Well, here we are! The 2018 fall sports season technically began with the start of a new season of girl’s golf. My thoughts and analysis on each school is completely subjective, and there won’t be any bias involved. So, please, if I don’t think your team will do as well, don’t take this offensive because there are no hard feelings here. I’m not going to mention every single fall sport for each school because 1.) I don’t want to make this post too long, 2.) I just don’t have time to cover every fall sport for all 17 schools, and 3.) I may not have the stats or the rosters that maybe needed to analyze each sport, which depending on the sport can make my claims slightly inaccurate. In this article, I will be previewing the fall sports season for each school. For time consuming reasons, I will list the one sport that I think will be the most exciting for 2018 along with the other sports to watch for each school (The three NE8 schools of Columbia City DeKalb, and East Noble will not be eligible for football because I will be making a blog later this week specifically on the NE8). If you have not seen my in-depth analysis on the 2018 NECC football season, I suggest referring to my last post –> 2018 NECC Football Preview
Let’s see how the fall sports will do for 2018! Enjoy! 🙂
Angola Hornets
The Angola Hornets had a fantastic 2017 fall sports season that saw their girl’s golf team have a winning season, their volleyball team in the sectional title game, and their boy’s tennis and football teams both winning sectional titles. I want to quickly mention that the 2018 seniors were talented and extraordinary leaders that always played with a lot of pride and heart for the purple and gold. Their presence left the foundation for the next Angola seniors to lead their teams the right way. I’ve already mentioned about the outlook of their football season, but I also expect the Hornets to be a force to be reckoned with throughout the 2018-2019 school year. If you haven’t done this already, whether you’re a Hornets fan or not, I would make an attempt to watch one of the Facebook livestreams at Hometown Media
Especially if your school is playing, so you can support your favorite teams if you can’t make it.
Volleyball
There are high expectations for their volleyball team as they look to build off their 30-6 season that clinched them their first NECC title in 14 years and just one win short of clinching their first sectional in 21 years. So, what do they lose? Well, they do lose 3 important players to graduation: Kayltn Brown (36 blocks ranked 2nd on the team in 2017), Abby Hottell (31 digs), and the talented pole vaulter Ali Cranston (ranked 4th in kills 100, 4th in aces 39, and 4th in blocks 30) who reunites with her older sister, Ari, to form the powerful sibling duo that I will refer to as “The Cranston Dynamo” for Illinois State’s powerhouse girls’ track program. Now, allow me to clarify you that this year’s Hornets led by the former US Olympian volleyball player and 2008 Beijing gold medalist, Lloy Ball, are armed and loaded with filthy good, young talent and sky-high confidence. They enter the season with just one senior (ONE), and a whopping 11 juniors that at times have already been playing like seniors. They bring back the Ball State commit, Caitlyn Snyder (led last year’s team in kills 323 6th most in NECC and aces 54 8th most in NECC, and 4th in digs 188), Autumn Cockroft (3rd in kills 115, and 3rd in blocks 31), Ally Lorntz (3rd in aces 48, led the team in digs (353 ranked 2nd in NECC), Sami Lee (2nd in kills 167), Belle Micheal (2nd in digs 205), Emily Land (5th in digs 122), and their lone senior and UNCG volleyball commit Gabby McHugh (led the team in blocks 53 and assists 811 (program’s all time leader in assists 2,186), 2nd in aces 52, 2nd in digs 208) who, if healthy, will a have a huge season not just in volleyball, but in basketball and maybe track. There is no question that the Angola volleyball team is going to kill it for the next two seasons, and the Hornet fans are in for a treat, yet again.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Angola
One of the few sports that has seen its fair share of struggles recently is their soccer programs. Since the start of the 2013 season, the Angola boys are 24-49-5 with no winning seasons since 2012. For the Angola girls, they are 34-49-4 since 2013, and that does not include a down season in 2012 that I for some reason can’t find the final record for that year. However, there is hope for the soccer programs that at one time was one of the better programs in Northern Indiana in the late 90s and early 2000s. Starting with the ladies, they enter this season with 6 seniors, 9 sophomores, and 8 freshmen unless something drastic happens prior to their season opener. Last season, senior Reace Peppler (led team in goals with 12 and second in assists with 5) and sophomore Hanna Knoll (second in goals 11 and led the team in assists with 6) led their club on offense. Known for her talents on the softball diamond, Reace, the youngest of three sisters, will look to follow the footsteps of Riley and upcoming Saint Francis softball player, Regan, in soccer and softball. As for Hanna Knoll, we won’t be hearing the last of her since she’s highly regarded as one of the rising basketball stars from a very talented 2021 class. However, their biggest challenges will still be some inexperience and a new goalkeeper as Jada Hall (2-4 116 saves 15 goals allowed) graduated. Unless something drastic happens on the boy’s roster, the Hornets will return 6 seniors, 3 juniors, and 7 sophomores. One of the bigger challenges for this season is finding consistent production as Franceso Pietrella (led team with 10 goals) graduated, but they do bring back senior Seth Nickel who scored 6 goals last season. I’d be curious to see what seniors such as Eric Cockroft (most notably the guy that kicked the sectional winning extra point and made Angola go bonkers) and Aaron Chao (you know that super awesome pitcher from the baseball team) can do for this season, especially since they have a knack for being clutch in high pressure situations. They will also be excited to have senior goalkeeper Koby Hankey (111 saves 15 goals allowed) back on the team (Angola has won 5 combined sectionals in soccer with their last one won by the boys in 2009). Their first game is this Saturday home vs Columbia City 10 a.m.
