Southwestern High School’s boys soccer program climbed two spots in the most recent state coaches poll.

Southwestern (5-0) sits at No. 9 in the Class A poll released Monday.

Park Tudor is ranked No. 1 ahead of Providence, Heritage Christian, South Knox, University, North White, Cascade, Jac-Cen-Del, Southwestern and Lutheran.

Providence, the defending state champion, travels to Southwestern for a 10 a.m. match on Sept. 11.

The rest of the Class A top 20 are Kouts, Lakewood Park Christian, Covenant Christian, Northeast Dubois, North Putnam, Liberty Christian, Forest Park, Faith Christian, Scecina and Oldenburg Academy.

Guerin Catholic is the No. 1 team in Class 2A followed by Fort Wayne Canterbury, Mishawaka Marian, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, West Lafayette, Heritage Hills, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Gibson Southern, Tri-West, Speedway, South Bend St. Joseph, Culver Academy, NorthWood, Lawrenceburg, Yorktown, Oak Hill, Washington Community, Chatard, Northwestern and Batesville.

In Class 3A, Noblesville is No. 1 followed by Fishers, Chesterton, Hamilton Southeastern, Castle, Evansville Memorial, Elkhart, Valparaiso, Carmel and Penn in the top 10.

The second 10 are Zionsville, Northridge, Munster, Plainfield, Lake Central, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Columbus North, Lawrence North, Center Grove and Crown Point.

Noblesville also is No. 1 in the Class 3A girls poll. The Millers lead Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, Homestead, Bloomington South, Columbus North, North Central, South Bend St. Joseph, Zionsville and Penn in the top 10. The second 10 are Castle, Center Grove, Evansville Reitz, Chesterton, Fishers, Plainfield, Mt. Vernon, Guerin Catholic, Crown Point, East Central and Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger.

Evansville Memorial sits atop the 2A poll ahead of Evansville Mater Dei, Chatard, Cathedral, Brebeuf, Park Tudor, Mishawaka Marian, Hamilton Heights, Tri-West, Silver Creek, Wheeler, Heritage Hills, Lawrenceburg, Culver Academy, Lafayette Central Catholic, Leo, West Lafayette, Plymouth, South Dearborn and Batesville.

And Forest Park is the No. 1 team in Class A with Evansville Christian, Heritage Christian, Speedway and Argos rounding out the top five. The next five are Providence, Andrean, Fort Wayne Blackhawk, Monrovia and Tipton completing the top 10.

The second 10 are Covenant Christian (Demotte), Faith Christian, Fort Wayne Canterbury, Oldenburg Academy, Boone Grove, Northeast Dubois, Westview, Cascade, Southmont and Switzerland County.

Aiden Hartsell will graduate Southwestern as its most decorated soccer player in program history.

The senior has already set three new offensive scoring records this season. On Monday against Morristown, Hartsell pushed the goals scored in a single game record a little further out there.

Hartsell (photo) scored seven goals – breaking his own record of six set earlier this season -- and had an assist to lead the Spartans (5-0, 2-0 Mid-Hoosier Conference) to a 10-0 victory over Morristown (2-3-1, 0-1 MHC).

Hartsell now has 23 goals and seven assists in five matches this season. He currently shares the single-season goals scored record with his older brother, Anick. The duo each scored 35 goals last season.

Hartsell scored in the game’s first five minutes Monday to get the Spartans rolling.

Johnny Joy tallied his second goal of the season six minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

Hartsell then scored four goals in a six-minute span to push Southwestern’s lead to 6-0 at halftime.

Gareth Stringer notched his second goal of the season to open the second-half scoring and make it 7-0.

Hartsell tied his own record with his sixth goal with 29:34 left and reset the record just over two minutes later to make it 9-0.

Joy added another goal to complete the scoring for a Spartans’ offense that is averaging seven goals per game.

Conner Gooch had a pair of assists in the win to push his season total to six. Joy and Jordan Jones each had two assists. Forester Werbe was credited with the assist on Hartsell’s record breaker.

Southwestern goalkeeper Michael Clements was credited with two saves.

Morristown’s Dyllan Rutledge had four saves in goal.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls Golf

Batesville 173, Rushville 239, Morristown 248, Oldenburg Academy Inc.

At Antler Pointe Golf Club in Rushville, Batesville cruised to a 66-shot victory over the host Lions. Morristown finished third in the four-team match.

Delaney Cornn led Morristown with a 56. Ashlee Ballinger followed four shots back at 60. McKinley Kile shot 64 and Clara Hall finished at 68.

Emma Weiler led Batesville with a 36. Josie Meyer (44), Addyson Weiler (44) and Tori Harpring (49) completed the winning lineup card.

Boys Tennis

Shelbyville 5, Waldron 0

At Shelbyville, the Golden Bears (2-5) broke their five-match losing streak with straight-set wins in all five matches against the Mohawks (3-2).

At No. 1 singles, Aidan Asher improved to 5-2 this season with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Lucas Shaw (3-2).

Caden Tackett improved to 3-4 at No. 2 singles for Shelbyville with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Jack Fischer (3-2).

Logan Prickett (3-2) defeated Josh Kellems (3-2) at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-1.

The first-time pairing of Ian Blackketter and Charlie Rife defeated Max Jones and Jacob Lindsey (3-2) at No. 1 doubles, 6-2, 6-4.

And Karson Schaf and Layne Pogue (1-2) secured their first doubles win of the season with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Isaiah Jones and Matthew Thomas (3-2).

Volleyball

Ritter def. Triton Central, 25-13, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21

At Ritter, the visiting Tigers evened the match with a second-set win but dropped the next two to suffer their first Indiana Crossroads Conference loss of the season. TC is 4-4 overall and 2-1 against ICC opposition.

Ritter improved to 4-9 (2-1 ICC).

Maddy Brown led Triton Central with 15 kills.

Brooklyn Bailey had eight kills and a team-high four blocks.

Setter Maia Harris finished with 28 assists and four service aces.

Triton Central hosts Waldron tonight in Fairland.

Waldron def. South Ripley, 25-16, 25-19, 25-16

At Waldron, just two days after losing to the Raiders in the Madison Invitational, the Mohawks rebounded for the victory to improve to 5-4.

Madalyn Hudnall had 15 kills to surpass 500 career kills for Waldron. Kaylee Young added nine kills and four blocks and Mackenzie Shaw had eight kills.

Emily Tyree tallied 33 assists and Megan Bogemann collected 23 digs.

Rachel Meyer and Sarah Meyer combined for 17 kills for South Ripley (6-3). Brionna Linkel finished with 17 assists and 11 digs.

Middle School Volleyball

Waldron Junior High swept a pair of matches from North Decatur.

The eighth grade squad defeated the Chargers, 25-16, 25-14.

The seventh grade was victorious, 25-18, 25-20

Middle School Soccer

Southwestern 7, Rushville 0

Carter Cooley scored four goals and had an assist to lead the Spartans.

Kiera Stringer, Ethan Sipes and Cecil Newton also scored in the shutout victory.

Eastern Illinois University’s volleyball program got off to its best start since the 2015 season after winning its own invitational tournament Saturday.

The Panthers opened the 2021 season Friday with a 25-12, 25-16, 25-23 win over IUPUI in the EIU Panther Invitational at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Illinois.

Senior setter Bailey Chandler, a Triton Central graduate, had three assists in the win.

On Saturday, Eastern Illinois improved to 2-0 with an 18-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-16, 15-7 win over Bellarmine. Chandler (photo) finished with 20 assists and four digs.

The Panthers were crowned champions after a 26-24, 25-21, 25-23 win over Chicago State. Chandler had two kills, 18 assists and four digs.

At 3-0, Eastern Illinois has nearly matched the program’s win total over the last two seasons (5-40).

Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level:

Maddie Beaver

The Triton Central graduate (photo) was credited with two kills, one block assist and one dig for Goshen College in her collegiate debut on Aug. 13.

Goshen opened the 2021 season at the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Volleyball Classic in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Goshen lost to Columbia International, 25-17, 25-5, 25-20 in its season opener and went on to lose seven more matches before securing its first win on Aug. 21 to close out the event.

The Maple Leafs (1-8) defeated Calumet College of St. Joseph (Indiana), 25-21, 28-30, 25-19, 25-21. Brown had nine kills and two digs.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate (photo) played her first collegiate volleyball match Friday for Jacksonville State University (Alabama).

Schiffli had nine digs in the Gamecocks’ 25-10, 25-22, 25-22 win over Gardner-Webb in the Gamecock Classic.

Schiffli returned to the court later Friday and helped Jacksonville State defeat Alabama State, 25-14, 25-16, 25-22. She had 13 digs.

The Gamecocks finished off the tournament with a 3-0 record after a 25-12, 25-22, 25-14 victory Saturday over Middle Tennessee State. Schiffli again had 13 digs.

Makenzie Logan

The Morristown graduate (photo) finished 0-4 in tennis matches for Huntington University Wednesday.

Spring Arbor defeated Huntington, 6-1.

Spring Arbor’s Sela Clifford and Olivia Creech defeated Logan and her No. 3 doubles partner, Nina Golfier, 6-1.

Clifford topped Logan at No. 6 singles, 4-6, 6-2, 10-7.

On the same day, No. 25-ranked Marian blanked Huntington, 7-0.

Logan and Golfier were defeated by Payton Haygood and Sarah Wittenbaum, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles.

Logan lost to Marian’s Desiree Ahlberg, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 6 singles.

Triton Central is ranked No. 8 in the Indiana Football Coaches Association’s state poll released today.

Fort Wayne Luers (2-0) sits atop the Class 2A poll ahead of Eastbrook (2-0), Andrean (1-1), Evansville Mater Dei (2-0), Tipton (2-0), Heritage Christian (2-0), Eastside (2-0), Triton Central (2-0), Rensselaer Central (2-0) and Lafayette Central Catholic (1-1).

Also receiving votes in the 2A poll are Scecina (1-1), Linton-Stockton (2-0), Pioneer (0-2), Lapel (2-0) and Speedway (2-0).

Triton Central will face the top-ranked team in Class A Friday night in Indianapolis.

Lutheran (2-0) is ranked No. 1 in the Class A poll on top of South Adams (2-0), Parke Heritage (2-0), Monroe Central (2-0), Adams Central (1-1), Winamac (2-0), Covenant Christian (1-1), Southwood (1-1), North Judson (2-0) and South Putnam (1-1).

In Class 6A, Center Grove (2-0) is No. 1 ahead of Carmel (2-0), Brownsburg (1-1), Merrillville (2-0), Westfield (1-1), Warren Central (1-1), Ben Davis (1-1), Hamilton Southeastern (2-0), Homestead (2-0) and Chesterton (2-0).

Cathedral (2-0) is the top-ranked team in Class 5A. The Irish are followed by Zionsville (2-0), Fort Wayne Dwenger (2-0), Valparaiso (2-0), Whiteland (1-0), Bloomington South (2-0), Decatur Central (1-1), Mishawaka (2-0), Fort Wayne Snider (1-1) and Michigan City (2-0).

Unbeaten Roncalli (2-0) leads the Class 4A poll and is followed by Mooresville (2-0), East Central (2-0), East Noble (1-0), Leo (2-0), Jasper (2-0), New Prairie (2-0), Chatard (0-2), Delta (2-0) and Martinsville (1-1).

Gibson Southern (2-0) leads the Class 3A poll ahead of Brebeuf (2-0), West Lafayette (2-0), Danville (1-1), Tri-West (2-0), Lawrenceburg (1-1), Western Boone (1-1), Guerin Catholic (1-1), Fort Wayne Concordia (1-1) and Norwell (2-0).

Shelbyville High School’s boys soccer team captured the Shelbyville Invitational championship Saturday night in dramatic fashion.

With the title tilt tied at 1-1 against Batesville, the two teams went to penalty kicks and, ultimately, sudden death to determine the winner.

Brayden Basey’s goal gave the Golden Bears the advantage in the ninth round of penalty kicks and goalkeeper Jalen Hounshell stuffed Batesville’s attempt to seal the win.

The Golden Bears improved to 4-2 this season while the Bulldogs dropped to 5-2.

Shelbyville advanced to the championship with a 4-2 semifinal win over Herron. Drew Hassebroek scored three goals and Al Hernandez added the fourth Saturday morning.

Batesville moved into the championship with a 2-1 win over Knightstown.

Christian Haas put Shelbyville up 1-0 in the title game at the 15-minute mark of the second half off an assist from Sam Price.

Batesville quickly tied the match up again on a corner kick and neither team found the back of the net from there.

Shelbyville made its first three penalty kick attempts but the Bulldogs kept matching.

After Batesville’s goalkeeper stuffed a Shelbyville penalty kick, Hounshell was able to do the same and build the tension until the night, and final, round.

In other prep events Saturday:

Boys Soccer

Morristown 1, Wapahani 1

At Morristown, both teams scored in the second half but could not break the tie.

Wapahani’s goal came from Isaac Shreve off an assist from Cade Heffernan.

After the tie, Wapahani and Morristown are both 2-2-1 this season.

Boys Tennis

Delta 5, Shelbyville 0

At Delta, the 27^th-ranked Eagles pinned a fifth-straight loss on the Golden Bears (1-5, 0-2 Hoosier Heritage Conference).

Brown County Invitational

Southwestern finished third at the Brown County Invitational.

Hunter Pappano was runner-up at No. 3 singles.

The No. 1 doubles pairing of Caleb Pappano and Carter Snepp finished second as well.

Grant Emerick placed third at No. 2 singles.

Volleyball

Madison Invitational

Waldron volleyball finished 0-3 to drop to 4-4 this season.

Lawrenceburg defeated the Mohawks, 25-13, 17-25, 15-10 behind four kills, five aces and two blocks from freshman Natalie Knigga. The Tigers are 5-3 this season.

Rock Creek Academy bested Waldron in match two.

In the final match, South Ripley (6-2) swept the Mohawks, 25-17, 25-16. Rachel Meyer had nine kills and three blocks to lead the Raiders.

Indiana Deaf Invitational

Southwestern started slow with a 25-22, 25-11 loss to Eastern Hancock (8-3) before rallying to defeat Indiana Deaf (4-3) and Sheridan (0-7).

With the two wins, the Spartans improved to 3-6 this season.

Cross Country

Franklin Invitational

A trio of Shelbyville boys finished in the top 65 to net the Golden Bears a 14^th-place finish in Franklin.

Michael Fox (photo above, left) placed 58^th in 18 minutes, 56 seconds and he was followed by Beau Kenkel (photo above, center) (60^th in 19:00), Elijah Von Werder (64^th in 19:07), Tristin Maloney (105^th in 19:59) and Isaac Zermeno (209^th in 24:35).

Waldron finished 17^th with Will Larrison (74^th in 19:22) leading the way. Also scoring for Waldron were Jared Crosby (109^th in 20:05), Caden Sheaffer (117^th in 20:13), Skylar Ferguson (188^th in 22:39) and Nathaniel Evans (193^rd in 22:48).

Shelbyville senior Stefanie Howard (photo above, center) finished 20^th in 21:32 to earn post-meet recognition on the podium.

Howard’s Golden Bears finished 16^th in the team standings. Also scoring for Shelbyville were Kaila Brattain (58^th in 23:37), Angel Kreider (86^th in 24:51), Kaylie McDonald (132^nd in 27:02) and Daisy Barrett (177^th in 31:15).

For Waldron, Sophie Hudnall finished 129^th in 26:51, Audrey Hogg was 130^th in 25:53, and Riley Price was 157^th in 28:31.

Rushville Classic

Triton Central’s Owen Sprinkle had a top-20 performance (19^th in 20:54) in the Division II race.

Also running for TC were Lucas Bear (37^th in 23:24), Hank Hadler (43^rd in 24:48) and Corbin Maurice (28:19).

Morristown’s T.J. Butcher (47^th in 25:04) and Brayden Burris (55^th in 27:43) competed in the Division III race.

Triton Central’s Hallie Schweitzer (photo above) finished ninth (23:42) in the Division II girls race.

Morristown’s Grace McLaughlin placed 12^th (25:27) in the Division III girls race.

September 7, 2018.  Shelbyville edged Greenfield-Central for what proved to be the only win of the football season. 

And the next season. 

And the season after that.

A 26-game losing streak spanning three seasons included 13 shutouts and 22 losses of 40 points or more.

That streak is over.  The Golden Bears beat visiting Richmond on Friday at McKeand Stadium, 22-16.

Shelbyville never trailed.  Richmond fumbled a pitch to the running back on the first play from scrimmage.  Axel Conover recovered for Shelbyville at the 26-yard line and Cael Lux capped a short drive with a six yard touchdown.

Shelbyville increased the lead to 14-0 on another Lux touchdown with 29 seconds left in the first quarter. 

It stayed that way until late in the first half.  Facing a fourth down with just over a minute to play, Shelbyville chose to go for it instead of punt from the Bear’s 29-yard line with just over a minute to play.  The play call proved to be perfect but the execution just missed as quarterback Colton Adkins overthrew Alex Macharia running wide open down the left sideline.

Richmond took over on downs.  A 28-yard run by Marquis Johnson followed by a one-yard score by Lucas Hall and a two-point conversion narrowed the Shelbyville lead to 14-8 at halftime.

Shelbyville took the third quarter kickoff and turned it into an 18-yard touchdown run by Axel Conover.  But the score was negated by a penalty which, ultimately, better served the Golden Bears purpose.  Shelbyville ran nearly another four  more minutes off the clock and Cael Lux scored from a yard out with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter.  With a two-point conversion run by Adkins Shelbyville regained a 14-point lead, 22-8.

Richmond’s Marquis Johnson scored on an eight yard run with 11:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.  The two point conversion brought Richmond back with six, 22-16.

Shelbyville had a chance to put the game away but a late drive stalled at the Richmond 10-yard line.  Freshman kicker Aiden Helfer-Vazquez missed a 25-yard field goal attempt that could have put the Golden Bears up by two scores.

Richmond took over on downs with 2:33 remaining.  But the Red Devils last ditch chance went backwards stalled by failed plays and penalties including a personal foul call after a brief altercation on the sideline at the end of a play.  Jayden Shipp reached the original line of scrimmage on a run on fourth down but Shelbyville took the ball on downs and ran out the clock.

And the streak is over.

Head coach Brian Glesing with Mark Drake and Johnny McCrory on the Cagney’s Pizza King Postgame on GIANT fm Sports.

Cael Lux rushed 30 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns.  Adkins and Conover each added 38 rushing yards.  Austin Miller had 15 yards on the ground.

Conover added seven tackles to go with his fumble recovery.  Jackson Parker picked off two Richmond passes to bring his total to three in the first two games of the season.

Adkins was 4-of-10 passing for 55 yards.

Richmond turned the ball over three times.  Last week, Greensburg threw and interception.  Shelbyville has not committed a turnover in the opening two ga,es.

It was the first meeting between the programs since the Red Devlis eliminated Shelbyville from postseason play in a 2012 sectional game at Richmond's Lyboult Field, 14-0.  

Shelbyville and Richmond are both in the eight-team field of 4A Sectional 21 and could meet again in the postseason.

Shelbyville (1-1) will host #8 (4A) Delta (2-0) in the Hoosier Heritage Conference opener next week (pregme coverage on GIANT fm Sports at 6pm).  Delta beat Muncie Central 49-6 in the season opener and picked up a Week 2 road win at Columbia City, 14-10. 

Triton Central found success early with a ground-and-pound mentality Friday and ran over Greensburg in a 35-7 victory in Fairland.

Behind an offensive line missing two starters, the Tigers still amassed 383 yards on 53 rushing attempts.

“We have to throw the ball better but we came out and ran the ball really well,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able (photo, far right), who collected career win No. 199 Friday at Mendenhall Field. “When you have a running back like Ray Crawford you have to take advantage of that.”

Quarterback Jace Stuckey, who threw for four touchdowns in TC’s season-opening win at Cascade, put the ball in the air just six times Friday, with two completions.

Triton Central did not need Stuckey’s big arm to take control of the game. Ray Crawford, who ran for 1,300 yards as a freshman, had a pair of rushing touchdowns Friday and collected 180 yards against the Pirates (1-1).

Brad Schultz, Brayden Wilkins and Stuckey combined for 161 yards on 26 more carries as the Tigers racked up 19 first downs.

“We know we have good running backs and good receivers and we block well,” said Able. “We had 11 people put their mind to it and block well and that helped keep our defense off the field.”

Triton Central took the opening drive of the game 71 yards on seven rushing plays. It ended when Crawford broke loose for an 18-yard scoring run. Brogan Winslow added the extra point.

Greensburg nearly matched the Tigers with a long-scoring drive on its first possession but Devon Emberton knocked down a fourth-and-four throw by quarterback Sam West into the end zone.

“Devon’s ball skills were really elite tonight,” said Abel. “He has come a long way from his freshman year. I am really proud of the way he has matured as a player.”

TC answered with a 13-play, 92-yard scoring drive that ended with Stuckey punching his way across the goal line from one yard out. Levi Dewey kicked the extra point to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter.

The Pirates’ second drive went nowhere when a fourth-and-three run by West was stuffed near the line of scrimmage.

Two plays later, Stuckey reversed field and ran 28 yards for his second scoring run of the game.

TC made it four straight scoring drives with its next possession, moving 67 yards on 11 plays and seeing Crawford go around the right end for a 27-yard score.

Greensburg had no answer for Triton Central’s ground game and the Tigers made it five consecutive scoring drives with a 24-yard run by Jaquan Blake early in the third quarter that ended an 83-yard drive.

What happened from there could hurt Triton Central in the next few weeks.

Greensburg freshman Kaden Acton took the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for the Pirates’ first points. Acton had a kickoff return for a touchdown in week one against Shelbyville. On the play, Schultz injured his left ankle and was helped off the field.

“It was hurting all over and that’s not a good sign,” said Abel after the game.

