TERRE HAUTE —
Encore! Encore!
The Indiana High School Athletic Association Executive Committee voted unanimously (18-0) to return the girls basketball state finals to Terre Haute’s Hulman Center for a second straight year.
With a one-year contract in place once again, next year’s four-game, one-day state finals will be played March 2, 2013.
Terre Haute won out over two other submitted bids — one from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and the other from Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
BLF, formerly Conseco Fieldhouse, hosted the event for several years, but opted out a few years ago, primarily for commitments to host the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s tournaments. Fort Wayne was the host site in 2010 and 2011.
“The Association wishes to thank all three entities for their submissions of proposals to host our girls state basketball championships,” IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox said in an official release.
“In the final analysis, the proposal from Terre Haute provided the best support and opportunities to the eight member schools that will arrive at the state finals along with other considerations extended to the IHSAA. The entire Terre Haute community should be proud of their leadership in the creation and execution of this effort.”
Last year’s state finals saw an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people in Hulman Center through the day. Two games were played starting at 10:30 a.m., the final two games played in the evening.
Thrilling competition greeted fans in attendance, two games going overtime, while one other game was just a three-point decision. Last year’s state champions were Indianapolis North Central (4A), Fort Wayne Concordia (3A), Evansville Mater Dei (2A) and Fort Wayne Canterbury (A).
With a statewide television audience tuning in too, Terre Haute was on the minds of many more people than just those attending.
“We’re excited to be a part of the girls state finals again,” Vigo County School Corporation superintendent Danny Tanoos said. “It was hugely successful last year, a collaborative effort by the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau, [Indiana State University] and the [Vigo] school system.”
Tanoos is not surprised Terre Haute was chosen over Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“I think the people involved realized Bankers Life Fieldhouse has conflicts in scheduling in the future,” Tanoos noted. “We hope to have the event for many more years to come.
“This is not necessarily a financial gain for the school system. It’s good for Terre Haute, its hotels, its restaurants. It’s our hope that people will be inclined to come back and visit Terre Haute even when not competing in a tournament.”
Terre Haute’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau played a large part in coordinating the many amenities for the girls on the participating teams.
To wit, complimentary hotel rooms were afforded each team, numerous gift items for each player, including personalized towels and shirts, and a banquet the night before the event — the first time that had been done in tournament history.
“I’m elated … it’s nice the IHSAA has shown confidence in us again,” THCVB director Dave Patterson said. “It’s a cooperative venture between the Visitor’s Bureau, the [Vigo County] school corporation and ISU. I think it’s the little things we did last year made a difference too. We’ll do no less this year.”
Also asked if the IHSAA selecting Hulman Center over Banker’s Life Fieldhouse is a feather in Terre Haute’s cap, Patterson agreed.
“I feel the teams playing in the smaller venue lends itself to a better show for the fans,” Patterson said. “The sounds, the excitement level was better at Hulman Center.”
One of the teams hoping to reach next year’s state finals is nearby Riverton Parke, a team with several key players returning from a team that was eliminated in the Class A semistate last season.
“It’s a great thing for the schools around here, if they make it [it to state finals],” Riverton Parke coach Josh Douglass said. “We would have a chance to be close to home for the first time in three weeks [by making it to Hulman Center].”
Does the local tournament committee have upgrades in mind for next year’s state finals?
“I want to keep that a secret,” Patterson laughed. “We just want to make [the state finals] an even bigger and better experience for these young ladies.”
New football class could split North, South
‘Tournament success factor’ will affect all team sports
By Andy Amey
Tribune-Star
The law of unintended consequences seems to have reared its head as the Indiana High School Athletic Association concluded its 2011-2012 business Thursday by announcing a couple of major changes in tournament play.
Beginning with the 2013-14 school year, there will be six classes instead of five in Indiana high school football, and a tournament success factor in all team sports will cause some schools to be bumped up a class if they accumulate a certain number of success points the previous two years.
Wabash Valley fans will have no trouble identifying a couple of the targets of that latter rule: Fort Wayne Canterbury in girls basketball, four-time defending champion Lafayette Central Catholic in baseball. And Vigo County high school football fans are breathing sighs of relief at avoiding Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference foes in postseason games.
On one side of town, anyway.
Longtime IHSAA watchers realize that classes in Indiana are not determined by enrollment, but by grouping schools in equal-sized units. And Class 6A football will not isolate the huge schools in the state, merely cut the former Class 5A in half. The 32 biggest schools will be Class 6A, the next 32 remain in Class 5A — both those classes will have a one-week bye to begin the playoffs — and the other classes remain the same.
