The Year That Was

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Staff Report-

• 1. Kevin Ault named Mr. Basketball

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

After one of the most anxious and nervewracking weeks of his life, Kevin Ault's first reaction after being told he was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball was that of - relief.

Not that the award was a relief, but the waiting to find out was finally over.

"It has been the longest week since I can remember," Ault said. "On Friday, it seemed like it took forever for them to call. Then it came, and it was a sigh of relief, of joy. Everything went into it. I was expecting the call much earlier. Then I thought it might not come at all."

When ever the phone would ring, it would be an anxious moment in the Ault household, and then there would be a sense of disappointment if it wasn't THE call. After a while, they were hoping for any call. Even a call that Ault did not get Mr. Basketball would have been better than nothing at all.

Finally at 10:15 p.m. on Friday, the call came from the Indianapolis News/Star's Pat Aikman, making Ault the 61st Mr. Basketball and Warsaw's second to win the award after Jeff Grose in 1985.

"It has been full of anticipation, depression and a lot of excitement," Ault's mother, Janet, said of the week leading up to the announcement.

"Originally, we thought it would be Thursday, then it got changed to Friday," Ault's father, Doug, said. "When things didn't happen very quickly on Friday, we thought it was the end (disappointment). It turned out pretty good."

This season, Ault averaged 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and over 3 steals per game and became the Tigers' career scoring leader, passing Grose for first place, and finished with 2,028 points, No. 24 on the state's all-time list.

• 2. Tigers In Final Four; Matt Taylor Wins Trester

New Albany Ends Warsaw's Ride

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

Indianapolis - In the end, it was something Warsaw could not overcome.

Over the course of this season, the Warsaw Tigers have overcame a lot, including some big deficits to get to the Final Four at the RCA Dome Saturday.

So, even down 21 points to No. 12 New Albany in the semifinals of the IHSAA State Finals a win didn't seem out of the realm of possibility to the No. 7 Tigers.

Warsaw opened the fourth by putting the Bulldogs on the line and hoping they would miss free throws. And for awhile it worked, and the Tigers narrowed the lead down to nine midway through the quarter.

This time, though, destiny did not seem to be on the Tigers' side as the shots didn't fall and New Albany straightened itself from the charity stripe.

With the 82-65 loss, Warsaw's surprise run to the state finals had come to a sudden and disappointing end. The Tigers ended up the season 25-3.

Taylor Takes Trester Award

By Jeff Holsinger,

Times-Union Sports Writer

Indianapolis - His grade point average is 12.1, but the scale officially only goes up to 12.

He is president of the student body and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Warsaw High School.

He is a leader on this year's 25-3 Warsaw Tiger team.

He is Matt Taylor, the 1995-96 Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude recipient.

Taylor is th first athlete in Warsaw history to receive the Trester award.

• 3. Class Sports

Wawasee, Triton Benefit From Class Sports Tiebreakers

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

When and if the class sports issue finally comes into play for the IHSAA, two area schools will have part of their underclassmen population to thank for their ideal situations when it comes to which class they were put in.

Enrollments for grades 9-11 were presented to the Indiana Department of Education and the IHSAA for the 1996-97 school year. These enrollments will be used to decide the classifications of the 383 schools in the state.

For baseball, basketball and volleyball, the top 95 schools will be in Class 4A, the next 96 in Class 3A, the next 96 in Class 2A, and the final 96 in Class A. If enrollments were equal a tiebreaking system was used. The first tiebreaker was the freshman class, the second the sophomore class, and the third the junior class. The higher the number in each class, the higher the classification.

Wawasee and Triton will benefit from these numbers.

When it was all said and done, Wawasee and Lowell High School were tied at 851 in grades 9-11. After the first tiebreaker, the freshman class, the two schools were tied. But Lowell had a bigger sophomore class and became the final school in Class 4A, the larger class in the state.

That made Wawasee the largest school in Class 3A.

In Triton's case, it took only one tiebreaker, but it was the same result.

Triton and Shenandoah finished tied with 285 students in grades 9-11. But

Shenandoah's freshman class was bigger, and they were moved into Class 2A.