As for boy’s tennis, they have won 16 sectional titles with titles in 8 of their last 10 seasons, and I personally don’t think their dominance is going to end anytime soon. Their first game is August 16 @ Northridge. Girl’s golf coming off a NECC title last season is off to a very good start to the season by winning the Bellmont Invite July 31, a 189-279 NECC win over rival Prairie Heights, and scored a 180 in their conference win over Lakeland and West Noble. Junior Gabby Kelly has been the anchor behind their strong start averaging a near score of 51 through 5 matches that included 3 tournaments at Homestead, Bellmont, and Carmel. They’ll travel to Fremont this Saturday 10 a.m. (Note: This is a non-conference match) Finally, cross country, while it does not have the same reputation as their powerhouse track program, should have a decent season. Their season begins August 14 in the DeKalb Invite for both the boys’ and girls’ teams.
Every time we refer to last season at Central Noble, we always look back at the Girls’ basketball state title run. But, we seem to forget that the 2017 fall season was a roller coaster one that won a football division title for CN Athletics. One of the more memorable moments from last year was when the football team went from 2-8 to 8-4, beating Churubusco on Homecoming, being named co-division champions, and a sectional runner-up to the eventual state finalist, Woodlan Warriors. Entering 2018, there are high expectations for the Cougars to maintain excellence in every sport they perform and compete for championships. However, this year’s team mentality and work ethic will be tested by elite competition in the NECC.
Volleyball
2017 was a very successful year for the volleyball team that probably had their season ended much sooner than they expected. After starting last season 6-0, they went 14-10 the rest of the way including getting swept in the sectional semi-finals by the eventual sectional champion, Prairie Heights Panthers. This year’s volleyball team will be heavily tested as they lost seven players to graduation that includes Trine volleyball player, Chloe Behm (led the team in blocks 53, 2nd in kills 292, and 3rd in aces 29), and upcoming Bethel sprinter, Kayla Kunkel (led the team in aces 51 and digs 193, and 3rd in blocks 25). However, there are some pieces to build around like senior and Saint Francis Basketball commit Meleah Leatherman (led the team in kills 299, tied for 4th in aces 28, 2nd in blocks 43, and 4th in digs 155), senior Macy Griffis (Tied for 4th in aces 28) and 2nd in assists 49), junior Sam Brumbaugh (5th in digs 149), junior Kylie Urso (2nd in digs 190), and sophomore Bridgette Gray. As you know from her days as a generational basketball center and discus player, finding tall individuals that are as talented as Meleah are very hard to come by, but when she’s playing at her best, she is one of the most dominant two-way players in the state (not just in the NECC but in state). I also like Sam Brumbaugh as an athlete because she’s going to bring her 110% effort, especially on defense for any team she plays, whether it’s volleyball, basketball, or most notably softball. I do believe Bridgette is going to get better as she is one of the many bright stars on the NECC’s 2021 class. The problem is there’s going to be some inexperience in certain positions, especially if they opt to start a couple freshman on the team. Do I see them as a legitimate NECC contender this season? Absolutely not. Do I think they’ll be competitive? In some ways, yes, because it’s Central Noble. They always work hard and will have to play as a team to succeed in 2018. Plus, if they play well-enough, the Central Noble sectional has no clear-cut favorites (as far as I know) and can be in the mix for their first title in 9 years.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Albion
Unfortunately, if you’re going to get a whole lot of excitement about most of the 2018 fall season, it most likely won’t happen at CN. Other than their football and potentially their volleyball teams, there’s quite a bit of uncertainty about their other fall programs (I’m not being harsh. I’m just telling the truth). The reality is it’s hard to accumulate talent in soccer and tennis when football and even volleyball attract the most talented athletes, especially if they’re a small school.
Central Noble soccer (mainly on the boys’ side) not only has been low on numbers these days but low on wins. Since the start of the 2013 season, the boys’ soccer team has gone 20-55-2 with zero winning seasons. The good news is there is optimism for second-year head coach, Joe Imhof, as his squad returns seven seniors and three juniors. The most notable guys they bring back are the coach’s son, senior Jacob Imhof (led the team in goals 12 and second in assists 6), and senior Austin Cole (led the team in assists 8 and second in goals 10) arguably one of the best one-two scoring duos in the area. The problem hasn’t necessarily been scoring goals. It’s giving up goals. Last season was a challenging year for them because they had gone through a carousel of goalkeepers, 5 to be exact, at a time where they had played some of their games shorthanded. Clearly, finding stability in goal will provide tremendous help for the team, and I think looking at the numbers they may go with junior Rece Vice to be the backbone of the Cougar defense. It’s also going to be important for Coach Imhof to get creative, build a winning culture, and regain students’ interest in the program.
Based on the win-loss record, you wouldn’t think there’s an issue with the girls’ soccer program as they’ve went 49-27-1 since the start of the 2013 season. However, since the first day of practice last season, the program has been desperately trying to encourage girls to join the team due to low numbers on the team, and it continues in 2018. Probably their biggest challenge will be finding offensive production as they lost two offensive-juggernaut players to graduation: Calista Rice was a workhorse of a player that scored as many as 21 goals in her three-year varsity career, and Ellie Cole (like her two siblings) was also very gifted in scoring a boat load of goals. However, their defense if healthy should be good enough to keep their team in games that includes three players from the softball team: junior goalkeeper Madison Bremer (most notable as a dominant softball pitcher), senior Andrea Leonhardt, and junior Jocelyn Winnebrenner. Under first-year coach Dan Gibbons, the future of the boys’ tennis program is very mucky after a disastrous 2017 season that didn’t field an entire team all year, zero wins, only two set wins, and a tie with Churubusco. While there had been a two-year stretch where they played ok, things have been rough for the program in recent years. They need to make some progress and win some games to provide some optimism for the future. Cross country should have an interesting year with Sydney Freeman competing her senior year. Definitely will be looking forward to watch her play once basketball season is upon us.
