NASHVILLE —
High school cross country results for Vigo County athletes weren’t quite as good Saturday at the Brown County Semistate as they had been a week earlier — which, in retrospect, was a tough act to follow anyway.
In most cases, however, those semistate results weren’t bad. More importantly, they left unspoken promises that next week’s will be even better at the Indiana High School Athletic Association state championships at LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
Three of the home county’s four teams will be there next week. Terre Haute North’s boys had a disappointing finish that ended their season, but the Patriot girls were second and Terre Haute South got a second-place finish from its boys and a fourth-place showing from its girls.
No one could catch Columbus North on Saturday, both teams of Bull Dogs having the day the North girls and South boys had last week at the Bedford North Lawrence Regional. Mackenzie Caldwell was the individual winner for a Columbus girls team that had the top two runners and three of the top six, while Karson Tays had a second-place finish and two other Columbus boys were in the top 12.
Individual winner in the boys race was Barr-Reeve’s Connor Sorrells, who cruised home with almost a 16-second lead over Tays. South’s Jackson Bertoli was third in the boys race, Jessi Conley 11th in the girls race to lead the Patriots.
Here’s where those unspoken promises come in.
“Jackson’s a little disappointed,” coach Kyle Walsh of South said after the race, “but I think he has a lot more [left for the state finals] … he’s been beaten twice this year, and both times he bounced back really strong.”
“I’m hoping the same thing happens this week,” Bertoli said. “The team ran really well today, and that’s all I care about in the end … I need to refocus. I’ll have a better chance [to win] on my home course, so I’ll rebuild this week and come back as strong as possible.”
Also expected to bounce back is North senior Chanli Mundy, the name Patriot fans noticed was missing a few paragraphs earlier.
“We’re a little concerned, because Chanli had a bad race,” said coach Mike Dason of the North girls, certain his No. 1 runner would agree with that assessment. “But we’re going on, and she’ll have another chance.”
The rest of the ridiculously deep Patriots — who got Katie Loebker and Mallory Sanders back on Saturday but rested Laura Johnson — made sure of that.
“I was just thinking, ‘I need to do this for the team,’ ” said Conley, when asked what was going through her mind when she uncharacteristically passed Mundy around the midpoint of the race. “She was hurting, so I had to do it for us and what we’ve been working for.”
Conley’s determination enabled her to break the 19-minute mark for the first time and five other Patriots — freshmen Lindsay Welker and Anna Nagy, Loebker, Sanders and Erin Buckallew — also had personal bests.
“It was awesome,” Dason said of that showing. “We had four [runners] in the 19s, Jessi in the 18s … I’m pleased how this sets us up for everything. We had a great pack, and that helps us so much going into next week.”
“It’s going to be a fun run next week,” Conley predicted.
She’ll get no argument from coach Ed Jarvis of the South girls, who indicated a sense of vindication on Saturday.
“[Getting to the state finals] doesn’t get old,” he said of his team’s third consecutive trip back to Gibson — despite some pre-meet projections on websites suggesting the Braves wouldn’t advance, let alone finish as high as fourth.
Nikki Thiede and Katie Schmidt were South’s top two runners, as usual, but the keys on Saturday were the next two Braves, Jarvis said — senior Rachel Stephens and freshman Kirsten Peterson, who “came out of nowhere,” he added.
Thiede probably won’t be at 100 percent next week but, bad foot and all, she got a milestone of her own on Saturday and came up smiling afterward.
“It’s a little better,” she said of her injury. “I knew we had to get to state, so I had to block it out — and I got my season best.”
Some of the North boys — who were without Peter Davis, at one time their No. 2 runner — also had times their coach could appreciate despite a 16th-place team showing.
“We had a couple guys get their fastest times, so I was glad about that,” Tom Dever said, “but we’re not where we need to be.
“But we’re still a fairly young team. We’ll take this [semistate appearance] and build for the future.”
The future is now for the Braves, Walsh is hoping.
“Three in the top 15 [which the Braves achieved] was our goal,” Walsh said. “Logan Hambrock and Spencer Danielson had the fastest times of their lives, and at the right time of the year.
“We had lots of personal bests, and we’re very happy with our second-place finish. Last year we were hoping [to advance]; this year we wanted top two, and on a perfect day we could win.”
