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Prep Sports
Wednesday October 14, 2009
Posted by: Jim Peters at 2:00AM EST on October 14, 2009
Paige Mulle's 22nd-place finish in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional pushed Portage over the top after the teams stood tied at 45 through their first five runners. "Paige struggled a little bit the middle part of the season," coach Chuck Heimberg said. "Today should give her a lot of her confidence back. She's a very, very talented kid. It's nice to see her have a great race, probably her best race in a month and a half, and have her be the decisive factor in us winning." -- Jim Peters
Posted by: Jim Peters at 1:52AM EST on October 14, 2009
Valparaiso's rarely had its best seven on the starting line this season doe to various issues, but has managed to hold its own thanks to the development of runners like freshman Tiffany Fortney, who finished seventh in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional. "She just keeps getting better and better," coach Karen DeVries said. "Every race, I'll ask her what her goal is to make sure she's right on track, and she always is. She has that game plan going into a race." Fortney's helped pick up the slack for the likes of Lauren Bigger, who's been slowed by injuries this season. "Lauren's a solid runner," DeVries said. "She has lots of talent. We haven't really seen that talent this year, but I hope even after today she realizes, hey, I can at least help." -- Jim Peters
Posted by: Jim Peters at 1:49AM EST on October 14, 2009
David Osborn pushed the early pace in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional as part of his preparation for the state meet on Oct. 31. "The whole point is just to simulate what it's going to be like at state," the Chesterton senior said. "I was able to go out fast and I maintained it as well as I could, staying smooth and comfortable. I kind of dropped off the third K, but I was able to keep it pretty consistent throughout the race." Osborn targeted a time of 3:00 for the first 1,000 meters and he came through the mark in 2:58. "We're just kind of planning out his races, taking bits and pieces of what we think the state meet's going to be like, and implementing them within races from here on out," coach Tim Ray said. "We said, go out hard and see how it feels. We didn't care what everybody else did, we just wanted to try to be at 3 (minutes) for the first K, and getting accustomed to doing that." -- Jim Peters
Posted by: Jim Peters at 1:39AM EST on October 14, 2009
Portage won Tuesday's sectional, but girls coach Chuck Heimberg doesn't think the Indians have maxxed out by any stretch. "We've got to run our last 1,000 meters better," Heimberg said. "With 1,000 to go, we still had four girls in front of Valpo's second. They did a tremendous job, just like at the DAC, running strong the last 1,000 meters. If we get ourselves to that point Saturday, the following Saturday, finishing off a race a little better, we'll be in a little better shape." On a good day, Heimberg thinks the Indians can contend for the regional and semistate titles and finish in the top 10 at state. "We are every bit as good as everybody else in our area as far as having a shot, along with Crown Point, Lake Central and Valpo," he said. "We hope this puts us over the hump of having the confidence that, yeah, we can do that." -- Jim Peters
Posted by: Jim Peters at 1:35AM EST on October 14, 2009
Chesterton junior Andrew Morris has missed most of the season due to injury, running just one race. He was healthy for Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional and he made the most of it, finishing seventh. "It was wonderful for him to get back and get a taste of what everybody else has been getting," coach Tim Ray said. Ray was also pleased for junior Manny Orlich, who placed 12th. "Manny was one of those little kids as a freshman and today he's all-sectional," Ray said. "He had an unbelievable summer, so that's nice to see. You're happy to see those kids who kind of just do what's right, do the things you ask them, get the recognition they deserve." -- Jim Peters
Posted by: Jim Peters at 1:26AM EST on October 14, 2009
Chesterton's Shane Kenney picked up the nickname 'Mr. October' from coach Tim Ray for a couple reasons. One, the Trojans senior plays baseball in the spring rather than running track, and, two, he typically runs his best races in the month of October, coinciding with the state tournament series. "One things Shane always seems to do, when that weather turns, he steps on through," Ray said after Kenney's runner-up finish in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional. "You have a baseball player, it becomes October, and you know what that means. He's been waiting for October. I hope that it continues for him." So does Kenney, although he's a fan of the White Sox and not the Yankees, the team of the other Mr. October, Reggie Jackson. "I felt great," Kenney said. "I'm usually about 10, 15 seconds behind (Ryan Cutter at 3K) and I was a lot closer. It was only two, three seconds. Seeing I was that close, I was thinking I can stay with him. At 3K, we got together and he encouraged me. I kind of took off and I had a lot of confidence in doing so." -- Jim Peters
Wednesday September 23, 2009
Posted by: Sports at 6:43PM EST on September 23, 2009
The Lowell Red Devils volleyball team has a goal this year around the staple: "Fight for 12".