Churubusco Eagles
While Turtle Town might be anticipating another exciting year for high school football, there’s still excitement in the air for their other fall sports for 2018. Obviously, the sport to be most excited for Busco is their football, but I’ve already went in-depth with their football team from my last post.
Besides their football, there is a lot to like about the girls’ golf team’s fourth season, which they’ve had a nice short history of being one of the NECC’s better programs despite small enrollment numbers. Despite being a relatively young team over the past couple seasons, the team only lost one player to graduation and only have one senior yet again in 2018 with 8 juniors. They are a team that should be competitive for the next couple seasons for the NECC crown. I also believe their cross country should be decent since some of the more talented players from last year’s competitive track teams will take part in this year’s cross country team.
Like Central Noble, however, Churubusco does face the challenges of having inconsistent results in the fall sports due to either small enrollment, lack of consistently pure talent, or (for some) lack of interest in those particular sports. I do think their volleyball will have a bit of a tougher year to bounce back after losing Cora Pence (led team in aces 29 and 2nd in digs 185), McKenzie Hart, and Ashlie Martz (tied for 3rd in aces 18, and led her team in blocks 36) to graduation, as well as losing the Grand Valley State volleyball commit, Rachel Jacquay (4th on team in kills 70, tied for 3rd in aces 18, and tied for 4th in digs 114), as she transferred to Carroll for her senior year. On the bright side, they still bring back some decent talent from their 9-18 season such as senior Brooke Nondorf (led team in kills 103 and tied for 4th in digs 114), junior Melanie Geiger (led her team in digs (283 also ranked 5th in the NECC) and 2nd on team in aces 24), senior Sierra Przmelewski (3rd in blocks 31), senior Bekah Hulsenbeck (2nd on team in blocks 33), and sophomore Mallory Sphar (3rd on team in kills 72, 5th in aces 15, and 3rd in digs 147). Busco should be competitive due to their work ethic and young talent and could be somewhat in the hunt for the sectional 35 title at CN later this year. It should be interesting to see how their boys’ tennis and boys’ soccer programs do after a rough 2017 season.
Columbia City Eagles
The future seems promising for the Columbia City Eagles as they await to move into the new high school in 2020. But, for now the Eagles want to make some noise in what will once again be another competitive season for the NE8. Let’s see what the Eagles have in store for the 2018 fall season
Soccer
Entering 2018, the Lady Eagles want to build off a 2017 season that saw some promise for the program.
Coming off of a 7-6-3 record, they’ll have three seniors, seven juniors, and five sophomores that includes junior Skye Roberts (20 goals), junior Grace Cotter (13 goals), junior Mary Cotter (5 goals), and junior goalkeeper Samantha Barcus. Whenever opposing teams play Columbia City on any given day, they better be on time when the game begins.
The 2017 season for the boys’ soccer team was an ok year for them, but they know they can be better entering the 2018 season. Coming off a 6-9-2 season, the Eagles will be a senior-heavy team with ten seniors, two juniors, and three sophomores. They’ll be excited to have players like senior Colin Wood (11 goals), and sophomore Eric Cheng (5 goals). The team’s biggest challenge heading into the new year is that they’ll be having possibly an inexperienced goalkeeper as their two goalkeepers from last year both graduated. But, with a team that will have a ton of senior leadership, it’s going to make a difference for the undergrads on the team. Boys’ soccer’s first game is August 14 home vs Central Noble 5 p.m.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Columbia City
After a 12-18 2017 season, how will the volleyball team do in 2018? They lost some good players from gradauation, and they’re still a young team this season. On the bright side, they do bring back the program’s best player, senior Taylor Osborn (led her team in kills 181, aces 29, and blocks 133) and senior Sarah Pepple (led her team in digs 371). So far, the girls’ golf team is off to a nice start to their season, and I expect them to be competitive in the NE8. Finally, I do see their cross country have a strong season, it’s just a matter of how far they can go in the state tournament.
The DeKalb Barons have went through some hard times in recent years during the fall season. Now, going into a new year, the Barons want to make strides to improve their programs for the coming years ahead. Let’s see how they might do for the 2018 fall sports season.
Soccer
The Barons have been known for fielding some of the most talented players in Northeast Indiana. But, the boys’ program had a setback in 2017 dropping from 12-3-2 to 8-11. However, they do bring back eight seniors, seven juniors, and seven freshman. However, they’ll have to find offensive production as all of their players that scored a combined 49 goals all graduated. On the bright side, though, they’ll have their goalkeeper Ryan Eddy back for his junior season to be the backbone of DeKalb’s defense. This clearly will be a team by committee offense, and they’ll have to play good defense to compete at least for this season.
Things look a bit brighter for the girls’ soccer team coming off a 13-3-2 2017 season. The Lady Barons do have a lot of experience coming back as they’ll have six seniors, ten juniors, and seven sophomores. However, they’ll have to replace Faith Lewis who scored 31 goals in 2017, and having sophomore Grace Snyder (13 goals) back this season will definitely help that. They also bring back sophomore Brooke Bowers (six goals), senior Kendyl Smith (6 goals), and senior goalkeeper Erica Bolinger (13-3-2 0.88 Goals-Against-Average 10 shutouts). Things look pretty bright for the DeKalb Lady Barons. Girls’ soccer plays their first game August 14 @ Fort Wayne Northrop.
Other sports to keep an eye out in DeKalb
The Barons, typically, have a pretty successful tennis program that almost rivals with East Noble and Angola. So, I expect them to have a nice year there. DeKalb has been struggling on the volleyball courts for the past couple seasons. They’ll look for their first winning season since 2013, and they might have the experience to have a better season. I’m not going in-depth on their football team until my next post when I will be previewing just NE8 football.