The Tigers’ next series failed to yield points for the first time in the game and Greensburg tried to build momentum. At the TC 26, West fired toward his sideline but missed his target. Crawford, who also plays cornerback for TC, was called for an illegal hit to the head of the intended receiver, Ethan Meadows, who slid low to catch the ball.

Crawford was ejected from the game for helmet-to-helmet contact which leaves his availability for a week three Indiana Crossroads Conference showdown at Indianapolis Lutheran in doubt. Athletic director Bryan Graham and Abel spoke at length after the game about the officials’ paperwork process and how it would affect Crawford.

With Crawford out of the game, sophomore Anthony Dunville was inserted into the game and he promptly intercepted West on the next play at the goal line.

Abel turned to Blake, a senior, and sophomore Brayden Wilkins to wind down the clock. The duo took the next seven carries and moved the ball to the 40-yard line. Stuckey had consecutive runs to net another first down before Wilkins broke free for 13 more yards.

While the Tigers did not score on what became a 15-play drive, it left Greensburg with just 70 seconds on the running clock following Jayden Mays’ only punt of the night.

Triton Central returns to ICC play next week to face Class A, No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran (2-0), a 48-20 winner over Ritter in week two.

“We are still young and immature. When you have inexperienced kids … you have athletes to cover up that inexperience but next week we have to prepare better, we have to practice better, and we have to find ways to make things happen.”

Triton Central 35, Greensburg 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GB     0       0       7       0       --       7

TC     7       21     7       0       --       35

First Quarter:

TC – Crawford 18 run (Winslow kick) 8:42

Second Quarter:

TC – Stuckey 1 run (Dewey kick) 9:52

TC – Stuckey 28 run (Dewey kick) 7:36

TC – Crawford 27 run (Dewey kick) 2:06

Third Quarter:

TC – Blake 24 run (Dewey kick) 5:46

GB – Acton 92 kickoff return (Shepherd kick) 5:26

Rushing:

GB – Acton 7-32, West 8-28, Scheumann 1-3, Colson 2-0

TC – Crawford 19-180, Wilkins 8-59, Schultz 5-53, Stuckey 13-49, Blake 5-33, Kleeman 3-9

Passing:

GB – West 9-20-138

TC – Stuckey 2-6-37

Receiving:

GB – Meadows 4-68, Matthews 3-42, Moore 2-28

TC – Ball 1-23, Schultz 1-14

Waldron tennis swept Morristown in straight sets in all five matches Thursday to secure a 5-0 victory.

The Mohawks improved to 3-1 while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 0-3.

At No. 1 singles, Lucas Shaw defeated Tyler Schonfeld, 6-2, 6-1.

Jack Fischer topped Grant Kessler at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 6-1.

And at No. 3 singles, Josh Kellems defeated Austin Gabbard, 6-2, 6-3.

Both of Morristown’s doubles teams suffered their first losses of the season.

At No. 1 doubles, Jacob Lindsey and Max Jones defeated Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes, 6-2, 6-2.

And Isaiah Jones and Matthew Thomas bested Carson Essex and Jerry Riley, 6-2, 6-2.

In a junior varsity match, Waldron’s Andy Lacy defeated Brady Schonfeld, 6-4.

In other prep events Thursday:

Boys Soccer

Southwestern 10, Brown County 1

The 11^th-ranked Spartans kept their offense in high gear to improve to 4-0 this season.

Aiden Hartsell scored five goals to push his total to 16 this season. Four came in the first half as the Spartans built a 5-1 lead.

Conner Gooch had the other first half goal for Southwestern. Gooch started the second-half scoring with his third goal of the season.

Tucker Simmons, Jonny Joy and Owen Stringer also had goals for Southwestern.

Eli Fix was credited with three saves in goal.

Aiden Fox had the lone goal for Brown County (0-3).

Volleyball

Triton Central def. Cascade, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17

At Cascade, Maddy Brown provided 11 kills to lead Triton Central (4-3, 2-0 Indiana Crossroads Conference).

Hallie Schweitzer, Kaitlin Bramlett and Brooklyn Bailey combined for 16 more kills.

Schweitzer, Brown and Julia Sanders had 60 total digs and setter Maia Harris finished with 21 assists.

Josie Jones led Cascade (5-3, 1-1 ICC) with nine kills and 18 digs.

Waldron def. Jac-Cen-Del, 25-13, 25-14, 25-18

At Jac-Cen-Del, the visiting Mohawks (4-1) swept the Eagles (1-6) in straight sets.

Desiree Sparks and Maria Meyer combined for 11 kills to lead Jac-Cen-Del. Aundrea Cullen had 11 digs.

North Central def. Shelbyville, 22-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16

At Shelbyville, the Golden Bears (3-2) won set one but the Panthers (3-4) settled in to sweep the next three for the victory.

Shelbyville senior Emma Nolley finished with a team-high 16 digs and surpassed 1,000 career digs in the loss.

Jaidyn Tackett and Emily Parker each had 11 kills for Shelbyville. Setter Gracie Leffler finished with 30 assists.

North Central won the junior varsity match in two sets.

Cross Country

South Decatur Invitational

The host Cougars won the boys team title with 44 points. Jac-Cen-Del was runner-up at 62 followed by South Ripley (68), Southwestern (71) and North Decatur (87).

Jac-Cen-Del’s Josh Pohle won the race in 17 minutes, 37 seconds.

For Southwestern, Dakota Claiborne (6^th in 19:34) and Dane Kissell (7^th in 19:57) each broke the 20-minute barrier for the first time this season.

Also competing for Southwestern were Ryan Griffin (16^th in 21:48), Elias Clark (29^th in 24:16) and Collin Cummings (30^th in 25:22).

Morristown was represented by T.J. Butcher (25^th in 23:36) and Brayden Burris (37^th in 28:47).

South Ripley held off Southwestern, 33-50, for the girls team title at South Decatur. North Decatur was third (61) and Jac-Cen-Del finished fourth (66).

South Ripley’s Lanie Nicholson won the girls race in 20:16.

Southwestern’s Lilly Rooks was fourth in 22:59 – the fastest time posted by a Shelby County girl this season.

Also for Southwestern, Gracie Schlabach placed 10^th (25:23), Jenna Drake was 12^th (25:32), Maxine Higdon was 20^th (29:14) and Malori Pike was 22^nd (30:12).

Morristown’s Grace McLaughlin set a new personal best time of 25:31 to finish 11^th.

Hope.

Shelbyville’s 42-21 season-opening loss at Greensburg still served as a shot of momentum for a football program that has not won a game since Sept. 14, 2018.

The 21 points on the scoreboard was the most points Shelbyville has scored since that 28-27 victory over Greenfield-Central nearly three years ago.

In its second-straight winless season (2020), the Golden Bears managed just 51 points.

“Our kids fought,” said new head coach Brian Glesing. “That was the big thing I liked, our kids fought to the end. Our kids played hard. Our kids were physical. We saw those piles moving in the right direction. That was a very good sign.

“We obviously made some mistakes here and there and got lined up wrong a few times but that was going to happen with a new program. The thing that you can control is playing hard and we did that and that’s a big positive.”

Three big plays hurt the Golden Bears in their season opener – allowing an 80-yard kickoff return, a 52-yard scoring run and a 60-yard scoring pass. Sam West’s long TD pass to Ethan Meadows was the only scoring play of the third quarter and extended the Pirates’ lead to 35-14 but the Golden Bears didn’t roll over, instead adding a Cael Lux 4-yard touchdown run that set the final score in a game where the running clock (mercy rule) was not utilized.

“We can move the football … we found that out,” said Glesing. “I thought our defensive line did a pretty good job when they were fundamentally sound. Our linebackers improved a ton from the scrimmage (at Rushville) to week one. And our defensive backs lined up better than they did in the scrimmage.

“Football is a funny game where you have to get lined up right. That’s a big part of it. If you get lined up right then you can go through your keys and do what you are supposed to do. I thought we made some big progress from the scrimmage to week one and, hopefully, we can make even more progress in week two.”

The week two challenge is new. Shelbyville dropped traditional week-two rival Franklin for Richmond, a Class 4A program that has not had a winning season since 2013. Head coach Tony Sonsini is 6-14 in his third season with the Red Devils, who produced an explosive 48-33 victory in week one over Connersville.

“They are a big play team,” said Glesing. “They got all their yards from big plays. They run their zone read and their running back is pretty good if they give it to him. Then the quarterback is real good if he keeps it. You have to be honest. You have to play sound defense and you have to be great tacklers in the open field. That will be a big, big key for us.”

Senior Demarco Owens (5-10, 215) and junior Lucas Hall (5-10, 175) combined for 21 rushing attempts, 332 yards and five TDs against Connersville.

Sophomore quarterback Jayden Shipp (5-10, 166) completed 7-of-14 pass attempts for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Shelbyville netted 227 rushing yards on 47 attempts at Greensburg, with junior running back Cael Lux leading the way with 146 yards.

Repeating that type of performance will prove tough against Richmond’s defensive front four that averages 6-2 and 249 pounds.

“They have some big dudes up front on their defensive line,” said Glesing. “That will be a challenge for us. I’m still trying to figure out what we can and can’t do … what our strengths and weaknesses are but the kids are up to the challenge.”

Hope is alive within the Golden Bears’ program. On Monday, the junior varsity team defeated Greensburg, 20-16.

One night later, Shelbyville Middle School’s eighth-grade team lost in double overtime to New Palestine while the seventh graders defeated the Dragons, 35-6.

Glesing knows resurrecting Shelbyville football will take time – more than one game and more than one season. The players showed back up Monday after the program’s 26^th-straight defeat and went back to work.

“I think the one thing that has changed is people are talking about football in the school right now,” he said. “We got beat by 21 but they are talking football and that is kind of a cool thing. And our JV team winning the other night was a big deal for us. We said all along we want to take baby steps and have successes here and there. So for our JV team to have a victory was huge for the morale of our football team.”

Glesing stated before the season opener that one goal was getting 14 first downs a game. That signaled ball control offensively, the ability to shorten a game, and defensive relief from not constantly being on the field. The Golden Bears had 16 first downs against Greensburg.

Now the program has a chance to grab a win against a program that has struggled in its own right for most of the last two decades before facing a lineup of Hoosier Heritage Conference opponents.

“I want to get better each week. I want to compete and I want the kids to enjoy the game of football,” said Glesing. “I want the school spirit to be back. I think a lot of good things are happening. We will take it and build on it and understand where we are at with our football program.

“I’m playing a lot of young kids. I’m playing a lot of sophomores. Realistically, we have our work cut out for us all year long but as long as the kids keep plugging along and keep working … good things will happen.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at J.M. McKeand Stadium in Shelbyville.

Triton Central takes a step up in competition in week two of the IHSAA football season with a showdown looming in week three against the top-ranked team in Class A -- Indianapolis Lutheran.

Class 2A, No. 7-ranked Triton Central (1-0) hosts Greensburg (1-0), a 42-21 winner over Shelbyville in week one, at Bud Mendenhall Field Friday in Fairland. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“They are always a big athletic team,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able, now in his ninth year with the Tigers (73-27 record over that span). “Offensively, they give you multiple looks. The quarterback throws well and the receivers can go get it.”

Last week against Shelbyville, junior quarterback Sam West (6-5, 205) completed 6-of-12 pass attempts for 124 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball 11 times for 95 yards and another score.

Freshman running back Kaden Acton (5-9, 165) had seven carries for 78 yards and a touchdown in his varsity debut, which also included an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

“They’ve got size and speed … they’ve got everything you need to be a good team,” said Able.

Head coach Scott Moore is in his 14^th year at Greensburg and is 69-69 after the Pirates’ season-opening victory.

At Cascade in its season opener, Triton Central simply wore down the Cadets. The ground game behind a revamped offensive line racked up 223 yards and two touchdowns while protecting sophomore quarterback Jace Stuckey, who threw four touchdown passes.

Two sophomores and a freshman are listed as starters on the offensive line in week two. Jayden Mays (5-11, 205) is the only senior. Junior Aden Sosbe (6-1, 260) is the other starting guard with Mays. Sophomore Henry Smith (5-7, 170) gets the call at center while sophomore Max Ray (6-0, 235) and freshman Colton Crawford (6-1, 205) are the starting tackles.

Ray Crawford started his sophomore season with a target on his back. That’s the result of rushing for 1,300 yards as a freshman. But in his 2021 debut, Crawford proved just as dangerous as a receiver, hauling in TD passes of 62 and 55 yards.

In the Tigers’ 45-7 win, Crawford had 117 yards receiving and 94 yards rushing. That was enough to cause Able to quip after the game, “Who thought Ray would have more receiving yards than rushing yards?”

Stuckey made several nice throws in the win – and held on to the ball too long in other passing situations. Able believes the sophomore learned a valuable lesson from his first Friday night under the lights as a starting signal caller.

“There was a lot of good stuff and a lot of things he needs to clean up,” said Able. Stuckey twice was called for intentional grounding when he tried to throw the ball away. “He has to have a clock in his head and get the ball out. He has to throw it away or scramble.”

Triton Central and Greensburg will each have a second opponent to deal with Friday – the heat. With soaring temperatures and high heat indexes all week, Able has had the Tigers practicing inside in sweat pants to get used to the heat then go outside and finish practice on the artificial turf at Mendenhall Field.

Conditioning is crucial for Triton Central, which does not have great depth at the varsity level yet.

“It’s going to be hot,” said Able of Friday’s forecast. “And when it is you can’t warm up as much as you like … you can’t get in a rhythm. You don’t want to sweat too much.”

This is the fourth-straight season that the Pirates and Tigers are week two opponents. Triton Central has won the first three by an average of 30 points.

Shelbyville High School’s boys tennis team suffered its third loss this week Wednesday, 3-2 at Yorktown.

The Golden Bears were victorious at No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles but could not pull out a win at No. 3 singles or No. 2 doubles where both matches went three sets.

Aidan Asher improved to 4-1 this season at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Yorktown’s Anson Isaacs.

Caden Tackett collected his second win of the season at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-0 over Mark Avila.

At No. 3 singles, Shelbyville’s Logan Prickett took his first loss of the year, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to Joe Stinson.

Both of Shelbyville’s doubles teams were paired for the first time.

At No. 1 doubles, Ian Blackketter and Connor Zobel lost, 6-3, 6-1 to Raphael Sabijon and John Hicks.

And A.J. Dunn and Ryan Richards defeated Shelbyville’s Karson Schaf and Layne Pogue, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

After winning its season opener, the Golden Bears have lost four straight to sit at 1-4 with a road trip ahead Saturday to 24^th-ranked Delta.

Leading the Charge stepped up into stakes action and responded with a win in the 17^th running of the $100,000 Bucchero Stakes Wednesday at Indiana Grand.

Formerly known as the AJ Foyt Stakes, the race is named in honor of the state’s leading money-winning Indiana bred horse, Bucchero, who is now standing at stud in Florida.

Leading the Charge (photo), ridden by DeShawn Parker, had good inside positioning early as he broke from post two in the one and one-sixteenth mile event. Cash Logistics and Alex Achard took over the top spot early on with Chipofftheoldblock and Miguel Mena sitting to their outside. Leading the Charge held his ground inside through both turns of the event.

In the stretch, Parker found the seam he needed to get through between horses and reach the top ones. The grey four-year-old son of Suntracer then moved to the inside to get past Cash Logistics for the last sixteenth of the race.

Once he found room, Leading the Charge took over and lengthened his stride to score by one length over Max Express and Marcelino Pedroza Jr., who finished strong on the outside for second. Cash Logistics finished third.

“I was just waiting for somewhere to go,” said Parker. “We were sitting good, and I had a lot of horse. When room opened up, he did it so easy. They told me the last eighth not to hit him, but he broke through horses so strong, I didn’t even think about uncocking my stick. He was really impressive today.”

The win for Parker is his 5,899^th career trip to the winner’s circle. It’s the fifth season for Parker in Indiana, who earned the leading jockey title last year at Indiana Grand.

Leading the Charge is now on a four-race win streak. He has been ridden by four different jockeys in those wins with Parker getting a leg up for the first time in the gelding’s career. He is three for three this season for owner-breeder Team Block. Robert Dobbs Jr. trains the Indiana bred gelding, who moved into six figures with his career bankroll.

The win marked the first career stakes win for Dobbs, who worked as assistant trainer for Christine Janks for 20 years before branching out on his own. He and his wife, Kelly, who works for UPS, relocated to Indiana four years ago. Dobbs maintains a stable of 15 and winter trained at Indiana Grand this past winter.

“This is my first stakes win as a trainer and he’s the best I’ve had so far,” said Dobbs referring to Leading the Charge. “Team Block sent him to me because he’s an Indiana bred. He’s a very easy horse to train and makes my life very easy to have a horse like this.”

Members of Ironhorse Racing, including Bucchero’s trainer, Tim Glyshaw, were trackside to present the trophy for the Bucchero Stakes to the connections of Leading the Charge.

Bumble of Love earned its third-straight win over Indiana Grand’s turf course Wednesday to score the title in the 18^th running of the $100,000 Peony Stakes.

Bumble of Love (photo) and Marcelino Pedroza Jr. left alertly and found good positioning behind The Beauty’s Tale and Jose Bautista and Diamond Solitaire and Martin Garcia. They maintained their position all the way to the stretch before kicking into a strong final quarter, winning by one and one-quarter lengths over Timeless Rose and Santo Sanjur, who closed from the back for second.

Bloody Mary Mornin and Rodney Prescott finished third.

Bumble of Love is now four for six in 2021. She increased her career bankroll to more than $165,000 for owner Andrew Ritter, who was also a co-breeder on the filly with Ledgelands LLC. Brian Michael trained the four-year-old Indiana bred daughter of Hampton Court.

“A light bulb came on for her in the last couple of starts,” said Michael. “Last time she broke well and was near the pace. She did the same today, so I think she’s starting to figure it out. We call her the Indiana Zenyata. She looks a lot like Zenyata. And, she’s a warrior. She has great guts and tries hard every time.”

Bumble of Love has been with the Michael barn since the beginning of her career. The start in the Peony Stakes was her first attempt in stakes action. With the exception of her first start at Churchill Downs in the fall of her two-year-old season, all of her career starts have been recorded at Indiana Grand, with her last three outings all over the turf course.

“We love the turf here and there are a couple more spots left for her,” said Michael. “So, we would like to keep her here. That’s the plan.”

As expected, both favorites were strong in the trials Wednesday at Indiana Grand for the $100,000 Leader of the Class Futurity set for Sept. 15.

Mr Michel and Delreys Wagon Train (photo) were both impressive in their respective trials, finishing one-two among the top 10 headed to the final.

Mr Michel had the quickest time, winning his division in 18.091 seconds. The Kiss My Hocks freshman was a factor from the start, but it wasn’t until midway through the 350-yard dash that he emerged with a final kick that made him a one-half length winner for jockey Erik Esqueda.

My Royal Candy and Jose Beltran finished second over Knockout Swing and L.D. Danny Martinez for third.

Mr Michel, named after his breeder Mark Michel, is now two for four in his brief career. He is owned by Alberto Valdez and trained by Claudio Barraza.

Delreys Wagon Train was equally impressive in his trial. Also ridden by Martinez, the Freighttrain B filly wasn’t the first call in the field of nine, but when she got her momentum together, it was evident she was closing in on the leaders from the outside with every step. Delreys Wagon Train was a three-quarter length winner over Encores Bright Image and Giovani Vasquez-Gomez, who led the field most of the way. Leaving with Fire and Sammy Mendes finished third.

Delreys Wagon Train is owned by Pattie Marshall. The Freighttrain B filly is now two for four in her career. She was bred by Dan Wasserbeck and trained by Tony Cunningham.

The entire field for the final of the Leader of the Class Futurity, in order of time with jockey, includes: Mr Michel (Erik Esqueda, 18.091); Delreys Wagon Train (L.D. Martinez, 18.128); My Royal Candy (Jose Beltran, 18.163); Encores Bright Image (Giovani Vasquez-Gomez, 18.248); Leaving with Fire (Sammy Mendez, 18.293); Knockout Swing (L.D. Martinez, 18.305); My Royal Casino (Cristian Esqueda, 18.346); Keens Blood Legacy (Jose Ruiz, 18.539); Princess Beach (Edgar Diaz, 18.597); and Feature Miss Wagon (Jose Ruiz, 18.608).

Trainer Erin Thompson, Indiana Grand’s all-time leading female Quarter Horse trainer, will saddle three in the final (My Royal Candy, Keens Blood Legacy, Feature Miss Wagon) while Tony Cunningham saddles two for the final (Delreys Wagon Train, Knockout Swing).

With a pair of first-half goals from Al Hernandez and a strong effort from Brayden Basey directing the defense, Shelbyville boys soccer earned a 2-0 victory Tuesday against visiting Hamilton Heights (0-4).

Hernandez’s two goals came off assists from Jake Heaton and Ben Price.

Jalen Hounshell recorded his second shutout of the season for the Golden Bears (2-2).

“Brayden Basey was fantastic leading the defense,” said Shelbyville head coach Ben Purvis. “He consistently won the ball out of the air and kept us organized. His composure forced Hamilton Heights into shots from distance.”

Shelbyville also won the junior varsity game, 4-0.

Jett Suiter scored two goals and Trent Todd and Brock Wischmeyer completed the scoring. Nathan Tweedy had the shutout in goal.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Greensburg 202, Shelbyville 209

At Blue Bear Golf Course, Regan Mathies led the Golden Bears with a nine-hole score of 50.

Completing Shelbyville’s scorecard were Madison Monroe (51), Kaylee Tackett (53) and Lanie Stephens (55).

Sarah Stapp was the medalist, leading Greensburg with a 49. Elizabeth Mitchell followed with 50. Anne Pumphrey (51) and Kate Acra (52) rounded out the Pirates’ scorecard.

Southwestern 233, Oldenburg Academy Inc.

At Hillcrest, Lily Kerber led Southwestern with a 50. She was followed on the scorecard by Alison Muck (59), McKinley Correll (61), Sydney Griffin (61) and Olivia Chandler (63).