Because the volleyball season is 12 weeks long through the sectional week, fighting for 12 will get the Red Devils to their first sectional final game since beating Highland in 2005. Lowell has fought each of the first six weeks of the season, beating Andrean and Munster on the first round of the Northwest Crossroads Conference schedule. The 'Devils play Munster for the second time on Thursday. "Everything that we're doing right now should be to better ourselves," coach Kim Kilmer said after her team lost to Griffith, "to get to sectional week and fight past that." -- Hillary Smith
Posted by: Sports at 6:21PM EST on September 23, 2009
The Region got to know Ana Nicksic as a setter last year, when as a freshman she was called on to set for Andrean's tough front line.
At over 6-foot tall, she'd always been a front-line hitter herself, but grew quickly into the setter's role. This season, she's being utilized both as a setter and has been told to unleash her hitting prowess when she sees fit. "We're keeping our options open," Andrean coach Naveed Nizam said. "We're going to use her as a weapon and we've given her the green light to swing away when she wants to. We don't want her to be timid, we want her to learn to read and see where the ball's going." Against Bishop Noll on Tuesday, Nicksic had 3 kills and was 9-for-9 hitting. Her season high is nine kills in a five-set win over Griffith. -- Hillary SmithTuesday September 22, 2009
Posted by: Jim Peters at 2:37AM EST on September 22, 2009
Laurie Richter e-mailed me after a recent column about Charlie Adams' presentation on recruiting at Wheeler High School. Her son plays basketball for reigning Division III national champion Washington University in St. Louis, and said she was shocked at how complicated the recruiting process was for the average parents. As a result, she interviewed families and college coaches and wrote a guidebook to help parents get through the process. It's called: "Put Me In, Coach: A Parent's Guide to Winning the Game of College Recruiting". Here's a link: (www.collegesportsrecruitingbook.com). Richter also published an ebook of recruiting tips to go along with it -- "The Recruiting Companion for College Sports: Over 100 Winning Tips." Both can also be found on Amazon. "As useful as these recruiting seminars are -- I went to several when we were in the middle of it -- I have found that parents really seem to connect with what another parent has gone through so I have received very positive response to the introduction of the book," Richter wrote. The book has also been endorsed by Texas football coach Mack Brown and retired Texas women's basketball coach Jody Conradt, who both know a thing or two about recruiting. "Just wanted to let you know that there are other resources out there to help folks manage the recruiting process, especially for all the second-tier kids who won't get the recruiting attention that the blue chippers get," Richter wrote. "And it's usually too late when they figure out where they are in the pecking order." -- Jim Peters
Wednesday September 16, 2009
Posted by: Jim Peters at 2:18AM EST on September 16, 2009
More than 2,000 runners from more than 100 high schools throughout Indiana and Michigan will compete in the 42nd annual New Prairie Cross Country Invitational Saturday. With the school's purchase of a chip timing system, those runners will be wearing ankle strap chips for the first time. Coaches' packets included numbers and chips that will be assigned to runners. Ankle straps will be collected from the runners before they exit the finish chute. Teams failing to return their assigned chips will be assessed a fee. |
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