That made Triton the largest school in Class A.

Certainly number of students won't necessarily reflect success, and the numbers will change when the whole program is re-evaluated in two years, but certainly it gives Wawasee and Triton a fighting chance for some of those additional state championships that were basically the reason behind the switch to multi-classes.

The classes will be used for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 school years.

Assignments of schools to classes for football and softball will be released after Jan. 1, 1997.

For other area schools, Warsaw (1439) is in Class 4A, Whitko (543) and Tippecanoe Valley (525) are in Class 3A and Manchester (435) is in Class 2A.

• 4. Sam Wideman transfers to Warsaw

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

The transfers of Tippecanoe Valley student-athletes Sam Wideman and Tiffany Glingle to other schools have triggered an investigation by the IHSAA.

Blake Ress, assistant commissioner of the IHSAA, confirmed that the governing organization of Indiana high school athletics has been looking into the situation.

Wideman, a star basketball and volleyball player, recently enrolled at Warsaw High School after her family moved from the Valley school district to Warsaw.

And Glingle, also a member of the volleyball and basketball teams, is said to be headed to NorthWood High School, but her family has not moved.

"If either school thinks something is amiss, we investigate it," Ress said.

In the meantime, Wideman sits on the sidelines during volleyball season, waiting to get her eligibility confirmed.

Judge Burner Grants Injunction

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

Kosciusko County Superior Court Judge Robert Burner gave Sam Wideman and her family the first bit of good news in the ongoing case of her athletic eligibility at Warsaw Community High School.

With his order on Thursday, Burner granted the Widemans' request for temporary injunctive relief that will allow Wideman to play until another hearing is set on the case.

Burner's ruling stated that, "... the IHSAA Rule 19 is arbitrary and capricious and not supported by substantial evidence of probative value, and lacks a reasonably sound basis of evidentiary support."

The ruling makes Wideman, who transferred from Tippecanoe Valley High School in the summer, eligible for the Tigers' game against No. 15 Huntington North on Saturday. Wideman averaged over 11 points a game for the Vikings last season, but has been ineligible through the volleyball season and the first four games of the basketball season.

"We think he (Burner) agreed with the Widemans that there was a bona fide change of residence, and there was no evidence to uphold the decision of the IHSAA," R. Steven Hearn, the Widemans' attorney, said.

Burner ordered in his ruling that, "... Samantha Wideman is eligible under

the rules of the IHSAA to immediately participate in interscholastic

athletics at Warsaw Community High School."

Now, another hearing could be set to go through all this again, but no

timetable has been set. Another matter, the restitution rule, is also still

up in the air. The rule states that if another hearing rules Wideman

ineligible, Warsaw could be made to forfeit any wins with Wideman in the

lineup.

"The restitution rule doesn't even come into play yet," Hearn said. "The

restitution provides what will happen if his (Burner) decision is

overturned. That is something that is down the road. It is not relevant or

important at this point."

After going through two hearings with the IHSAA and one last month with

Judge Burner, Hearn and the Wideman family are probably not ready to get

back into a court room any time soon.

"The next step is anybody feels there is new evidence and then either party

can ask the court to set up for a final hearing," Hearn said. "The court

will do so when the first time they have available. We just got the decision

yesterday (Thursday) at 4 p.m., so we have not made any decisions at all."

• 5. Wawasee girls' tracksters win regional

Staff Report

BREMEN -ÊThe Wawasee Warrior girls' track team is the Bremen Regional champion for the second year in a row.

Three years ago, the Warriors were 11-0 in the regular season. Two years ago, 10-0. This year, 9-0.

They won 30 straight meets.

Now they can add back-to-back regional championships to their list of accomplishments.

The Warriors easily outdistanced second place Elkhart Central at Wednesday's regional, 71-54.

Although the competition was stiffer, the Warriors still came away with five first places.

Alysha Aalbregtse, last year's Warrior MVP, won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.75 seconds. Aalbregtse also won the 300 hurdles with a time of :45.63 seconds.

Emily Matz won the 400 with a time of 57.22 seconds. Susan Setlak won the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 4 inches.