East Noble Knights
The City of Kendallville has always been very loyal to the Big Blue, and there’s quite a bit of reason to be excited about the 2018 fall sports season, not just football season. Now, Knight Nation, be patient with me because my next post will most specifically preview NE8 football. I’ll tell you right now that the loss of EN’s all time great quarterback, Indiana State’s Andrew McCormick, is not going to impact them so much that they’ll fall apart. In fact, I think junior quarterback Justin Parker is a very underrated quarterback and senior Kaiden Harshberger is one of the area’s premier running backs. Without further ado, let’s discuss the fall sports for the East Noble Knights.
Volleyball
After a nice run of success in recent years, graduation was only going to catch up to the Knights, and it sure did in 2017. After a 13-16 season and middle of the pack in the NE8, the Knights will look to build off of that season under first-year head coach, Tyler Ferguson. This is a very senior-heavy team as they will have ten seniors such as Grace Erwin (led her team in aces 33, and 2nd in kills 147 and digs 254), Hallie Beiswanger (led her team in assists 705 and 2nd in aces 26), Jillian Carlson (led her team in blocks 55 and 4th in kills 101), and Kathryn DeCamp (3rd in kills 109 and 4th in aces 23). The most notable players they will have to replace due to graduation are Morgan Dwyer (led her team in kills 288 and digs 278) and Payton Butler (5th in aces 19). In a very tough conference like the NE8 that will have Bellmont and Leo competing for the conference championship this season. It should be a nice, competitive season for some Knights Volleyball at Noble County’s most popular gym: The Big Blue Pitt. EN Volleyball plays their first game August 15 @ carroll 7 p.m.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Kendallville
I’ll be curious to see what their soccer teams do this season. Last season, both their boys’ and girls’ soccer teams continued to play competitive ball but still weren’t able to get over the .500 hump. Their boys’ tennis team has had a history of being a very good team. I’m not exactly sure how they’re going to do, but I expect them to compete with Westview for a sectional title. I think their girls golf will have at least a competitive season, and I expect their cross country teams to have good seasons as well.
Blazer Country is fired up for another exciting, action-packed school year of Eastside Athletics and Blazers football. Now, let’s discuss and see how their fall sports might do this year.
First off, I’ve already mentioned their football team from my last post, and I still expect a very tough and entertaining battle with Busco and CN for the Small School Division crown. Keep in mind, the program has never won five straight division titles.
Eastside is one of those schools that we just have a hard time of knowing where these programs are going for this season and beyond. When I began my first year of following the NECC in the fall of 2014, Eastside volleyball was one of the better programs in the conference going 21-13 and 8-3 in conference. Since then, they’re an abysmal 13-77 with just six conference wins in that span. Yikes! But, if you’re looking for optimism of a turnaround in 2018, then you have plenty of reasons to believe it can happen.
First off, they won seven games last year, more than the previous two seasons combined (6). Second, the Lady Blazers only graduated Julia Baker (3rd on team in kills 101, 4th in aces 15, and 3rd in digs 182) and Olivia Yoder (2nd on team in blocks 29), and they return four seniors that include Shyan McKinley (led her team in kills 155 and blocks 42, ranked 2nd in aces 20, and 5th in kills 131), junior Erika Brock (leads team in digs 248, 2nd in kills 115, and 3rd in aces 17), and junior Jessi Gerke (leads team in aces 31 and assists 327, and 4th in digs 154). I will be curious to see how their boys soccer does since they’ve been struggling for quite some time, and I do think they can have a decent year in cross country.
Fairfield Falcons
Over the past decade, Fairfield has been one of the best fall sports program in Northern Indiana. What can we expect from the Falcons in 2018? Let’s take a look.
Volleyball
For nearly 20 years, Fairfield not only has had elite volleyball teams but have experienced numerous deep playoff runs including a run to the 2010 2A State Finals. Coming off a 29-8 2017 season, the Fairfield Lady Falcons are looking to continue their excellence on the volleyball courts in 2018, and they will have some pure talent to work with. Nope, they’re NOT going down anytime soon.
Fairfield is fortunate to be getting their top player back for this season, senior Chloe Bontrager (led her team in kills 347 (3rd most in the NECC) and 3rd in blocks 54), as well as junior Madeline Gawthrop (4th in kills 221 and blocks 49, 5th in aces 38, and 2nd in assists 135), sophomore Kayla Miller (2nd in blocks 67), and junior Sarah Shank (3rd in aces 51 and digs 166). I expect the Lady Falcons to be at least a top-five-caliber team and could very much be in the NECC title hunt with Angola and West Noble. I also expect Fairfield to very much be in the hunt to defend their sectional title in a very tough 3A sectional. Fairfield volleyball plays their first game August 21 @ Northwood 7:30 p.m.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Goshen
Like Angola, it’s almost guaranteed that their boy’s tennis will be very good this season without much of a explanation to prove my point. Finally, I could potentially see a decent year in cross country considering their decent reputation for fielding pretty good teams in the past.
Fremont Eagles
After finishing the 2017-2018 school year with a magical spring season, can the Fremont fall sports build off of this surge? Fall sports in the past have been very unsuccessful all across the board at Fremont high school, but they are looking to change the tides and bring the winning vibe back to the Eagle’s Nest.
Even with their recent surge, I still have my concerns on their fall sports. I’ve already discussed about their football team’s recent struggles and I don’t see a whole lot of excitement for the new season. Fremont volleyball has also faced their fair share of losing going 11-39 in their last two seasons.