Maybe that perfect day, for all the runners moving on, will be next Saturday.
No Wabash Valley individuals will be running at the state finals. North’s Justin Clapp missed the top 15 by about 13 seconds and Northview’s Nic Yocom by not quite 18 seconds in the boys race, while Shakamak’s Savannah Turner and Bloomfield’s Alli Workman placed 30th and 32nd respectively in the girls competition.
High School
Vigo trio heads to state
- High School
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Goatee, Bertoli ran away with Spring Athlete of the Year
When honoring athletes after a season of excellence, the phrase “what might have been” doesn’t usually come up.
But in the case of Terre Haute South’s Jackson Bertoli and Terre Haute North’s TaPring Goatee – the Tribune-Star’s Athletes of the Year for spring sports – there’s an air of unfinished business despite obvious recent successes.
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Post 346 opens tournament with two victories
Preston Tofaute got on base enough to score three runs, Cody Thornton smashed a two-run triple in the first inning and pitcher Pete Lannoo scattered four hits over a seven-inning complete game.
All of that helped Wayne Newton Post 346 down Lafayette Post 11 by a 7-2 score in the opener of the Terre Haute Inviatational tournament for American Legion baseball Thursday afternoon at Terre Haute North High School. -
North boys move up to 13th in golf state finals
Early Wednesday morning, Terre Haute North senior Ryan Baker and coach Abe Nasser headed out to the Legends of Indiana Golf Course for a range session.
Baker wasn’t happy with the 85 he shot in Tuesday’s first round of the IHSAA boys golf state finals.
“He was frustrated,” Nasser said.
Problem solved. Baker bounced back with a 2-over 74 Wednesday, helping the Patriots improve their team score by seven strokes.
The Patriots shot 304 as a team Wednesday, giving them a two-day score of 615, good for 13th place in the 15-team field. -
Big hill to climb for North golf
Terre Haute North boys golf is 21 strokes behind leaders at IHSAA boys golf tourney.
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Top of her game
There are a lot of surprising facts about blossoming volleyball prodigy Caitlyn Newton, including that shape-shifting thing she can apparently do, but maybe one of them stands out the most. She may only be scratching the surface.
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Camp, Howe win, then lose in state tennis tourney
Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe of Terre Haute South won their first match of high school tennis Friday at the state individual doubles finals, then won the first set against a powerful Park Tudor team before falling in three sets.
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Terre Haute North heading back to state finals in boys golf
Terre Haute North is going back to the state finals in boys high school golf for the first time in more than 10 years. The Patriots qualified for a trip to The Legends Course next week by tying for third in the Washington Regional at Country Oaks Golf Club and advancing with the better fifth score.
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North, South, Sullivan to compete at golf regional
Boys high school golf teams from the Wabash Valley will compete in the Washington Regional on Thursday, seeking a spot in the state finals to be played next week.
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Terre Haute North falls 6-1 to Brownsburg in opening game of Class 4A Regional
Terre Haute North coach Shawn Turner told the Patriots to raise their heads. He wanted to see their eyes at the close of their 24-7 high school baseball season.
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Terre Haute North girls shine on dreary day at track state finals
Led by a record setting 3,200-meter relay team and Keirra Porter’s long jump, Terre Haute North turned in its best finish ever in the 40th annual IHSAA Girls Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Indiana University in Bloomington.
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Valley teams will have to wait until Monday for baseball regionals
Rain and the threat of more rain caused postponements of high school baseball regionals involving Terre Haute North, West Vigo and Shakamak on Saturday.
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Rockville's season ends at Lafayette Central Catholic
Lafayette Central Catholic ended Rockville’s tourney run in high school baseball Saturday, defeating the Rox 8-0 in the first game of the LCC Class A Regional.
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IHSAA boys state track finals: Standing alone
It hadn’t been a particularly good day for Wabash Valley track and field Friday, and it wasn’t looking like a good one for Jackson Bertoli either.
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Terre Haute North, West Vigo return to baseball regionals
Terre Haute North’s baseball team hasn’t participated in an IHSAA regional since 2006. West Vigo’s wait hasn’t been as long, but it was 2010 when the Vikings last advanced from a sectional.