The top three individuals and relay teams move on to the state meet. Any others at the regional who meet a state cut time will also advance to the state meet.

Scoring points but not moving on to state in these events for the Warriors were Mandy McGuire, who was fifth in the high jump; Setlak, who was seventh in the long jump; and Coy, who was fifth in the 3,200.

Wawasee Seventh At State Track Meet

Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS - Wawasee finished seventh at Friday's IHSAA state girls' track meet at the Indiana University track stadium.

The No. 9 Warriors scored 20 1/2 points. Lawrence Central won the meet with 49.

Susan Setlak led the effort with a third place finish in the high jump at 5 feet, 4 inches. Alysha Aalbregtse finished fifth in the 300 hurdles and seventh in the 100 hurdles.

• 6. Coaches leave

Goshert Manchester-Bound

By Jeff Holsinger,

Times-Union Sports Writer

NORTH MANCHESTER - It's official: Gary Goshert will trade in his green sports coats for red ones.

The Manchester school board hired Goshert to a two-year contract Tuesday evening to coach the Squires varsity basketball team. The board approved his hiring by a 6-0 vote. Goshert will teach physical education, health and psychology at Manchester High School.

To Goshert, a move down is a move up. He moves down Ind. 13 from Wawasee to Manchester.

"As basketball coach, after every season, you kind of look at openings," Goshert said. "You don't always pursue them. I decided that if something interested me, I would pursue it."

Manchester was open after March 22, when Moe Smedley left the Squires to become Marion's head coach.

Montel Resigning As WCHS Football Coach

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

In a sudden and unexpected move, Bob Montel has resigned at Warsaw Community High School.

Montel will move into private business. The announcement to returning players was made last night.

Montel was unavailable for comment.

"It was a surprise to me," WCHS athletic director Dave Fulkerson said. "It was a situation that he made the decision (to resign)."

Montel coached the Tigers for just one season, guiding the team to a 3-6 season.

• 7. Warsaw spikers in semistate

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

MUNCIE - Unfortunately for Warsaw, No. 4 Fort Wayne Northrop was not looking ahead.

The only unranked team in the Delta Semistate, the Tigers were hoping the Bruins had their sights set on a championship game matchup with either No. 2 Muncie Central or No. 7 Delta.

But it was no such luck. Fort Wayne Northrop entered the semistate semifinals with its focus squarely on the task at hand and duplicated its regular season domination of Warsaw with a 15-6, 15-8 win Saturday.

"I was hoping they were taking us a little more lightly than they did," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said.

"I can't say we played our best volleyball because we didn't. They were ready for us. They came out on fire."

Northrop went on to win the semistate with a win over Delta in the championship match.

Warsaw actually took a quick 2-0 lead against Northrop when Melissa Bolles unleashed two aces on the Bruins to open the match. But the Bruins came right back with two aces of their own from Carly Messman to tie the score at 2.

Northrop kept rolling and eventually built up a 10-2 advantage on the Tigers. Warsaw cut the margin to 11-6 on three straight points later in the match, but Northrop closed it out on an ace from Sarah Tinkle to win the first game.

In game two, Northrop opened up a 5-2 lead before Warsaw came back and got to within 1, 5-4. The Bruins went on another run and made it 12-4 on three straight kills by Stephanie Bishop.

Warsaw cut the margin to 14-7 on a set kill from Bolles, but it was too little, too late as Northrop went on to the win.

"We were going for broke," Byron said. "We definitely didn't have any pressure on us. They listened to me in the huddle, and when I gave them instructions, they went back out on the floor and tried them. Northrop just always seemed to have an answer."

In their regular season matchup, Bishop and Stacy Zimmerman, both 6 feet tall, dominated the Tiger defense. It was more of the same in the semistate as Bishop went for nine kills and Zimmerman had seven to lead the Bruins.

"Our girls played with a lot of heart at times, and that is what it takes," Byron said. "But Northrop is a very, very good volleyball team, and they are tall, and their block was huge. They didn't make any mistakes."

About the only chink in the Northrop armor was nine service errors. But the Tigers couldn't take advantage of the opportunities.