Emerald Simmonds was the medalist with a 48. Oldenburg Academy only had three golfers available. Claire Walke shot 60 and Ava Allen finished at 64.

Boys Soccer

Indianapolis Washington 4, Morristown 3

At Morristown, the Yellow Jackets lost their home opener to drop to 2-2 this season.

Boys Tennis

Seymour 4, Shelbyville 1

At Seymour, Shelbyville’s No. 1 singles player, Aidan Asher, produced the lone victory for the Golden Bears (1-3), who have lost three straight.

Asher improved to 3-1 this season.

Andrew Levine defeated Caden Tackett at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2.

Joe Schmidt bested Ian Blackketter at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-1.

At No. 1 doubles, Eli Meyer and Jack VonDielingen blanked Charlie Rife and Karson Schaf, 6-0, 6-0.

And Reuben Kruse and Parker Thompson defeated Connor Zobel and Layne Pogue, 6-4, 6-0.

Volleyball

Morristown def. Edinburgh, 25-22, 25-17, 25-16

At Edinburgh, the Yellow Jackets won their second straight match to even their record at 3-3 and collected their first Mid-Hoosier Conference win of the season.

The Lancers dropped to 3-5.

Trinity Lutheran def. Waldron, 25-17, 25-21, 25-20

At Waldron, the visiting Cougars (2-1) swept the previously-unbeaten Mohawks (3-1).

Ruthie Bingham led Trinity Lutheran with 15 kills while Stella Kleffman finished with five serving aces.

Triton Central def. Beech Grove, 25-11, 17-25, 25-12, 25-14

At Triton Central, Brooklyn Bailey finished with a team-high 13 kills and four aces to lead the Tigers (3-3).

Maia Harris also had four aces and 27 assists for Triton Central while Julia Sanders had 36 digs.

Junior High Soccer

Southwestern 2, Greensburg 2

Southwestern had goals from Carter Cooley and Jay Brown.

Ethan Sipes was credited with an assist.

Middle School Cross Country

Greensburg Invitational

At Greensburg Monday, Shelbyville Middle School finished sixth in the boys division.

Running for Shelbyville were Logan Reinhart (10^th place in 11:51), Josue Isaac (11^th in 11:51), Owen Hartman (61^st in 14:14), Blake Bryant (75^th in 14:52), Shia Veach (78^th in 15:03), Everett Stegemiller (100^th in 16:30) and Kendryk Pike (108^th in 17:06).

Triton Central finished 16^th in the team standings with Liam Thompson (7^th in 11:43) scoring a top-10 finish.

Also competing for TC were Jayden Franklin (64^th in 14:19), Reid Oertel (76^th in 14:54), Lucas Graham (115^th in 17:49), Harry Watson (122^nd in 19:36), Bo Nentrup (128^th in 22:02) and Tyler Stohry (131^st in 25:24).

Waldron placed 18^th with Ethan Hirshauer (38^th in 13:19), Jacob Kuhn (81^st in 15:27), Caige Sheaffer (83^rd in 15:29), Spencer Armstrong (84^th in 15:32), Lucas Price (104^th in 16:49) and Kevin Crouch (121^st in 19:15) running.

Southwestern’s Chris Claiborne finished 33^rd in 12:49. Fellow Spartan Jackson Bentz placed 45^th in 13:32.

Waldron (10^th), Triton Central (11^th) and Shelbyville (15^th) competed in the girls race.

Waldron’s Claire Larrison (36^th in 14:35) was the top finisher from Shelby County. Larrison’s teammate, Grace Fischer (39^th in 14:41) was close behind.

Haylee Barnes (50^th in 15:35) was Shelbyville’s top finisher. Triton Central’s Jocelyn Oertel (54^th in 15:44) was the only other county runner to finish in the top 60.

Triton Central also entered Rylee Pruitt (61^st in 16:16), Ariel Walker (70^th in 16:31), Dannahi Lopez (87^th in 17:35), Penelope Turner (91^st in 17:58), Audrey Morris (102^nd in 19:46) and Kaylynn Peterman (113^th in 21:19).

Also running for Waldron were Brooklyn Milbourn (75^th in 16:47), Kassidy Meulen (97^th in 19:06), Arianna Thompson (119^th in 21:58) and Abby Crouch (127^th in 25:49).

For Shelbyville, Sophia Cunningham finished 81^st in 17:10; Aerin Garcia-Santiago placed 108^th in 20:32; Cora Flynn was 111^th in 20:59, Virdian Gascaq finished 112^th in 21:09; Kathryn Seal finished 118^th in 21:51; and Courtney Gross placed 123^rd in 23:16.

Southwestern had two runners – Adalyn Brewer (96^th in 19:01) and Sienna Shaw (110^th in 20:54).

Two Thoroughbred stakes will be featured on today’s racing program at Indiana Grand.

Slated as the eighth race on the card, the 18^th running of the $100,000 Peony Stakes will be contested at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles over the turf course for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up.

The race, named in honor of the State of Indiana’s official flower, was part of a group of stakes renamed this past winter.

Bloody Mary Mornin (photo) and Rodney Prescott have been tagged as the early morning line favorites at odds of 5-2 in the Peony with an estimated post time of 1:21 p.m. The duo comes into the race off two wins and a second-place finish since arriving in the Randy Matthews barn.

Matthews, who previously trained the Go Lionel Go chestnut mare and lost her due to a claim last fall, is reunited with Bloody Mary Mornin, who now has seven career wins in 20 career starts and more than $227,000 in earnings. The six-year-old begins from post three in the full field of 12 that includes two also eligibles.

Bumble of Love and Marcelino Pedroza Jr. also are favored in the event at odds of 7-2. The four-year-old Hampton Court filly has won her last two starts, both over the Indiana Grand turf course. She is three for five in 2021 under the direction of trainer Brian Michael.

The Peony Stakes is joined by the 17^th running of the $100,000 Bucchero Stakes, carded as the ninth race with an estimated post time of 1:50 p.m. The race was renamed this past winter to honor the state’s all-time leading Indiana bred money earner, Bucchero, who completed his career with 11 wins and earnings in excess of $947,000.

Bucchero is owned by Ironhorse Racing and is now standing at stud in Florida. His first foals will be on the track next year.

Headlining the Bucchero Stakes, which will be run over the turf course at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles, is Strong Tide from the Mike Lauer barn. The four-year-old English Channel colt ran in the Grade I $600,000 Mr. D.S. at Arlington in his last start. Jon Court travels to Indiana to ride Strong Tide, who is the son of Indiana Grand track record holder on the turf, Dreamin Big.

They will begin from post nine in the 12-horse field at odds of 7-2.

Cash Logistics is the second favorite of the field. Starting from post four, the four-year-old Unbridled Express gelding from the Genevieve Londono Stable was a winner in his last start. Alex Achard will ride the grey at odds of 5-1 on the morning line.

Two trials for the ninth running of the Leader of the Class Sale Futurity will close out today’s racing program at Indiana Grand.

The trials, carded as race No. 10 and No. 11, will be conducted between 2 and 3 p.m. due to the post time alteration. With forecasted extreme heat today and Thursday, Indiana Grand has moved up post times for each of those days to 10 a.m.

The trials are for two-year-olds who sold as a yearling at the 2020 Speed Sale or as a weanling at the 2019 Speed Sale.

Heading the first trial is Mr Michel (photo) from the Claudio Barraza barn. The Kiss My Hocks sorrel gelding sold last year as a yearling for $17,500. Bred by Mark Michel, the Indiana bred is now owned by Alberto Valdez and will make his fourth career start in the trial. He starts from post eight with jockey Erik Esqueda aboard at odds of 6-5.

Joining Mr Michel as a favorite in the first trial is Alota Lovin from the Randy Smith Stable. The Lota PYC filly is owned and bred by Walter “Dick” Harrison. She makes her fifth start in the trial, turning in two second-place finishes thus far. She starts from post three with Sammy Mendez aboard at odds of 9-2.

The second trial is highlighted by Delreys Wagon Train, trained by Tony Cunningham. The Freighttrain B filly has one win and one second in three starts for owner Pattie Marshall. Delreys Wagon Train starts from post nine at odds of 5-2 with L.D. “Danny” Martinez aboard.

The two trials will set up the $100,000 Leader of the Class Sale Futurity final slated for Sept. 15, just a few days before the 2021 QHRAI Speed Sale to be held at Indiana Grand in the Receiving Barn on Sept. 18.

The 11^th annual event, which has produced over $3 million in earnings by Speed Sale graduates, begins at noon.

Three matches, three victories and three program records for Southwestern senior Aiden Hartsell.

Hartsell scored two goals and had an assist Monday to lead Class A, No. 11-ranked Southwestern to a 5-3 victory at Oldenburg Academy. His second goal of the match set a new career record for goals scored at Southwestern, breaking the old mark set in 2020 by his older brother, Anick Hartsell.

Hartsell (photo to left with his father, Justin) set a new career assists record in the Spartans’ season-opening win and scored six goals in his second match to set a new record for goals scored in a match.

Forester Werbe opened the scoring Monday giving Southwestern a 1-0 lead. Hartsell added to his career assists record by setting up Jordan Jones for the goal and a 2-0 lead.

Hartsell tied his brother’s record with 7:18 left in the first half.

The Twisters (0-2) closed the lead to 3-2 before Hartsell netted the record breaker with 12:48 to go.

In a junior high soccer match Monday, Southwestern’s junior high team opened its season with a 6-1 victory over Central Christian.

Carter Cooley scored three goals for the Spartans. Ethan Sipes had a pair of goals and Landon Drake found the back of the net for head coach Justin Meredith’s squad.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls Golf

Pike 253, Triton Central Inc., Ritter Inc.

At Hawk’s Tail, Triton Central’s Emma Branham took the medalist honor with a 48.

Also for Triton Central, Kendra Erdmann shot a season-best 55 and Olivia Martin finished at 70.

Girls Soccer

Beech Grove 2, Triton Central 1

At Triton Central, Lizzie Graham scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season but it was not enough to keep the Tigers from dropping to 1-2 this season.

Beech Grove improved to 1-3.

Boys Tennis

Edinburgh 3, Morristown 2

At Edinburgh, the host Lancers swept all three singles matches in the Mid-Hoosier Conference contest.

Max Blandford defeated Morristown’s Tyler Schonfeld, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

Travis Jones bested Grant Kessler at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-2.

And at No. 3 singles, Austin Brockman defeated Austin Gabbard, 6-0, 6-1.

Morristown’s lone match win on the court came at No. 1 doubles where Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes topped Ian Buchanan and Milas Burkman, 6-2, 6-4.

Morristown’s No. 2 doubles pairing of Carson Essex and Jerry Riley won via forfeit.

Waldron 5, Tri 0

At Tri, the Mohawks needed just one singles match victory to seal the team win after the Titans forfeited both doubles matches.

Lucas Shaw, Jack Fischer and Josh Kellems swept the three singles matches anyway to push Waldron’s record to 2-1 this season.

Triton Central 5, Speedway 0

At Speedway (photo above), the visiting Tigers (3-1) lost a total of six games in sweeping all five matches.

Alex Crouse defeated Hunter Woodlock, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.

And Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds cruised past Anthony Espique and Corbin Woodlock, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

Tucker Hutchinson (No. 2 singles), Cole Thomas (No. 3 singles) and Avram Rund and Quintin Potts (No. 1 doubles) were victorious 6-0, 6-0.

Jameson Palmer and the doubles team of Connor Evans and Ben Toth also posted junior varsity wins for Triton Central.

Batesville 4, Shelbyville 1

The Golden Bears’ only win came at No. 1 singles from Aidan Asher.

Shelbyville is 1-2 this season.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Franklin Central, 25-16, 24-26, 25-19, 25-18

At Shelbyville, the Golden Bears got 16 kills from Jaidyn Tackett and 13 from Emily Parker to improve to 3-1 this season.

Senior Emma Nolley (photo above), who had three serving aces in the win, was honored for breaking the career record for aces. She also had a team-high 15 digs.

Setter Gracie Leffler collected 39 assists.

The Flashes fell back to .500 at 4-4 this year.

Jac-Cen-Del def. Southwestern, 19-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-23

At Southwestern, Desiree Sparks and Emma Newhart combined for 20 kills to lead Jac-Cen-Del (2-5) to the win. Aundrea Cullen finished with 26 digs.

Southwestern is 1-4 this season.

Morristown def. Providence Cristo Rey, 25-7, 25-7, 25-8

At Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets (2-3) cruised to their second win of the season over Providence Cristo Rey (0-2).

Triton Central’s football team is tied for seventh in the most recent Indiana Football Coaches Association poll.

Indiana Crossroads Conference members Triton Central and Scecina, as well as Eastside are all tied for seventh in the Class 2A poll with 26 votes.

Fort Wayne Luers is ranked No. 1 in 2A followed by Eastbrook, Andrean, Evansville Mater Dei, Tipton and Heritage Christian.

Rensselaer Central rounds out the top 10 in 2A.

Fellow ICC member Lutheran is the top-ranked team in Class A. The Saints are followed in the poll by South Adams, Adams Central, Parke Heritage, Southwood, Monroe Central, Covenant Christian, Winamac, South Putnam and North Judson.

Defending Class 6A state champion Center Grove is No. 1 in the 6A poll. Carmel, Brownsburg, Westfield and Merrillville round out the top five followed by Warren Central, Ben Davis, Hamilton Southeastern, Elkhart and Homestead.

Cathedral is No. 1 in 5A ahead of Zionsville, Fort Wayne Dwenger, Valparaiso, Whiteland, Fort Wayne Snider, Decatur Central, Bloomington South, Mishawaka and New Palestine.

In Class 4A, Roncalli is No. 1 with Mooresville, East Central, East Noble and Leo completing the top five. The next five are Jasper, Chatard, Delta, Evansville Central and New Prairie.

And in 3A, Danville is No. 1 ahead of West Lafayette, Gibson Southern, Brebeuf, Western Boone, Guerin Catholic, Lawrenceburg, Fort Wayne Concordia, Mishawaka Marian, Sullivan and Tri-West.

Due to forecasted extreme heat Wednesday and Thursday, Indiana Grand has changed post times for each of those racing days.

Racing will now begin at 10 a.m. to accommodate the participants scheduled to race.

“The forecasted temperatures are the most extreme we have seen in Shelbyville in decades,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “Keeping in mind that the health of our staff and equine athletes always comes first, we have decided to move our post times so we can avoid the highest temperatures. This decision isn’t made with business interests in mind but for the safety of all participants while giving our loyal horsemen the opportunity to race.”

The program Wednesday includes 11 races. The final race will have an estimated post time of approximately 2:50 p.m.

The program Thursday includes nine races with the final race of the day slated for 1:50 p.m.

Training hours for both days also has been moved to accommodate the early post. Training will now be held from 6 to 9 a.m.

When Steve Mackey accepted the head coaching position for Waldron High School’s volleyball team, he knew there was plenty of talent in the program.

And despite having a limited summer with the squad, Mackey has the Mohawks off and rolling to a 3-0 start.

The third win came in a five-set battle Saturday at Jennings County.

After dropping set one, Waldron rallied to win the next two only to see the Panthers recover and win set four. The race to 15 points was on in set five and Waldron nearly doubled up Jennings County for a 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 15-8 victory.

Madalyn Hudnall had a team-high 21 kills for Waldron. Mackenzie Shaw finished with seven kills.

Setter Emily Tyree collected 30 assists.

Alivia Elmore had seven kills to lead Jennings County (1-2). Lucy Ernstes collected seven serving aces and setter Megan Vogel notched 34 assists.

Waldron puts its perfect record on the line Tuesday against Trinity Lutheran (1-1).

In other prep events Saturday:

Girls Golf

Mooresville Invitational

At the Mooresville Invitational, Shelbyville’s doubles pairings finished within six strokes of each other.

Kaylee Tackett and Kate Linville combined to shoot 101 (52-49) while Lanie Stephens and Regan Mathies (photo above) carded 95 (45-50).

Shelbyville hosts Greensburg Tuesday at Blue Bear Golf Club.

Boys Soccer

Southwestern 7, Hauser 1

At Southwestern, Aidan Hartsell scored six goals to set a new program record for goals scored in a game. Hartsell was the record holder with five.

The senior now has nine goals scored this season in the Spartans’ two wins.

Tucker Simmons also had a goal for Southwestern (2-0, 1-0 Mid-Hoosier Conference). Conner Gooch, Simmons, Garreth Stringer, Conner Jewell and Jordan Jones all had assists in the win.

Hugo Nobrega scored Hauser’s lone goal.

Lawrence North 4, Shelbyville 0

At Shelbyville, the Golden Bears (1-2) were shut out for the second time this season.

The Wildcats (3-0-1) scored twice in each half.

Jalen Hounshell was credited with five saves in goal for Shelbyville.

Lawrence North won the junior varsity match, 3-1. Trent Todd scored Shelbyville’s lone goal.

Panther Cup

At Jennings County, Morristown won its 8-team invitational tournament opener Friday, 1-0 over Christian Academy getting new head coach Austen Clark his first career coaching victory.

The Yellow Jackets lost to eventual tournament runner-up Shawe Memorial, 4-2, on Saturday then rebounded to defeat Rock Creek Academy, 4-2.

Girls Soccer

Shelbyville 7, New Castle 0

Shelbyville (photo above) collected its first Hoosier Heritage Conference win of the season with a dominant performance at New Castle (0-2-1).

Five different Golden Bears scored goals. Rebecca Valdez and Cyanne St. Bernard each had two while Ava Mummert, Brooke Byers and Evelyn Kiefer rounded out the scoring.

Sophie Parker had four assists for Shelbyville (2-1, 1-0 HHC).

Connersville 7, Triton Central 2

At Triton Central, Lizzie Graham scored both goals for the Tigers (1-1).

Olivia Reedy and Emma Hutchinson each had an assist.

Molly Crank, Jayci Allen and Brittney Bottomley each scored twice for the Spartans (2-0).

Volleyball

Batesville def. Shelbyville, 25-17, 27-25, 18-25, 26-28, 15-13

At Batesville, Cayman Werner had 15 kills, five blocks and 15 digs to lead the Bulldogs (3-1) over the Golden Bears (2-1).

Emily Parker led Shelbyville with 22 kills, four aces and 15 digs.

Emmy Nolley had 17 digs and Gracie Leffler notched 40 assists.

Whiteland def. Southwestern, 25-13, 18-25, 25-13, 25-20

At Whiteland, the visiting Spartans (1-3) lost their third-straight match.

Covenant Christian Invitational

Triton Central finished 1-2 with its lone win coming against Decatur Central.

The Tigers (2-3) lost to Guerin Catholic, 26-24, 25-17. Brooklyn Bailey had four kills for TC. Julia Sanders finished with nine digs.

Triton Central rebounded to defeat Decatur Central, 25-13, 25-17. Maddy Brown had a team-high four kills. Kate Isley collected 12 assists.

Covenant Christian ended Triton Central’s invitational run with a 25-21, 25-6 victory. Bailey had four kills.

Cross Country

Hamilton Southeastern Hokum Karem

Shelbyville’s boys (photo above) finished third in the team standings in the unusual event that pairs runners together with each running a 3-mile course.

Elijah Von Werder and Beau Kenkel combined for a 9^th-place finish in 35 minutes, 17 seconds. Michael Fox and Tristin Maloney placed 10^th in 36:53.

Shelbyville’s girls effort was led by Stefanie Howard and Kaila Brattain with a 13^th-place finish in 41:33.

Indian Creek Invitational

 Waldron placed fifth in the team standings in both the boys and girls division.

Will Larrison led the Mohawks with a 19^th-place finish in 19:33. Jared Crosby finished 25^th in 20:42 and Caden Shaeffer was 26^th in 21:00.

Also running for Waldron were Skylar Ferguson (22:21), Nathaniel Evans (24:37) and Ethan Richardson (25:30).

Hallie Ross (photo above) was the first Mohawk across the finish line in the girls race. Ross placed 18^th in 25:27.

Also competing for Waldron were Audrey Hogg (26:51), Cheyenne Lozier (27:06), Riley Price (27:53) and Sophie Hudnall (29:38).

Jeremy Wright Small School Invitational

At Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville, Austin captured the boys’ team title while Forest Park was crowned girls champion.

Forest Park’s Spenser Wolf won the boys race in 16:25 and Western Boone’s Audrey Knoper won the girls race in 19:55.

Southwestern finished 20^th in the team standings. Dane Kissell led the Spartans with a 62^nd-place finish in 20:23.

Also running for Southwestern were Dakota Claiborne (20:41), Collin Cummings (22:06), Ryan Griffin (23:24) and Elias Clark (24:38).

Triton Central’s Owen Sprinkle finished 87^th in 21:04. Hank Hadler completed the course in 24:06. Corbin Maurice (26:53) and Lucas Bear (27:23) also represented Triton Central.

For Morristown, Zavier Poole finished in 23:48; T.J. Butcher in 25:19; and Brayden Burris in 30:10.

Southwestern placed 12^th in the girls team standings led by Lilly Rooks (51^st in 25:12), Gracie Schlabach (53^rd in 25:14) and Jenna Drake (54^th in 25:14).

Also running for Southwestern were Malori Pike (33:43) and Maxine Higdon (34:39).

Morristown’s Ashtyn McGuire finished 130^th in 30:46.

Triton Central’s Brooke Bear was 146^th in 38:40.

With five runners finishing in the top 15 of the middle school girls race, Morristown (photo above) captured the team title.

Taylor Tragesser (11:53), Chloe Tragesser (12:00) and Lauren Kuhn (13:22) finished first, second and fourth, respectively, for Morristown.

Brooke Kuhn placed 11^th in 13:44 and Clara Wallace was 15^th in 14:32.

In the boys race, Triton Central’s Liam Thompson (4^th in 11:38) and Morristown’s Max Compton (9^th in 11:58) had top-10 finishes.

They are phrases that Shelbyville Golden Bear stakeholders – fans, parents, coaches, players – have adjusted to over a struggling three year stretch.  Things like get better every day.  Baby steps.  Do the little things.  Little successes. 

