The Bears used to be bad and boring, now they are good and cool. In other words, Marc Silverman writes, the Bears are back.

Taeopae Wetterman’s day as an athletic trainer at Yorkville High School starts well before the first ball is rolled out for games or practices. She likes it that way.

When treating injured athletes, Katie Dobersztyn said she works to help an athlete gain control of their pain.Every injury scenario is different. And Dobersztyn tries to get an understanding of the psychological component, not just the physical injury.

Nazareth baseball shut out Carmel to improve to 27-0, Benet soccer beat Joliet Catholic and Tru Medina's walk-off homer gave Glenbard North softball a win over Wheaton Warrenville South.

Mackenzie Fodrey won the triple jump and placed second in the pole vault to help the Glenbard East girls track and field team win the Upstate Eight Conference title Wednesday.

Josh Stellwagen had four RBIs, Jason Phillips homered and Kaden Aguirre threw a one-hitter as Plano baseball rolled past Richmond-Burton, and Sandwich's late rally fell short against Marengo in Wednesday's roundup.

Senior Day will be one to remember for Wheaton North's Macy Pomatto as her third inning grand slam helped the Falcons collect a 6-2 win over St. Charles East on Wednesday.

Taylor McClain anchored two of Plainfield North's four relay wins and later won the 200-meter dash, as the Tigers raced to their first Southwest Prairie Conference track and field championship since 2010.

Sterling baseball, Newman baseball, Dakota softball all score shutouts, plus more in Wednesday's SVM Sports Roundup.