Minton To Be Honored Friday

SYRACUSE - Retired Wawasee High School track and cross country coach Jerry Minton will be honored prior to the Warsaw-Wawasee boys' basketball game Friday. Northern Lakes Conference president, and Concord High School principal, Robert Staley will make the presentation.Minton will be presented a plaque and a lifetime courtesy pass to all NLC events. Minton, who retired last year, had 260 wins as boys' track coach at Wawasee; 262 wins as boys' cross country coach and 118 wins as girls' cross country coach.In 1983, he was named Indiana Girls' Cross Country Coach Of The Year.

Letters to the Editor 03-16-2000

- Back To The Days - Towing Service - Indian Sculptor - Valley Baseball Back To The Days Editor, Times Union: In the March 2, 2000, issue of the Times-Union, it was announced that the Steering Committee for the Annual Back to the Days of Kosciuszko festival had disbanded.While involved in last year's festival, I became aware of the amount of time and effort it took on the part of the steering committee, (Tammy Denlinger, Joanne M.Kolbe, David Taylor and many others) to coordinate an event of this size.This festival reaches both young and old in our community with educational programs for school children, historical re-enactments, and a link to the past through Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish military strategist after whom the county is named.

Letters to the Editor 04-04-2000

Panthers' Difference-Maker

NAPPANEE - NorthWood's punter is pretty solid this year.He's averaging 39.4 yards per kick.His longest punt is a booming 63 yards. NorthWood's halfback, you couldn't ask anything more out of him.All he's done is rush for 965 yards - he averages 7.7 yards per carry - and 17 touchdowns.He's also caught 17 passes for 368 yards. NorthWood's punt and kick returner, that guy does a pretty good job, too.His punt returns average 20.9 yards, while his kick returns average 17.6 yards. All of this - the punting, the rushing and receiving, the punt returning, the kick returning - is done in a day's work for Aaron Huber.

Letters to the Editor 03-10-2000

- Congratulations, Triton - Capital Punishment - Thou Shalt Not Kill - Tiger Fan - Classy Team - Animal Welfare - Blessing Of Freedom Congratulations, Triton Editor, Times-Union: As both a U.S.Congressman representing Indiana's fifth congressional district and a father of a high school daughter who plays basketball, it is with both pride and respect that I commend the Triton girls basketball team, coaches, parents and fans for their Class A State Championship.

Squires Shoot For First Sectional Title Since 1991

NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester's football teams won sectional titles in 1988, 1989 and 1991 under Al Bailey. Even though the 1998 team has not won the sectional -Êyet -ÊBailey says this is his best Manchester team in his 14 years as coach. "I think we're a better team now, because the quality of football from top to bottom in the state has picked up every year," he said."I think there have been years where I've done a better job coaching, but we didn't win very many games.You have to look at the talent." Last week the 9-1 Squires, who finished the season ranked seventh in 2A, beat 1-9 Madison-Grant 34-0 in the sectional first round. Now they meet 3-7 Oak Hill. "It's a good draw for us, probably better on paper than it is in real life," Bailey said.

Vikings Drop Warriors To 0-5

MENTONE - Nowadays you have to stand in line to have a chance to speak with Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball coach Bill Patrick after his team plays. In his first season at the helm of the Vikings, he's become somewhat of a popular man. After Friday's 58-45 win over Wawasee, a game that improved Valley's record to 4-2 and dropped the Warriors to 0-5, things were no different.There was a long line of congratulations and handshakes for Patrick. And rightly so.In Patrick's first six games, he's won almost as many as the Vikings won all of last year. Wawasee got on the board first last night as R.J.Wilson scored two of his seven first- quarter points.Wilson's seven points accounted for all of Wawasee's opening frame offensive output.Eric Prater got the Vikings in the scoring column with his two-point bucket at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter.

Letters to the Editor 03-21-2000

- Congratulations - Our Father's House - Eye Bank Month Congratulations Editor, Times-Union: Congratulations to Valley 8th grade girls basketball team.You had a great year and an outstanding record for your middle school years.