It’s just one game.  And the final score still saw Shelbyville suffer a loss.  But Friday’s season opening 42-21 loss at Greensburg felt bigger than those phrases would suggest.

The game featured a Shelbyville 100-yard rusher, an offensive line that, at times, dominated Greensburg up front, and a defense that sent multiple tacklers to the football.  All in all, it was an encouraging night for a football team that hasn’t had many in recent years

The beginning wasn’t exactly the way you’d draw it up for the Golden Bears Friday night as Greensburg freshman Kaden Acton took the opening kickoff right up the middle 85 yards for a touchdown in the game’s first 12 seconds.  The Pirates led 6-0 as the two-point conversion failed.

Shelbyville’s opening drive stalled and Greensburg increased its lead to 14-0 on a 52-yard run and two point conversion.

But the Golden Bears bounced back.  Sophomore quarterback Eli Chappelow replaced starter Colton Adkins and led a drive capped with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Alex Macharia with 2:21 left in the first quarter to cut the Pirate lead in half, 14-7.

Shelbyville would draw even, 14-14, on a Chappelow one-yard run with  6:52 left in the first half.

From there, the Pirates rebuilt a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.  With 4:05 remaining in the half, 6’5” first year junior quarterback Sam West moved the Pirates quickly down the field and scored on a 14-yard run. 

After Shelbyville failed to mount a drive to end the half the Bears punted and Greensburg took advantage of a short field with a West to Ethan Meadows 10-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds to play. 

Greensburg took a 28-14 lead into the half.

Late in the third, West hooked up with Meadows again as the senior wide receiver got behind the Shelbyville secondary and ran under a 60-yard pass from West to put Greensburg up, 35-14. 

The largest lead of the night came with 7:44 left in the game as Pirates' senior Luke Scheumann scored from a yard out.

Shelbyville’s defense gave the Bears a final scoring opportunity when Jackson Parker picked off a pass from Greensburg backup sophomore quarterback Kadan Cain and returned it to the Greensburg 17-yard line.  Cael Lux scored from three yards out with under a minute to play.

The touchdown from Lux capped a night with 127-yards rushing on 21 carries.

At quarterback, Shelbyville started senior Colton Adkins who gave way to sophomore Eli Chappelow in the first half.  Adkins played the entire second half.  Together, they produced a 4-for-11 passing night for 57 yards and a touchdown.  Adkins rushed for eight times for 32 yards while Chappelow added five yards on five carries.

Greensburg’s Sam West made his varsity debut at quarterback.  West, who appears headed for Alabama to play baseball but also has an offer to play tight end at Iowa State, was 7-for-13 passing for 135 yards and two touchdowns, both to Meadows.  He also rushed for 66 yards on 12 carries.

Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing on the GIANT fm Sports Cagney’s Pizza King postgame with Johnny McCrory and Mark Drake .

It was the 25^th consecutive season opening meeting for the two programs.  Shelbyville has won 17 of the 25 but has now lost four in a row in the series with their I-74 rival.

Overall, Shelbyville has now dropped 26 straight games dating back to September of 2018.

Shelbyville (0-1) will host Richmond  Friday in the Golden Bears home opener.  Richmond (1-0) beat Connersville Friday, 48-33.  Richmond replaces longtime opponent Franklin on the schedule. 

It’s the first meeting since the Red Devils hosted Shelbyville in a sectional game in October of 2012 and knocked the Golden Bears from the postseason, 14-0.

Greensburg (1-0) will travel to Bud Mendenhall Field for a Week 2 matchup with Triton Central.  The #10 (2A) Tigers (1-0) dominated Cascade, 45-7.

When asked to grade his performance in his varsity debut at quarterback for Triton Central, sophomore Jace Stuckey went with a “B.”

“It worked out. It was a good game. Everyone did their part so maybe a B … a B-plus.”

That’s a pretty fair assessment from a young QB that just led Triton Central to a 45-7 rout of Cascade.

Stuckey completed 7-of-12 passing attempts for 162 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 27 more yards but also was assessed two intentional grounding penalties.

 “I was trying to do too much when I need to get rid of it,” said Stuckey of when he got in trouble and tried to throw the ball away. “Those are mental things I have to fix.”

The ground game took much of the pressure off Stuckey, racking up 247 yards against a worn-down Cadets’ defense.

Triton Central took the opening drive 78 yards and finished it one play after Stuckey was called for grounding when he found running back Ray Crawford for a 62-yard scoring strike.

Just as quickly as the Tigers took the lead, Cascade tied it back up.

Liam Farmer broke free and went nearly untouched for 68 yards and the touchdown on the Cadets’ first offensive play of the game.

The next drive for each team yielded no points before Triton Central settled in offensively and went to work.

“Once we figured out what they were doing, we adjusted and warmed up,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Abel, who collected win No. 73 Friday night with the Tigers and career win No. 198.

Triton Central scored on its next three possessions with Levi Dewey delivering a 34-yard field goal, Stuckey connecting with Brad Schultz from 14 yards out, and Lucas Kleeman breaking free on an inside trap to score from 22 yards out to give the Tigers a 24-7 lead at halftime.

The Tigers physically wore down the Cadets in the second half with three straight drives that resulted in touchdowns.

Stuckey shook off a Cascade rusher and found Devon Emberton all alone in the end zone for a 26-yard scoring strike in the third quarter.

“If we stay ahead of the chains and we determine when we pass, we are a lot better,” said Abel of TC’s effective passing game Friday. “When you are in third-and-long or second-and-long, no team is good at that. The other team knows what you are doing.”

Following three straight penalties, a TC problem the entire game (16 penalties for 112 yards), Stuckey delivered his best pass of the night, a high spiraling shot downfield that Crawford ran under and took to the end zone from 55 yards out.

“I saw it in pregame and I did the same thing. I got that inside backer over and I knew I had it over the top,” said Stuckey.

The final touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a six-yard run by Jaquan Blake.

Crawford finished with 80 yards rushing and 118 yards receiving.

“Who would have thought Ray would have more yards receiving than rushing,” said Abel with a wry smile. The sophomore ran for 1,303 yards in 2020 and only had four receptions for 12 yards.

Dewey ended the night going 6-for-6 on extra point attempts and 1-of-2 on field goal attempts, missing a 53-yarder as time expired.

“It’s a good building step for us,” said Stuckey. “There are a lot of things we need to fix and build on.

Triton Central hosts Greensburg, a 42-21 winner over Shelbyville Friday, in week two at Bud Mendenhall Field.

TRITON CENTRAL 45, CASCADE 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TC (1-0)      7       17     14     7       --       45

CA (0-1)      7       0       0       0       --       7

First Quarter:

TC – Crawford 62 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), 8:49

CA – Farmer 68 run (Schnarr kick), 8:32

Second Quarter:

TC – Dewey 34 field goal, 11:44

TC – Schultz 14 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), 7:08

TC – Kleeman 22 run (Dewey kick), 3:34

Third Quarter:

TC – Emberton 26 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), 3:16

TC – Crawford 55 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), 1:23

Fourth Quarter:

TC – Blake 6 run (Dewey kick), 9:36

Rushing:

TC: Crawford 12-80, Wilkins 5-55, Kleeman 5-32, Stuckey 4-27, Blake 3-12, Kemper 2-5, Perkon 2-5, Dunville 1-14, Schultz 1-18, Ferris 1-(-1).

CA: Farmer 16-111, Passwater 3-7, Weigle 2-0, Cartmel 1-2, Appleby 2-(-4), Gibbs 2-(-15), Mason 1-0.

Passing:

TC: Stuckey 7-12-162, Chandler 1-1-8

CA: Weigle 0-1-0, Potters 0-1-0, Farmer 1-1-5.

Receiving:

TC: Crawford 3-118, Schultz 2-25, Emberton 2-25.

CA: Potters 1-5.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is alerting the public about a growing trend in internet scamming.

There are hundreds of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube events being promoted, sometimes within prominent online groups, that appear to be real live streams, but are phishing for your personal information, and sometimes trying to install malware on your device.

These posts appear to be legitimately scheduled live streams and be associated with a high school or state association. However, when you click on the link, you are typically asked to enter personal information in order to gain access to the video. These are fake. Do not enter any information.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, scams like this have been on the rise. At the start of the 2021-22 school year, there are hundreds of these events being circulated for the beginning of high school sports.

“Unfortunately, scammers know that live streaming is more important now than it has ever been,” said IHSAA Director of Broadcasting Heath Shanahan. “This is a new way for someone to take advantage of the high school sports fan base. We want to make sure that fans of our member schools do not fall prey to these scammers.”

The IHSAA Champions Network and IHSAAtv.org is the official video streaming platform of the IHSAA. Many of its member schools are utilizing this platform for their own broadcasting needs. However, during the regular season, many schools have decided to use other entities to do their live streaming. Please check with your local high school athletic department for the correct location to watch your favorite team safely.

Shelbyville volleyball honored its record-breaking setter then swept Columbus North to start the 2021 season 2-0 – the program’s best start in nine years.

Senior setter Gracie Leffler broke the program’s career assists record in Shelbyville’s season-opening victory at Southwestern Tuesday. Her 1,362^nd assist set the new mark and she pushed the record to 1,400 in the win.

On Thursday, the Golden Bears secured their first win over Columbus North since 2015 with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-9 win in their home opener at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

Emily Parker led Shelbyville with 14 kills. Jaidyn Tackett had 10.

Emma Nolley finished with team-highs in aces (7) and digs (16).

Leffler added to her career record with 34 assists.

The Golden Bears are at Batesville (2-1) Saturday.

In other prep events Thursday:

Girls Golf

Whiteland 220, Shelbyville 239

At The Legends, Tara Watson topped Whiteland’s scorecard with a 50 to earn medalist honor and lead the Warriors to the win.

Also for Whiteland, Kylie McGovern shot 52, Karley Hoagland followed with 58 and Emma Gunn shot 60.

Kaylee Tackett led Shelbyville with a 57. Madison Monroe was two shots back at 59. Regan Mathies (60) and Lanie Stephens (63) completed Shelbyville’s scoring.

Boys Soccer

Shelbyville 4, Oldenburg Academy 0

Jake Heaton scored the first two goals of his soccer career to lead Shelbyville to its first win of the season.

Benny Cazares and Trent Todd also found the back of the net to improve the Golden Bears to 1-1. Brayden Jones had an assist in the win.

Jalen Hounshell was credited with the shutout.

“We struggled to finish and could have ended with a much bigger scoreline,” said Shelbyville coach Ben Purvis, referencing a 21-5 shot advantage in the match. “We controlled possession and found great balance in our midfield with Brayden Jones, Jack Johnson and Jake Heaton creating chance after chance.”

Girls Soccer

Franklin 3, Shelbyville 1

Mollie Hill scored twice and Erica Buening added a third goal to lead the visiting Grizzly Cubs (2-0) over Shelbyville (1-1).

Hill now has five goals in two matches for Franklin.

Ava Wilson scored her third goal of the season for the Golden Bears to avoid the shutout off an assist from Sophie Parker, her fourth of the season.

Addison Marshall had 14 saves in goal for Franklin. Macy Cooley was credited with eight saves for Shelbyville.

Boys Tennis

Heritage Christian 4, Triton Central 1

Triton Central’s No. 1 doubles pairing of Quintin Potts and Avram Rund improved to 3-0 this season with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Alex Crouse, Tucker Hutchinson and Cole Thomas each suffered their first losses of the season in singles matches.

Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds were defeated at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, 6-4.

Reuben Crisler and David Foley won a junior varsity doubles match for TC, 8-4.

Southwestern 3, Morristown 2

The host Spartans swept the singles matches to defeat the Yellow Jackets, who were making their 2021 season debut.

At No. 1 singles, Grant Emerick defeated Tyler Schonfeld, 6-2, 6-1.

Caleb Pappano topped Grant Kessler, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) at No. 2 singles.

And Justin Swift was declared victorious at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 5-3, when Austin Gabbard retired.

At No. 1 doubles, Morristown’s Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes bested Carter Snepp and Ty Burcham, 7-5, 6-3.

Morristown’s Carson Essex and Jerry Riley won via forfeit at No. 2 doubles.

Waldron 5, Edinburgh 0

The host Mohawks collected their first win of the season and the first for new head coach Austin Swain.

Lucas Shaw defeated Max Blandford at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-1.

At No. 2 singles, Jack Fischer rolled past Travis Jones, 6-3, 6-4.

And Josh Kellems needed three sets to knock off Trevor Moon, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6.

At No. 1 doubles, Max Jones and Jacob Lindsey topped Austin Brockman and Eli Bryant, 7-6, 6-4.

Matthew Thomas and Isaiah Jones defeated Ian Buchanan and Miles Burkman, 6-2, 6-2.

Andy Lacy won a JV match for Waldron, 8-0 over Jaden Hill.

Volleyball

Greensburg def. Triton Central, 16-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-15

The host Tigers won set one before Greensburg settled in and swept the next three to improve to 6-0 this season.

Josie Nobbe led the Pirates with 18 kills. Christina Fogg (18 digs) and Janae Comer (17 digs) combined for 35 digs. Ella Chapman had four blocks at the net and Jenna Foster collected 19 assists.

For Triton Central (1-1), Maddy Brown finished with a team-high 14 kills. Julia Sanders racked up 30 digs. Brooklyn Bailey had three blocks and setter Kate Isley finished with 20 assists.

Hagerstown def. Morristown, 25-13, 25-16, 25-14

At Hagerstown, the host Tigers (2-1) were led by Maddie Pruitt’s 12 kills. Tori Kelley finished with 33 digs and Allison Ayotte and Carli Cox combined for 25 assists.

For Morristown (1-3), Beth Hodgin had four service aces and 18 digs.

Aubrea Trattner added 17 digs. Reagan Kleine had 12 assists. And Lilly Stoddard and Nevaeh Sanders combined for nine kills.

Oldenburg Academy def. Southwestern, 25-17, 27-25, 22-25, 14-25, 15-13

At Southwestern, the visiting Twisters improved to 2-1 with a hard-fought victory over the Spartans (1-2).

Caroline Jansing led Oldenburg Academy with nine kills. Kate Weber had 17 assists and Elizabeth Gigrich collected 38 digs.

Waldron def. Milan, 25-12, 25-8, 25-17

At Milan, the visiting Mohawks improved to 2-0 with a straight-set sweep of the Indians (0-3).

 There is no buyer’s remorse in Brian Glesing’s mind. The veteran coach knew what he was getting into when he accepted the football coaching position at Shelbyville.

The Golden Bears are fresh off back-to-back winless seasons and have won just one game in the last three while averaging just six points per contest.

“I’m excited. Our kids have gotten a lot better,” said Glesing after practice Wednesday at McKeand Stadium in Shelbyville. “I’m a realist. I know where our program is at. We’re focusing on attitude, character and effort. We’re getting after it and doing what we need to do. We’re just so far behind … we are weeks and months behind where we need to be. It is what it is. We will deal with it and get a little bit better each week.”

Glesing’s debut with the Golden Bears is Friday at Greensburg. The home opener comes week two when Richmond arrives at McKeand Stadium.

Glesing, who has a reputation for rehabilitating wayward football programs, cannot immediately fix the limited number of overall athletes in the program or their ability to play the game at a high level. What he can focus on is setting the foundation for the resurrection of a program teetering on irrelevancy at the high school.

“Basically, we’ve started over with completely different philosophies defensively and offensively … for the entire program,” said Glesing. “Everything is new to them. Everyone is a rookie. Even the seniors are rookies. Even my assistant coaches are rookies.”

The offense has been simplified with the goal of racking up first downs to keep opposing offenses off the field. And if the offense can sustain drives, it can eventually score points.

Senior Colton Adkins (30-for-89, 366 passing yards in 2020) returns at quarterback working out of the shotgun with a wing-T formation of running backs.

Sophomore Eli Chappelow also is getting opportunities to run the offense in practice in preparation for Friday night experience.

“They are both doing well. I have been impressed with them,” said Glesing. “I like the way they practice and the way they lead. They command the respect of everybody.”

Glesing wants his quarterback to manage the game and not make mistakes.

“I want leadership … absolute leadership,” said Glesing. “We don’t throw it a lot. They have to have great play-action fakes and command the offense. They have to help tell people where to go. And they have to be tough and hard-nosed.”

The offense will look to juniors Cael Lux and Jorge Ramos and sophomore Axel Conover to rack up rushing yards with senior Keythen Norris, juniors Jackson Parker and Jordan Marcum and sophomore Alex Macharia working downfield as wide receivers.

With his first depth chart for the Greensburg game, Glesing listed four sophomores on the offensive line around senior Bryce Shelton.

“That will be where we are the most green,” said Glesing. “We will take our lumps there but we will get better at it. The good thing about the type of offense we run, we downblock and can get angles on defensive guys and that helps a little bit.

“Bryce Shelton, our senior leader, is doing a good job for us,” said Glesing.

Senior Roman Scott is the starting tight end.

The defense has been pummeled over the last three seasons, allowing an average of 56.5 points per game.

Scott and Shelton (54 tackles) will lead the defensive line for the Golden Bears.

“Our defensive line has looked good with those two seniors,” said Glesing.

Hunter Knose, another senior, Conover and Ramos (50 tackles) are working hard as linebackers and Lux in the secondary led the team in tackles (63) in 2020.

Parker is handling the punting duties while freshman Aiden Helfer-Vazquez takes over kickoff and field goal duties.

Shelbyville opens the season for the 25^th consecutive year with Greensburg. The Golden Bears are 17-7 over that span but have lost three straight.

Head coach Scott Moore (68-69 in his 14^th year) must replace quarterback Toby Brogan (81-for-151, 1,174 yards passing; 731 yards and 15 touchdowns) for a program that finished 6-5 in 2020.

Sam West, a 6-5 junior, takes over those signal-calling duties with seniors Oakley Best (32 carries, 222 yards, 3 TDs) and Brayden Forkert in the backfield.

In 18 seasons as a head coach, Glesing is 118-94. None may be tougher on him than his 19^th season but he is excited for another high school football season.

“There is nothing like it,” said Glesing with a smile. “Where else would you be on a Friday night in the fall?”

Tim Able will send what he believes to be the youngest team he has ever coached on to the football field Friday night at Cascade.

That’s a strong statement from the Triton Central coach now in his 29^th year overall and three wins from career win No. 200.

“I’ve never had a team where basically two seniors are full-time players,” said Abel. “It is what it is. It’s a credit to our team that the kids stepped up to the plate and have been good.”

Jace Stuckey, a six-foot, three-inch sophomore, takes over at quarterback from the graduated Erick Hebauf (61-for-123, 1,806 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns).

“It’s his second season in the offense and he’s had all summer to learn it,” said Abel. “He does quite well with it. I can rely on him to run our No. 1 offense against our No. 1 defense in practice. And he has a little more experience and the size and strength to match it.”

Freshman Chase Chandler, the son of TC principal Cary Chandler, could see reps if Stuckey falters.

Leading rusher Ray Crawford (204 carries, 1,303 yards and 13 TDs) returns for his sophomore campaign with more pressure to spark the offense.

“He just needs to keep learning the system better and carry the ball like he can,” said Abel.

Crawford (photo) will be relied on to play defense in 2021 so there will be times when he is not in the backfield.

“He is going to have to take a breather once in awhile,” said Abel.

That is not a concern for the veteran coach who likes his depth chart with Lucas Kleeman, a junior, sophomore Sam Kemper, and senior Jaquan Blake ready for action.

Stuckey has a strong arm which could allow the offense to take more shots downfield this season. Brad Schultz (16 receptions, 235 yards), a junior, will be a key target as will sophomore Brayden Wilkins and senior Devon Emberton.

In addition, juniors Cooper Baugh and Aidan Wasson will be productive from the tight end position.

“We have good depth at the skill positions,” said Abel.

A veteran offensive line produced over 2,400 rushing yards and 1,800 passing yards in 2020. The line is in full rebuild mode in 2021 with senior Jayden Mays and junior Aden Sosbe leading the way.

The top four leading tacklers from 2020 graduated. Kleeman and Kemper, who combined for 31 tackles last season, take over as the starting inside linebackers.

Wilkins and Wasson are the starting outside linebackers.

“They are both new to the position but are athletic and long,” said Abel.

In the secondary, Crawford, Schultz, junior Tristen Huffman and sophomores Levi Dewey and Mason Compton will rotate through with Chandler and junior Jared Schweitzer competing for the free safety position.

Brogan Winslow will handle punting and kickoff duties while Dewey will be the field goal specialist.

Able has been remarkably consistent since his arrival in Fairland in 2013, averaging nine wins per season and playing for a sectional title each year. He led East Noble to the Class 4A state championship in 2000 and has guided Triton Central to three sectional titles and its first regional championship in 2019.

For a repeat performance in 2021 – the program has won 10 games each of the last three seasons – TC’s youthful group will have to mature quickly. For Abel that all starts in practice each Monday and builds throughout the week.

“The most important thing Friday is we play as best we can and come prepared,” said Abel. “We have to play each play like it’s our last.”

Triton Central defeated Cascade, 47-6 last season. Abel does not expect a repeat performance of the blowout now that head coach Connor Simmons is established after going 3-8 in his first season with the Cadets.

“They are no doubt going to be tougher,” said Abel.

The Tigers need to control Cascade’s inside rushing game to have success. That means focusing on junior running back Liam Farmer (25 carries, 119 yards in 2020).

“He is a good downhill runner … fast and strong,” said Abel.

Cascade has won more than five games in a season just once since 2006 – going 6-5 in 2013.

The Cadets are 0-2 against Triton Central since joining the Indiana Crossroads Conference in 2019.

Triton Central High School’s boys tennis team improved to 2-0 Wednesday with a 5-0 victory at Indianapolis Lutheran.

Alex Crouse defeated Lutheran’s Reese Bullock, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1 singles.

At No. 2 singles, Tucker Hutchinson blanked Caden Perkins, 6-0, 6-0.