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Patriots girls take aim at state track title
Terre Haute North’s girls have several potential state champions today at Indiana University.
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South, North track athletes looking for big performances at state finals
Terre Haute South’s distance trio of Jackson Bertoli, Logan Hambrock and Riley Stohler appear to be the favorites to crack all-state status among Wabash Valley competitors today in the IHSAA boys track and field state finals at Indiana University.
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Internet site keeps area prep teams on airwaves
- PREP ROUNDUP: Locals to take part in Hoosiers All-Star Game
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South Vermillion softball can't overcome errors, Tri-West
Uncharacteristic errors led to eight unearned runs and hard-luck hitting made that impossible to overcome for South Vermillion, which fell 8-0 to Tri-West in Class 3A regional play.
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Clay City softball comes up short against Lutheran
Clay City closed its high school softball season Tuesday night with the best record ever for the program at 21-9.
The Eels wanted to add another win, the school’s first regional title, but they came up short.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Rockville wins baseball sectional
Rockville won its own Class A sectional in high school baseball Tuesday, defeating Covington 10-4 in the rain-delayed championship game.
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Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional:The wait is over
Three minutes into an interview with various media members, Terre Haute North baseball coach Shawn Turner couldn’t react fast enough to avoid a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head from behind by his giddy players. The soaking-wet Turner could shake it off with a smile, however, because his Patriots had just won the IHSAA Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional championship with a 13-3 six-inning triumph over Plainfield on Monday evening.
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Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional: TH North, Plainfield win squeakers
The high school baseball teams of Terre Haute North and Plainfield proved Monday that what a batter does early in the game is not necessarily indicative of what he will do in the late innings.
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Class 2A Linton Sectional: Eastern rains on Sullivan parade
Mother Nature put Sullivan’s quest for a high school baseball sectional championship on hold Monday night at Linton-Stockton High School. Sullivan (14-15) and Eastern Greene (16-7) will resume play in the Class 2A Sectional 47 championship game at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Linton’s Roy Herndon Field.
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Opening Day: Terre Haute Rex host Quincy
In his first season at the helm, first-year Terre Haute Rex manager Ronnie Prettyman is going to be surrounded by men he knows and trusts.
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Class A Shakamak Sectional: Stout pitching leads Union, Shakamak to final
Trey Bedwell and Patrick Green made sure their respective high school baseball teams would meet for the championship of the Class A Shakamak Sectional by pitching shutouts in semifinal contests Monday afternoon.
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Class A Rockville Sectional: Covington, Rockville title game postponed
Rockville and Covington won semifinal high school baseball games Monday to advance to the championship game of the Rockville Class A Sectional. Due to rain, the championship game was postponed. A decision was expected this morning whether the game will be played today or Wednesday.
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South Vermillion, Linton, Clay City look to stay alive in softball
There might have been as many reasons to think they wouldn’t be winning sectionals this spring as evidence to show they would, but high school softball teams from South Vermillion, Linton and Clay City will be playing one-game regionals Tuesday with the chance to keep defying the odds.
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West Vigo back on top of Class 3A baseball sectional
West Vigo won its sectional with a 6-4 victory over South Vermillion on a rainy night at Dick Ballinger Field.
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South runs into ‘buzzsaw’ at girls tennis semistate
Postmatch interviews don’t often begin with a coach and a reporter ready to blurt out the same word, but that was the case for Bill Blankenbaker and his interviewer Saturday morning after the Center Grove Semistate for girls high school tennis.
Unfortunately for Blankenbaker’s Terre Haute South team, that word was “buzzsaw.”
Greenwood’s Kawamoto twins made quick work of the top of the Braves’ singles lineup, so despite stellar efforts by both South doubles teams the Woodmen’s 3-2 victory didn’t seem all that close.
Greenwood moves on to Fishers, where it plays Floyd Central or Jasper on Friday in the state quarterfinals.
Also playing Friday, but at Park Tudor, will be South’s Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe, who reached the individual doubles finals for the second straight season by virtue of their 6-4, 6-2 win over the Greenwood team of Taylor Hudnall and Brittany Toney.
“It’s really exciting,” said Howe of the prospect of a second straight finals trip, “but I wish our team could’ve gone with us.”
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