"They did miss a lot of serves, and those were the opportunities we have to use and jump on," Byron said. "They gave us the opportunities, but we just couldn't capitalize on them."

Sarah Calhoun led Warsaw with six kills, while Estep added five.

Despite the loss, Byron viewed the season as a big success, especially considering that six months ago, the Warsaw players didn't even know who their new coach would be. And add to the fact that Byron was in her first head coaching position after just finishing her playing career, there were a lot of question marks answered in a big way with the Tigers advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in the state tournament.

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls," Byron said. "They came in not even knowing who the coach was going to be at the beginning of the summer. I didn't even know if I was going to be the coach. We were in limbo."

• 8. Valley beats Warsaw in football

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

Tippecanoe Valley's struggles with Warsaw have traditionally been more mental than anything. That huge hurdle that stood in the Vikings' way since 1989 (Valley's first and only win) was more to do with themselves than the teams Warsaw would put on the field.

That all changed Friday at Fisher Field.

Valley dominated Warsaw for four quarters, and this time didn't let it slip away in a 12-0 win over the Tigers in the opener for both teams.

"There is a mindset, in all sports, here at Valley when it comes to playing Warsaw," Valley coach Scott Bibler said.

That has been the problem for the Vikes. Since the rivalry started on the gridirom in 1989, Valley has only one win in the first season between the two teams.

Since then, even though the Vikes are a smaller school than Warsaw, they have had as much if not more talent in the seven years since that win. But still no wins to show for it, until this year.

"I actually have felt we have had teams in the past that I thought were equally as talented as Warsaw, but we just didn't get the job done on the field," Bibler said. "We have had a lot of close games with Warsaw. It was good to see our kids come out and put a goose egg on the scoreboard."

Valley put the zero on the scoreboard by allowing Warsaw just 122 total yards and one big interception by Jason Parker.

• 9. LCA boys' basketball team goes 23-0

LCA completes undefeated season with ACSI district title

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

WINONA LAKE - While the end was anticlimatic for Lakeland Christian Academy, it didn't make the accomplishments mean any less.

The Cougars completed a 23-0 regular season and won the ACSI Mid-America District crown that escaped them last year with a 60-23 pounding o Faith Christian (Williams Bay, Wis.) Saturday at Lancer Gym.

Going up against an outmanned Faith Christian squad, the Cougars had basically wrapped up the title Friday with a win over Peoria Christian, the team that beat LCA in last year's title game.

It was just a matter of motivation for LCA on Saturday, something that despite the overwhelming talent advantage, the Cougars still had.

"We knew coming in that (Friday night) would be the championship game," LCA coach Brennan Lien said. It was a tough team we beat, a team we lost to last year. We were concentrating mainly on them. And sometimes it is tough to get pumped up for the championship game. But the guys came out on fire.

"The motivation was - this was it, there was going to be no more. We thought we might as well play as hard as we can."

The win gave the Cougars their season-long goal of winning every game on the schedule. A goal that at the start o the season seemed just a thought, but now is a reality.

• 10. Warsaw girls' hoopsters win sectional

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

It was just Warsaw's turn.

In the series between the Tigers and their archrival from Whitley County, Columbia City, there had been 28 games, each winning 14; and 10 in the tournament, each winning five.

The Eagles' win last year ended Warsaw's reign as sectional champs, and this year, the Tigers decided to return the favor.

And Warsaw's roller coaster ride of a season took a sudden ascent with big 58-57 win over No. 11 Columbia City in the semifinals of the Warsaw Girls' Basketball sectional Thursday at the Tiger Den.

"It is a big rivalry," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said.

Tigers Beat Vikes

For Title

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

With two teams on the court in Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw that have a majority of their players a little wet behind the ears, especially when it comes to sectional championships, the difference was going to be leadership.

The Tigers found it in their only senior starter - point guard Sherry Haines. The only player on the court to see any time in a sectional championship game, Haines hit 10 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to help secure Warsaw's 49-33 win over Valley at the Tiger Den in the title game.

of the Warsaw Sectional.