They also lost 5 players to graduation and don’t have a ton of experience back as far as I know. I mean they do have a couple good athletes like Isabella Dangerfield (most notably as one of the main starters on the Fremont girl’s basketball team). They’ll probably have to rely on some of their undergrads to step up and play well enough to improve for the next season. It’s not like they have no talent because some of them have performed well in either basketball, track, or softball, but I’m not sure how this team is going to gel this year unless someone knows something about them that I am not aware of. Now, in the survey I posted earlier, someone did vote for Fremont cross country to have a strong year, which is something out-of-the-box, but they do have some talent that have played in cross country and track that maybe they can have a nice season. I just hope Fremont is able to turn their fall sports around because I know they have enough pieces to build a winning culture, but it’ll come down to their team chemistry and work ethic to make strides.
Garrett Railroaders
For most of the last two seasons, Garrett sports has experienced some downtimes in some of the bigger sports in the state. But, there is belief they could turn it around in 2018. Let’s take a look at the outlook of their 2018 fall sports season.
Volleyball
Not too long ago, they were a perennial powerhouse in both the ACAC and later the NECC. Since the start of the 2016 season, Garrett has posted a 19-47 record, but they took some steps to regaining their volleyball status as a contender.
Coming off their 14-19 2017 season, Garrett has a lot coming back losing just two players to graduation, and their best players are only sophomores! Sophomore Logan Smith (led her team in kills 333 (5th most in the NECC), aces 80 (2nd most in the NECC), and digs 318 (3rd most in the NECC), and 2nd in assists 269) and Emma Hirchak (led her team in assists 300, 2nd in kills 177, 3rd in aces 36 and blocks 20) are two of many talented players from a very deep 2021 class.
They will also have some senior leadership to rely on like Libby Detcher, Lexi Baver (led her team in blocks 45), and Camden Bodey (3rd in kills 131, and 2nd in aces 46, blocks 30, and digs 264). There is potential for Garrett to be an NECC contender as early as this season, but it will depend on if their youth continues to improve, they play as a team, and if they stay healthy.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Garrett
Garrett soccer may have a nice season for both the boys and girls programs. Coming off a 9-9-1 season and their first ever sectional to Railroader country, the boys’ soccer team should be competitive again this season as they only lost four players to graduation and have a loaded senior and sophomore class to work with. After going 10-5-1 in 2015, Girls’ soccer has went on a down spiral posting a 7-20-4 record since. However, they do bring back their leading goal scorer in sophomore Macy Newman (7 goals) and sophomore goalkeeper Kandyce Combs (2-5 106 saves). It should be an interesting year for girls’ golf and should be competitive despite still being a fairly young team. Garrett volleyball plays their first game August 16 home vs Churubusco 6 p.m.
Hamilton Marines
What will Hamilton do this season?
One of the more frustrating things to see when following the NECC is when that one school always seems to finish last in the conference. I’m sure they’re frustrated about these results, and I don’t disagree with them. This was a program that at one time wasn’t that bad of a team. In fact, they were at times pretty good. Back in the old days, their basketball teams were competitive against Angola, Fremont, Garrett, Leo, and even DeKalb (I’m not kidding. They beat DeKalb six times in the postseason during the one-class sectional era). They had their run to semi-state in 2001 during a 21-3 season coming single digits short of a state championship berth.
When people look at Hamilton today, all of their past success seems to have been an afterthought by outsiders of this community, and they look at all of the things Hamilton isn’t doing well. No varsity football team since 1985, almost no winning seasons since 2001, and at times have some of their programs go on hiatus due to lack of players. Now, if you’re aware of Hamilton’s situation, they’re in a predicament that I don’t know they can really avoid, and that is their slow but gradual enrollment decline. As far as I know, it is down to less than 90 (Although, we won’t know the official number till the halfway mark of the school year).
Here’s the thing. I don’t ever want to discuss these kind of politics in sports. But, when it affects every aspect of the school’s educational and extracurricular activities, I can’t help but discussing this epidemic because it’s heart breaking to see this. Honestly, I’m giving a ton of credit to the handful of players, the school administrators, and all of the coaches for remaining 100% committed to Hamilton athletics, doing their jobs the right way, and maintaining their enthusiasm for sports.
Because of this, I don’t think people should be making fun of these guys (or gals) because they’re competitors just as much as everyone else, and they work just as hard. They just really struggle in fielding a talented, competitive, full-time roster. Their declining enrollment has, unfortunately, led to the school struggling financially, which I would argue is part of the reason for some of the past coaching carousal and sometimes not having enough players to play. You know what would make 2018-2019 a better year for Hamilton? I think I would like to see at least one or two teams come out of nowhere and play so hard that they overachieve because something has got to give. Hamilton needs something good going their way to lift up the community’s school spirit and give them some hope regardless what happens long term.
I’d be curious to see what they can do to a volleyball program that lost every game last season but the season prior produced a nice, competitive season that gave their fans something to be proud of. Also, Hamilton in recent years had experienced some success on the soccer field like the 2015 boy’s soccer team that won seven games. If they can get enough players to field a competitive, hard-working bunch, then maybe there’s a small chance they can do it. I’m pulling for them to do well this season because I don’t want to go into basketball season and hear about the same story and people expecting them to be a recurring punchline once again. I’ll leave you with this: I have seen stranger things, and miracles can happen if you believe.