And at No. 3 singles, Cole Thomas bested Blake Miller, 6-0, 6-3.

Triton Central’s No. 1 doubles pairing of Quintin Potts and Avram Rund defeated Cole Perkins and Isaac Vance, 6-2, 6-1.

Lutheran did not have a No. 2 doubles team allowing Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds to win via forfeit.

Sego and Gearlds each played a junior varsity singles match and were victorious.

In other prep events Wednesday:

Girls Golf

Eastern Hancock 247, Triton Central 248

At Royal Hylands, Triton Central’s Emma Branham shot 51 to earn the medalist honor but the Royals were victorious in the match by one stroke.

Also for Triton Central, Kendra Erdmann shot 61, Olivia Martin shot 64 and Annay Gumenyuk made her season debut with a 72.

Boys Tennis

Franklin 4, Shelbyville 1

Logan Prickett secured the Golden Bears’ only match victory against the Grizzly Cubs in Shelbyville’s home opener.

Prickett was victorious at No. 3 singles over Pryce Rucker, 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 2-0 this season.

At No. 1 singles, Silas Smith defeated Shelbyville’s Aidan Asher, 6-2, 6-4.

Caden Tackett was defeated at No. 2 singles by Caleb Funkhouser, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Franklin’s No. 1 doubles combination of Sam Anger and Zion Parkhurst topped Ian Blackketter and Karson Schaf, 6-0, 6-0.

And Dylan Funkhouser and Joe Ott defeated Connor Zobel and Layne Pogue, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Sophie Parker began the 2021 girls soccer season with the opportunity to break two scoring records at Shelbyville.

After Tuesday’s 12-0 victory over Beech Grove, a match in which Parker had three goals and three assists, the first record has fallen.

Parker (photo), a senior, is now the Golden Bears’ career assists leader with 32, breaking the old mark of 29 set by Amber Ross. And with her hat trick, Parker is now 20 goals away from becoming the career leader in goals scored.

Shelbyville was dynamic in its season opener, racing out to a 10-0 lead by halftime.

Ava Wilson and Evelyn Kiefer each had a pair of goals in the match’s opening minutes to put Beech Grove down 4-0.

Cyanne St. Bernard followed with the first of her two goals in the win.

Kiefer got the hat trick with her third goal to make it 6-0 ahead of Parker scoring three straight times.

Kiefer’s fourth goal came before the first half ended and Sydney Baker and St. Bernard added second-half goals to seal the 12-0 victory.

Shelbyville hosts Franklin Thursday.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Mt. Vernon 166, Shelbyville 205, Rushville 212

At Antler Pointe Golf Course, Alaina Nugent (37) and Meredith Johnson (38) were the only two golfers to shoot sub-40 to lead Mt. Vernon to the match victory.

Also for the Marauders, Sophie Amegnigan shot 45 and Mackenzie Miller finished at 46.

Kaylee Tackett led Shelbyville with a 50. Madison Monroe posted a season-best 51. Regan Mathies and Kate Linville followed at 52 and Lanie Stephens shot 56.

For Rushville, Isabella Wilson carded 48.

Triton Central 112, Beech Grove 124

At Hawk’s Tail, each Indiana Crossroads Conference team only had three golfers available so it was determined that best two scores would count.

Emma Branham led all golfers with a 52 and teammate Kendra Erdmann shot 60 to lead Triton Central to the victory.

Blue River Valley 213, Morristown Inc.

At Memorial Park, Delaney Cornn led a short-handed Morristown squad with a 56.

Boys Soccer

Franklin 7, Shelbyville 0

The Golden Bears suffered the shutout in their season opener at Franklin.

“There were a few bright spots as the boys learn a new formation and system,” said Shelbyville coach Ben Purvis.

Franklin won the junior varsity match, 3-0. Nathan Tweedy had two penalty kick saves for the Golden Bears.

Southwestern 6, Knightstown 1

At Knightstown, Aiden Hartsell had three goals and three assists to lead the Spartans in their season opener.

Gareth Stringer and Jordan Jones had first-half goals off Hartsell assists to push the Spartans to a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Tucker Simmons made it 3-0 inside the final 10 minutes of the second half.

Knightstown’s Owen Newkirk ended the shutout just over a minute later ahead of Hartsell notching the hat trick in just over six minutes.

Eli Fix had five saves in goal for Southwestern.

With the three assists, Hartsell became Southwestern’s career assists leader with 39, breaking the old mark set in 2020 by his brother, Anick Hartsell (37).

Boys Tennis

Shelbyville 4, Hauser 1

At Hauser, Shelbyville swept all three singles matches and got a doubles victory from Connor Zobel and Layne Pogue.

Aiden Asher was victorious at No. 1 singles over Sam Miller, 6-1, 6-4.

At No. 2 singles, Caden Tackett defeated Caleb Wallace, 6-1, 6-3.

And at No. 3 singles, Logan Prickett completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Hagan Wiedersatz.

Zobel and Pogue bested Carson Rose and Jayden Blair at No. 2 doubles, 6-1, 6-3.

The Jets’ lone win came at No. 1 doubles where Eli Miller and Levi Gollmer defeated Ian Blackketter and Karson Schaf, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-6.

Triton Central 5, Ritter 0

At Triton Central, the host Tigers lost just one game in five matches to its ICC foe.

Alex Crouse, Tucker Hutchinson and Cole Thomas swept the singles matches, 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 1 doubles, Quintin Potts and Avram Rund also were victorious 6-0, 6-0.

The No. 2 doubles pairing of Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds won 6-0, 6-1.

Triton Central also got JV wins from Jameson Palmer and the doubles team of Ben Toth and Taner Ferris.

Eastern Hancock 5, Southwestern 0

At Southwestern, Eastern Hancock dominated the doubles matches and swept the singles matches to deliver the first loss of the season to the Spartans.

At No. 1 doubles, Wyatt Sutton and Bryce Wennen topped Carter Snepp and Ty Burcham, 6-0, 6-0. And Peyton Stephens and Myles Wenner blanked Jackson Burcham and Ben Schlabach, 6-0, 6-0.

Grant Emerick was defeated at No. 1 singles by Zeke Dixon, 6-3, 6-2.

Caleb Pappano lost at No. 2 singles to Nolan Stout, 6-0, 6-3.

And Justin Swift was bested by Luke Schilling at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-3.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Southwestern, 25-7, 25-18, 16-25, 25-12

At Southwestern, the visiting Golden Bears dominated set one and built a 2-0 lead before dropping the third set to the Spartans.

Shelbyville recovered with a strong fourth set and secured the victory in its season opener.

Emily Parker collected team-highs in kills (21) and digs (10) for Shelbyville.

Setter Gracie Leffler had 39 assists.

Jaidyn Tackett finished with 10 kills and Emma Nolley had four service aces.

Shelbyville hosts Columbus North Thursday while Southwestern (1-1) hosts Oldenburg Academy the same night.

Triton Central def. Whiteland, 32-30, 25-16, 23-25, 22-25, 15-11

At Whiteland, it was a wild season opener that started with a 32-30 first-set win for the visiting Tigers.

Triton Central won set two then lost the next two sets only to recover in set five and take the win.

Maddy Brown led Triton Central with 15 kills. Brooklyn Bailey finished with 12 kills.

Sophomore Kate Isley notched 40 assists in her varsity debut as the setter.

Hallie Schweitzer collected 22 digs.

Triton Central hosts Greensburg Thursday.

Waldron volleyball coach Steve Mackey walks into a program primed for success in 2021 while Shelbyville coach Andrew Fuller wants to leave his program ready for sustained triumphs.

Meanwhile, Triton Central coach Ray Basile has a young squad chasing a seventh-straight 20-win season.

And Morristown’s Stephanie Smith and Southwestern’s Caleb Tennell believe strong offseasons will help get both programs above .500 in 2021.

Here is a look at the five Shelby County volleyball programs.

SHELBYVILLE

Fuller starts his fourth and final year at Shelbyville with seven seniors ready for their moment in the varsity spotlight. Fuller has already announced his resignation after the season to move full-time to the north side of Indianapolis.

“It’s been about rebuilding the culture,” said Fuller, who saw the Golden Bears finish 8-20 in 2019 and 17-13 last season. “We’ve got seven seniors that learned last year how to be successful. They saw what happens when you put in the work and get better every day. They are focused now because, “It’s been there, done that.’”

Shelbyville lost leading hitter Macey Kuhn (414 kills) and third-leading hitter Malea Terrell (183 kills) to graduation. Emily Parker (191 kills) is the senior hitter now and will have more opportunities in 2021.

“She has done a nice job so far,” said Fuller of Parker. “We saw big maturity growth last year. She learned varsity is different than junior varsity. She was a huge part of our success at the end of the season so I have high expectations for her.”

Fellow senior Jaidyn Tackett has taken on a more score-first mentality this season as a hitter.

Freshman Ashlyn Turner brings size and athleticism to the program and could have a strong career, according to Fuller.

“She has the athletic makings to be something special over her four-year career,” he said. “She is physical and fast and jumps well. She just has to learn what varsity volleyball is like versus club volleyball and eighth grade.”

Fuller is less concerned about his offensive attack because he has a highly-accomplished setter in senior Gracie Leffler.

“She is a special kid to coach,” said Fuller. “She is one of the main reasons I wanted to come back. She is a great leader and a great defender. We will win a lot of matches because of her.”

With 958 assists last season, Leffler will likely need no more than two matches to break Shelbyville’s career record for assists.

Defensively, Shelbyville will rely on senior Emma Nolley, who is committed to play volleyball at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, once her high school career is over. Nolley is closing in on the career digs record at Shelbyville after notching 444 last season.

Madison Bassett, another senior, will patrol the net as a middle blocker.

“She is one of the sneakiest blockers you will meet,” said Fuller. “She doesn’t look big and she doesn’t look super fast but she does a nice job reading and is always in the right place at the right time.”

Seniors Kina Schultz and Payton Jackson also will see time in the rotation.

TRITON CENTRAL

Ray Basile never saw coaching volleyball as a goal. He preferred to be playing.

“Fate sometimes takes you other ways,” said Basile, a lawyer by profession. “Here I am and I really enjoy doing it.”

When Basile joined TC’s program, players arrived at the varsity level with little more than six months of on-court experience.

“You can’t win that way,” he said.

So the program started developing players at a younger age and the fruits of that labor have paid off with a track record of consistent success.

“This is a product of a lot of hard work by the girls over the years and the parents letting them participate in our club program,” said Basile. “Girls start in the second- or third grade now.”

The Tigers were 26-4 in 2020 and sent three players to the collegiate level – Brooklyn Schiffli (Jacksonville State), Maggie Schweitzer (Hanover College) and Maddy Beaver (Goshen College).

Graduation took Schweitzer’s 737 assists and just over 900 kills from the hitters.

“We lost a lot of really good players but that brings opportunities for others,” said Basile.

Senior Maia Harris and sophomore Kate Isley are locked in battle to replace Schweitzer as the featured setter.

“Those two have had good summers and they are great at supporting each other,” said Basile.

The goal is to play much faster this season.

“I don’t want them (the setters) to come in and feel like they can’t make mistakes,” said Basile. “I want to play fast. We lost so much power in the hitters, we’re not big enough hitters as a team so we have to play faster and move everyone around at the net.”

Triton Central will feature juniors Maddy Brown, Kaitlin Bramlett and Riley Ross in the hitting rotation along with sophomore Brooklyn Bailey.

Senior Julia Sanders will lead the defensive effort.

“She is a good place to start. She never comes out of the back row and is always in charge of what we are doing back there,” said Basile.

Sanders had a team-high 619 digs last season.

Basile believes passing is a strength with Sanders, Brown, Bramlett, Schweitzer and senior Alyssa Wheatley and junior Kayden Simmons.

“We are young. We’ve got a lot of new players,” said Basile. “The goal is to get the mistakes in now because we are playing fast. Then, we will be playing our best at the end of the season.”

MORRISTOWN

Stephanie Clayton begins her fourth season with the Yellow Jackets with a roster that lost just one senior to graduation. That loss, though, was setter Emma Theobald.

“She left some big shoes to fill,” said Clayton. “She was very impactful on our game.”

Raegan Kleine, a junior, steps in first as the varsity setter with Shelbyville transfer Zoey Coons, a freshman, also pushing for playing time.

Morristown has veteran hitters in Gracie Laster, Bella Thompson (team-high 279 kills in 2020), Aubrea Trattner and Lilly Stoddard.

Beth Hodgin, another senior, returns as libero after collecting a team-high 221 digs last year.

“She has a lot of grit,” said Clayton. “She won’t let a lot of stuff hit the floor.”

Sophomore Madison Espich will be in the rotation along with sophomore Kayla Baier and freshman Kindall Dorsey, another Shelbyville transfer.

Morristown finished 10-19 last season but looks primed for a stronger season.

“We should have a better record. All the experience back help and our setters can learn as they go,” said Clayton. “The girls feel like they have something to prove.”

SOUTHWESTERN

Head coach Caleb Tennell’s Spartans finished 12-16 in 2020 and lost four seniors to graduation.

“We need speed in our offense a little more,” said Tennell, a Southwestern graduate. “The girls really stepped up over the summer and embraced their roles because they know they have voids to fill.”

Sophomore setter Ella Rice is put in charge of the offense.

“She is the hardest worker in the gym,” said Tennell.

Rice will look for seniors Kyla Robertson (90 kills in 2020) and Krista Brown, sophomores Riley Engel and Haley Casey, and freshman Olivia Pribble to put points away.

On defense, third-year libero Brooklyn Schneider returns. Schneider (team-high 336 digs) and Robertson (278 digs last season) are both on track to eclipse 1,000 career digs this season.

Junior Lauryn Blondell moves up to a defensive role after playing libero on the junior varsity squad in 2020.

Freshman Jaden Freese also will see time as a setter this season, according to Tennell.

“We are looking for the .500 mark this year,” said Tennell. “We have great team chemistry. There are 14 girls in the program this year and we have seniors that are awesome leaders. They are hungry to win.”

WALDRON

Veteran volleyball assistant coach Steve Mackey did not want to see Waldron’s talented senior group not be without a coach.

“It didn’t seem like anyone was applying,” said Mackey, who has coached for 14 years with stops at Columbus East, Edinburgh, Seymour and Bloomington South.

So Mackey, who lived in Shelbyville for 10 years and has family in the area, understands the small-school struggles to keep athletic programs successful.

The Mohawks finished 20-11 last season and return the bulk of its varsity roster.

“There is a lot of potential here, a lot of upside,” said Mackey. “They are motivated and work hard. And they are volleyball smart. They are figuring a lot of things out on their own.”

Emily Tyree, a sophomore, will direct a veteran crew around her.

“She has a deep connection with the rest of the team,” said Mackey. “They really lean on her to get the ball to the outside.”

That is where seniors Nichole Garner (134 kills in 2020), Madalyn Hudnall (250 kills) and Mackenzie Shaw (214 kills) do their work.

“They are very smart as to how a volleyball offense should work,” said Mackey.

Kaylee Young (179 kills) and Josee Larrison, each juniors, also will be in the hitting rotation.

Senior Megan Bogemann (622 digs) returns as libero. She will have help in the back row from senior Shelby Fewell.

Mackey sees his varsity roster as seven deep to start the season with some players moving back and forth from the JV to the varsity.

“We are few in numbers but they fight fearlessly,” said Mackey.

In 2018, Shelbyville High School’s girls soccer team posted its first winning season in more than a decade. Graduation stripped the program and it was rebuilt into a .500 squad with just one senior in 2020.

That is the motivation for head coach Chelsea Dourson to stick around for a seventh and final season with the Golden Bears. Dourson’s husband, Chris, took a job in Fort Wayne earlier this year and the family has relocated but the Shelbyville graduate and first grade teacher at Hendricks Elementary School is not quite 100 percent ready to cut ties with her hometown.

“A lot of my staying here, while we’ve moved up there, is because of this team,” said Dourson, the daughter of Shelbyville High School’s football program’s career wins leader Pat Parks. “My staying here is everything with being the coach of this team.

“Having played here my high school years and the influence my dad has had in my life, I always wanted to coach the Shelbyville High School girls soccer program. It’s been the best ride I could possibly imagine and (this season) is going to be really special for me.”

Any success this year will be bolstered by the program getting back to its normal routine after a rocky 2020 beleaguered by COVID-19.

“It’s been a difficult past season with the COVID struggles and protocols we had to follow, but we were so blessed to be able to have a full season,” explained Dourson. “If there was anything we missed last season, it was the bonding opportunity to do our team camp at Anderson (University). We didn’t get to do that.”

That time together in a competitive environment and the willingness of players to challenge themselves in club soccer matches should show on the field in 2021.

“We did get to (go to Anderson) this summer (photo above) and I feel like we have already seen how that time together has influenced how well we have meshed together,” said Dourson. “The connections with the girls are stronger than they’ve ever been. Pretty much over half of our squad has put in extra time and played for Columbus Express or for Greenfield’s Impact club teams, and because they put in that time, we’ve seen such tremendous growth of their skill and playing together.”

Chelsea Dourson, right, and her sister, Paige Wise, take a photo at Shelbyville High School's soccer alumni game Friday.

The Golden Bears return a trio of scorers that combined for 43 goals and 20 assists in 2020.

The next assist senior Sophie Parker records will make her the career leader at Shelbyville, breaking Amber Ross’ record of 29. And she is 23 goals away from another career record after scoring 18 last season.

“She is the general on our team and will lead us to our success,” said Dourson. “Rebecca Valdez is the same thing. They have that humility and skill level when put together is dangerous and exciting for a coach to watch.”

It should be no surprise that Parker and Valdez, also a senior, are Shelbyville’s captains this season.

Evelyn Kiefer, a junior, finished with 16 goals and two assists last season.

Sophomore Ava Wilson scored nine goals in her first varsity season.

Cyanne St. Bernard, another sophomore, should have increased scoring opportunities this season as well.

Sophomores Ava Mummert and Ella Johnson will be in the mix of midfielders where there is depth.

Three more sophomores – Ellie Simpson, Lilly Johnson and Lilly Marshall – are solid defenders.

“They’ve been playing together in the offseason,” said Dourson. “You can tell they are not freshmen anymore.”

The defense will be directed by Emma Sandman, a junior.

“Emma Sandman will lead a lot of our verbal communication on the team,” said Dourson. “She is that leader we need in the back to help communicate throughout the field.”

Sophomore Macy Cooley gets the starting call as goalkeeper.

“She is one of those that has put in the time in the offseason … played for Columbus Express. You can see the improvements she has made. I am excited for her,” said Dourson. “She is going to grow in her confidence a lot this season by being back there. I’m so pleased with the work she has put in. She will do a good job in the net for us.”

Brooke Byers, a junior, sophomores Sydney Baker and Kinsley Kirschbaum, and freshman Kincade Dorsey will be contributors off the bench this season.

TRITON CENTRAL

In 12 of 18 matches in 2020, Triton Central did not score a goal.

Head coach Matt Roberts believes the Tigers’ offense will be much improved in 2021, a belief bolstered by a 3-goal performance in its season-opening win at Knightstown Monday.

“We had a rough stretch to start last season where we did not score a goal,” said Roberts. “So we have been working on finishing. You can’t win if you don’t get on the scoreboard.”

Lizzie Graham, a junior, returns after scoring 17 goals in 2020. The problem is no other Tiger scored more than two goals to support her.

“Lizzie will be in the midfield but she will see a lot of time at forward,” said Roberts. “She is pretty versatile.”

Lizzie Graham, right, was Triton Central's leading scorer in 2020. Graham is the daughter of Bryan Graham, left, the school's athletic director and girls basketball coach.

Graham will be joined in the midfield by sophomores Lucy Spall and Kennedy Brown, junior Olivia Reedy, and seniors Katie Spegal and Kaylee Bedwell.

Spegal and Bedwell are team captains this season along with fellow senior Emma Hutchinson.

Sophomore Vivian Blye will attack from the forward position along with Graham and Reedy.

Three-year starter Sophia Robertson, a junior, leads the defense along with junior Allegra Foley, sophomore Melody Dodds and junior Caitlyn Boylan.

Roberts expects to rotate sophomore Hope Smith and freshman Abby Polovitch in the net as goalkeeper.

Triton Central lost nine seniors to graduation from a team that finished 5-12-1.

“We have a lot of young players this year,” said Roberts.

Many of Shelby County’s cross country runners scoped out the local competition Monday at the Triton Central Early Bird Invitational at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville.

Runners from Morristown, Southwestern and Waldron competed in the Green Division (smaller schools) while Triton Central’s runners competed in the White Division (larger schools).

Waldron’s Will Larrison (20 minutes, 5 seconds) and Caden Shaeffer (20:20) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with Southwestern’s Dakota Claiborne (20:30) sixth in the Green Division.

Milan’s Benjamin Riehle won the boys’ race in 18:11.

Following Larrison and Shaeffer for Waldron were Jared Crosby (22:35), Nathaniel Evans (23:22), Kyle Lacy (26:07) and Skylar Ferguson (28:38).

Also competing for Southwestern were Dane Kissell (21:57), Ryan Griffin (23:03), Collin Cummings (25:18) and Elias Clark (25:55).

Morristown’s Zavier Poole (21:58) finished 12^th in the division and Brayden Burris (29:52) was 29^th.

In the White Division, Triton Central’s Owen Sprinkle finished 51^st in 23:16. Also running for TC were Hank Hadler (25:00), Lucas Bear (25:36) and Corbin Maurice (27:54).

Franklin Central’s Emilio Leal won the White Division boys’ race in 17:29.

Southwestern’s Lilly Rooks posted the fastest time amongst Shelby County runners in the Green Division girls’ race. Rooks completed the course in 24:22 to finish third.

Rooks was joined Monday by teammates Gracie Schlabach (25:58) and Jenna Drake (26:01).

