One of the pleasures of covering high-school sports is meeting so many wonderful people, be it players, coaches, parents, administrators, referees and fans. One such person is Forreston coach/teacher Jake Groom.
I was surprised to learn earlier this year that he is leaving the place where he grew up and later returned after college to work at. Not only that, but there is a lot of young talent coming back on the basketball team, of which he was head coach.
So, why would a 31-year-old take such a detour in life?
“If I didn’t feel a calling, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Groom said. “I still love what I am doing at Forreston. It will be a huge adjustment leaving. I’m fighting a lot of emotions right now. Formers students have stopped in to see me.”
His plan is to join the Army, specifically the Ranger Regiment, with hopes of becoming a chaplain’s assistant.
“At my age, the Ranger Regiment is no joke,” Groom said. “If I don’t make it, God’s got me in a different spot to help people.”
Now it’s making sense to me. Being a humble servant to those around us is a surefire way to spiritual enlightenment. Certainly, here is no more noble gesture than service to humanity.
However, committing four years of one’s life to the armed services is a bit different at age 31 than 18.
“It seems like everything that has happened along the way this year has verified I made the right decision,” Groom said. “And at worst, it’s only four years away. If it doesn’t work out, I can come back. I will see where the good Lord takes me.”
One thing Groom feels comfortable with is leaving the basketball program in good shape. The 2012 Forreston grad joined a long list of home-grown individuals that return to coach at their alma mater.
Likewise, with Robert DeVries taking over as head basketball coach and Brandon Fyock and Jonathan Schneiderman assisting.
“The right people are taking it over,” said Groom, who even sold his house to DeVries and missed the last day of the boys state track meet to attend his wedding.
That’s a good segue way to the final IHSA event of the Ogle County sports calendar that we had competitors in – the boys track & field meet in Charleston.
In 1A, Forreston-Polo (and I emphasize both schools, as the program is only referenced downstate as the Forreston Cardinals) made its presence felt. Yes, Forreston is the host school of the co-op, but let’s not forget Polo plays a big part too, such as senior anchor Noah Dewey finishing his career out with eight state medals in the relays.
It was another banner year for F-P, with state places in the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays. In fact, the NUIC dominated the sprints, with team 1A team champ Morrison setting a meet record in 800 relay (1:26.87) and Lena-Winslow also near the top.
How fast was Morrison? Their time of 1:26.87 would have placed second in entire state, regardless of classification. Occasionally, there may be an individual 1A kid, like Jordan Thomas of Oregon a number of years ago, who can hold their own with the best of the state.
But, to find four kids in a small school is extremely rare. Morrison’s two fastest runners, juniors Brady Anderson and Levi Milder, won the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Rochelle nearly had its first state champ since 1965, but pole vaulter Andrew Nuyen settled for second at 15 feet, a couple feet below his personal best. The Hubs added a seventh in the high jump from Jack Tilton.
With Daniel Gonzales taking fourth in the 800 meters at 1:57, Oregon had its best finish since 2019 when Jake Mennen was pole vault runner-up.
As nearly the smallest school in 2A, Byron was shut out downstate in the medal quest. For 2A schools like Byron, Stillman Valley, Pec-Durand, etc., the 1A track enrollment classification needs to go up to include them.
Had that been the case, Byron would have sent five more events downstate instead of just two of them. Hats off to Byron girls soccer for winning the regional over SV.
The big shocker from Byron this spring was the baseball team losing in the sectional 9-2 to Johnsburg. The Tigers came into the game with a 28-game win streak.
High-school post season baseball is like that. One bad inning can spell the end of a season and that is what happened to Byron.
Then you have someone like Dixon, who was on an 11-game losing streak going into the post-season and ended up winning a regional.
That’s a wrap for the 2024-25 high-school sports year in Ogle County and beyond. Hopefully, I will be back in the fall to continue where we left off. Have a good summer everyone.
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