Lakeland Lakers
Last season, under the leadership of Lakeland AD Roman Smith, significant progress was made for the Baby Blue and Red in LaGrange, IN. Basketball, wrestling, baseball, and softball all took major strides last year. There is a different vibe about the 2018-2019 school year in the fact that there are high expectations for the Lakers. I can imagine they’re probably singing Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take it” because they expect to be better. They expect to be the best and nothing else. To some, they expect trophies or disappointment, and I admire that attitude for a school that has been inconsistent in past years. I have this feeling that the Lakers, someday, are going to reminisce their glory days from the 1980s and 90s that signified them as of the NECC’s best. I think it is safe to say that the years of not taking Lakeland seriously are probably over…
Girls’ Golf
if there is a program that I have no doubts they will do well is their girls golf, and so far they’re the NECC’s second best team behind a very tough Angola Hornets team. Either way, it’s great to see them competing for championships because it just makes this conference that much better. So far this season, they were runner-ups in the Goshen Invite, placed 3rd in the Manchester Invite, 6th in the East Noble Invite but came up just short earlier today against the Angola Hornets losing 180-205. Sophomore Madison Keil has been one of the rising all-around athletes in the NECC as she is averaging a score of 70.5 and a PR of 38 in their match vs WN/EN. Sophomore Bailey Hartsough who deserves equal credit to her teammate is averaging a score of about 68.3. They will be heading off to Middlebury to face off Fairfield and the host Northridge in what would be another conference game and will wrap up the week with the 8 a.m. Wawasee Saturday Invitational at the South Shore Golf Club.
Other sports to keep an eye out in LaGrange
I’ve already talked about how their football needs to play much better defense to get any progress for this season. There is hope as well for the volleyball program there. They’ll have a new head coach, Tim Jordan, to guide the Lakers to what they hope to be better years ahead. Since the start of the 2013 season, the Lady Lakers have gone a dreadful 17-133. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m not sugar coding this at all because that is one ugly win-loss record, and they know this doesn’t suit well for the competitive Lakers. Maybe that’s the fire that has sparked this program to be extra motivated. Even with an awful past, there is hope that the Lakers can finally become relevant again.
Having the talented four-sport-athlete Bailey Hartsough (led her team in kills 241 (12th in the NECC), blocks 63, and digs 124, and tied for the team lead in aces 35) on your team is very promising for the Lakers. She is already one of the rising stars of this conference, and she is only going to get better and could break out as soon as this year. I admire her work ethic, and her leadership has already left an impact on the Lakeland community.
They’ll return two seniors, four juniors, and five sophomores that includes sophomore Sadie Edsall (2nd in kills 46 and blocks 25, tied for first in aces 35, and third in digs 106) and senior Whitney Ray (led her team in assists 228 and 2nd in digs 111). Do I think they’ll win the NECC? Not this year. But, can they be competitive? I don’t see them losing 30 more games this season. With generational talent, a new coach, and renewed excitement for Lakeland sports, I expect them to take major steps to get at least close to a winning record. They can’t waste this kind of talent because it doesn’t come by often…
I’ll be curious to see what girls’ soccer will do again in 2018 as they look to take that next step, win the NECC, get a winning record, and pursue for their first ever sectional title. They also need a bounce back season out of their boys soccer team after posting just four wins last season. Finally, I like to see how their cross country turns out this season and hopefully have some of their players represent the school in regionals or perhaps state.
Lakewood Park Christian Panthers
There’s a different feel that is spreading across the campus grounds at Lakewood Park in Auburn, a winning feel to be exact. They enter the new school year with high expectations under their new athletic director, Bobby Childs, after winning the school’s first sectionals in volleyball and girls’ basketball. Even though there were only 196 students in grades 9-12 last year, Lakewood Park already has a tremendous history winning back-to-back softball state titles in 2012 and 2013. Now, they’re hoping to recreate that magic for their other sports.
Volleyball
The volleyball team has to be one of the school’s most consistent sports programs for the Teal and Black as they’ve had a winning season in each of their last 11 seasons and are 139-57 since the 2013 season. However, despite piling up all those W’s , they hadn’t won a sectional until last season beating Hamilton, Elkhart Christian, and the host Fremont to advance to their first regionals. Now that they finally got that monkey off their back, they’re optimistic that they can make a run at a state championship. But, they’ll have to do it without one of the area’s most prolific offensive players, Lilly Kruse (led the team in kills 546, aces 147, and blocks 19, and ranked 2nd in digs), Hadyn Faur (ranked 2nd on team in kills 156, aces 57, and blocks 11, and 3rd in digs 123), Heidi Johnson (led her team in assists 325 and 3rd in aces 39), and Ali Knox (led her team in digs 154) all to graduation. The 2018 roster, barring any new additions, subtractions, or transfers, will be a sophomore-heavy team with two seniors, three juniors, and five sophomores. Keep an eye on the 6’0” sophomore Payton Lyons who will use her size to block spikes and even provide some offensive firepower for the team. Mikayla Wager, a 6’0” senior, will have similar individual contributions to Lyons as well as taking on a leadership role with the young but hungry roster. Also, remember the name, Vanessa Lehman (28 kills, 13 aces, and 16 digs), as she was able to play on the varsity team (as an 8th grader) and will enter this season as a “true freshman”. Finally, don’t be sleeping on the athletic 5’5” junior, Tori Hensinger, who had 30 aces and 67 digs as a sophomore. While inexperience could bite them early in the season, there’s indeed quite a bit of size with six of their returning players are 5’9” or higher, and there’s a lot of upside for the energetic Lady Panthers. Plus, they’re going to be one of the frontrunners for the Fremont 1A Sectional in October. Don’t be sleeping on Lakewood Park in 2018!
Final thoughts for Lakewood Park
I’ll be intrigued to see what their soccer teams do in 2018 as both soccer programs had a miserable 2017 season. The ladies lost eight players to graduation and will only bring back three seniors, three juniors, and four sophomores. For the guys, they lost five players to graduation, but they will be a undergrad-heavy team with three seniors, nine juniors, and a whopping eleven sophomores.
