Valley athletes head off to colleges across country

By Joey Bennett

Several Wabash Valley athletes have now made commitments, have signed letters of intent or are finalizing their choices for new places to play college sports in the 2007-2008 school year.

Some of these choices have been previously reported, and this list does not include athletes who competed this season collegiately and have eligibility remaining.

Please send any additions or corrections to the e-mail address listed below. Special thanks to the athletic directors, coaches and other assorted contributors who helped in the compilation of this list.



Terre Haute North

Nate Blank — basketball at Gardner-Webb

Wendell Mardis (Illinois Central) — basketball at Alabama State

Kyle McFadden — basketball at Lincoln Land (Ill.) CC

Samantha Meissel — basketball at Indianapolis

Molly Martin — basketball at Hanover

Miracle Thompson — track and field at Southern Illinois

Matt Seliger — football at Indiana State

Ryan Nevill (Lake Land) — baseball at Dayton

Andrew Woodason — baseball at Indiana Wesleyan

Jordan Shaw-Tyler — baseball at Indiana State or Lincoln Trail

Clint Weddle — women’s assistant basketball coach at Indiana State

Erin Pugh — soccer at St. Mary-of-the-Woods

Andrew Bostrom — tennis at Southern Indiana

Caleb Anderson — tennis at Rose-Hulman

Brian Sutterer — tennis at Rose-Hulman



Terre Haute South

Kristen Seaton — volleyball at Pepperdine

Lauren Gottardi — volleyball at Indiana State

Ariel Hall — cross country, track and field at Indiana State

Michael Engle — football at DePauw

Derelle Hankins — football at Indiana State

Brett Arnold — baseball at Franklin

Ashley Sankey (Lincoln Trail) — softball at St. Mary-of-the-Woods

Robert Davis (Illinois Central) — basketball at Brescia

Garrett Fredrick — soccer at Ancilla

Kelly Fougerousse — softball at South Georgia College

Ben Bertoli — track and field at Indianapolis

Cole Vicars — baseball at Vincennes or other JUCO, or possibly Indiana State

Anthony McNeal (Danville Area CC) — basketball at Brescia

Jay Smith (Trinity Valley) — basketball at Eastern Illinois (starting in 2008-2009 school year; will play for Trinity Valley again next winter)



West Vigo

Jacob Brown — golf at Evangel (Mo.) University

Zach Avary — football at Marian



Former area residents

Jake Kelly (Carmel) — basketball at Iowa

Ryan Russell (Brebeuf) — basketball at DePauw

Mike Roberts (South Eugene, Ore) — men’s basketball assistant coach at California



South Vermillion

Louie Gudino — men’s assistant basketball coach at Indiana State

Cole Milam — undecided on where he will play basketball



Northview

Brady Shoemaker (Olney Central) — baseball at Indiana State

T.J. King (Olney Central) — baseball at Arkansas-Little Rock

Matt Stuckey — basketball at Lincoln Land

Broc Miller — football at Indiana State

Brodee Miller — basketball at Hanover

Stephanie Jonson — softball at Indiana State

Brittaney Searing — softball at Indiana State

Kayla Raderstorf — softball at Rend Lake

Brianne Arvin — volleyball at Stevens College (St. Louis)

Lexee Hayes — basketball at St. Mary-of-the-Woods

Chris Dean — wrestling at Rend Lake Junior College

Ashley Davis — track and field at Indiana State

Joe Evinger — football recruiting status unknown



Clay City

Chelsee Gerber — softball at St. Mary-of-the-Woods

Ashley McCullough — volleyball at Indiana State



North Central

Eric Hardin — tennis at Lake Land

Joey Pigg — football at Franklin

Jacilyn McClain — softball at Lincoln Trail



Sullivan

Reva LeDune — softball at Indiana State

Derrick DeMoss — basketball at Danville Area CC

Paige Gill — soccer at St. Mary-of-the-Woods

Briauna Davis — soccer at St. Mary-of-the-Woods



Riverton Parke

Josh Mager — football at Anderson

Evan Lunsford — football at Hanover

T.J. Amerman — baseball at Vincennes or other JUCO

Mark Pate — football at Marian



Turkey Run

Chelsea Hanner — softball at Hanover

Lacie DePlanty — softball at Franklin



Rockville

Ashli Wicker — volleyball at Lake Land

Kelsey Hartman — tennis at Indianapolis

R.J. Mahurin — basketball at Indiana State (starting in ‘09-’10)



Shakamak

Tyler Rehmel (Lincoln Trail) — baseball at Eastern Kentucky



Bloomfield

Jessica Stout — basketball at Vincennes



Linton

Corianne Warrick (Vincennes) — volleyball at St. Francis

Rachael Pruett — golf at Ball State

Hannah Gennicks — softball at St. Mary-of-the-Woods



Greencastle

Chris Pingleton — wrestling at Grand Canyon (Ariz.)

Casey-Westfield

Chelsey Sullivan — softball at Lake Land



Robinson

Tyson Schnitker (Indiana State) — basketball at Southern Indiana

Adam Richart — baseball at Lincoln Trail

Julie Nichols — softball at Shawnee CC

Jacob Carpenter — football at McKendree College

Marvin Washington — basketball at Rockford CC



Paris

Emily Maggert — basketball at Ball State

Katie Meagher — softball at Danville Area CC

Sarah Snider — softball at Danville Area CC



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• Coach happy with McNeal — Anthony McNeal, a 6-foot-4 guard from Danville (Ill.) Area Community College, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Brescia University. The Terre Haute South grad averaged 13 points and eight rebounds per game last season for the junior college.