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• 1. Kevin Ault named Mr. Basketball

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

After one of the most anxious and nervewracking weeks of his life, Kevin Ault's first reaction after being told he was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball was that of - relief.

Not that the award was a relief, but the waiting to find out was finally over.

"It has been the longest week since I can remember," Ault said. "On Friday, it seemed like it took forever for them to call. Then it came, and it was a sigh of relief, of joy. Everything went into it. I was expecting the call much earlier. Then I thought it might not come at all."

When ever the phone would ring, it would be an anxious moment in the Ault household, and then there would be a sense of disappointment if it wasn't THE call. After a while, they were hoping for any call. Even a call that Ault did not get Mr. Basketball would have been better than nothing at all.

Finally at 10:15 p.m. on Friday, the call came from the Indianapolis News/Star's Pat Aikman, making Ault the 61st Mr. Basketball and Warsaw's second to win the award after Jeff Grose in 1985.

"It has been full of anticipation, depression and a lot of excitement," Ault's mother, Janet, said of the week leading up to the announcement.

"Originally, we thought it would be Thursday, then it got changed to Friday," Ault's father, Doug, said. "When things didn't happen very quickly on Friday, we thought it was the end (disappointment). It turned out pretty good."

This season, Ault averaged 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and over 3 steals per game and became the Tigers' career scoring leader, passing Grose for first place, and finished with 2,028 points, No. 24 on the state's all-time list.

• 2. Tigers In Final Four; Matt Taylor Wins Trester

New Albany Ends Warsaw's Ride

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

Indianapolis - In the end, it was something Warsaw could not overcome.

Over the course of this season, the Warsaw Tigers have overcame a lot, including some big deficits to get to the Final Four at the RCA Dome Saturday.

So, even down 21 points to No. 12 New Albany in the semifinals of the IHSAA State Finals a win didn't seem out of the realm of possibility to the No. 7 Tigers.

Warsaw opened the fourth by putting the Bulldogs on the line and hoping they would miss free throws. And for awhile it worked, and the Tigers narrowed the lead down to nine midway through the quarter.

This time, though, destiny did not seem to be on the Tigers' side as the shots didn't fall and New Albany straightened itself from the charity stripe.

With the 82-65 loss, Warsaw's surprise run to the state finals had come to a sudden and disappointing end. The Tigers ended up the season 25-3.

Taylor Takes Trester Award

By Jeff Holsinger,

Times-Union Sports Writer

Indianapolis - His grade point average is 12.1, but the scale officially only goes up to 12.

He is president of the student body and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Warsaw High School.

He is a leader on this year's 25-3 Warsaw Tiger team.

He is Matt Taylor, the 1995-96 Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude recipient.

Taylor is th first athlete in Warsaw history to receive the Trester award.

• 3. Class Sports

Wawasee, Triton Benefit From Class Sports Tiebreakers

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

When and if the class sports issue finally comes into play for the IHSAA, two area schools will have part of their underclassmen population to thank for their ideal situations when it comes to which class they were put in.

Enrollments for grades 9-11 were presented to the Indiana Department of Education and the IHSAA for the 1996-97 school year. These enrollments will be used to decide the classifications of the 383 schools in the state.

For baseball, basketball and volleyball, the top 95 schools will be in Class 4A, the next 96 in Class 3A, the next 96 in Class 2A, and the final 96 in Class A. If enrollments were equal a tiebreaking system was used. The first tiebreaker was the freshman class, the second the sophomore class, and the third the junior class. The higher the number in each class, the higher the classification.

Wawasee and Triton will benefit from these numbers.

When it was all said and done, Wawasee and Lowell High School were tied at 851 in grades 9-11. After the first tiebreaker, the freshman class, the two schools were tied. But Lowell had a bigger sophomore class and became the final school in Class 4A, the larger class in the state.

That made Wawasee the largest school in Class 3A.

In Triton's case, it took only one tiebreaker, but it was the same result.

Triton and Shenandoah finished tied with 285 students in grades 9-11. But

Shenandoah's freshman class was bigger, and they were moved into Class 2A.

That made Triton the largest school in Class A.