Prairie Heights Panthers
The Prairie Heights Panthers have a new face in the athletic department with the retirement of longtime athletic director Bryce Heller and the hire of new athletic director Brent Byler. The Panthers are hoping to turn around some of the growing pains some of their sports have experienced in recent memory. Let’s see how things look for their 2018 fall sports season.
Volleyball
To start with, their volleyball team having consecutive winning seasons along with a sectional title in 2017 is definitely a good place to start. Out of all of their fall sports, their volleyball program by leaps and bounds has been the most consistent program at Prairie Heights with six NECC championships (Tied for second most in NECC Volleyball history and their last one coming in 2005) and eighteen sectional championships. But, graduation hit them pretty hard as they lost six players that were important to their recent success that included the program’s all time assists leader Jamie DeTro (led her team in assists 718, 2nd in aces 73, digs 258, and blocks 22, and tied for 4th in kills 87), Shelby Fish (3rd in kills 148 and digs 250), Lydia Johnston (4th in aces 43 and digs 244), and Sydney Rathburn (led her team in digs 512 (the most in the NECC and 1500 digs in her career) and 2nd in assists 24). However, they still have some serious talent back to Panther Country that includes one of the conference’s premier volleyball players in senior Sierra Riehl (led her team in kills 342 (4th most in the NECC) and blocks 74 (3rd most in the NECC), and 3rd in aces 53) and junior Grace Levitz (led her team in aces 78 and 2nd in kills 168). Along with their two outstanding players, they have a loaded junior class for this season and may rely on some undergrads to help them out as well. I think they’re in decent position to remain as a contender in the NECC and they should definitely be in the hunt to defend their sectional crown in the CN sectional. You definitely have to like some of things this program has done to get to this point. Prairie Heights volleyball plays their first game August 23 @ Fort Wayne North Side 6 p.m.
Other sports to keep an eye on at Prairie Heights
Besides their football, of course, there isn’t a whole lot of options to really keep an eye on at Prairie Heights unless they surprise people which it could happen. I would be very curious to see how their cross country does this season. If I recall, I think they have had some decent athletes coming out of both the cross country and the track teams. So, I still see some bright spots on that program for this season, and we’ll have to wait and see if their other programs start to make progress on their individual sports.
West Noble Chargers
When we think of West Noble athletics (besides their basketball of course), we tend to think about their really strong fall sports teams. I expect the good majority of the 2018-2019 school year to be a really strong year for the West Noble Chargers. What can we expect for the 2018 fall season? Well, let’s find out! Shall we? Yes, we shall.
Volleyball
While soccer and cross country have historically been West Noble’s most dominant sports, I still think their upcoming volleyball season is going to be the most exciting sport to watch in Ligonier this season. Since going 9-24 in 2014, they’re 76-28 since the start of the 2015 season with a 31-6 2016 season that saw them winning their first sectional since 1996. In recent years, there hasn’t been a group of NECC girls teams that have been a bigger adversary to the upstart Angola Hornets than West Noble. Always fun games when these two talented schools battle it out. If there is an NECC volleyball team that has a legitimate shot at dethroning Angola in 2018, it’s these girls. Keep in mind, West Noble did win a thrilling NECC tournament title game at Westview over Angola despite losing to them in the regular season.
This team did not lose a single player from 2017. Not one player graduated from last year’s team as they’ll have four seniors, six juniors, and at least three sophomores. Like Angola, this isn’t a senior-heavy team either.
The most well-known player coming back to the program may arguably be one of the most versatile all-around NECC athletes of all time. The daughter of the longtime West Noble AD, Tom Schermerhorn, and the electric Purdue volleyball commit Madison Schermerhorn (led her team in kills 484 (the most in the NECC by 102 kills) and blocks 85 (2nd in in the NECC), 2nd in digs 212, and 3rd in aces 48). Yeah, she’s that good, but this ain’t a one-girl-show as her teammates each play an important part of a skilled Chargers team. Other skilled Chargers consist of senior Lauren Burns (led her team in digs 288 (4th most in NECC), senior Tori Miller (led her team in aces 64 (Tied for 5th in NECC), 2nd in kills 279, and 2nd in assists 52), junior Kristina Teel (led her team in assists 852, 2nd in aces 52, and 3rd in digs 132), and senior Becky Yoder (4th in digs 130). This is a team that will also be in the mix to win their second sectional in three years in what will be a tough 3A sectional.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Ligonier
As you know by now, I expect their football team to improve and be competitive this year, but I also expect another strong year for the soccer teams. For the ladies, they look to build off a promising 5-8-2 2017 season as they look to bring back dominance to the girls program with six seniors, six juniors, eleven sophomores, and fifteen freshman. Just two seasons earlier, West Noble boys’ soccer made their first ever trip to semi-state going an impressive 21-2. This NECC juggernaut program will enter the 2018 season coming off a 12-5 2017 season along with ten seniors and eight juniors back for this season. The obvious challenge will be to find the next guy to lead the offense in 2018 with last season’s 25-goal player, Fernando Romo, graduated. Most notable players they return are junior Mark Silva (tied for 2nd in goals 8), junior Ricardo Flores (tied for 4th in goals 5), senior Jose Resendiz (3 goals), and senior goalkeeper Angel Calvo (8-4 43 saves 5 shut outs). Finally, I do see their cross country teams have an excellent season as they are one of the best in the state, especially on the boys side that is ranked 13th in state.
Westview Warriors
When we think of Westview Athletics, we think of their tradition, excellence, character, pride, and obviously trophies (lots of them to be exact). Arguably the NECC’s top athletic program, they will look to continue their storied tradition with what is expected to be another solid fall sports season. Let’s why some people are excited about Westview for 2018.