“Anthony is a versatile, athletic scorer that will fit nicely into our system,” Brescia Coach Joe Pechota told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. “He’s deceptively quick which makes him hard to guard, and his length, combined with his toughness, makes him a very solid defender. Anthony has a tremendous work ethic, and that blue-collar mentality and toughness, along with his experience, will add to our program.”

McNeal joins a young backcourt of sophomores-to-be Andrew Howard and Doug Denton.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity to play for Coach Pechota,” McNeal said. “There is a solid core of players there with Andrew and Doug in the backcourt. We will have the ability to hopefully put together a special season next year.”

Among McNeal’s teammates at Brescia next year will be former Terre Haute South teammate Robert Davis and former Robinson and Lincoln Trail player Brad Lachenmayer.

• Martin keeping busy —Terre Haute North’s Molly Martin has been keeping her game fine-tuned for her debut on Hanover College’s basketball team this winter.

Martin played in an all-star game at Logansport in April, participated in the top 40 workout and will compete on Saturday in the “Hoosiers Classic” all-star game at Knightstown on the homecourt of the fictional Hickory Huskers of cinema fame.

She also was a member of a state champion AAU team this spring, after leading the Patriots to a sectional championship last winter.

Martin averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds for North in her senior year while shooting 54 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free throw line. She earned all-Vigo County honors, all-Wabash Valley honors and all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference honors.

A 6-2 center, Martin should have no trouble stepping into the rotation for the Panthers, who were 3-21 last year and 1-15 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“I am very happy for Molly,” North Coach Mike Allen said. “Her hard work in the off-season and during the season have paid off for her.

“I know that Hanover is getting an outstanding young lady and an excellent basketball player,” Allen added. “I have high expectations for Molly and think that she will make a big impact on the Hanover basketball program.”

• Iocoangeli a scholar — Terre Haute North grad and former St. Mary-of-the-Woods softball player Katie Iocoangeli was one of three Indiana State Sycamores named to the Missouri Valley Conference Softball Scholar-Athlete team.

To be eligible for the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team athletes must hold a GPA of at least 3.00, be of sophomore standing or greater, and have competed in at least 75 percent of the games played by their team that season.

Iocoangeli, who has a 3.77 GPA in elementary education, was named to the MVC second team. This season, she hit .207 BA with nine runs, six doubles, three home runs, 20 RBI, 14 walks and 153 putouts with a fielding percentage of .980.

She made 38 starts on the season, splitting time between first and second base.

• Roberts a full-time coach — Former Terre Haute resident Mike Roberts, a player at Indiana and graduate assistant at Texas Tech who spent this past season as video coordinator for the California men’s basketball team, has been named an assistant coach for the Golden Bears.

“I’m excited to have Mike on board,” California Coach Ben Braun said. “I think his experience at Indiana, Texas Tech and Cal have helped him prepare for this opportunity. I think Mike has a great rapport with our players, coaching staff and recruits.”

A two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree at Indiana and recipient of a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, he served as team captain as a senior in 2004-05.

“Obviously, I feel very fortunate to be offered this position at Cal, and I am excited to get to work and help our program,” said Roberts. “I feel my experience working with the players and the comfort level I have with the staff will be a big benefit.”

Roberts’ duties will include assisting Braun with Cal’s post players, overseeing the team’s academic program and recruiting, as well as continuing his work with scouting and preparation.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in history with a certificate in management from Indiana, Roberts spent the 2005-06 season as a graduate assistant under Bob Knight at Texas Tech. While with the Red Raiders, he aided the coaching staff in practices, supervised academic progress of the players and was an analyst for the team’s radio and TV broadcasts.

Roberts received his master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Texas Tech in 2006.

• Weatherford gets competition, Petrowski shines — Former Terre Haute North and Illinois punter Steve Weatherford learned last month that no job is safe in the National Football League.

Despite a strong rookie season in which Weatherford averaged 43.8 yards per punt and put almost half his kicks inside the opposition’s 20, the New Orleans Saints signed former Pro Bowler Chris Hanson to a one-year, $650,000 contract.

Hanson, 30, struggled last season, mostly because of a nagging hamstring injury. He averaged a career-low 40.6 yards per punt for Jacksonville, and he placed a career-low 20 punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

“Steve [Weatherford] had a great year last year,” Hanson told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I’m just coming in to kick the football like they want me to and let them make the decision.”

Petrowski, a former standout tight end at Terre Haute North and Indiana State, signed a two-year contract with the Tennessee Titans in January, and is playing for the Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europe this summer as one of Tennessee’s allocated players.

Frankfurt has a 7-3 record, and Petrowski has caught 14 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

• A great sport — White River Valley graduate Doug Dayhoff, a junior sprinter for Indiana’s track and field team, was among those honored for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

The student athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Dayhoff is now a candidate for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.

Joey Bennett is a former Tribune-Star sports reporter and copy editor who now teaches at North Central Jr.-Sr. High School. He can be reached at tribstarcol legereport@yahoo.com, and his Web site listing all known area athletes now competing in college can be found at www.trib starcollegereport.com.

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