Certainly number of students won't necessarily reflect success, and the numbers will change when the whole program is re-evaluated in two years, but certainly it gives Wawasee and Triton a fighting chance for some of those additional state championships that were basically the reason behind the switch to multi-classes.

The classes will be used for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 school years.

Assignments of schools to classes for football and softball will be released after Jan. 1, 1997.

For other area schools, Warsaw (1439) is in Class 4A, Whitko (543) and Tippecanoe Valley (525) are in Class 3A and Manchester (435) is in Class 2A.

• 4. Sam Wideman transfers to Warsaw

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

The transfers of Tippecanoe Valley student-athletes Sam Wideman and Tiffany Glingle to other schools have triggered an investigation by the IHSAA.

Blake Ress, assistant commissioner of the IHSAA, confirmed that the governing organization of Indiana high school athletics has been looking into the situation.

Wideman, a star basketball and volleyball player, recently enrolled at Warsaw High School after her family moved from the Valley school district to Warsaw.

And Glingle, also a member of the volleyball and basketball teams, is said to be headed to NorthWood High School, but her family has not moved.

"If either school thinks something is amiss, we investigate it," Ress said.

In the meantime, Wideman sits on the sidelines during volleyball season, waiting to get her eligibility confirmed.

Judge Burner Grants Injunction

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

Kosciusko County Superior Court Judge Robert Burner gave Sam Wideman and her family the first bit of good news in the ongoing case of her athletic eligibility at Warsaw Community High School.

With his order on Thursday, Burner granted the Widemans' request for temporary injunctive relief that will allow Wideman to play until another hearing is set on the case.

Burner's ruling stated that, "... the IHSAA Rule 19 is arbitrary and capricious and not supported by substantial evidence of probative value, and lacks a reasonably sound basis of evidentiary support."

The ruling makes Wideman, who transferred from Tippecanoe Valley High School in the summer, eligible for the Tigers' game against No. 15 Huntington North on Saturday. Wideman averaged over 11 points a game for the Vikings last season, but has been ineligible through the volleyball season and the first four games of the basketball season.

"We think he (Burner) agreed with the Widemans that there was a bona fide change of residence, and there was no evidence to uphold the decision of the IHSAA," R. Steven Hearn, the Widemans' attorney, said.

Burner ordered in his ruling that, "... Samantha Wideman is eligible under

the rules of the IHSAA to immediately participate in interscholastic

athletics at Warsaw Community High School."

Now, another hearing could be set to go through all this again, but no

timetable has been set. Another matter, the restitution rule, is also still

up in the air. The rule states that if another hearing rules Wideman

ineligible, Warsaw could be made to forfeit any wins with Wideman in the

lineup.

"The restitution rule doesn't even come into play yet," Hearn said. "The

restitution provides what will happen if his (Burner) decision is

overturned. That is something that is down the road. It is not relevant or

important at this point."

After going through two hearings with the IHSAA and one last month with

Judge Burner, Hearn and the Wideman family are probably not ready to get

back into a court room any time soon.

"The next step is anybody feels there is new evidence and then either party

can ask the court to set up for a final hearing," Hearn said. "The court

will do so when the first time they have available. We just got the decision

yesterday (Thursday) at 4 p.m., so we have not made any decisions at all."

• 5. Wawasee girls' tracksters win regional

Staff Report

BREMEN -ÊThe Wawasee Warrior girls' track team is the Bremen Regional champion for the second year in a row.

Three years ago, the Warriors were 11-0 in the regular season. Two years ago, 10-0. This year, 9-0.

They won 30 straight meets.

Now they can add back-to-back regional championships to their list of accomplishments.

The Warriors easily outdistanced second place Elkhart Central at Wednesday's regional, 71-54.

Although the competition was stiffer, the Warriors still came away with five first places.

Alysha Aalbregtse, last year's Warrior MVP, won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.75 seconds. Aalbregtse also won the 300 hurdles with a time of :45.63 seconds.

Emily Matz won the 400 with a time of 57.22 seconds. Susan Setlak won the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 4 inches.