One list of recent enrollment figures has Terre Haute North within the top 20 biggest schools, while Terre Haute South ranks in the lower 30s.
Not only might North and South be separated in postseason football — which is not guaranteed yet, by the way — but also some of the smaller public schools in the area could also be dragged upward with the Canterburys and the LCCs. Riverton Parke could be bumped to Class 2A in girls basketball along with Canterbury if the Panthers win the 2013 Class A state title (Canterbury would move up by winning a regional next winter), and Shakamak — losing just two seniors from its baseball team that was runner-up to Central Catholic last week — would move up to 2A along with the Knights if the Lakers earn a chance for revenge next year.
Coach Chris Barrett of North, one of the Patriot deans as well as its football coach, isn’t sure his team will remain in 6A when the enrollment figures are taken again.
“We were down to about 1,880 [students] by the end of the year,” he pointed out, “so it will be interesting to see what the number is at the beginning of next year [when classes will be determined]. We’re right there at the bottom [of potential 6A schools], and a lot of those [bigger] schools are still growing.”
If the problem isn’t North’s, though, there will be a problem for somebody. The smaller 6A schools — potentially more than half of them — will be less than half the size of Carmel, Warren Central or Indianapolis North Central, recently the state’s three largest schools.
“There’s still a huge disparity in the sixth class,” Barrett noted, “but [the change] is still better for the overall system.”
It’s definitely better for Terre Haute South, coach Mark Raetz said.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” he admitted Thursday. “Keeping us in 5A will put us with schools closer to our size.”
If the North-South rivalry can’t be renewed in postseason — “They’ve got several hundred more kids than we do,” Raetz said — the coach expects to see teams such as Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Martinsville and Decatur Central in tournament play, “but I haven’t really looked at it [recently],” Raetz added.
Joining the Braves in Class 5A would be beneficial to the Patriots too, Barrett admitted. “I’m proud of the way my teams have hung in there,” he said, “but these kids also need a payoff to reinforce your message.”
The tournament success factor awards schools in team sports one point for winning a sectional, two points for winning a regional, three points for winning a semistate and four points for winning a state championship. Six points or more in two consecutive years — the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons will be grouped together — would move that school up a class in that particular sport.
Coach Chip Sweet of Shakamak’s baseball team addressed the elephant in the room — recruiting advantages for private schools — while addressing the Lakers’ situation.
“For me, this is a little frustrating,” he told the Tribune-Star. “It seems like we’re being punished for possible wrongdoing by other schools. Obviously you have to have a blanket rule, but for us it’s almost not fair. It almost seems like a punishment [for being successful], but if it eliminates some of the things going on, maybe it’s a good thing.”
The nature of talent in public schools could create some unwarranted class promotions, Sweet indicated, and Barrett agreed with him.
“You’re going to have years [when you are successful] … but it’s hard to maintain that high level,” Sweet said, “and when the next group comes in, they’re going to have to play up a class.”
“Those [private] schools will be good every year,” Barrett said, “but with other schools [talent] is more cyclical.”
Josh Douglass, whose Riverton Parke girls won their first basketball regional last winter but lost at the semistate to Canterbury — which won its third championship in four years — favors the change, even if a championship by his 2013 team and its strong senior class headed by all-state candidate Sara Dickey would mean the next two Panther squads might be ill-equipped for Class 2A tournaments.
“I think [moving up] would be worth it,” he said, “and if I’m a school that continually dominates a class, what fun is it? I would look at [moving up a class] as a great challenge.”
Should his Panthers have another good season in 2012-13, though, Douglass’s team will still be very likely to see Canterbury — and its three or more Division I recruits — on the tournament trail.
“They say we have a level playing field, but we all know it’s really not,” Douglass said. “I think [the tournament success factor] will change some things, and small schools could benefit.”
Sports
Girls state finals returning in 2013
Terre Haute bid wins out over Indy, Fort Wayne
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Defense: West Vigo second baseman Lucas Fagg fields a ground ball for an out in the Vikings semi-final sectional baseball game with Edgewood.
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West Vigo advances to sectional championship with walk-off win in ninth
High school baseball sectional games between West Vigo and Edgewood have had a tendency to be unpredictable over the years, but the Vikings and Mustangs outdid themselves in that area Thursday evening — and Thursday night.
