While the Land of Lincoln has its share of Bulldogs, Eagles, Tigers and other standard nicknames, we also have some more unusual prep mascots. Here are the stories behind some of the most interesting ones

Here is a look at the top softball players from the Sauk Valley area for the 2025 season.

Here is a look at the top baseball players from the Sauk Valley area for the 2025 season.

The William and Beverly Burkardt Family Foundation has awarded 116 scholarships since 2012.

Here is a look back at the top boys basketball players in the Sauk Valley area for the 2024-25 season.

4x400 relay team of Brody Schwartz, Hayden Vinnedge, Eli Ferris and Noah Dewey blazed to a 3:27.90 to secure the win.

Freshman Jillian Hammer who placed third in the 100-meters hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles

The Forreston-Polo boys track team won the 1A Oregon Sectional on Friday, May 29, 2025 edging Winnebago 120 to 117.5. The Cardinals qualified individuals and relay teams to the state finals at Eastern Illinois University. Preliminaries at the state meet begin Thursday, May 29 in Mattoon.

Oregon qualified seven individuals and three relays for this week's state meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Forreston-Polo took second at a competitive field at the Oregon Hall of Fame Hawk Classic on Friday.

Oregon, Erie-Prophetstown, and Forreston were three of 10 teams that competed at the girls Gebhardt-Worley Invitational track meet at Oregon High School on Saturday, April 12, 2025.

Morrison downed the Marcos in baseball and softball action on Thursday, April 10, 2025. The Mustangs beat the Marcos 16-3 and the Fillies shut out the Lady Marcos 16-0.

Dixon won a quad meet at Oregon High School on Thursday, April 3, 2024 beating Forreston, Oregon, and Dakota.

Travis Herrmann allowed three earned runs and one walk in six innings on Thursday as Hinckley-Big Rock knocked off Polo 13-8.

Polo's three-point shooting helped the Marcos edge Earlville 60-55 on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025.

A dozen local wrestlers kept their seasons alive Saturday at the Class 2A Dixon Regional at Lancaster Gym, with three taking titles and three more earning runner-up finishes.

Dixon, Polo, Sterling and others meet Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at Dixon High School for Class 2A individual wrestling. Photos by Brian Hurley - Shaw Local News Network

Camrynn Jones scored 29 points to lead her Marcos to a 51-40 win over Forreston on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025 at Polo High School.

Riverdale and Polo met on the Lady Marcos' home court on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 with the Rams winning the game 54-44.

Lucas Nelson has recorded 100 wins in this high school career and is closing in on the school record for pins.

Oregon won the 17-team Polo Wrestling Invitational with 217.5 points, edging runner-up Fulton (212). West Carroll (104.5) took fourth, Polo (89.5) was eighth and Erie-Prophetstown (65) was 10th among area teams.

The Cardinals outscored the Marcos by 11 points in the second quarter and 22 to 3 in the fourth quarter en route to the 71-27 win on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2024.

High school boys basketball action continued on two courts at the 63rd Annual Forreston Holiday Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. Oregon beat Newman, Forreston downed Milledgeville, and Polo fell to Lena-Winslow. Games continue Thursday and Friday.

The Polo Marcos fell to Warren 48-43 and Forreston lost to Dakota 58-46 during Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 action at the 63rd Forreston Holiday Tournament at Forreston High School.

Here is a look at all 16 girls basketball teams in the Sauk Valley coverage area for the 2024-25 season.

Big plays and a stout defense led Milledgeville to a 28-14 win over rival Polo in the Illinois 8-Man Football Association semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Floyd Daub Field, send the Missiles to the state championship game for the first time in program history.

The Milledgeville Missles punched their ticket to the 8-man state championship game on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024 with a 28-14 win over the Polo Marcos.

Dixon senior QB Cullen Shaner and Newman senior linebacker/running back Daniel Kelly were both named All-State by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association on Wednesday. A number of Sauk Valley 8-man players and honorable mentions were also recognized.

