Erica Foltz’s male athlete to watch for the 2025-2026 school sports year is junior Lucas Bowers of Vandalia.
While known for mainly two sports, Bowers is a three sport athlete that could be a difference maker in all three in his coming junior season. In the Fall in his lesser known of three sports, football, Bowers spent time on the special teams unit and recorded a few tackles and on offense registered a catch for the 2024 season. With the loss of a few key offensive pieces to graduation, Bowers could serve as an option for the Vandals with his long length and reach to stretch the field vertically this season when needed on offense or defense.
On the basketball court last season, Bowers made the move to Varsity and was the fourth highest scorer for the Vandals and logged the sixth highest minutes played on the team. It should be expected that those minutes will expand even more this year as the Vandals see if Bowers can improve on his 56% shooting from the field last year. While an obvious offensive threat in the paint and in the transition game, if Bowers’ mid-range shooting continues to improve as it did in 2024-2025, he could catch opposing defenses off guard and end up creating new offensive opportunities for not just himself, but his teammates as well as defenses stretch and adjust to cover the big man.
In track, Bowers had to overcome an early season injury to reach new heights in the high jump. Hampered by jumper’s knee during the end of indoor season, Bowers would jump the first outdoor meet of the season and reach a new personal record but then had to be off for a month to heal and recover. Once back, Bowers had just a few weeks to get back into the swing of things before Sectionals where he reach another new personal record and punched his ticket to the IHSA State Finals for the first time. With a healthy 2025-2026 and another year of getting even stronger, Bowers could be an early favorite to compete at the Illinois Top Times Indoor Championships and make a return trip to the IHSA State Finals all while inching himself closer to a long held school record in the high jump with both his final two years to try and catch the mark.
Isaac Isringhausen’s male athlete to watch for in the 2025-26 season is Zaine Miller of Altamont.
Coming into the 2024-25 sports season, there was a lot of question marks surrounding the Altamont Indians basketball and baseball programs, but Zaine Miller helped provide answers to a lot of those questions.
Starting with baseball, Zaine made an impact at the plate that is rarely seen out of sophomores at the varsity level. Providing them with a lot of pop in the middle of the order, you could just see him getting more and more comfortable with each plate appearance. His value in the field shined in the spring season as well, being able to play multiple positions including catcher, third base, short stop, and pitcher, Zaine made himself a guy who guy who was impossible to keep out of the lineup, and is expected to do more of the same over the next two years.
In basketball, Zaine had to grow up quickly making the jump from JV to varsity starter, and he made an immediate impact. He was a jack of all trades on the basketball court, finishing fourth on the team in scoring showing off his ability to be a three-level scorer and the versatility to guard and play all 5 positions.
With the Indians returning a lot of talent from last season in both baseball and basketball, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Zaine Miller emerge as one of the top players in the NTC next season.
Erica Foltz’s female athlete to watch for the 2025-2026 school sports year is senior Ollie Whitehead of Vandalia.
Whitehead got off to a good start to her junior year being second on the team in kills for Vandalia volleyball as an outside hitter. With the top outside hitter and top middle hitter/blocker graduating from last year’s team. Whitehead is poised to have a huge season this Fall as she takes another step up in the Lady Vandals offense while also being a stronghold on defense after being third on the team in digs a year ago.
In arguably her strongest sport last year, Whitehead had a breakout season in basketball using her speed to create opportunities for herself and teammates in a quick transition game while also learning to be aggressive off the dribble and in the paint to get to the basket resulting in her being second on the team in points and top on the team in assists and rebounds. This season, Whitehead will be looked upon to take even more of a leadership role with the graduation of three seniors from last year’s team. The Lady Vandals will look to capitalize on speed again and use the transition game for and advantage over their opponents and Whitehead will be the catalyst in that game plan.
On the softball field, Whitehead made the switch from the left side of the infield to the right side this past season, manning second base for the Lady Vandals. Whitehead returns as a two-year starter and will be looked upon to help lead a young core as the Lady Vandals continue to rebuild the program. Whitehead’s speed can be counted upon on the basepaths and if she can reduce her strikeout ratio and match her high level of walks drawn from the 2025 season and continue to raise her on base percentage and OPS, she will be a dangerous weapon for the Lady Vandals in her final high school season.
Isaac Isringhausen’s female athlete he is most looking forward to watching in the 2025-26 season is Madi Miller of BSE/SEB.
When you think back to the success that SEB volleyball and BSE girls basketball had, a lot of that can be attributed to Madi Miller. While Miller did miss a good chunk of the second half of the season due to injury, before she was helping anchor a front row for the Lady Eagles that would always keep opposing teams on their toes, and if she can stay healthy once again, I believe that she can help them to be not only one of the best teams in the EIC, but the NTC as well.
After seeing a lot of time as a freshman, Miller was slotted into the starting 5 as a sophomore for the Lady Bombers, and instantly became one of the best girls basketball players in the area. Miller was able to provide BSE with an inside presence both on offense, and defense, and helped lead them to just their second Regional Championship in program history, and has the tools to be one of the better forwards this winter.
In softball, Miller’s glove made her a valuable piece to the Lady Eagles defense, where she flashed the potential to play multiple positions. While hitting can be a difficult adjustment for underclassmen, Miller’s bat improved throughout the season, making her a tough out in the lineup.
I firmly believe that Madi Miller will help both SEB and BSE girls programs make a ton of noise throughout all of 1-A Illinois during the school year.
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