The top three individuals and relay teams move on to the state meet. Any others at the regional who meet a state cut time will also advance to the state meet.

Scoring points but not moving on to state in these events for the Warriors were Mandy McGuire, who was fifth in the high jump; Setlak, who was seventh in the long jump; and Coy, who was fifth in the 3,200.

Wawasee Seventh At State Track Meet

Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS - Wawasee finished seventh at Friday's IHSAA state girls' track meet at the Indiana University track stadium.

The No. 9 Warriors scored 20 1/2 points. Lawrence Central won the meet with 49.

Susan Setlak led the effort with a third place finish in the high jump at 5 feet, 4 inches. Alysha Aalbregtse finished fifth in the 300 hurdles and seventh in the 100 hurdles.

• 6. Coaches leave

Goshert Manchester-Bound

By Jeff Holsinger,

Times-Union Sports Writer

NORTH MANCHESTER - It's official: Gary Goshert will trade in his green sports coats for red ones.

The Manchester school board hired Goshert to a two-year contract Tuesday evening to coach the Squires varsity basketball team. The board approved his hiring by a 6-0 vote. Goshert will teach physical education, health and psychology at Manchester High School.

To Goshert, a move down is a move up. He moves down Ind. 13 from Wawasee to Manchester.

"As basketball coach, after every season, you kind of look at openings," Goshert said. "You don't always pursue them. I decided that if something interested me, I would pursue it."

Manchester was open after March 22, when Moe Smedley left the Squires to become Marion's head coach.

Montel Resigning As WCHS Football Coach

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

In a sudden and unexpected move, Bob Montel has resigned at Warsaw Community High School.

Montel will move into private business. The announcement to returning players was made last night.

Montel was unavailable for comment.

"It was a surprise to me," WCHS athletic director Dave Fulkerson said. "It was a situation that he made the decision (to resign)."

Montel coached the Tigers for just one season, guiding the team to a 3-6 season.

• 7. Warsaw spikers in semistate

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

MUNCIE - Unfortunately for Warsaw, No. 4 Fort Wayne Northrop was not looking ahead.

The only unranked team in the Delta Semistate, the Tigers were hoping the Bruins had their sights set on a championship game matchup with either No. 2 Muncie Central or No. 7 Delta.

But it was no such luck. Fort Wayne Northrop entered the semistate semifinals with its focus squarely on the task at hand and duplicated its regular season domination of Warsaw with a 15-6, 15-8 win Saturday.

"I was hoping they were taking us a little more lightly than they did," Warsaw coach Jamie Byron said.

"I can't say we played our best volleyball because we didn't. They were ready for us. They came out on fire."

Northrop went on to win the semistate with a win over Delta in the championship match.

Warsaw actually took a quick 2-0 lead against Northrop when Melissa Bolles unleashed two aces on the Bruins to open the match. But the Bruins came right back with two aces of their own from Carly Messman to tie the score at 2.

Northrop kept rolling and eventually built up a 10-2 advantage on the Tigers. Warsaw cut the margin to 11-6 on three straight points later in the match, but Northrop closed it out on an ace from Sarah Tinkle to win the first game.

In game two, Northrop opened up a 5-2 lead before Warsaw came back and got to within 1, 5-4. The Bruins went on another run and made it 12-4 on three straight kills by Stephanie Bishop.

Warsaw cut the margin to 14-7 on a set kill from Bolles, but it was too little, too late as Northrop went on to the win.

"We were going for broke," Byron said. "We definitely didn't have any pressure on us. They listened to me in the huddle, and when I gave them instructions, they went back out on the floor and tried them. Northrop just always seemed to have an answer."

In their regular season matchup, Bishop and Stacy Zimmerman, both 6 feet tall, dominated the Tiger defense. It was more of the same in the semistate as Bishop went for nine kills and Zimmerman had seven to lead the Bruins.

"Our girls played with a lot of heart at times, and that is what it takes," Byron said. "But Northrop is a very, very good volleyball team, and they are tall, and their block was huge. They didn't make any mistakes."

About the only chink in the Northrop armor was nine service errors. But the Tigers couldn't take advantage of the opportunities.

