After tying the school record with a 10-2 season and third-ever trip to the state quarterfinals, the Dixon Dukes will lean on their experience in the trenches to build on that this fall.

After snapping a 6-year playoff drought with back-to-back playoff berths, the Oregon Hawks are hoping to take the next step this fall in the postseason.

Bella Duncan’s statistics were eye-popping, while her energy and enthusiasm were infectious for a Morrison team that reached its first Sweet 16 since 2017. Duncan is the SVM Softball Player of the Year for 2025.

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

Shaw Local newspapers received a combined 33 awards Thursday, June 5, 2025, in news contest categories that included general excellence, photography, news writing, opinion writing, design, community service and editorial pages.

It was an exciting night for the Rock Falls track teams with both the boys and girls meets at Princeton’s Ferris Invite coming down to the very final race in the 4x400 relay. No race was more exciting than the boys’ 4x400 where the Rockets edged Princeton by 1/100th of a second

SVM Photographer Alex T. Paschal shares his favorite photos of the year and gives an inside look as to what makes each special.

Take a look back at favorite news and feature photos in the Sauk Valley for 2024.

Take a look at photographer Alex T. Paschal's favorite sports photos in the Sauk Valley for 2024.

Wedding-centric businesses can sign up now for next year’s Sauk Valley Wedding Expo, set for Feb. 2 at Northland Mall.

Newman defeated Chicago Hope 50-22 in Class 1A 1st round football at Sterling High School on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.

Senior Night at Musgrove Fieldhouse kicked off with Delali Amankwa being honored for breaking the all-time career assists record at Sterling. It ended with Amankwa setting her final assist to fellow senior Carley Sullivan for a thunderous kill in a 25-10, 25-10 win over Mendota.

Get caught up on news, sports and features from the Sauk Valley for the week of May 31-June 7, 2024.

Get caught up on news, sports and features in the Sauk Valley during the week of May 24-31, 2024.

The Newman baseball team is determined to show that Friday’s 11-1 loss in five innings to Maroa Forsythe at Dozer Park in the Class 2A state semifinals was not characteristic of their team.

Get caught up on Sauk Valley news, sports and features from the week of May 17-24, 2024.

Get caught up on Sauk Valley news, sports and features from the week of May 10-17 2024.

Get caught up on news, sports and features from the Sauk Valley for the week of May 4-10, 2024.

Get caught up on news, sports and features from the Sauk Valley for the week of April 27 to May 3, 2024.

Photographer Alex T. Paschal shares insight into capturing photos that show the excitement of Manufacturing Day at Sauk Valley Community College.

Get caught up on news, sports and features from the week of April 20-27, 2024 in the Sauk Valley.

Get caught up on news, sports and features in the Sauk Valley from April 13-19, 2024.

Get caught up on news, sports and features from the week of April 7-13, 2024 in the Sauk Valley.

Solar eclipse watchers checked out the star of the show Monday on the east lawn of Sauk Valley Community College.

Eclipse watchers checked out the star of the show Monday, April 8, 2024, on the east lawn of Sauk Valley Community College.

Get caught up on news, sports and features in the Sauk Valley during the week of March 1-8, 2024.

Take a look back to the sports photos of 2023 chosen by photographer Alex T. Paschal as his favorite of the year.

Take a look back to the news photos of 2023 chosen by photographer Alex T. Paschal as his favorite of the year.

Here are Sauk Valley Media photographer Alex T. Paschal's choices for his favorite SVM photos of the year.

No. 2 Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio (12-0) will play No. 9 Ridgewood (10-2) for the 8-Man State Championship at 7 p.m., Friday at Monmouth College. Here's what to know.

The Sauk Valley Media All-Star boys basketball classic featured players from the Sauk Valley playing for either Team Gazette or Team Telegraph Thursday, June 15, 2023 at Sauk Valley College.

The Sauk Valley Media All-Star basketball classic featured players from the Sauk Valley playing for either Team Gazette or Team Telegraph Thursday, June 15, 2023 at Sauk Valley College.

Oregon Ganymedes defeat the DuPage Plowboys on a hot Saturday in Grand Detour.

It was hot. It was sunny. Mix in the back lawn of the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour and a couple of bags of Cracker Jack and voila: You have the perfect setting for an Oregon Ganymedes’ “base ball” game.

The Newman Comets hit the ball hard and found the gaps. The Sterling Golden Warriors hit the ball hard and found Newman gloves. And the Comets scored in every inning in a 24-3, four-inning win Wednesday at Gartner Park.

Sauk Valley Bridal Fair will be Sunday, Feb 5 from noon to 3 p.m. at Northland Mall, located on Route 2 in Sterling.

A handful of Dixon High School students took part in a demonstration Wednesday after a student was assaulted Monday at the high school by another student. The victim and other students say the incident, which was videotaped and shared on social media, happened because the victim is gay.