Volleyball
For the Westview’s volleyball team, they’ve faced their fair share of good times and bad since the massive 2016 graduation class that included Maria McCoy and current Valparaiso basketball player Grace Hales. But, they’ve done very well considering those players meant that much to the recent success of Westview sports going 15-17 in 2016 and 19-14 in 2017. Westview only lost two players to graduation: Regan Heffner (led her team in assists 792) and Alex Burr (led her team in blocks 73 and 3rd in kills 194). They bring back a lot of young talent with three seniors, two juniors, and five freshman that includes junior Payton May (led her team in kills 382 (2nd most in the NECC), aces 87 (the most in the NECC), and tied for first on the team in digs 251), sophomore Grace Miller (2nd in kills 273, aces 64, and blocks 54, and fifth in digs 173), and senior Tori Antal (tied for first on the team in digs 251, and 3rd in aces 40). If the Lady Warriors can continue to improve and stay healthy, they could be a dark horse in the NECC title race. Many people, mainly from Westview, may have a good argument that Westview could potentially be the slight front-runner for what should be a pretty competitive Central Noble sectional in October.
Other sports to keep an eye out in Topeka
If you take their storied basketball teams out of context for a moment, most of us can agree soccer would probably be the school’s number one sport. Since the sport became an IHSAA sport in the late 90s, no one in the history of the NECC has had more success in their soccer programs than Westview (I guess you can argue West Noble would be the closet to them).
Westview has won an unprecedented 20 sectional championships and 7 regional titles from the two soccer programs. To Westview, their soccer is symbolic to American football, and that is why they have such a strong following from their community. Coming off their uncharacteristically mediocre 9-10-1 2017 season, the ladies will be returning six seniors and five juniors that includes senior Grace Miller (4 goals) and senior goalkeeper Leanna Miller (9-9-1 2.05 Goals-Against-Average and 5 shut outs). For the boys, they’ll lose 18-goal scorer, Abdullah bin, (Forgive me.. I might have butchered his name) but will bring back senior goalkeeper Jansen Brandenberg (2.50 Goals-Against-Average and six shutouts) along with several important two-way players that will play by committee to continue their excellence.
I’ll be curious to see what their young girls’ golf team does this season in what will be a pretty tough race that has Angola and Lakeland as the front-runners for the conference. Finally, it’s going to be an exciting year for their cross country teams as they have one of the best in the state with the boys ranked 8th in state 2018 Top 50 High School Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams in Indiana
Whitko Wildcats
It wasn’t too long ago that Whitko was thriving in nearly every sport in Southern Whitley county. But for most of the sports in 2017-18, it was a year they want to forget. Despite a constant, gradual enrollment decline that saw them demoted from a 3A to a 2A school, the Wildcats are looking ahead to 2018-19 and bring back the winning vibe for the Blue and Red.
Football
Since I won’t be previewing the Three Rivers Conference this year, I will indeed preview the optimistic Whitko football program. This is a program that won the school’s only state championship in 1986 during the single-class tournament and were 2015 sectional runner-ups to a Woodlan Warriors team that would eventually make it to Lucas Oil Stadium two years later.
Last year saw the Wildcats post their first winless season in the program’s 45-year history going 0-10 and posting record worsts for offensive and defensive efficiencies. Under their third-year head coach, Jeff Sprunger (son of Bryan Sprunger who coached the program from 1981-2006 with a program record 136 wins), the Whitko Wildcats have what it takes to silence the critics in 2018.
This is how young they were. They lost only nine players to graduation and will bring back 13 seniors, 12 juniors, and at least nine sophomores. They will be ecstatic to bring back their 6’5″ senior quarterback Cade Bechtold (218 passing yards and a 36.2 pass completion percentage, and 38 tackles), senior running back and wide reciever Zach Gardner (10 carries for 141 yards and 11 receptions for 163 yards, junior Mason Lehman (3 carries for 6 yards and led the team with 46 tackles), and sophomore punter Cameron Sapp (37 punts for 1,224 yards, averaging 33.1 yards per punt).
To make this clear, they have experience in pretty much every position on both offense and defense. Note: Do NOT confuse the TRC’s football reputation to its baseball reputation because their football teams have been notorious for being at best average teams due to a weak regular season schedule. There’s no question that the Whitko Wildcats can go from zero to hero in 2018 if the chemistry gels, they work hard, and stay healthy. If we look at just the football reputation of the Sprunger family by itself, there’s almost no question we have not seen the last of Coach Sprunger’s Wildcats. Don’t let those Cats’ fool you! Whitko kicks off their football season August 17 home vs Churubusco 7 p.m.
Other sports to keep an eye on in South Whitley
The volleyball team in 2016 won 19 games and clinched their first ever sectional title over the host Central Noble. But, in 2017 they won just four games (FOUR). Surely it can’t get worst than that. Can it? Now, I, unfortunately, could not find the roster for either 2017 or 2018. So, I cannot tell you how things are going to be for them this year. The girl’s soccer team will look to turn things around spending consecutive seasons with less than five wins (Note: I don’t believe they’re going to be able to field a boy’s soccer team for the second year in a row).
So, what do you think? How do you think your school will do in the fall season? What are you looking forward to this season as either a fan, coach, or as an athlete? Please feel free to give me feedback if you liked what you read or what do I need to improve. Just to note: make sure your feedback is appropriate and professional as if you’re talking to me in a face-to-face conversation. Later this week, I will be previewing the 2018 NE8 football season. So, if you’re a fan of an NE8 school and haven’t seen anything about football, please be patient with me. I haven’t forgotten you guys. I will start my weekly recaps hopefully sometime Monday. Good luck to all of the fall sports athletes on their seasons!
Around the NorthEast Corner 