"They did miss a lot of serves, and those were the opportunities we have to use and jump on," Byron said. "They gave us the opportunities, but we just couldn't capitalize on them."

Sarah Calhoun led Warsaw with six kills, while Estep added five.

Despite the loss, Byron viewed the season as a big success, especially considering that six months ago, the Warsaw players didn't even know who their new coach would be. And add to the fact that Byron was in her first head coaching position after just finishing her playing career, there were a lot of question marks answered in a big way with the Tigers advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in the state tournament.

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls," Byron said. "They came in not even knowing who the coach was going to be at the beginning of the summer. I didn't even know if I was going to be the coach. We were in limbo."

• 8. Valley beats Warsaw in football

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

Tippecanoe Valley's struggles with Warsaw have traditionally been more mental than anything. That huge hurdle that stood in the Vikings' way since 1989 (Valley's first and only win) was more to do with themselves than the teams Warsaw would put on the field.

That all changed Friday at Fisher Field.

Valley dominated Warsaw for four quarters, and this time didn't let it slip away in a 12-0 win over the Tigers in the opener for both teams.

"There is a mindset, in all sports, here at Valley when it comes to playing Warsaw," Valley coach Scott Bibler said.

That has been the problem for the Vikes. Since the rivalry started on the gridirom in 1989, Valley has only one win in the first season between the two teams.

Since then, even though the Vikes are a smaller school than Warsaw, they have had as much if not more talent in the seven years since that win. But still no wins to show for it, until this year.

"I actually have felt we have had teams in the past that I thought were equally as talented as Warsaw, but we just didn't get the job done on the field," Bibler said. "We have had a lot of close games with Warsaw. It was good to see our kids come out and put a goose egg on the scoreboard."

Valley put the zero on the scoreboard by allowing Warsaw just 122 total yards and one big interception by Jason Parker.

• 9. LCA boys' basketball team goes 23-0

LCA completes undefeated season with ACSI district title

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

WINONA LAKE - While the end was anticlimatic for Lakeland Christian Academy, it didn't make the accomplishments mean any less.

The Cougars completed a 23-0 regular season and won the ACSI Mid-America District crown that escaped them last year with a 60-23 pounding o Faith Christian (Williams Bay, Wis.) Saturday at Lancer Gym.

Going up against an outmanned Faith Christian squad, the Cougars had basically wrapped up the title Friday with a win over Peoria Christian, the team that beat LCA in last year's title game.

It was just a matter of motivation for LCA on Saturday, something that despite the overwhelming talent advantage, the Cougars still had.

"We knew coming in that (Friday night) would be the championship game," LCA coach Brennan Lien said. It was a tough team we beat, a team we lost to last year. We were concentrating mainly on them. And sometimes it is tough to get pumped up for the championship game. But the guys came out on fire.

"The motivation was - this was it, there was going to be no more. We thought we might as well play as hard as we can."

The win gave the Cougars their season-long goal of winning every game on the schedule. A goal that at the start o the season seemed just a thought, but now is a reality.

• 10. Warsaw girls' hoopsters win sectional

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

It was just Warsaw's turn.

In the series between the Tigers and their archrival from Whitley County, Columbia City, there had been 28 games, each winning 14; and 10 in the tournament, each winning five.

The Eagles' win last year ended Warsaw's reign as sectional champs, and this year, the Tigers decided to return the favor.

And Warsaw's roller coaster ride of a season took a sudden ascent with big 58-57 win over No. 11 Columbia City in the semifinals of the Warsaw Girls' Basketball sectional Thursday at the Tiger Den.

"It is a big rivalry," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said.

Tigers Beat Vikes

For Title

By Greg Jones,

Times-Union Sports Editor

With two teams on the court in Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw that have a majority of their players a little wet behind the ears, especially when it comes to sectional championships, the difference was going to be leadership.

The Tigers found it in their only senior starter - point guard Sherry Haines. The only player on the court to see any time in a sectional championship game, Haines hit 10 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to help secure Warsaw's 49-33 win over Valley at the Tiger Den in the title game.

of the Warsaw Sectional.

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