LENA, Ill. (WREX) - The Lena-Winslow Panthers enter the 2025 football season with something old, something new, and the same goal that has defined the program for over a decade: championships.

Coming off another deep playoff run that ended in a runner-up finish at state, the Panthers return a battle-tested group of seniors — and they'll be playing on a brand-new surface that has galvanized the entire Lena community.

“It’s been a pretty exciting process,” said head coach Ric Arand. “It really started almost a year ago… me and a couple other guys went to the Board of Education and asked for permission to pursue this… not knowing what was going to happen. And now, this is the finished product.”

That product is a brand-new turf field that stands as a physical symbol of Lena-Winslow's comm

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