State!

Harvard's Mikhal Stricker (1) reacts after the Hornets loose to Carlinville during the IHSA Class 2A third place match at Illinois State University's Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill on November 14, 2009. Carlinville defeated the Hornets 17-25, 25-19, and 25-20. Harvard leaves state volleyball with a fourth place finish.

Cary Grove's team cheers as they become one point away from winning the second set against Lyons Twp. and the IHSA Class 4A Championship game at Illinois State University's Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill on November 14, 2009. Cary-Grove defeated the Lions 25-23 and 25-17.

I hadn't shot a whole lot of volleyball this season and was excited when I was given the chance to shoot our teams at state. I've been known to have a bit of a curse when it comes to shooting playoffs. No team can win with me behind the camera. At first this started out as a joke and I thought maybe not this year but one by one our volleyball teams started losing. The last team to play Friday night was Cary-Grove and I crossed my fingers and prayed. After all Saturday was my birthday.
Cary-Grove took home the Class 4A Championship and made the trip worth it!
Here are two photos from that weekend. The emotion of that weekend was definitely up and down.

Reunited

Clarence "Corky" Iversen, of Crystal Lake holds up his recently returned 1962 class ring on October 28, 2009. In1965, the ring was lost and 44 years later turned up in a Skippy peanut butter jar in Savanna, Ill. Iversen was contacted by a man via Facebook who found the ring in a cave.

This was a great story. Corky to this day does not know who took his class ring over 40 years ago nor how it ended up in a cave in Savanna, Ill. He gave the ring to his girlfriend (who later became his wife) who wore the ring around her neck. During gym class one day she took off the necklace and set it down in what she though was a secure location. When she went back to retrieve the ring it was gone. 44 years later Corky finds a man in Savanna, Ill. via Facebook that is claiming to have found a Crystal Lake High School class of 1962 ring with the initials C.I.
engraved on it. The man had been using a metal detector in the Mississippi Palisades State Park caves when he can across a Skippy peanut butter jar containing several items, including the ring.
The day after Corky was reunited with his class ring.

Brittany Gora, 15, of Crystal Lake waves at children as they pass by during the Willow Creek McHenry County Church's Trunk-or-Treat event on October 25, 2009.
"Little kids have laughed at me," Gora said about wearing the chicken costume.

Here's shot I liked from the Trunk-or-Treat assignment. The photo didn't fit the story angle but I submitted it as a feature.

Game Over

Crystal Lake South's quarterback Drew Ormseth watches as Cary-Grove scores another touchdown to move ahead 28-16 in the fourth quarter on October 16, 2009.

A couple of Friday's ago I pulled a 14 hour day and it was totally worth it. I was scheduled to work the day shift and one of the night assignments included a football game against two rivals: Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South. I wanted to attend this game in the hopes of making a great picture. The game was not as tight as I wanted be here's a frame from the Crystal Lake South sidelines when quarterback Drew Ormseth watched Cary-Grove score a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

First Volley

Woodstock North's Lilli Klay jumps up to block a shot against Woodstock in the second game during Thursday's match.

Woodstock's varsity team celebrates after scoring a point against Woodstock North during the third game of Thursday's match.

The fall sports season is coming to a close and I finally got my chance to shoot volleyball. It definitely took me the first match before I got into my normal rhythm. For me I always struggle the first game of any sport but volleyball especially. Here are two from Thursday's match up.

New Website!

For the longest time, I've been using Blogspot to post my portfolio but not any more. My portfolio has a new home at www.laurenmanderson.com. So now I'm using this as a true blog where I can showcase my findings.
So without further adieu here is my first posting of Maureen 'Mo' Lynch. She a sports reporter at the Northwest Hearld with me and was able to chat with her during the halftime of the Huntley vs. Crystal Lake South boys soccer game the other day.