Lincoln on Lockdown
by Kevin Chlum- News Tribune
February 06, 2009
Lincoln on lockdown
Friday, February 06, 2009
By Kevin Chlum
sports@newstrib.com
In their four seasons, Hall seniors Carly Prokup, Lindsay Wallaert,
Erin Polte and Sara Smoode established themselves as one of the
most talented classes in program history.
The senior foursome has been a part of three regional championships
and a trip to the state tournament. “I don’t know if anybody is
going to accomplish what this senior class did,” Hall head coach
Pat Cinotte said. “Carly, Lindsay and Erin were on the state team.
They’ve won three regionals. I don’t know if a class has ever been
as good as this class with what they’ve accomplished in four years.
What they’ve accomplished has just been amazing. It’s going to be a
long time before we see a class this good.”
After the seniors were honored for their contributions to the
program with a pre-game senior night ceremony, they added to their
already impressive résumé by leading the Lady Red Devils to a 45-40
win over Chillicothe IVC. The win wrapped up a perfect NCIC Lincoln
Division season and Hall’s first conference championship. “It means
a lot. No one has ever done this in Hall High School history,” said
Wallaert, who along with her teammates received “NCIC Champs”
t-shirts. “We’ve been working on it the whole season. It feels
great.”
The Lady Red Devils finished the regular season with a 19-7
overall record and a 10-0 conference mark. “As we know, our
conference is a very tough conference,” Cinotte said. “Anytime you
go to Chillicothe, Rock Falls, Kewanee, Princeton or Mendota, it’s
tough to win. I consider the NCIC to be like the Big Ten
Conference. You have to hold court at home and hope to knock off a
couple people on the road. I’m not sure of the last NCIC girls team
that went undefeated. I’m not sure (our players) realize what
they’ve accomplished. To go undefeated, it’s history.”