Valley Wins Third Straight Thanksgiving Classic

AKRON -ÊThe third time's a charm for Tippecanoe Valley's girls basketball team.At least when it comes to the Tippecanoe Valley Thanksgiving Classic, that is. The Viking girls picked up a 62-43 win over Fort Wayne Elmhurst Saturday night in the championship game of the tournament to win the Thanksgiving Classic for the third straight year. The Vikings took the lead early and never looked back.Abby Shafer netted the first basket of the game, and Kara Kramer added two more baskets to put the Valley squad up 6-0 with 6:01 left in the first quarter. Valley took an 18-6 lead after Holli Jackson netted a basket at the 3:16 mark, but Elmhurst fought back. Keshia Kennedy scored a basket and a free throw, and then Brandi Stuckey hit a basket and a free throw to cut Valley's lead to six, 18-12, going into the second quarter of play.

High School Basketball Roundup

GOSHEN - Wawasee's varsity boys basketball team defeated Goshen 58-54 in the consolation round of the Goshen Holiday Tournament Tuesday. The win improves Wawasee's overall season record to 1-7 and snaps a 27-game regular season losing streak.The Warriors' last regular season victory came over Bremen in the last game of the 1997-98 season. The Redskins outscored Wawasee 12-10 in the first quarter before Wawasee outdid Goshen 16-14 in the second stanza, knotting the game at 26 at the break.The Warriors held a 40-36 lead going into the fourth quarter. Warrior seniors Jeremy High and R.J.Wilson each connected on a pair of free throws in the final minute of the game to secure the win. High led the Warriors with 17 points and 11 rebounds.Junior center Andrew Packer added 13 points and eight rebounds. Wawasee will be in action again Jan.7 when it hosts Plymouth.

Wienhorst, Braddock Lead Tigers To Comeback Win Over Rival Wawasee

Thanks to a strong finish, Warsaw's varisty boys basketball team is off to the start it wanted in Northern Lakes Conference play. After struggling from the field and trailing nearly the entire first three quarters of play Friday, the Tigers found their shooting touch in the fourth, scoring 28 points in the final eight minutes of action en route to a 60-49 win over rival Wawasee. The contest in the Tiger Den was the NLC opener for both teams.Warsaw improved to 5-2 overall, while Wawasee fell to 4-1. Trailing 35-27 with 1:06 to go in the third, Warsaw closed out the quarter with a pair of free throws from junior Michael Moore and a key three-point play from classmate Michael Wienhorst to trim Wawasee's lead to three going in to the final frame.

Letters to the Editor 02-23-2000

- Altered Perception - Gasoline Prices Altered Perception Editor, Times-Union: On Friday morning an ice storm canceled school.This gave me time to complete my mission.This teacher was going to hand deliver my vehement opinions of past Potpourri columns to the desk of the Times-Union's managing editor.As I stepped out of the elevator, Mr.Gary Gerard's eyes and mine met.His eyes were friendly - almost mischievous.Mine were glaring.I tried to use the look I had given many a school child over the years; you know, the one that says "You have been a bad boy!" We shook hands and I informed him he was a good man, but I also thought I was an equally good and dedicated teacher.Gary accepted my letter.

Gene Mitz Calls It Quits

SYRACUSE - After 34 years, Gene Mitz retired from coaching football Tuesday. Mitz has spent the last five years as head coach of the Wawasee Warriors.Mitz, who coached 19 years at the college level and spent 15 more years coaching high school, will remain the dean of students at Wawasee High School. Mitz's career high school record is 57-83, and he was 15-33 at Wawasee, including the 4-6 record that he posted in the past year.He has spent time at all levels of college coaching from the Big Ten (Northwestern) to junior college (Triton Junior College).He also coached at Drake, North Park College, Ball State, Southwest Missouri State and Rose-Hulman.At the high school level, Mitz began his coaching at Niles North High School in Illinois in 1964 and has also coached at Proviso West, Proviso East, Dundee and Wawasee.

Forfeits Help Warsaw Wrestlers Beat Concord

The Tiger wrestlers visited the Concord gym Thursday and barely escaped with a win but, thanks to four forfeits in the lower weight classes, the Tigers won the meet 40-30. Warsaw was defeated on the mat however, losing five matches before coming up with an actual win in head-to-head competition.Ê In fact, Warsaw only won three of the 14 matches while Concord won seven.To say the least, Warsaw coach Tony Boley was disappointed. Meanwhile, Concord coach Steve Zimmerman was ecstatic."I liked what I saw," he said."I liked it a lot." Concord has five undefeated wrestlers, including the four seniors and Jason Bleiler, a sophomore.