Dixon is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017, Polo rolls to semifinal matchup with Milledgeville, Karter Livengood overcomes stomach virus in Missiles' win, Amboy overcomes adversity and West Carroll wrapped up a successful 8-man debut in Week 11's SVM notes.

The Marcos continued their winning season on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 with a win over West Carroll's Thunder. Polo will now face Milledgeville in the next round.

Dixon hosts a Chicago Ag Science team coming off its first playoff win and Newman heads to Gibson City in the round of 16. In the 8-man quarterfinals, Amboy hosts Martinsville, West Carroll plays at Polo and Milledgeville plays Ridgewood in the Week 11 SVM slate.

The Polo Marcos continued their unbeaten season on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 when they hosted Alden-Hebron in 8-man football action downing the Giants 58-20.

Fulton beat Polo to win a regional volleyball title in Class 1A and Eastland fell short against top-seeded Galena in Thursday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Dixon and Newman are set for home playoff matchups, Eastland-Pearl City plays at Rockridge in a battle of 7-2 teams and four area 8-man teams open the first round in this week's Sauk Valley football slate.

Teams move on to race at sectionals on Nov. 2

The Polo Marcos ended the regular season with a 52-8 win over Orangeville in 8-man football action on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.

Byron'a Tim Starwalt finished third individually among 161 competitors

Oregon swept Dixon and six other area volleyball teams earned wins in Thursday's Sauk Valley roundup. Girls tennis and boys soccer also competed.

Dixon's school-record 71 points were a team effort, Sterling matched last year's win total after a fourth straight victory and unveiled a statue, and more in Week 6's Sauk Valley football notes.

In a bruising Battle for the Blacktop, Polo picked up the momentum early in the second half and rode it to a 30-14 victory over Milledgeville in a battle of Illinois 8-Man Football Association unbeatens.

Polo senior volleyball player Bridget Call, who posted 32 kills in four wins on Sept. 28 to help Polo win its home tournament, is the Sauk Valley Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is her Q&A with Drake Lansman.

Polo football travels to Milledgeville to take on local rivals Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Polo took the win 30-14.

Dixon boys won the Rock River Run, Rock Falls' Ariel Hernandez took second, Sterling volleyball won the Reed-Custer invite, Dixon's Oros edged Sterling's Hubbard in a playoff, Polo volleyball won its home tournament and more in Saturday's Sauk Valley roundup

Sterling's Emily Schwingle placed fifth at the Western Big 6 Conference Meet to earn first-team all-conference, Dixon was second at the Big Northern Meet, and Forreston's Aspen McGlynn was runner-up at the NUIC Meet in Wednesday's Sauk Valley Roundup.

Fourth-ranked Dixon heads to Genoa-Kingston, Fulton and Oregon hope to get back to .500, E-PC hosts Forreston, Newman hosts Orion, E-P plays at Rockridge, Sterling heads to Galesburg and West Carroll can get to 4-0 in the Week 4 Sauk Valley football slate.

Genoa-Kingston fell at Oregon while Hiawatha dropped its game at Polo

The Polo Marcos and Oregon Hawks posted wins in high school football action Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The Hawks edged Genoa-Kingston 3-0 in Big Northern Conference action at Landers-Loomis Field in Oregon while the Marcos shut out Hiawatha 54-O in 8-man action in Polo.

Here is a capsule look at the 2024 boys cross country teams in the Sauk Valley area.

Fulton and Sterling score boys golf victories, plus more in Wednesday's Sauk Valley Roundup.

Sterling has a tough test against Metamora, Newman plays Princeton, Dixon hosts Stillman Valley, and Rock Falls hosts defending state champion Byron. Fulton at Forreston, Le-Win at Morrison, and Ridgewood at Amboy are also intriguing Week 1 matchups in the Sauk Valley area.