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Jul. 23—The start of their senior year in high school is only a few weeks away. But these 10 area athletes have certainly made an impression already based on their strong performances in the past. Sports Editor Matt Daniels breaks down 10 area juniors who stood out during the 2025-26 school year:
1. Cameron Wagner St. Joseph-Ogden
It's not every day a local athlete makes his college commitment live on ESPN. Wagner did, though. The 6-foot-7, 300-pound left tackle for the Spartans picked Oregon ahead of Illinois, Notre Dame and Wisconsin live on 'The Pat McAfee Show,' on May 11 in front of a packed auditorium at St. Joseph-Ogden High School. A highly-touted recruit since he entered high school, Wagner helped the SJ-O football team flourish late in the season as the Spartans finished 8-5 while making a run to the Class 3A state semifinals. He then qualified for the state wrestling meet three months later.
2. Haley Helm Champaign Central
Only one softball player has won The News-Gazette's All-Area Player of the Year three times before. Helm could join former St. Joseph-Ogden standout Bailey Dowling — Dowling won it in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and was the favorite to win it in 2020 before the pandemic wiped out her senior season — next spring. The hard-throwing right-handed pitcher and elite hitting talent has helped elevate the Central softball program to heights it has never reached before. The Maroons don't finish 30-5-1 and advance to the Sweet 16 in Class 3A this past season without the James Madison commit.
3. D'Mario Jackson Danville
Speed travels. Just ask the college coaches at programs like Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Illinois State who are interested in the talented sprinter for the Vikings. Jackson burst onto the scene as a freshman during the 2024 season, kept progressing in 2025 and then stole the show during the 2026 boys' track and field season. He achieved a historic feat by sweeping the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash at the Class 2A state meet in late May in Charleston and has his sights set on repeating the feat again in 2027.
4. Samantha Brown Danville
A talented tennis player in the fall, Brown extends her talents to the track and field in the spring. A key reason why the Vikings finished second as a team at the Class 2A state meet during the 2026 season, Brown capped her junior year at Danville with a state championship in the pole vault. Her accomplishments in that sport where athletes soar in the air came at the same time she had her feet planted on the ground, taking part in state runner-up relay efforts in the 400-meter relay and 800-meter relay, as well, for the Vikings at O'Brien Field on the Eastern Illinois University campus in Charleston.
5. Traxton Roberts Armstrong-Potomac
Pitch count limits and making sure his arm stays fresh well past high school are two reasons why Armstrong-Potomac coach Tom Wolken won't throw Roberts in every game during the 2027 season. Even though he might be tempted to. The hard-throwing right-hander made a name for himself late in the 2025 season when he committed to Kentucky and backed up that this spring. A-P finished 24-4 and won its first sectional title since 2003 thanks to Roberts, who went 4-1 with a 0.42 ERA and struck out 119 in just 50 innings while hitting .494 with three home runs and 30 RBI.
6. Jacey Hageman LeRoy
The Illinois Wesleyan commit has known about LeRoy softball nearly all her life since her dad, Doug, has coached the Panthers since 2014. But father and daughter didn't experience a regular season like the one LeRoy enjoyed in 2026. Jacey was the Panthers' top pitcher, going 24-2 with a 1.70 ERA and 146 strikeouts as LeRoy won its first 33 games en route to an eventual 37-2 overall record and a fifth consecutive Class 1A regional championship. Jacey hit .398 with two home runs and 29 RBI this spring, and also contributes on the Panthers' volleyball and girls' basketball teams.
7. Evan Landers-Kristensen Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
Landers-Kristensen proved himself, too, during this past boys' track and field season. A standout sprinter, Landers-Kristensen topped the field in the 400-meter dash at the Class 1A state meet at O'Brien Field in Charleston with a time of 47.44, more than a second ahead of runner-up Jacob Barth of Auburn. His performance gave GCMS only its third individual boys' track and field state champion, while Landers-Kristensen also qualified for state in the 100 and was part of the Falcons' state-qualifying 1,600 relay. Impressive stuff from the GCMS standout.
8. Lily Sizemore Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
A scoring sensation since he made her debut with the Falcons as a freshman during the 2023-24 season, Sizemore has continued frustrating foes with her abilities every winter. Despite being at the top of opposing scouting reports and seeing essentially every defensive scheme imaginable, the dynamic guard averaged an area-best 23.0 points this past season for a team that finished with a 20-12 record. Heading into her senior season, Sizemore — who verbally committed to Illinois-Springfield in late April — is already the Falcons' all-time leading scorer with 1,948 points.
9. Marcus Otto Arthur-Lovington- Atwood-Hammond
Otto stays busy in the fall with football, in the winter with basketball and in the spring with baseball. The starting quarterback for the Knights in 2025 after splitting those duties in 2024, Otto was an effective runner and passer while distributing the ball to a plethora of capable backs in ALAH's wing-T offense. A solid contributor in basketball, Otto was also effective on the baseball diamond as a pitcher and infielder, hitting .398 with two home runs and 26 RBI for a 21-win team that captured a Class 1A regional championship.
10. Rylie Schulze Champaign Central
A hamstring injury limited Schulze during the latter half of the girls' soccer season, dwindling some of the numbers she accumulated this spring compared to the 2025 season when she won The News-Gazette's Player of the Year honor. Still, Schulze finished with 24 goals and 11 assists in what turned into her final season for a Central team that finished 14-6-1 in 2026 and earned the program its third consecutive Class 2A regional championship. She is set to graduate early from Central before she begins her college soccer career at Eastern Michigan in 2027.