For Waldron, Hadlie Ross (25:23) finished fourth ahead of Hallie Ross (25:47), Audrey Hogg (28:05), Cheyenne Lozier (28:27), Riley Price (29:05) and Sophie Hudnall (29:24).

Morristown’s Grace McLaughlin placed 9^th in 27:56. Also for Morristown, Ashtyn McGuire was 18^th (29:48) and Oakleigh Goedde was 19^th (30:51).

South Ripley’s Lanie Nicholson won the girls’ race in 21:00.

Triton Central entered just two runners in the Green Division.

Hallie Schweitzer placed fifth overall in 23:31. Brooke Bear completed the course in 39:58.

Franklin Central’s Kylie Cline took first in the Green Division race in 21:55.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls Golf

Brown County 207, Southwestern 259

At Salt Creek Golf Course, Ainslie Winton shot 46 to lead Brown County to the victory.

Hannah deWeerdt (53), Annika Evenson (54) and Lily VanNess (54) completed the Eagles’ scorecard.

Lily Kerber led Southwestern with 57.

Edinburgh 217, Triton Central Inc.

At Timbergate Golf Club, Triton Central’s Emma Branham collected her first medalist honor of the season with a round of 47.

Also for TC, Kendra Erdmann posted 57 and Olivia Martin shot 64.

Girls Soccer

Triton Central 3, Knightstown 2

At Knightstown, Lizzie Graham scored a pair of goals and had an assist on Kennedy Brown’s goal to lead the Tigers to a season-opening victory.

Boys Tennis

Seymour 5, Waldron 0

At Waldron, the host Mohawks were swept in straight sets in all five matches.

Lucas Shaw was defeated at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2; Jack Fischer lost at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2; and Josh Kellems was defeated at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

The No. 1 doubles pairing of Jacob Lindsey and Max Jones lost, 6-0, 6-1, while the No. 2 doubles team of Matthew Thomas and Isaiah Jones were defeated, 6-2, 6-2.

Volleyball

Southwestern def. Herron, 25-22, 22-25, 25-13, 25-23

At Herron, the Spartans rallied from a second set loss to defeat the host Achaeans in four sets.

The win came in Southwestern’s season debut. The Spartans host Shelbyville tonight.

Waldron def. Indian Creek, 25-15, 20-25, 25-14, 25-23

At Waldron, the host Mohawks rebounded from a second set loss to storm through set three and take control for the victory – the first for new head coach Steve Mackey.

Emilee Scott led Indian Creek with nine kills and 11 digs. Grayson Burkett finished with 32 assists.

Indian Creek won the junior varsity match, 25-10, 25-15.

After winning a sectional championship in 2019, Waldron failed to find enough players to have a 2020 season. That left an opening for Shelbyville, who used a veteran roster to collect its third sectional title in four seasons.

Here is a look at the five Shelby County boys tennis programs.

SHELBYVILLE

Graduation took nine seniors from its sectional championship program giving the Golden Bears a new look for fourth-year coach Ashley Comstock.

Aidan Asher returns to the No. 1 singles position with fellow junior Caden Tackett moving into the No. 2 singles role.

Logan Prickett, also a junior, will open the season at No. 3 singles.

“Half of this season we will be getting varsity experience,” said Comstock. “Once we get through that and get that experience, we will improve and be ready for the sectional.”

At No. 1 doubles, Comstock will rely on junior Ian Blackketter and sophomore Karson Schaf.

“From the first day I put those two together, they have wanted to play together,” said Comstock.

And at No. 2 doubles, look for junior Connor Zobel and freshman Layne Pogue to start the season together.

In the wings will be freshmen Logan Page and Bohdan Rollo working toward match time at the varsity level.

TRITON CENTRAL

Graduation took two seniors while two more varsity players opted not to return leaving head coach Austin Hall the need to build a new lineup for 2021.

Two seniors anchor the singles positions with a talented freshman lodged in between. Senior Alex Crouse rises from No. 2 singles in 2020 to the top spot this year.

Freshman Tucker Hutchinson starts the season at No. 2 singles.

“Tucker has been playing year round tennis since his eighth grade year and he has all the skills to do really well,” said Hall. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement in him the last two years.”

Senior Ashton Sturm settles in at No. 3 singles.

The program’s third senior, Quintin Potts, teams with Avram Rund, a junior, to fill the No. 1 doubles position.

And at No. 2 doubles, Hall has three juniors battling for the slot. Griffin Sego, Cole Thomas and Oliver Gearlds are in the mix.

“All these juniors have been waiting in the wings the last two seasons so they have no varsity experience,” said Hall.

The Tigers have three matches this week to quickly get up to speed.

MORRISTOWN

Veteran head coach Steve Gosnell has nine athletes in the program and just two are seniors.

Tyler Schonfeld and Grant Kessler, both juniors, move up one singles position, respectively, to lead the Yellow Jackets this season.

“They will have tough matches every night,” said Gosnell. “They had a lot of success at No. 2 and No. 3 singles last year.”

The No. 3 singles position is still open. Seniors Carson Essex and Jerry Riley, junior Austin Gabbard, sophomore Brady Schonfeld and freshman Luke Stidham are vying for the final singles spot and a doubles pairing.

Sophomores Rylan Janes and Bryce Bryant will play at one of the two doubles positions.

“A lot like last year, any wins at the No. 1 positions will be bonuses,” said Gosnell. “Our best chances for success will be at No. 2 and No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles.”

SOUTHWESTERN

Head coach Brian Ebersold likes the idea of playing senior Grant Emerick at the No. 1 singles position. But he realizes Emerick may help the team more at a doubles position.

Emerick, who played No. 1 doubles in 2020 with Matthew Clements, who opted not to return to the program, will start the season at No. 1 singles ahead of freshman Hunter Pappano.

“Hunter is so gifted and ready to play now,” said Ebersold.

Justin Swift, a senior, will play at No. 3 singles.

Two more Pappanos will take over at No. 1 doubles. Seniors Tristan Pappano and Caleb Pappano, who are cousins, have plenty of tennis experience and have played together before. Hunter Pappano is Tristan’s younger brother.

Senior Ty Burcham and sophomore Carter Snepp will form the No. 2 doubles squad.

Freshman Jackson Burcham should also see varsity time this season, according to Ebersold.

“I think we can match up with about everybody,” said Ebersold.

WALDRON

The program promoted junior high tennis coach Austin Swain to the varsity squad and he brought four solid players with him.

Freshmen Lucas Shaw and Jack Fischer will play No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles, respectively.

Josh Kellems, a junior, starts at No. 3 singles.

Sophomore Jacob Lindsey and freshman Max Jones are slotted for No. 1 doubles while sophomore Isiah Jones and freshman Matthew Thomas are the No. 2 doubles pairing.

“We had a really good season last year,” said Swain, a 2017 Waldron graduate. He is believed to be the youngest head coach in Waldron athletics history. “I think we will have a lot of success even as young as we are. It will be a big learning curve for them. I don’t have the seniors and juniors to show them the differences between junior high and high school tennis.”

So Swain takes it upon himself to be the 10^th man on the roster.

“I pretty much play with them every practice,” said Swain.

The young coach is working on improving his players’ second serves and refining form and positioning on the court.

“They are all solid athletes,” he said. “In the next four years, they are going to be really solid athletes.”

Shelbyville High School’s boys soccer team won 12 matches in 2020, the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship and played for a sectional title.

Head coach Ben Purvis believes the program is ready for more accomplishments. With 36 players rostered and 10 juniors returning from last year’s sectional roster, the Golden Bears are trending in the right direction.

“It’s a bigger squad than I’ve had in my coaching career,” said Purvis. “It’s nice to have solid depth and not worrying about who is playing junior varsity.”

After losing its HHC opener at Delta, Shelbyville swept the slate to capture the conference title (team photo) and carry momentum into the sectional. However, it still was not enough to overcome a decade-long drought since its last regional appearance.

“Winning our own invitational is important because we want to win a trophy on our home field and the conference is important but the kids want to get over that sectional hump and hoist that sectional trophy and play in a regional,” said Purvis.

To find success, the Golden Bears must quickly break-in a new goalkeeper and replace their top two scorers from 2020.

Jalen Hounshell, a junior, steps into the starting goalkeeper role.

“As well as Jalen plays can dictate how our season will go,” said Purvis. “If he can make the routine saves, we will be just fine.”

Hounshell will have a veteran presence in front of him in seniors Brayden Basey and Rey Bramasco, and juniors Carlos Torres, Tony Harbert and Jack Johnson.

Senior Sam Price and junior Benny Cazares also will be in the defensive rotation.

“I am not concerned about the back line,” said Purvis. “They should put everybody in position to be successful.”

Shelbyville lost leading scorer Oscar Hernandez (15 goals, 11 assists) to graduation while junior Alex Gil (10 goals, 11 assists) is not playing this season which led Purvis to building a more balanced attack.

“We will get a lot of goals from the midfielders and the strikers,” said Purvis.

Al Hernandez (6 goals in 2020), Christian Haas (5 goals), Osvaldo Reyes, Brayden Jones, and Drew Hassebroek will be counted on early to set the tone for the season.

“Drew Hassebroek could be the best midfielder in the conference,” said Purvis. “He will create for teammates or score himself.”

The program added Jake Heaton, a California move-in last fall who played basketball for the Golden Bears during the 2020-2021 season.

“He will see a lot of varsity minutes,” said Purvis.

The Golden Bears open the 2021 season Tuesday at Franklin.

MORRISTOWN

The Yellow Jackets will add some military precision to their practices and game planning in 2021.

Former Yellow Jacket Austen Clark takes over the program after serving three seasons as assistant coach. The Marine Corps veteran is changing the soccer philosophy of the program.

“We are changing our style of play,” said Clark. “I want smart, simple passing – no more over the top passing. It flows better and we will have much more possession time. We will use smarter passes and better angles.”

So far, the team has responded well.

“I am very impressed with how fast they are learning,” he said.

The program had just two seniors in 2020 when it finished 1-12-4. Look for juniors Nick Stidham and Chase Theobald and sophomores Kade Rogers and Matthew Carlton to lead the charge this season.

Morristown opens the 2021 season Saturday at Jennings County’s Panther Cup.

“We have a rough start schedule wise against some tough opponents,” said Clark, “but there are some winnable games.”

Clark looks forward to rebuilding the Morristown program into a consistent winner.

“I want to take my experience and give it to the kids,” he said. “I will push them to their full limits.”

SOUTHWESTERN

At many small schools, a highly-successful season is typically the product of a strong senior class that has played together for many years.

In 2020, the Spartans finished 18-2 and captured the program’s third sectional title – but only had three seniors.

“We have eight starters back this season,” said Southwestern coach Taylor Meredith.

Lost to graduation were co-leading scorer Anick Hartsell (35 goals, 21 assists), starting goalkeeper Christian DeArmitt and defenseman Braden Monroe (1 goal, 2 assists).

So there are voids to fill but plenty of options to choose from for Meredith.

Eli Fix, a junior, has spent ample time preparing to be the starting goalkeeper at Southwestern.

“He moved to goalie toward the end of his eighth-grade season and liked it,” said Meredith. “Then he had to wait two years to get on the field because of Christian.”

Conner Jewell and Gavin Shaw, both juniors, will serve as the last line of defense in front of fix. Jewell has started every game over the last two seasons.

In the midfield, Conner Gooch, Forrester Werbe, Jordan Jones, Owen Stringer, Garreth Stringer, and Johnny Joy will direct traffic and work on transitioning quickly into offensive mode.

Tucker Simmons, a move-in from Waldron, joins the program.

While one Hartsell departed, another one remains with a monster season potentially on the horizon. Aidan Hartsell matched his older brother goal-for-goal and assist-for-assist in 2020.

“We can look at it that we lost a senior that scored 35 goals and had 21 assists to graduation but we are returning someone that scored 35 goals and had 21 assists,” said Meredith.

With such a veteran roster, Meredith has kept the preseason workouts simple.

“We don’t have too much formation wise to learn,” he said. “We will see who steps up, see who is more of an attacking midfielder and who falls back and is more defensive minded.”

Southwestern opens the season Tuesday at Knightstown.

New on the schedule this season is a visit by Providence, the defending Class A state champion, on Sept. 11 at 10 a.m.

Three Shelby County athletes competed in cross country semistates in 2020. Two return as standouts in the local running scene.

Triton Central’s Hallie Schweitzer and Shelbyville’s Stefanie Howard will lead their respective teams and attempt to move into the top 100 at semistate this season.

Southwestern’s Kirk Van Gorden graduated as the only other cross country semistate qualifier in 2020.

Here is a look at the five cross country programs in Shelby County.

SHELBYVILLE

Howard (photo above) placed 156^th at the Shelbyville Semistate on her home course at Blue River Memorial Park.

Also returning to head coach Whitney Campbell’s lineup is Kaila Brattain, who dropped significant time last season and followed that with a strong track and field season.

Greenwood transfer Kaylie McDonald and returning sophomore Angel Kreider add depth to the Shelbyville lineup.

Michael Fox, Elijah Von Werder and Tristin Maloney are the experienced leaders in the boys program and regional track and field qualifier Beau Kenkel joins the program to form a strong quartet to build around.

“Both groups talked at camp and want to make regionals as a team,” said Campbell. “I think both have a shot.”

TRITON CENTRAL

Hallie Schweitzer (photo) was Shelby County’s top representative at the semistate round of competition in 2020, finishing 124^th at the Shelbyville Semistate.

Following a knee injury suffered during her freshman season of basketball, Schweitzer only ran cross country in 2020 as a sophomore. She has returned to the volleyball program in 2021 and will split competitions with cross country.

“I think that might take a toll on her but the knee injury is fine,” said Triton Central cross country coach Eric Fink.

TC’s girls program has just two competitors – Schweitzer and fellow junior Brooke Bear.

“She is a hard worker,” said Fink of Bear. “We saw a lot of improvement during the track season where she improved in the (1,600) and the 800. I think we will see her set personal records this year and start placing higher in meets.”

Three seniors, one junior and one freshman make up TC’s boys cross country program.

Senior Owen Sprinkle has been a regional qualifier the last two years.

“Owen has a lot of goals,” said Fink. “He wants to be county champion and he wants to get to semistate. And he is sixth all-time (in the program) and wants to be top five.”

Sprinkle’s success could come with senior Lucas Bear pushing him.

“I saw a lot of improvement in cross country and on to the track season,” said Fink of Bear.

Corbin Maurice is the third senior and is joined by junior Hank Hadler and freshman Elizijuh Israel.

MORRISTOWN

Elaine Goble-Carlton has just seven runners total in the Morristown program this season – and five are seniors.

“They are all like brothers and sisters,” said Goble-Carlton, now in her 21^st year with the program. “They definitely have a good time and work hard together.”

All four boys are seniors, led by Zavier Poole and T.J. Butcher – both four year members.

Senior Brayden Burris is in his third season while senior Sam McDaniel is new to the program.

On the girls side, senior Ashtyn Marcum is in her third year of cross country. She will be joined by first-timer Oakleigh Goedde, a junior, and freshman Grace McLaughlin, who ran for the junior high program in 2020.

SOUTHWESTERN

Head coach Chris Ingels has five runners in each program but he is searching the school for more.

“I am definitely still trying to recruit a couple runners,” he said.

Dane Kissell is the top returning runner in the boys program. The junior will be joined by seniors Ryan Griffin and Elias Clark.

“Ryan has put in the most miles of anybody through the track season and this summer,” said Ingels.

Sophomores Koty Claiborne and Collin Cummings complete the squad.

Seniors Gracie Schlabach and Jenna Drake lead the girls program with Drake working hard to improve her times.

“She has the most miles of anybody in the program,” said Ingels. “I think she will be much improved.”

Lilly Rooks, a junior, and sophomore Maxine Higdon fill out the roster along with Idaho move-in Malori Pike.

“Both teams should be pretty solid by the time the county (meet) and conference (meet) roll around,” said Ingels.

WALDRON

Head coach D.J. Higdon has the county’s largest program – 16 total athletes – and there is youth to build on.

Nine Mohawks will vie for spots in the boys lineup led by senior Caden Sheaffer. Junior Ethan Richardson should be in the mix consistently with freshmen Will Larrison, Jared Cosby, Nathaniel Evans and Skylar Ferguson and sophomore Kyle Lacy battling for positions.

New to the program are senior Josh Lugo and junior Jimmy Taylor.

Higdon’s girls program is topped by veterans Cheyenne Lozier, Hadlie Ross and Hallie Ross.

Sophomore Audrey Hogg returns and is joined by newcomers Selena Camposano, Riley Price and Sophie Hudnall.

Led by Kaylee Tackett’s season-best round of 100, Shelbyville High School’s girls golf team finished tied for ninth Saturday at the Columbus East Invitational, played at Otter Creek Golf Course.

The Golden Bears’ team score of 425 left them tied with Lawrenceburg and behind tournament champion Columbus North (322), Plainfield (352), Columbus East (364), Jasper (366), Jasper JV (397), Corydon Central (404), Lawrence Central (405) and Bloomington South (413).

Also competing were Brown County (435), Franklin Central (440), a second Columbus East squad (460), Edinburgh (475) and Jeffersonville (477).

Kate Linville (107), Lanie Stephens (109) and Madison Monroe (109) (photo) also posted season-best scores in Shelbyville’s second 18-hole invitational of the year.

Regan Mathies rounded out Shelbyville’s scorecard with 118.

In other prep events Saturday:

Cross Country

Blue River Valley Early Bird Invitational

Morristown had five cross country runners compete at the season-opening invitational race.

Northeastern won the boys’ team title with 18 points. It was followed by Blue River Valley (50), Blackford (80) and Horizon Christian (88).

Northeastern’s Chase Cates was the individual champion at 17 minutes, 4.4 seconds.

Morristown’s Zavier Pool finished 21^st in a time of 21:43 – better than his time in the 2020 race per head coach Elaine Goble-Carlton. Also for Morristown, Brayden Burris placed 37^th overall in 28:25.

Blackford won the girls’ team title with 29 points. It was followed by Shenandoah (40) and Blue River Valley (62).

Northeastern’s Marissa Cates won the girls race in 21:09.7.

For Morristown, Grace McLaughlin finished 17^th (27:30), Oakleigh Goedde was 19^th (28:31) and Ashtyn McGuire placed 22^nd (29:17).

Volleyball

Morristown Season Opening Classic

Northeastern swept the varsity and junior varsity invitational titles Saturday at Morristown.

Northeastern defeated Eastern Hancock (25-14, 13-25, 16-14) and Rising Sun (25-22, 24-26, 15-6) in pool play to advance to the championship match to meet Edinburgh, a winner over Morristown (25-15, 25-19) and Jac-Cen-Del (25-22, 14-25, 15-6) in its pool.

In the championship, Northeastern prevailed 25-22, 25-12.

The Yellow Jackets defeated Jac-Cen-Del, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10, after its loss to Edinburgh to advance to the third-place match.

Eastern Hancock then swept Morristown, 25-10, 25-14, to finish third.

In the fifth-place match, Rising Sun bested Jac-Cen-Del, 25-15, 20-25, 15-11.

Indiana Grand Racing & Casino offered a special Saturday program filled with Quarter Horses. Also on the program was Hot Diggity Dog Wiener Dog Racing with 31 dachshunds taking to the track.

Two trials set up the final group of 10 dogs vying for the $500 total prize money with Champion living up to his name and claiming the title.

Owned by Richard Rackley III of Indianapolis, Champion earned the win in his trial and was favored for the final. The seven-year-old, whose favorite toy is a ball that was trackside with Rackley III to encourage him to head to the finish line in the 50-yard dash, was a dominant winner in the final from post five to take home the top prize of $250 and the Weiner Dog trophy.

“My family has had dachshunds for a long time, and we’ve had a lot of dogs over the years,” said Rackley III, who was joined by many friends and family members for the winner’s circle celebration. “I’ve had Champion since he was a puppy. Several years ago, I thought it was time to give him a shot to live up to his name, so we entered some Weiner Dog races and he’s lived up to his name.”

The win for Champion in the Hog Diggity Dog Weiner competition was his third title. He also won the Rathskeller Weiner Dog race during German Fest along with the Golden Bone Weiner Dog race over the ice at the Indy Fuel game, making him a veteran in the winner’s circle.

Rackley III also had another entrant in the opposing trial and then in the final. Addie, an eight-year-old dachshund, won her trial. However, she became distracted in the final and took a break during the race and missed a prize for the top five dogs.

“We have puppies from Champion and Addie,” added Rackley III.

Rackley III is an electrician by trade and owns his own electrical company in Indianapolis, Rack’s Electric LLC. He also is the assistant varsity wrestling coach at Franklin Central, recently joining the Flashes for their upcoming wrestling season.

Other dogs making the final for the first Hot Diggity Dog Weiner Dog race included Theo, owned by Erin Keys of Indianapolis; Dasher, owned by Curtis Tackett of Indianapolis; Poppy and Daisy, both owned by Matt Worton of Morristown; Judge, owned by Lauren Benbenek of Indianapolis; KJ’s Belle, owned by Keli Eggleston of Scottsburg; Walter, owned by Mitchell Fairbrother of Indianapolis; and Minnie, owned by Brittany Rutledge of Greenfield.

Dogs entered in the competition came as far away as Michigan to compete in the trials held on the racetrack over the dirt course.

It’s always nice to see an owner reap rewards with a horse they have raised from a baby, but when that horse is tagged as a favorite, it’s even extra special.

That was the scenario for owners Lance and Tammy Finlinson as they watched Valiantinecandyrocks (photo) and Sammy Mendez battle for the win Saturday in the 19^th running of the Indiana Grand Classic.

“When this mare was born, Lance immediately liked her,” said Tammy Finlinson. “I can’t describe how much this mare means to him. This is his baby. He’s just so excited every time she runs.”

Valiantinecandyrocks is out of the Finlinson’s top mare, Jesses Candy, who has produced a roll call of stakes winners in the state of Indiana. The five-year-old mare is part of that heritage as she is now a two-time stakes winner.

