Tiger Golfers Down State-Ranked Wawasee, NorthWood
WINONA LAKE - Having played for Warsaw himself, Ben Barkey knows how special wins are over rival Wawasee. Tuesday's boys golf match at Stonehenge was a sweet reminder, and the first-year Tiger coach was all smiles for good reason. With three players shooting 40 or lower on a day as windy as the winter is cold, the Tigers shot a 162 and won a three-way Northern Lakes Conference match over No.2 Wawasee and NorthWood. Wawasee, which finished fourth in the state a year ago and graduated just one player, struggled on Stonehenge's back nine, shot uncharacteristically high scores and finished with a 164.NorthWood shot a nine-hole team score of 199.
Hepler Leads Locals In Indiana Open
Friday, Warsaw's Denny Hepler will travel to Scotland to participate in the Senior British Open. Before he goes, the former Ball State University and Florida State University golfer and current owner/professional at Raccoon Run said he wanted to gain some momentum by playing well in the 90th annual Indiana Open. After two of four rounds at Stonehenge Golf Club, Hepler leads all local competitors and is in 10th place, six strokes behind leaders Alan Schulte of Fishers and Jeff Cook of Indianapolis. "I hoped to go last week and qualify for the Senior U.S.Open in West Virginia, but I finished 10th in the qualifier," said Hepler."I want to do a little better before I head off to Scotland.That's the reason I didn't go to St.Andrews this week, I wanted to use this as a stepping stone." Hepler shot a 2-over 73 in Monday's first round, and then came back and shot 70 Tuesday.
Win Or No Win, No. 3 Proves He's Back
In a NASCAR season where family has meant so much - the late Adam Petty becoming a fourth-generation driver, and the battles between Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Father's Day weekend was almost perfect for Dale Earnhardt. Almost perfect. Saturday, Earnhardt's eldest son, Kerry, drove his Monte Carlo into Victory Lane in the ARCA 200 at Pocono Speedway - this just his fourth career ARCA start. Monday, one day after the Winston Cup race was postponed due to rain and fog, it looked as if it would be the Intimidator's day. After a strong pit stop with just laps to go, Earnhardt came off pit road in first-place, with the race clearly in his hands.Or so it seemed. With about a quarter-mile to go, Jeremy Mayfield gave our beloved late-race paint trader a dose of his own medicine, tapping him just enough to send him up high.Mayfield, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd then passed.Earnhardt finished fourth - when it looked like he had it in the bag.
Tigers Clinch Conference Title
Coming into this season, the thought was no returning starters for the Tigers, no chance for any kind success.It was going to be a rebuilding year for Warsaw. This edition of the Tigers proved that wrong and wrapped up at least a tie for the NLC title with an 81-67 win over NorthWood Wednesday at the Tiger Den. Warsaw can win the title outright if Goshen beats Plymouth on Friday. "I am very proud of this group of seniors," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said."We had a tough night at Plymouth.But looking at the overall picture coming into the season, for this group to end up conference champions is certainly quite an accomplishment, and something we are very proud of.A lot of teams had more players back, and we had no starters returning.This is a team that has had to fight for everything it gets.We are not pretty sometimes." With the win, Warsaw extended its home-court winning streak to 20 games, including all 12 games this year.
Slow start dooms Vikes against Norse
HUNTINGTON - On Saturday, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings were back into the regional tournament for the first time since 1988.Their opponent, the Northfield Norsemen, came into the game with a formidable 16-6 record and the experience of playing two games in Huntington North's arena just one week ago at the sectional. The Vikings came in with confidence that they could knock off Northfield for the school's first regional victory.After all, the Norsemen defeated Valley by just two points on a last-second shot in the regular season. But the Vikings could not contend with Northfield's two big men inside, Dewayne Krom and Bernie Schuck, as the Norsemen ended Valley's season with a 59-44 victory in the opening round of the regional.
Whitko Shooting Woes Costly
SOUTH WHITLEY - Don't try to tell Whitko head coach Fred Fields that his Wildcats shot well on Friday night despite making 59 percent of their shots from the floor and 63 percent of their shots from three-point land against North Miami.He doesn't care to hear about it. "We didn't shoot well," Fields said after his team dropped a 55-54 decision to the Warriors.He then went onto emphasize that point."We did not shoot very well.I would be offended if you put in an article that we shot well.We did not shoot well.You've got to look at the whole picture." That whole picture includes the free-throw line where the Wildcats made just 5 of 14 attempts and missed all four of their freebies in the fourth quarter.In the last three games, Whitko has made just 10 of 32 free throws for a 31-percent clip.
Squires Survive South Whitley Brickfest
SOUTH WHITLEY - The first question Gary Goshert is asked after his Manchester Squires outlasted Whitko 35-30 is, just how many years did your basketball team set basketball back in this game? Goshert laughs, then responds with a question of his own: "You mean, how many years did this game set me back?" Goshert said Friday he hadn't seen a game like this in his 15 years of varsity coaching.Here's why: The Manchester pessimist looks at the game and notes the 9-2 Squires made only 9 of 38 field goals against 1-8 Whitko.The Manchester optimist looks at the game and notes the Squires needed to shoot only 24 percent to beat Whitko. Of Manchester's nine field goals, one came outside the paint.The Squires won a basketball game where they hit one perimeter shot.