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1. Cameron Wagner St. Joseph-Ogden
It's not every day a local athlete makes his college commitment live on ESPN. Wagner did, though. The 6-foot-7, 300-pound left tackle for the Spartans picked Oregon ahead of Illinois, Notre Dame and Wisconsin live on 'The Pat McAfee Show,' on May 11 in front of a packed auditorium at St. Joseph-Ogden High School. A highly-touted recruit since he entered high school, Wagner helped the SJ-O football team flourish late in the season as the Spartans finished 8-5 while making a run to the Class 3A state semifinals. He then qualified for the state wrestling meet three months later.
2. Haley Helm Champaign Central
Only one softball player has won The News-Gazette's All-Area Player of the Year three times before. Helm could join former St. Joseph-Ogden standout Bailey Dowling — Dowling won it in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and was the favorite to win it in 2020 before the pandemic wiped out her senior season — next spring. The hard-throwing right-handed pitcher and elite hitting talent has helped elevate the Central softball program to heights it has never reached before. The Maroons don't finish 30-5-1 and advance to the Sweet 16 in Class 3A this past season without the James Madison commit.
3. D'Mario Jackson Danville
Speed travels. Just ask the college coaches at programs like Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Illinois State who are interested in the talented sprinter for the Vikings. Jackson burst onto the scene as a freshman during the 2024 season, kept progressing in 2025 and then stole the show during the 2026 boys' track and field season. He achieved a historic feat by sweeping the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash at the Class 2A state meet in late May in Charleston and has his sights set on repeating the feat again in 2027.
4. Samantha Brown Danville
A talented tennis player in the fall, Brown extends her talents to the track and field in the spring. A key reason why the Vikings finished second as a team at the Class 2A state meet during the 2026 season, Brown capped her junior year at Danville with a state championship in the pole vault. Her accomplishments in that sport where athletes soar in the air came at the same time she had her feet planted on the ground, taking part in state runner-up relay efforts in the 400-meter relay and 800-meter relay, as well, for the Vikings at O'Brien Field on the Eastern Illinois University campus in Charleston.
5. Traxton Roberts Armstrong-Potomac
Pitch count limits and making sure his arm stays fresh well past high school are two reasons why Armstrong-Potomac coach Tom Wolken won't throw Roberts in every game during the 2027 season. Even though he might be tempted to. The hard-throwing right-hander made a name for himself late in the 2025 season when he committed to Kentucky and backed up that this spring. A-P finished 24-4 and won its first sectional title since 2003 thanks to Roberts, who went 4-1 with a 0.42 ERA and struck out 119 in just 50 innings while hitting .494 with three home runs and 30 RBI.
6. Jacey Hageman LeRoy
The Illinois Wesleyan commit has known about LeRoy softball nearly all her life since her dad, Doug, has coached the Panthers since 2014. But father and daughter didn't experience a regular season like the one LeRoy enjoyed in 2026. Jacey was the Panthers' top pitcher, going 24-2 with a 1.70 ERA and 146 strikeouts as LeRoy won its first 33 games en route to an eventual 37-2 overall record and a fifth consecutive Class 1A regional championship. Jacey hit .398 with two home runs and 29 RBI this spring, and also contributes on the Panthers' volleyball and girls' basketball teams.
7. Evan Landers-Kristensen Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
Landers-Kristensen proved himself, too, during this past boys' track and field season. A standout sprinter, Landers-Kristensen topped the field in the 400-meter dash at the Class 1A state meet at O'Brien Field in Charleston with a time of 47.44, more than a second ahead of runner-up Jacob Barth of Auburn. His performance gave GCMS only its third individual boys' track and field state champion, while Landers-Kristensen also qualified for state in the 100 and was part of the Falcons' state-qualifying 1,600 relay. Impressive stuff from the GCMS standout.
8. Lily Sizemore Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
A scoring sensation since he made her debut with the Falcons as a freshman during the 2023-24 season, Sizemore has continued frustrating foes with her abilities every winter. Despite being at the top of opposing scouting reports and seeing essentially every defensive scheme imaginable, the dynamic guard averaged an area-best 23.0 points this past season for a team that finished with a 20-12 record. Heading into her senior season, Sizemore — who verbally committed to Illinois-Springfield in late April — is already the Falcons' all-time leading scorer with 1,948 points.
9. Marcus Otto Arthur-Lovington- Atwood-Hammond
Otto stays busy in the fall with football, in the winter with basketball and in the spring with baseball. The starting quarterback for the Knights in 2025 after splitting those duties in 2024, Otto was an effective runner and passer while distributing the ball to a plethora of capable backs in ALAH's wing-T offense. A solid contributor in basketball, Otto was also effective on the baseball diamond as a pitcher and infielder, hitting .398 with two home runs and 26 RBI for a 21-win team that captured a Class 1A regional championship.
10. Rylie Schulze Champaign Central
A hamstring injury limited Schulze during the latter half of the girls' soccer season, dwindling some of the numbers she accumulated this spring compared to the 2025 season when she won The News-Gazette's Player of the Year honor. Still, Schulze finished with 24 goals and 11 assists in what turned into her final season for a Central team that finished 14-6-1 in 2026 and earned the program its third consecutive Class 2A regional championship. She is set to graduate early from Central before she begins her college soccer career at Eastern Michigan in 2027.
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