Starting from post two, Valiantinecandyrocks and Mendez rallied out of the gate and was a contender from the start. As the 400-yard dash came to a close, it was evident that Valiantinecandyrocks was the one with the best stride as she pulled away to a one-length win under the wire.

Relentless Chick and Erik Esqueda held their ground in the center of the track for second followed by Beach Diva and Rolando Pina for third. The time of the sprint was 19.647 seconds.

Trained by Randy Smith, Valiantinecandyrocks is now two for three this season. The Valiant Hero mare has in excess of $172,000 in career earnings.

“She is really fast,” continued Tammy Finlinson. “We thought she had a great chance to win and she has proved herself, but you never know, so we are excited for the win. Whenever she can get out of the gate well, she’s good, and that happened today. Our mare didn’t get in foal so we don’t have any babies coming up next year, but we have a few for Randy (Smith) in the next few years.”

It was the seventh win of the season for the Finlinsons, who are in second place on the list of leading owners for 2021. They are carrying a 47% win percentage this season from their horses.

For Smith, it was one of five wins on the card. Indiana Grand’s all-time leading trainer scored his 52^nd win of the year, which brings him two wins away from the record he set in 2019 for most wins in one season by a Quarter Horse trainer (54).

Indiana Grand will host two more all-Quarter Horse racing Saturday in 2021. The programs for the sprinters are set for Sept. 4 and Oct. 9. Both days will begin at 10 a.m.

Quarter Horse racing also will be featured on Indiana Champions Day on Oct. 30. More than $1 million in purses are earmarked for the card that begins with four Thoroughbred stakes followed by six Quarter Horse stakes. First post for Indiana Champions Day is noon.

A total of 29 three-year-olds were spread over four trials to determine the final field for the 22^nd running of the $108,591 Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Derby on Sept. 4.

WH Imastreakinbeach (photo) turned in the quickest time Saturday at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana, of 19.848 seconds to top the list of 10 qualifiers.

Starting from post two in the third trial, WH Imastreakinbeach and jockey Jose Ruiz got out of the gate quickly and led the way to the wire in the 400-yard dash. Flyn and Berkley Packer finished second over Stone Lake and L.D. Martinez.

WH Imastreakinbeach is owned by Thomas Wylie. The Escondido Beach filly earned her second win in her fifth start of 2021. She is nearing $100,000 in career earnings for trainer Erin Thompson, who is Indiana Grand’s all-time leading female trainer for Quarter Horses.

The second fastest SSA Derby trial winner of the day was Jess Bringin It On and Cesar Esqueda. Starting from post seven, the Jess Zoomin filly was close throughout but it was the final few strides that made the difference as she moved up just in time to grab the win by a head over Fire the Cartel and German Rodriguez. Up Town J Ray and Rolando Pina finished third.

Jess Bringin It On is owned by Julia Rae and Tyler Martin. Paul Martin trains the filly who is three for six this season.

Indiana-sired standout Beach Blast kicked off the trials with a win, posting his fourth straight victory. Ridden by Sammy Mendez, the Escondido Beach gelding was in high gear from the start, turning away all challengers for the win in 20.011, the third fastest time of the day. WRs Raise the Bar and German Rodriguez and Inseperable Blood and Berkley Packer completed the Randy Smith-trained trifecta in the race.

Beach Blast is owned by Keith Bode and Brock Hutchinson. He is seven for 11 lifetime and is closing in on $300,000 in career earnings.

“He’s just a nice horse,” said Smith, who is Indiana Grand’s all-time leading Quarter Horse trainer. “We just hope we can keep him sound because he runs so hard every time. We’ll do all we can do to get him ready and bring him back for the final.”

The final trial winner was WRs Famous Molly and Mendez, also from the Smith barn, who just missed the cut for the final.

The entire field for the QHRAI SSA Derby, in order of time with jockey, includes: WH Imastreakinbeach (Jose Ruiz, 19.848); Jess Bringin It On (Cesar Esqueda, 20.005); Beach Blast (Sammy Mendez, 20.011); Fire the Cartel (German Rodriguez, 20.020); Flyn (Berkley Packer, 20.056); Stone Lake (L.D. Martinez, 20.058); Up Town J Ray (Rolando Pina, 20.086); WRs Raise the Bar (German Rodriguez, 20.100); Cartel Creek (Sammy Mendez, 20.111); and AA Storm The Mozoomo (Rolando Pina, 20.112).

Smith will saddle four in the final (Beach Blast, Fire the Cartel, WRs Raise the Bar, Cartel Creek) while Tony Cunningham will saddle three (Stone Lake, Up Town J Ray, AA Storm the Mozoomo).

Five trials for the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Futurity kicked off the fourth all-Quarter Horse day Saturday at Indiana Grand.

A total of 40 two-year-olds had hopes of advancing to the $191,747 final for the event, but only the top 10 will vie for the final prize.

High Rolling Seize (photo) and Shanley Jackson had the quickest time on the day, turning in an impressive effort in the 350-yard dash. The son of Seize the Win, a former stakes winner at Indiana Grand, closed out the final trial with a one and three-quarter length win in 17.818 seconds to top the qualifiers.

Bye Bye B Train and L.D. Martinez finished second over Jesses Beach and Berkley Packer for third.

High Rolling Seize is owned by breeder Glenn Graff. Matt Frazier, who also trained Seize the Win, serves as the conditioner of the two-year-old gelding. He is now three for five in his brief career, just missing the win by a neck to finish second in the Gordon Mobley Futurity in his last start. High Rolling Seize increased his bankroll to more than $65,000 with his win in the QHRAI SSA Futurity trial.

Another filly that has been outstanding this season is Botticelli Beach, who earned a win in her trial despite a bad start. The Escondido Beach grey filly stumbled badly at the start, but Jose Beltran was able to get her collected and back on track as she strided home late for the win by a head in a three-horse photo. Ravin Stone finished second for jockey Rolando Pina, just a nose ahead of Edgar Diaz and Fabulous Barbara.

Claudio Barraza owns and trains Botticelli Beach, who was purchased from breeder Sheri Miller’s online sale as a weanling. The filly is now on a three-race win streak in her brief career and is already a stakes winner, scoring the victory in the Gordon Mobley Futurity in late July.

“She showed a lot of heart today,” said Barraza. “She had a bad break and went down to her knees and came back to split rivals and get the nod. She always tries.”

Barraza relies on a special friend for Botticelli Beach to keep her race steady at Indiana Grand.

“She has a stall buddy, a sheep named Cirilo,” added Barraza. “They have been together since she was a baby. He keeps her calm and mellow.”

Another impressive winner on the day was Zack James from the Ron Raper Stable. The Ivory James freshman colt, owned and bred by Tina and Kevin Cleary of Crawfordsville, Indiana, was a gate-to-wire winner in his trial. With Shanley Jackson aboard, the colt established the third fastest trial time of the day in 17.913. Count Down and L.D. Martinez finished a half-length back in second over All Star Beach and Rolando Pina for third.

Zack James, the well-built Indiana bred, is known around the Raper barn for his pre-race routine of sleeping most of the morning.

“He was sleeping this morning,” said Raper, who holds the record for most Quarter Horse training titles in Indiana Grand history at eight. “He has been quiet and laid back all day. When it was time to race, he went out and did his job.”

Zack James now has two wins in four starts. He has not finished worse than second in those outings and is closing in on $50,000 in earnings for the Clearly family, who have a deep history with the lineage of Zack James.

“We home raised this colt,” said Kevin Cleary. “We own his mother and we own his grandmother. Plus, we had Leader of the Class, the sire of the grandmother. Even when he was a baby, he (Zack James) slept all the time, so that’s what Ron (Raper) is talking about. He’s just a laid back horse.”

In the first race of the day, Kiss Me At Midnight scored a hard-fought win under the direction of Sammy Mendez. The Kiss My Hocks gelding led the entire way before feeling pressure from his opponents. Kiss Me At Midnight was able to fend off the challengers for the win by a neck over Prize Kiss and L.D. Martinez. BP CK Eagle and Jose Beltran finished third.

Kiss Me At Midnight was a $40,000 purchase by owners Gordon Timm and Debbie Smith at last year’s Heritable Place Fall Mixed Sale. He now has three wins in four starts and has made more than half his purchase prize back with $24,000 in earnings. Randy Smith trains Kiss Me At Midnight.

The final winner in the QHRAI SSA Futurity trials was Sweet Beach, also from the Smith barn. Ridden by Sammy Mendez, the gate-to-wire winner was involved in a four-horse photo, earning the victory by a neck over Twfamousstreakinpie and Jose Ruiz. Zoomen Machine and Jose Beltran finished third.

Owned by Keith Bode, Sweet Beach earned her first career win. She just missed the top 10 to advance to the final.

The entire field for the QHRAI SSA Futurity final, in order of time with jockey, includes: High Rolling Seize (Shanley Jackson, 17.818); Kiss Me At Midnight (Sammy Mendez, 17.871); Zack James (Shanley Jackson, 17.913); Prize Kiss (L.D. Martinez, 17.929); Count Down (L.D. Martinez, 17.982); Botticelli Beach (Jose Beltran, 18.078); Ravin Stone (Rolando Pina, 18.094); Bye Bye B Train (L.D. Martinez, 18.095); Fabulous Barbara (Edgar Diaz, 18.101); and Jesses Beach (Berkley Packer, 18.123).

Trainer Tony Cunningham will saddle four in the final (Prize Kiss, Count Down, Ravin Stone, Bye Bye B Train).

The QHRAI SSA Futurity will join the QHRAI SSA Derby and the Bob Woodward Memorial Classic as features on the Sept. 4 racing program. The card begins at 10 a.m. and will include a pair of trials for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships regional qualifiers. The John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the Q-Racing Distaff Challenge will be included on the card with the top-10 finalists moving to the finals on Sept. 20.

Shelbyville football players were told at 6:30 pm they had ten seconds to get helmets on and get on the field to warm-up for Friday's scrimmage at Rushville.

After the scrimmage they were informed they had 14 minutes to get on the bus for the ride home.

It's emphasis on focus and preparedness that's hoped to build good habits and turn around the culture of the program.

The action on the field had its rough edges, to be sure.  This opening scrimmage featured two teams who have combined for one win in the last two seasons.  Both are under new head coaches.

For Shelbyville, it's the first of many steps to return the program to being competitive.

The Golden Bears new head coach Brian Glesing knows about rebuilds.  He's preaching patience to the program's stakeholders - parents, fans, coaches, even the players themselves.  He says the effort is there. 

Rushville is coached by Isaac Sliger.  He returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator last season before replacing Dan Rector this season.

Sliger played wide receiver at Rushville and at Anderson University.

There are not a lot of familiar names back for Triton Central football in 2021. Friday night’s scrimmage against Batesville quickly became a showcase for those battling for starting jobs in the weeks ahead.

The Tigers’ defense was solid, only allowing two touchdowns in period two where Batesville started at the 10-yard line. The Bulldogs scored on two running plays – a dive from the 1-yard line and a draw play from the 10-yard line.

Meanwhile, Triton Central’s offense scored twice in all three offensive periods.

Brad Schultz hauled in a 25-yard scoring strike from new starting quarterback Jace Stuckey on the seventh play of its first offensive series.

Three plays later, maybe the most familiar name returning on the roster, running back Ray Crawford, cut loose and scrambled 65 yards to the end zone.

In period two after Batesville scored twice, Brayden Wilkins had a 4-yard scoring run and Stuckey dropped a pass into the corner of the end zone that was caught by Devon Emberton.

After special teams were showcased in the third quarter, Chase Chandler found room to run and scored from 11 yards out in the fourth quarter.

And Sam Collier, TC’s third quarterback of the night after Stuckey and Chandler, fired downfield and Wilkins caught the deflected pass and scored.

“The biggest thing we wanted to do was hang on to the ball and secure it, and stay away from turnovers on the offensive side,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able, ready for his ninth season in Fairland and 29^th year overall. “And I thought we tackled well on defense. We’ve come a long way. We are young on both sides of the ball. We have 8 or 9 kids that have varsity experience … that’s not very many.”

The controlled scrimmage Friday had four periods. In the first period, each team ran 15 plays from the home team’s 35-yard line. Period two featured 10 plays from the opponent’s 10-yard line.

Each team was allowed six kicking plays – kickoffs, punts or field goals – in the third period. The final period featured 15 more plays from the opponent’s 35-yard line and showcased many of the younger players in each program.

Able was pleased with his team’s performance but stressed that the preparation for the season opener at Cascade next week will be much different than the summer preparation.

“We have to get a good gameplan. We have to have a good week of preparing,” said Abel. “It’s completely different than all summertime. Now you are doing plays with strategy.

“In summertime, we are trying to get our toolbox ready so we can pull out this tool this week because (the opponent) is playing this or that. Now we have to take all those tools and put them in the right drawer of the cabinet and pull them out for that week so we can play the game we need to each Friday night.”

On a day when the heat index soared above 100 degrees, Southwestern High School’s golf team made its season debut at Timbergate Golf Course.

The Spartans finished third in a three-team meet featuring Edinburgh and the junior varsity squad from Columbus North.

Led by Reese Euler’s round of 46, Columbus North won the match with a 215 team score.

Izzy Richardson shot 47 to lead Edinburgh to a second-place finish at 219. Macie Blandford followed with a 52 for the Lancers. Hannah Pile (58) and Cloee Britton (62) completed Edinburgh’s scorecard.

Southwestern’s scorecard (234 team score) was topped by Lily Kerber, who posted 50 in her first match of the season.

McKinley Correll followed with 55. Alison Muck (63), Olivia Chandler (66) and Sydney Griffin (68) each shot in the 60s.

Southwestern returns to action Monday hosting Brown County.

Indiana Grand Racing & Casino will host its fourth day of All-Quarter Horse racing Saturday featuring a 12-race card. The program begins at 10 a.m. and will conclude with the 19^th running of the $83,580 Indiana Grand Classic.

Beach Mercedes (photo) has been tagged as the early morning line favorite in the field of 10 for the Indiana Grand Classic. The Escondido Beach six-year-old mare comes into the race off two second-place finishes in two outings for 2021 including a hard fought loss by a nose in the Born Runner Classic.

The Indiana-sired mare is owned and bred by Sheri Miller, who stands Escondido Beach. Randy Smith trains with Berkley Packer aboard. Beach Mercedes begins from post eight at odds of 9-5.

Joining Beach Mercedes as a favorite in the field is Valiantinecandyrocks, also trained by Smith. The five-year-old daughter of Valiant Hero looks for her second win in 2021. Lance and Tammy Finlinson own and bred the mare, who will start from post two at odds of 5-2. Sammy Mendez, Indiana Grand’s leading Quarter Horse jockey, is aboard.

The entire field for the Indiana Grand Classic, in post position order with jockey and odds includes: Shaw Island Senator (Shanley Jackson, 8-1); Valiantinecandyrocks (Sammy Mendez, 5-2); Shes Relentlesswagon (Edgar Diaz, 30-1); Relentless Chick (Erik Esqueda, 15-1); CC Moonflash (L.D. Martinez, 15-1); Beach Diva (Rolando Pina, 15-1); On A New Note (German Rodriguez, 4-1); Beach Mercedes (Berkley Packer, 9-5); Flyweight Carver (Dex Mitchell, 15-1); and My Pillow (Jose Beltran, 30-1).

Smith will saddle four in the final (Shaw Island Senator, Valiantinecandyrocks, On A New Note, Beach Mercedes) while Tony Cunningham saddles three (CC Moonflash, Beach Diva, My Pillow).

Also included on the card are five trials for the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Futurity and four trials for the QHRAI SSA Derby.

The Futurity will kick off the day featuring the return of Botticelli Beach in the second trial. The Escondido Beach filly is two for three this season, including an impressive win in her last start in the $190,000 Gordon Mobley Futurity. Owned and trained by Claudio Barraza, Botticelli Beach will begin from post two at odds of 3-5 with Jose Beltran aboard.

Beach Blast will kick off the first trial for the QHRAI SSA Derby from post one. The Escondido Beach sophomore is three for four this season and is currently on a three-race win streak that includes the $138,000 Blue River Derby and the $96,000 Harley Greene Derby. Randy Smith trains the talented sorrel gelding for Keith Bode and Brock Hutchinson. Sammy Mendez gets the call aboard Beach Blast.

The QHRAI SSA Futurity and Derby will be featured on the next all-Quarter Horse day at Indiana Grand on Sept. 4. The Futurity will go for a purse of $191,747 while the Derby will offer a purse of $108,951.

Also included on the card will be the $75,000 Bob Woodward Memorial Classic and two Bank of America Regional Challenge Championship qualifiers. The John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the Q-Racing Videos Distaff Challenge trials will set up the finals slated for Sept. 20.

Qualifiers will advance to the finals of the Bank of America Challenge Championships on Oct. 23 at The Downs at Albuquerque. Indiana Grand is set to host the Bank of America Challenge Championships in 2022.

Indiana Grand added six new stakes races this season, and to assist with naming the events the track turned to social media. Hundreds of suggestions flooded in, and after it was narrowed down, the William Garrett Stakes was the overwhelming front runner for a new stakes race at Indiana Grand.

A competitive field of five entered the starting gate for the William Garrett Stakes Wednesday with Jazzy Times and Joe Ramos grabbing the early lead in the five-furlong turf race. Mark of the Z and Orlando Mojica applied pressure on the outside as the field rounded the only turn in the race.

Charcoal (top photo) and jockey DeShawn Parker were waiting behind horses on the outside and began to unleash a big move before the top of the stretch arrived.

In the stretch, Charcoal cleared the leaders and was thriving over the last furlong of the race, posting a win by two and one-half lengths at the wire. Mark of the Z finished second over Jazzy Times in the sprint timed in 57.10 seconds.

“When the scratches came out of the race, I thought the rest of the field was comparable to us,” said Parker, who is nearing 6,000 career wins. “I had so much horse around the turn, I was just waiting for a place to go. He had a big kick like that last time too, but he surprised me how much he exploded. He ran a great race today.”

Charcoal paid $9.20 to win. The five-year-old son of English Channel is now on a two-race win streak for trainer Tracey Wisner and owner-breeder Ron Dowdy. It was the fifth win in nine starts for 2021 for the grey gelding, who topped $130,000 in earnings with the victory.

Coady Photography photos

William Garrett Stakes trophy presentation: From left, Jockey DeShawn Parker, trainer Tracey Wisner, owner-breeder Ron Dowdy, James Garrett Jr., James Garrett III, and Eric Halstrom, vice president and general manager of racing at Indiana Grand.

“Ron (Dowdy) has had this horse the whole time and he was at Fair Grounds (Louisiana) first,” said Wisner. “We’ve known each other for more than 20 years. Ron was on his way back from Keeneland (to Michigan) and he stopped, and we talked, and we ended up claiming a few horses a couple years ago. This horse (Charcoal) had a little bit of a layoff, actually it was about a year and a half. We brought him back here last year and he started racing well over the winter at Mahoning Valley and has returned strong.”

Wisner noted the discovery of how versatile Charcoal has become.

“This is a super nice horse,” added Wisner. “He can run long, short, turf, dirt, it doesn’t matter. We had never tried him at five eighths and when he raced so well and won last time out, I said to Ron, ‘What do we do now?’ and we decided to try him in this stakes race. He is a very smart horse, too.”

Dowdy, who has been in the horse racing business for nearly 30 years, is based out of Michigan. Although he doesn’t have Charcoal’s dam (Rose of Aran) anymore, he does have a few prospects coming up.

“He’s definitely a talented fellow,” said Dowdy, who was trackside to greet Charcoal after his stakes win. “We have a half-sister to him here at Indiana Grand and I have a full sister at home that is a yearling.”

James Garrett Jr., who is the executive director of the Commission of the Social Status of Black Males for the State of Indiana and nephew of Bill Garrett, was trackside to present the trophy to the winning connections of the inaugural William Garrett Stakes. His son, James III, was in the presentation, and the family also was represented by Garrett’s wife, Tonita, and his mother, Patricia.

“It is a true honor that the community recognizes Bill Garrett in this way,” said James Garrett Jr. “This is a first to have a horse race named in his honor. Our family greatly appreciates it.”

With a rich history in Shelbyville, Indiana, William Garrett is not only a hometown hero, but a well-known figure for his impact on both basketball and the community. Garrett first grabbed notoriety in the late 1940s as the leader of the 1947 state championship winning basketball team from Shelbyville High School and was named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball.

Garrett went on to become the first African American to play in the Big 10 at Indiana University, setting numerous records including the four-year career scoring record (792). He was voted on the All-Big Ten First Team and in 1951 was named an All-American.

After being drafted into the U.S. Army in the early 1950s, Garrett returned to Indiana to coach the state championship winning team from Crispus Attucks in 1959. He became the only Mr. Basketball to achieve a state championship in Indiana as  a player and as a coach at the time. He later served as an educator and administrator before his death in 1974.

Garrett is an inductee into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the gymnasium at Shelbyville High School is named in his honor. In 2017, Shelbyville High School retired his jersey No. 9.

Indiana University also has named the Recreational Sports Center on campus the Bill Garrett Fieldhouse.

“It is pretty cool to win this race,” added Parker. “I’m a big basketball fan, and I know about Bill Garrett, so this was special to win this race today.”

Short Summer Dress will be a horse that is forever part of jockey Joe Ramos’ resume. The four-year-old chestnut filly gave the young jockey his first career stakes win Wednesday in the inaugural running of the $65,000 IU Hoosier Stakes at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville.

Short Summer Dress (photo) came into the event on a two-race win streak with Ramos aboard, but the jump to stakes action was her first attempt against a tougher field. The daughter of Munnings began her journey from post one as the fourth choice in the field of six. Ramos had the filly ready to roll out of the gate and secured the top spot in the first few strides of the five-furlong turf race.

Tap N Sway and Tommy Pompell tracked their progress early on as Short Summer Dress continued to hold on to the top spot through the only turn of the race. Lady of Luxury and Mitchell Murrill came up on the outside to challenge, looking like she would be the horse to overtake Short Summer Dress. However, Short Summer Dress had another gear to hit and dug in gamely, holding off Lady of Luxury by three-quarters of a length at the finish line for the win.