Tiger Girls Roll, Face Wawasee Again

In a girls basketball game that lasted just over an hour, the outcome of Tuesday's Warsaw/Northridge matchup in the first round of the Northern Lakes Conference/Lake City Bank Holiday Tournament was in doubt little more than eight minutes. Trailing the Raiders 15-13 after one quarter of play, the No.6 (4A) Tigers outscored their opponents 25-8 in the second stanza and 16-4 in the third en rout to a convincing 60-37 win. "I felt going in we had to play our game and be able to make adjustments," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said."Northridge made cuts to the basket in the first quarter.We made adjustments and they no longer got those shots." The 23-point win improves the sixth-ranked Tigers to 9-1 on the season and gives them a 15-0 lead in the overall series.Northridge, which entered Tuesday's game on a three-game win streak, falls to 4-8.

Flat Tigers Fall To Valparaiso

VALPARAISO - Just call it the post-Northridge blues. After coming up big in the biggest game of the season Friday against their Northern Lakes Conference rivals from Middlebury, the Tigers experienced that major letdown that sometimes follows after an important victory against Valparaiso Saturday. Appearing flat and with none of the fire from the night before, Warsaw fell to Valpo 53-46 in the first matchup between the two teams since 1937. "Mentally, we were flat tonight," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said."As well as everybody stepped forward in the big game, we stepped backwards tonight." After shooting over 60 percent from the field against Northridge, the Tigers struggled against Valpo's 2-3 zone and made only 15 of 39 (38 percent) and got beat on the boards by the taller Vikings 29-22.

Krizmanich Shoots Warsaw Past South Bend Clay

Some people already think that Tom Krizmanich's legs are bionic with that way he can jump. Now, his head proved to be just as solid.Less than a week after hitting his head on the court against Valparaiso and missing two days of practice because of it, Krizmanich bounced back nicely against South Bend Clay in the second game of the Warsaw Holiday Tournament Friday. The Tigers' leading scorer this season scored 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead Warsaw to a 60-53 win over the Colonials and into the championship game against South Bend Washington (an 82-81 winner over South Bend Riley). Krizmanich especially stepped up big for the Tigers in the fourth quarter when he hit 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-4 at the charity stripe. Tyler Charlton added 16 points, 11 in the fourth. Krizmanich and Charlton helped to awake a sleeping Tiger offense that had accounted for only 32 points through three quarters of play, but got 28 in the fourth quarter alone.

Letters to the Editor 04-19-2000

- Red Lights On U.S.30 - Girl Scouts - Carolina Flag - What's A Senior to Do? - Cemetery Monument - Missing Smelser - Smelser Resignation - Miner Lumber Red Lights On U.S.30 Editor, Times-Union: Once again while waiting to pull out onto U.S.30 and head westward to work another semi-truck barreled through a "RED" light.Had I not been aware of this common occurrence I probably would have pulled out into its path. The fellow next to me started to do so and was about to become a big bulls-eye for the oncoming truck until I honked at him and he fortunately put it in reverse and got out of the way.

Whitko's Loss Is Valley's Gain

I'll come right out and say it: I am a Bill Patrick fan.I'll make no apologies, I always have been and always will be a Patrick supporter. Obviously, no one was happier to learn that Patrick had accepted a position to coach the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings. Naturally, I had anticipated Friday night's Valley-Whitko matchup for weeks. Finally Patrick would be able to prove to Whitko that they've been missing something for the past three years - quality high school basketball coaching. In his 29 years with the Whitko School Corporation, Bill Patrick was the only boys basketball coach Whitko ever had.He racked up a whopping 478 wins and never had a losing season (His worst record was 11-10).He also led the Wildcats to 11 sectional championships, two regional championships, and a trip to the 1991 Final Four Tournament.And Patrick did all this before the class system, the supposed savior of high school basketball for small schools.

Letters to the Editor 03-20-2000

- Trashy Story - Triton Basketball - Break-Ins - 'Class' Basketball - Abandoned Pups - Phone Service - Prayers Needed - The Prayer - Taxes - Congrats To Hoop Teams - Missing Dog Trashy Story Editor, Times-Union: Why must you carry such a story as the trash you carried last night, 3/7/00, on page 11B? First it was carried under the Education section, then under a headline the size of front page news.