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Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
BOYS TRACK REGIONAL: North gets three winners, South two at Evansville
Terre Haute North had three winners, Terre Haute South two, and the Patriots and Braves finished second and third respectively at the Evansville Regional for boys track on Thursday at Evansville Central.
Hurdlers Cam Stewart and Cole Seward and discus thrower Lee Davis were the winners for North, enabling the Patriots to finish with 60 points to 59 for the Braves. -
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Sunday promises to be big day in Indy
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It’s the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 followed by Indiana vs. Miami in the third game of the National Basketball Association playoffs. -
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“These are my first OTAs. I missed these last year, so I think it’s great. It’s great to get on the field with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff. Obviously, some of us ran some of this stuff [offense] at Stanford [under new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton]. But to get out there with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff is good,” Luck said Wednesday as the team wrapped up its first week of on-field voluntary practice sessions. -
North baseball pulls away from South in sectional opener
In high school baseball little things mean a lot, and the crack in the door doesn’t have to be open very wide.
Terre Haute North burst through that crack in the bottom of the second inning Wednesday evening at Terre Haute South, scoring seven two-out runs and going on to a surprisingly easy 12-2 victory over the host Braves. -
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Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
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West Vigo advances to sectional championship with walk-off win in ninth
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees. -
Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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Indiana State baseball series canceled
Heavy rain from Thursday through Saturday has forced Indiana State and Tennessee Martin to cancel their three-game weekend baseball series in northwest Tennessee.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain
The Rose-Hulman baseball team has rescheduled its non-conference game with DePauw to Thursday night.
The start time remains 7 p.m. for the single nine-inning game that was originally scheduled for today. Tuesday’s scheduled Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Anderson was moved to Sunday because of rain.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
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West Vigo advances to sectional championship with walk-off win in ninth
High school baseball sectional games between West Vigo and Edgewood have had a tendency to be unpredictable over the years, but the Vikings and Mustangs outdid themselves in that area Thursday evening — and Thursday night.
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- College
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Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
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Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
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Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea has battled through so many aches and pains during the 2013 season that it can be hard to discern the serious pain from the pain he pitches through.
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ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury
When Indiana State starting pitcher Sean Manaea slumped on the mound in obvious pain after he took his warm-up pitches, red flags raised for ISU’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament hopes.
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Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Sunday promises to be big day in Indy
Sunday promises to be a super day in Indianapolis.
It’s the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 followed by Indiana vs. Miami in the third game of the National Basketball Association playoffs. - TRACKSIDE: Local drivers, owners looking to have strong night at Tony Hulman Classic
- Shooters compete to fight cancer
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Sunday promises to be big day in Indy
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
A year ago, quarterback Andrew Luck was unable to attend the Indianapolis Colts’ organized team activity practices due to school commitments at Stanford.
Luck, though, went on to have a stellar year for the Colts despite the lack of summer work with the team. Still, in a sense, he is a rookie during this year’s OTA workouts.
“These are my first OTAs. I missed these last year, so I think it’s great. It’s great to get on the field with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff. Obviously, some of us ran some of this stuff [offense] at Stanford [under new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton]. But to get out there with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff is good,” Luck said Wednesday as the team wrapped up its first week of on-field voluntary practice sessions. - Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
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Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
The Terre Haute Rex went through plenty of trials and tribulations during the summer of 2012.
The team got off to a sluggish start to settle for third place during the first half of the Prospect League race, but manager Brian Dorsett rallied the troops to a second-half title. - Metro Roundup: Dorsett, Rex players honored in Prospect League postseason awards
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- Rex mix, match their way to win
- Rex turn eye to Prospect playoffs
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
A year ago, quarterback Andrew Luck was unable to attend the Indianapolis Colts’ organized team activity practices due to school commitments at Stanford.
Luck, though, went on to have a stellar year for the Colts despite the lack of summer work with the team. Still, in a sense, he is a rookie during this year’s OTA workouts.
“These are my first OTAs. I missed these last year, so I think it’s great. It’s great to get on the field with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff. Obviously, some of us ran some of this stuff [offense] at Stanford [under new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton]. But to get out there with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff is good,” Luck said Wednesday as the team wrapped up its first week of on-field voluntary practice sessions. - Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
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Looking for Indy breakthrough, Kanaan enjoying role as team mentor
Ask any IZOD IndyCar series champion and he’d say he would gladly give up that championship to win one Indianapolis 500.
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Looking for Indy breakthrough, Kanaan enjoying role as team mentor
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