Carimba and DeShawn Parker finished third.

The time of the race was 57.31 seconds, which also becomes the stakes record.

“This filly has a lot of speed and she broke out of there and took me with her,” said Ramos. “The trip was exactly like we had hoped for. Randy (Klopp) and his crew have done such a good job with her. I have to thank him for this opportunity, and I think she isn’t done yet. I think she can win another stakes this year.”

Short Summer Dress paid $14.60 for the win. She is now under the care of Indiana Grand leading trainer Randy Klopp, who co-owns her with Roger Spiess’ Spiess Stable.

“Roger (Spiess) actually picked her out at the Keeneland sale last fall (for a purchase price of $21,000),” said Klopp, who owns a farm in Rushville, Ind. “She had been racing in Canada and we got a start in her at Turfway right after we bought her, but she was really nervous, so we decided to give her the rest of the winter off and just get her ready for this meet.”

Klopp and Spiess had intentions of sending her into stakes action earlier in the meet, but when a severe storm blew through Indiana Grand in June, their plans were placed on hold. However, Short Summer Dress has performed well for them despite the setback, winning three of five starts since joining their stable.

“She got hurt when that bad storm came through here and hurt her knee,” explained Klopp. “But thank goodness everything worked out well with that and she was back for this stakes race. Joe (Ramos) has liked her all along. He told me ‘I will win a stakes on her before this meet is over’ and he was right.”

Ramos, a native of Puerto Rico, is currently in his third year of riding. After graduation from his country’s famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica Agustin Mercado Reveron in December of 2018, he won his first race in Puerto Rico before hitting the road to the United States.

Since his arrival in the Midwest, he tied Kendal Sterritt with 25 wins in 2019 at Indiana Grand to share the title for the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice Jockey. He also was crowned the Leading Apprentice Jockey at Belterra Park that same year. To date, he was 257 wins and more than $4.4 million in purses.

The win aboard Short Summer Dress was his 40^th this season at Indiana Grand, which ranks him in fourth place on the leading jockey standings.

“I am so blessed,” said an excited and grateful Ramos following the win. “God has blessed me a lot. All the praise goes to Him.”

Regan Mathies, new to the Shelbyville High School girls golf program this season, collected the first birdie of her career and led the Golden Bears Wednesday with a nine-hole score of 49.

Mathies (photo) birdied hole No. 5 (par four) at Fall Creek Golf Club during Shelbyville’s match with Pendleton Heights.

The host Arabians prevailed over the Golden Bears, 184-222.

Pendleton Heights’ Grace Wiggins was the medalist with a 7-over-par score of 43. The Arabians also had solid performances from Kaylee McKinney (44) and Kaitlynn Shamblin (47). Kelsey Day completed the scorecard with a 50.

Kaylee Tackett and Madison Monroe each shot 57 for Shelbyville. Kate Linville posted 59.

Shelbyville will host Beech Grove today at Blue Bear Golf Club.

As Indiana Grand prepares for the next all-Quarter Horse racing day Saturday, the funding supported by the Indiana Quarter Horse Breed Development (IQHBD) recently announced several facets to boost the program.

“At this time, the casino operations for the past three months have been much higher than anticipated,” said Jessica Barnes, Director of Breed Development for the Indiana Horse Racing Commission. “Estimated slots revenue has added more than $189,000 into the fund for 2021. While we don’t know what the exact revenue numbers will be for the remainder of 2021, we are confident that the revenue for these months will meet our projections and most likely be higher than expected.”

IQHBD is taking a tiered approach to the added funds. The plan includes implementation of owner, breeder, and stallion awards on all trials, matching the same manner percentage and method as awards on overnight races. Also, purses have been increased by $1,000 per overnight race. Also, Indiana bred overnight races will be added in increments of five, not to exceed a total of 15 additional races throughout the remainder of the meet.

“We are excited to see our Quarter Horse program continue to grow,” added Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “The additional plan is perfect timing as we prepare to host two regional qualifiers for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships in September. This will give us great momentum as we proceed into 2022 and bring the Challenge Championships to Indiana for the first time, which will bring national attention to the state’s Quarter Horse program.”

The two regional challenge qualifiers are set for trials during the all-Quarter Horse day Sept. 4. The finals for the John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the Q-Racing Videos Distaff Challenge are set for Sept. 20. Qualifiers will advance to the finals slated for The Downs at Albuquerque in New Mexico on Oct. 23.

Indiana Grand is set to host three more all-Quarter Horse days in 2021. Saturday’s event features trials for the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity and Derby along with trials for the Bob Woodard Memorial Classic. The card, which begins at 10 a.m., will also showcase several activities to complement the card, including Hot Diggity Dog Weiner Dog racing.

Other all-Quarter Horse days on the schedule are Sept. 4 and Oct. 9, each beginning at 10 a.m.

Indiana Champions Day is Oct. 30 and will feature a full card of both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing. Six races for each breed will be spotlighted, including six stakes races for Quarter Horses. The program begins at noon with purses exceeding $1 million.

Valparaiso University announced today that it has adopted Beacons as its new nickname.

“Our new nickname directly connects to the University’s motto, ‘In Thy Light We See Light,’ and represents the Valparaiso University community in many ways,” said José D. Padilla, J.D., University president. “We are beacons of light and hope in our communities. We are beacons of change on campus, in our region and in our country. We are beacons of knowledge for our students’ academic, social and spiritual growth. Above all, we are beacons of God’s light around the world. We light the way for our students, so that once they graduate, they shine their light for others. We are all Beacons at Valparaiso University.”

Valparaiso University will drop the name Crusaders since the term has been co-opted by hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan.

Beacons was chosen after a months-long process that included nearly 1,000 suggestions and input from dozens of students, student-athletes, faculty, staff and alumni of the University. During this process, two themes emerged that were most important to Valpo constituents: Honoring the University’s history and character and emphasizing the light Valpo graduates shine wherever they land after graduation.

“Beacon” has a strong historical tie to Valpo. It has been the title of the University’s yearbook for the last 80 years, and it is also the name of its newest residence hall. Beacons is a nickname that honors our past, present and future.

Valpo’s prior nickname, Crusaders, was permanently retired in February 2021, following input from a variety of Valpo students, faculty and alumni. The new nickname, Beacons, reinforces the University’s commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome and represented at Valparaiso University.

Many of Valpo’s marks and logos, including its colors and the “Shield of Character,” will remain part of the University’s brand. The new nickname, new mascot and related imagery will be phased in during the 2021–2022 academic year. Valpo intercollegiate athletic teams will immediately be known as the Beacons.

Triton Central’s girls golf team debuted Monday at Hawk’s Tail Golf Course against Rushville and the host school, Greenfield-Central.

The Tigers only had three available golfers and posted an incomplete score in the team standings.

Greenfield-Central, a state finalist in 2020, won the three-way match with a team score of 202. Sydnie Wherry led the Cougars with the match’s low score of 41.

Rushville posted 246.

Emma Branham led Triton Central with a 55. Kendra Erdmann was one shot behind. Olivia Martin carded a 66 in her first round of the season.

Triton Central travels to Greensburg today for a head-to-head match.

Playing its first 18-hole invitational of the season, the Shelbyville girls golf team finished 10^th out of 14 teams Saturday at the Greensburg Country Club in Greensburg.

Emma Weiler posted the low round of 74 to lead her Batesville Bulldogs to the team title. Heritage Christian’s Ellie McDonald and Franklin County’s Nicole Mears each shot 79.

Batesville’s 339 easily outdistanced Heritage Christian (364), Franklin County (366), Franklin Central (372) and Richmond (373). The next five in the team standings were Madison (393), Jay County (405), Greensburg (414), Mooresville (418) and Shelbyville (440).

Completing the team standings were Indian Creek (451), East Central (466), Rushville (473) and Oldenburg Academy (Inc.).

The invitational win was the third this season for Batesville.

Kaylee Tackett topped Shelbyville’s scorecard with a 102. She was followed by Kate Linville’s 109. Lanie Stephens (113), Madison Monroe (116) and Regan Mathies (117) finished within four strokes of each other.

Shelbyville returns to the links Wednesday at Pendleton Heights.

Triton Central will give its fans a taste of what's to come this fall sports season with its annual Green & White Day.

TC will be selling Sports Passes once again this year.  Payments by cash or check only made out to TC Athletics.

Family Passes are only for immediate family members - Parents and school age children.  Multiple options are available for other family members and friends that want to attend.

A pass must be with the individual using it for any given event - No screenshots from phone.

Staff members can get into events free with their School ID but family members will need to purchase a ticket. 

Morristown High School’s girls golf team lost its home opener Thursday at Blue Bear Golf Course to Heritage Christian, 167-240.

Heritage Christian’s Ellie McDonald was the only golfer to break 40, posting the low round of 39 to earn the medalist honor at the Shelbyville golf course.

Bella Deaton and Madi Bell each shot 44 for the Eagles. Reagan Bell followed with a 44.

Ashlee Ballinger topped Morristown with a 55.

Completing the Yellow Jackets’ scorecard were Delaney Cornn (59), Ryeland Brewer (62), McKinley Kile (64) and Mollie Runnebohm (68).

Shelbyville High School’s girls golf team opened the 2021 season with a 165-200 loss to Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Mt. Vernon Wednesday at Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville.

Alaina Nugent had a pair of front-nine birdies at Blue Bear to lead the victorious Marauders with a one-under par score of 35. Meredith Johnson backed her with a 39.

Mackenzie Miner (44) and Sophie Amegnigan (47) completed Mt. Vernon’s scorecard.

For Shelbyville, Kaylee Tackett posted 46. Kate Linville was one shot back at 47.

Lanie Stephens, playing on her 18^th birthday, shot 53, and Madison Monroe carded 54 – one shot ahead of Regan Mathies’ 55.

The Golden Bears travel to Greensburg Saturday morning for the Greensburg Invitational.

(Photo courtesy of @GoldenBear_Golf on Twitter.)

Hard Luck Justice has proven his luck has made a drastic turn. After only scoring one win in three starts at two, the Indiana bred gelding won his third straight race Wednesday in the 18^th running of the $150,000 Governor’s Stakes at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana.

Hard Luck Justice is known to be close to the pace early on, and the trip couldn’t have worked out better for jockey Sammy Bermudez. The duo left the gate alertly as Nobody Listens and Joe Ramos went straight for the lead. Hard Luck Justice settled into second behind the leader and was unchallenged most of the one mile and 70-yard event.

In the turn, Bermudez tipped Hard Luck Justice to the outside and that was all the gelding needed as a signal to advance. He began a big move to surpass Nobody Listens and had the lead at the top of the stretch. The son of Harry’s Holiday pinned his ears and got down to business, rallying home to an eight and one-half length advantage at the finish line for the win, his third straight trip to the winner’s circle. Nobody Listens was a solid second over A Few Too Many and Tommy Pompell, who maintained ground for third.

“I thought there would be a little more speed early on,” said Bermudez. “But we had good positioning, so we stayed right where we were. He knows where the wire is. Turning for home, he becomes a different horse and turns into all business.”

Hard Luck Justice, the favorite of the nine-horse field, paid $2.80 for the win. He is owned by Joselyn Vanesa Salazar and trained by Lonnie Hinds. He now has four wins in eight career starts with the latest stakes win, his second of 2021, moving his career bankroll over the $200,000 mark.

“He’s just a good horse,” said Hinds. “We just keep him happy and keep him in shape. We take it easy on him. We thought he was a good horse at the beginning of the year, but he’s better than we thought.”

Pearl Tiara and Fernando De La Cruz had to fight for the finish they wanted, but the rewards were worth the journey. The pair scored a win by a neck over Diamond Solitaire and Martin Garcia in the 19^th running of the Indiana First Lady Stakes Wednesday at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana.

Pearl Tiara (photo) used her inside post to her advantage early in the one mile and 70-yard event. They rallied out for good early positioning and found themselves on the lead without much of a challenge. Diamond Solitaire was able to hold her position on the inside behind Pearl Tiara with Voodoo Justice and Orlando Mojica sitting to the outside in third.

As the race unfolded in the final turn, the field of 10 began to get into position to make an impact in the stretch. Diamond Solitaire found the room she needed along the inside to come up and match strides with Pearl Tiara. Midway through the stretch, Diamond Solitaire got a neck in front but that was the cue Pearl Tiara needed to fight back.

Both fillies fought gamely to the wire with Pearl Tiara getting the edge in the final strides. Russian Influence and Marcelino Pedroza moved up on the outside to finish third.

“This filly can come from off the pace or go to the front,” said De La Cruz, a two-time leading jockey at Indiana Grand. “There were a couple of speed horses in this race and I thought they would go out, but we broke in front. The first quarter was pretty easy, so we just kept the pace that was comfortable. She’s a fighter. She likes to fight for the win.”

Owned by Carol Hebel, Claudia and Fred Pirman, Deerfield Farm Racing and Dan Ison, Pearl Tiara was favored in the race, paying $4.40 to win. Deerfield Farm Racing, owned by Loren and David Osborne, also own part of Diamond Solitaire, so their celebration in the winner’s circle was extra special. The two fillies grew up together on their farm before they went separate ways to begin their racing careers. Pearl Tiara joined the Tim Glyshaw barn and has been a competitive member of his barn since the beginning.

“I think she runs best close to the leaders and I thought a couple would go out for the lead and we’d sit right off of them,” said Glyshaw, who has trained two Indiana Horse of the Years (Bucchero and Unreachable Star) in the past decade. “The plan was to send her and not get shuffled back early on, but she got the lead easy. And, she loves to be challenged. When she saw the other horse get ahead of her, she came right back. The next stakes coming up is on turf, but she’s running so well on dirt, I really don’t want to move her to turf. I’ll talk with the owners, but we may enter her as ‘main track only’ in that race.”

Pearl Tiara scored her second straight stakes win and third consecutive win overall for her connections. The daughter of Majestic Harbor is now four for 10 lifetime and three for four in 2021 with earnings of more than $230,000.

The Morristown High School girls golf team officially opened the 2021-2022 athletic year with a 229-244 loss to Edinburgh Tuesday at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh, Indiana.

Ashlee Ballinger led the Yellow Jackets with a round of 55 which included a birdie on hole No. 3 at Timbergate.

Delaney Cornn followed with a 59.

Rounding out the Yellow Jackets’ scorecard were Ryeland Brewer (63), McKinley Kile (67) and Mollie Runnebohm (67).

Morristown returns to the links Thursday at Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville to face Heritage Christian’s junior varsity squad.

Experienced golfers in Shelby County are at a premium as the Indiana high school girls golf season is about to tee off.

Four veteran coaches are in full-teaching mode as the first practices of the season take place at Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville, Hawk’s Tail in Greenfield and Timbergate in Edinburgh.

Morristown will be the first to compete Tuesday against Edinburgh. Shelbyville debuts one day later in a home match with Mt. Vernon. Triton Central’s golf season starts Monday with a three-way match hosted by Greenfield-Central. And Southwestern will host Edinburgh on Aug. 10.

All four local golf programs will compete in the New Palestine Sectional in mid-September at The Links Golf Club. Shelby County did not have a regional qualifier in 2020.

SHELBYVILLE

Jason Bass is in his second season as head coach of the Golden Bears and his fourth with the program. Filling out his lineup card this season will not be complicated with just five golfers set to compete.

Seniors Kaylee Tackett and Lanie Stephens return for one final season and are joined by fellow senior and first-time golf team member Regan Mathies.

Kate Linville, a junior, and sophomore Madison Monroe also return to the links.

“I’ve learned that starting off a little slow is not bad,” said Bass. “We had some consistently practicing in the summer but they also do other sports and work. Golf is a sport you have to do consistently to get better but I know with four returning, they will put in the work.”

Shelbyville finished fifth at the 2020 sectional with then-senior Karaline Richards leading the way with an 18-hole score of 97. No other Golden Bear broke triple digits.

There is little time to prepare for a busy first week. The Golden Bears host Mt. Vernon Tuesday, travel to New Castle Friday and compete in the Greensburg Invitational Saturday.

“It will be a good test to see where we are at,” said Bass.

Bass is not worried about positioning of the roster since all five scores will be considered toward the team score.

“After a good week I will have a pretty good idea where they are at,” said Bass. “The scores will separate themselves.

“They are all right there together consistently within four shots of each other. Everyone plays and we take the top four scores. Hopefully, we pick up right where we left off. They are all pretty equally talented right now. It’s nice to have three matches out of the gate and see where we are at.”

TRITON CENTRAL

Three of Triton Central’s five golfers will be new to the sport.

Seniors Emma Branham and Kendra Erdmann return with sectional experience. Branham had the Tigers’ low sectional score in 2020.

Senior Olivia Martin is new but picking up the sport quickly, according to head coach Josh Landis.

Freshman Allison Williams joins the program this year, too.

The fifth golfer will be an exchange student that has not yet arrived in Fairland.

“We want to get to the point where we are competing well at sectional time,” said Landis. “Emma and Kendra definitely have the ability to qualify out of sectionals. The rest we still need to get to feeling comfortable on the golf course.”

Triton Central, which uses Hawk’s Tail Golf Course in Greenfield as its home course, will face Rushville and Greenfield-Central Monday in its first match.

“The first several matches will probably be a little rough,” admitted Landis. “With our new golfers, they have to spend a lot of time on the (driving) range. We have to have a rules meeting and teach them how to keep score, about hazards and out of bounds just to get them to be comfortable playing a round.”

MORRISTOWN

Head coach Tom Workman has four returning golfers and a pair of underclassmen.

“I like the balance of it all,” said Workman, “but I would like more underclassmen.”

Seniors Ryeland Brewer, McKinley Kile and Delaney Cornn all represented the Yellow Jackets at the 2020 sectional. Junior Ashlee Ballinger did as well.

Sophomore Mollie Runnebohm and freshman Clara Hale round out the 2021 roster.

“We’re in pretty good shape right now,” said Workman. “The swings look good. The tempo looks good. We just need to get back to playing on a regular basis.”

Morristown will call Blue Bear Golf Course in Shelbyville its home course this season. The Yellow Jackets are at Edinburgh today then host Heritage Christian Thursday.

Workman’s plan is simple – develop his golfers’ short game to match their driving ability.

“We hit better than we score,” he said. “We need work around the green. If we improve our short game, we will start dropping scores.”

SOUTHWESTERN

Head coach Gary Muldoon believes there will be six golfers in the program this season.

Returning from the 2020 sectional lineup are seniors Lily Kerber and Alison Muck. They will be joined by McKinley Correll and Olivia Chandler.

Muldoon has two more golfers that have been practicing during the summer months and he expects them to start the season with the program.

The Spartans open the season Aug. 10 against Edinburgh at Timbergate Golf Course, its home course this season.

“The course is in really good shape and it has a driving range,” said Muldoon.

The Spartans will need time to develop and Muldoon knows he is starting from scratch with several golfers.

“I have two that have never held a club before,” he said. “It starts with the grip and we go from there.”

The Indiana Football Coaches Association preseason poll has been released and Triton Central is ranked 10th in Class 2A.
Andrean and Fort Wayne Luers each received four first-place votes and are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in 2A. The rest of the top five includes Eastbrook (one first-place vote), Evansville Mater Dei and Pioneer (one first-place vote).
The remainder of the top 10 is Tipton, Heritage Christian, Lafayette Central Catholic, Eastside and Triton Central.
Also receiving votes in the 2A preseason poll were Scecina and Eastern Hancock.
In the 6A poll, defending state champion Center Grove is No. 1 followed by Westfield, Carmel, Ben Davis, Warren Central, Brownsburg, Merrillville, Elkhart, Lafayette Jeff, Homestead and Penn.
Cathedral is No. 1 in 5A ahead of Zionsville, Fort Wayne Dwenger, Valparaiso, New Palestine, Whiteland, Fort Wayne Snider, Decatur Central, Bloomington South and Mishawaka.
In 4A, Roncalli is No. 1 followed by Chatard, Mooresville, Mt. Vernon, Hobart, East Central, Leo, East Noble, Lowell and Evansville Memorial. Also receiving votes were Pendleton Heights and Delta.
Danville was one of four teams to receive first-place votes and is No. 1 in the preseason poll in 3A. Lawrenceburg is second followed by Gibson Southern, Mishawaka Marian, West Lafayette, Western Boone, Brebeuf, Southridge, Guerin Catholic and Fort Wayne Concordia.
And in the Class A poll, Covenant Christian, South Adams and Lutheran are separated by two votes with Covenant Christian at No. 1.
Adams Central, Southwood, Parke Heritage, Monroe Central, South Putnam, West Washington and Winamac complete the top 10.
Also receiving votes was North Decatur.
Triton Central will host its Green and White Day Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at Mendenhall Field. The Tigers host Batesville on Aug. 13 in its preseason scrimmage game.
The 2021 season opens Aug. 20 for Triton Central at Cascade before hosting Greensburg in week two on Aug. 27.
Shelbyville travels to Rushville on Aug. 13 for its preseason scrimmage game.
The Brian Glesing era officially begins on Aug. 20 at Greensburg. The home opener is Aug. 27 against Richmond.

The Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife wants to hear your ideas on fishing, hunting, trapping, and other fish and wildlife-related regulations in Indiana, including special permits regarding those topics.

Through Sept. 15, you can use a convenient online form to contribute ideas and provide input on issues the DNR has identified for consideration.

The form is at: on.IN.gov/gotinput

The form – ‘Got INput?” – not only allows you to comment on ideas from the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, but also allows you to propose your own ideas on any fish and wildlife regulation topic.

Got INput users must register with a username and a password.

Input and ideas can also be mailed to:

Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife
Attn: Got INput
402 W. Washington St., Room W273
Indianapolis, IN 46204

After Sept. 16, DNR staff will evaluate all comments and determine which ideas to forward for consideration by the Natural Resources Commission.