3), Allison Kneer (75th in 27:18.1), Madison Logan (78th in 27:32.8) and Regan Blanton (84th in 30:12.5).

The team returns to action in Saturday’s Cowchip Classic, at Chrisman.

Boys’ cross-country

The Blue Devils didn’t have enough runners to be scored as a team, but had four individuals compete in Saturday’s Saber Corn Classic, at St. Thomas More.

Rowan Denmark-Collins was the VG/H leader with a 3-mile time of 19 minutes, 38.8 seconds.

The team’s other competitors were Kaleb Miller (104th in 23:10.1), Kylee Witte (109th in 24:01.6) and Fletcher Hannah (111th in 4:21.9).

VG/H is back in action on Saturday in Chrisman’s Cowchip Classic.

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