Wawasee Grabs Fourth Place At State
FRANKLIN -ÊAfter advancing from the state semifinals in a three-way tie for fifth place Wednesday, the Wawasee Warriors were determined to get a better start Thursday in the last round of the state finals. And the Warriors did just that.On the front nine, the Warriors shot a solid round, with scores ranging from 36 to 40.Then the Wawasee squad finished the back nine with scores ranging from 36 to 42. The Warriors finished Thursday's round with an 18-hole team score of 304.Added to Wednesday's 298, the Wawasee foursome totalled 602 strokes as a team. "We beat last year's score by six strokes," said Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone, after the Warriors finished their Thursday round."We're hoping to finish in the top 10 today, but it will depend on the other scores." In the end, the Warriors' 602 was good enough for fourth place behind Richmond, Center Grove and Columbus North.Richmond won the state title with a two-day total of 587, a new state meet record.
NorthWood Comes From Behind To Beat Bremen
NAPPANEE - The very thing that almost put NorthWood's football team away Friday night gave it a win over Bremen at Jim Andrews Memorial Field - the big play. But in the end it was the Panthers who came up with the biggest play of all as they topped the Lions (0-2) 34-28 in overtime.The win improves 3A No.1 NorthWood's record to 2-0. After the two teams played to four-quarter stalemate, Bremen took the first possession of the overtime period and fumbled on the first play.NorthWood senior Andy Mitschelen recovered the loose ball. The play was a redemption of sorts for Mitschelen.With 45 seconds left in regulation he missed a 17-yard field goal that could have changed things drastically. Instead it was NorthWood quarterback Charlie Roeder throwing a 10-yard touchdown to Chaz Scherer to secure the come-from-behind win on NorthWood's first play of overtime.
Weisser Places Third At State Track Finals
INDIANAPOLIS - Of the local competitors in Saturday's girls track and field state finals at Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI, Wawasee's Staci Weisser came away with the best finish. Weisser, a junior, finished third in the high jump with a leap of 5-5.The height ties a personal best for Weisser. Triton senior Sisteen Christian had the next best finish among local competitors.Christian finished 16th in the shot put with her throw of 36-10.5.Christian placed second in the Bremen Regional with a throw of 37-6. Warsaw's Ginny Gardonio, who was third at the Bremen Regional and came into the state competition ranked 24th, failed to place. "I listened to her talk," said Warsaw coach Paul Boyd."She spoke of what she needed to do to get back next season and compete with the big dogs." Warsaw junior Summer Boyd, who has been running with a herniated disc in her back since the beginning of April, walked away a 19th-place finish in the 800 with her time of 2:23.98.
Depleted Tigers Down NorthWood
As the scoresheet from Thursday's Warsaw/NorthWood boys tennis match at Warsaw Community High School indicated, NorthWood won a battle, but Warsaw won the war. The Tigers defeated their Northern Lakes Conference rivals 4-1, improving their overall season record to 7-2 and 3-1 in NLC play.NorthWood fell to 3-7 on the season. The lone win for the Panthers came at the No.2 doubles position, where Eric Reynolds and Matt Sitce edged Travis Yoder and Eric Keller 6-3, 6-3. The Tigers were playing without No.2 singles player Matt Krizmanich last night, who, Warsaw coach Andy Lewis said, has a slight tear in a ligament in his knee but will be back Saturday because he has to play the remainder of the season to be eligible for the postseason.
Warsaw Girls Win Swim Sectional
Following a hiccup last year, the Warsaw Lady Tigers got back on top at the Warsaw swim sectional Saturday.
Lady Lancers Spike Rival Goshen
WINONA LAKE – Grace College’s offensive attack wore down Goshen College as the Lady Lancers won Saturday afternoon’s volleyball match in four sets.The Christina LeBlanc-led offense placed three Lady Lancers (9-4; 4-1 Crossroads League) in double-digit kills to help Grace recover from an early deficit.
Review: Cosby Still Knows How To Make Audiences Roll With Laughter
WABASH – Legendary comedian Bill Cosby started his hilarious show at the Honeywell Center in Wabash Sept. 11 with a two-minute remembrance of 9/11.
Kubacki Accounts for Votes
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The Lonely Presidency Of Barack Obama
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House, Jones Lead Concord Past Warsaw
DUNLAP – To liken them to a baseball pitching staff, Franko House played the role of the set-up man, while Mike Jones was the closer.In the final high school football game of the regular season, House and Jones were a formidable one-two punch, as the host Concord Minutemen beat the Warsaw Tigers 28-6 at Jake Field to wrap up a second-straight outright Northern Lakes Conference championship.
