With the top two finishers in each race, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School completed a dominant performance Monday at the Shelbyville Elementary Cross Country Championships held at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville.

Camden Thomas (photo left) completed the 2,000-meter course in eight minutes, 42 seconds to score a 24-second victory over teammate Bram Kolkmeier (9:06). Harrison Fischer was fourth in 9:32 to help the Lions win the boys’ team competition.

St. Joe’s 24 points topped Loper Elementary (39), Hendricks Elementary (80) and Coulston Elementary (91).

Also finishing in the top 10 for St. Joe were Beckham Lee (8^th, 10:04) and Gabriel Telez (9^th, 10:09).

Loper’s Carson Claxton finished third overall in 9:24. Also scoring points for the Bulldogs were Henry Rife (6^th, 9:52), Chase Mulrooney (7^th, 10:00), James Melvin (11^th, 10:56) and Jace Tackett (12^th, 10:57).

The top-five finishers for Hendricks were Jacob Fewell (5^th, 9:50), Caleb Jackson (20^th, 12:49), Jordan Monroe (22^nd, 13:06), Kingstyn Ash (23^rd, 13:06) and Liam Giles (28^th, 14:07).

Coulston’s top finisher was Brayden Nigh (10^th, 10:35). Also scoring for the Comets were Jaxon Schefee (18^th, 11:59), Mason Hubard (25^th, 13:22), Justin Butler (29^th, 15:31) and Connor Claytor (30^th, 15:41).

Jocelyn McFarland (8:59.51) (photo above) and America Leon-Torres (9:00.4) finished 1-2 for St. Joe in the girls race. Abigail Gwinnup was fourth (10:18), Mia Robbins followed in sixth (10:35) and Maggie Kolkmeier was eighth (11:15) to give the Lions 21 team points and the city championship.

Hendricks finished second with Ava White (5^th, 10:32), Aria Buis (9^th, 11:33), Adrianna St. Bernard (10^th, 11:42), Evoni Wright (12^th, 12:01) and Hannah Shouse (14^th, 12:27) scoring points.

Mia Boger was the third-place finisher (10:11) for Coulston and along with Makayla Tart (7^th, 11:07), Delaney Adams (20^th, 14:01), Braylynn Sturgill (22^nd, 14:15) and Callie Thomas (27^th, 17:14) finished third in the team standings.

Loper was fourth with Mila Eads (11^th, 11:59), Elena Simmons (16^th, 12:45), Mason Smith (19^th, 13:59), Madilynn Miles (21^st, 14:12) and Olivia Myers (24^th, 14:53) scoring points.

Fresh off its first shutout win of the season and all but locked out of the title chase in the Indiana Crossroads Conference, Triton Central head coach Tim Able is thinking ahead to the postseason – not looking ahead, though.

The Tigers (4-2, 2-2 ICC) play their final regular-season home game at Mendenhall Field Friday night against Scecina (3-3, 2-2 ICC). Able will not use starting quarterback Jace Stuckey for a second-straight week as well as running back Brayden Wilkins or lineman Willie Baugh. All three are recovering from injuries but are near ready to return.

“We would like to finish strong,” said Able. “We have a chance if we win out to maybe tie for second.”

Class A, No. 1 Lutheran (6-0, 5-0 ICC) is at 2A No. 11 Monrovia (5-1, 4-0 ICC) Friday. A win by the Saints would clinch at least a share of the ICC title. Lutheran hosts 2A No. 10 Speedway (5-1, 3-1) on Oct. 8.

After Scecina, Triton Central travels to Beech Grove (2-4, 1-4 ICC) and Speedway to close out the regular season.

Freshman Chase Chandler (6-0, 160) will get the start at quarterback for the second-straight week. He fought off illness early last week to get prepared for what was a 23-0 victory at Indian Creek.

“He did a lot of mental work to make up for his lack of practice,” said Abel.

Chandler provides the opposing defense with a different look than Stuckey (6-3, 175).

“He’s not as tall, but he is still 6-0, and he runs pretty well,” said Able. “He throws the short, intermediate routes really well. And he is a natural leader as a freshman.”

Chandler is the son of Triton Central High School principal Cary Chandler and has two older sisters that are Division I athletes – Bailey Chandler plays volleyball at Eastern Illinois University while Maya Chandler plays basketball at Loyola University in Chicago.

With a pair of 40-plus yard touchdowns runs at Indian Creek, sophomore running back Ray Crawford (5-9, 175) pushed his team-leading total to eight this season.

“If you get him that little crease … that little opening … he can make things happen,” said Able. “And he is also a threat as a wide receiver.”

Crawford has 645 yards rushing in five games this season and 14 catches for 222 yards.

Three more TC backs have rushed for more than 100 yards this season – senior Jaquan Blake (5-6, 165), Wilkins (6-0, 165), a sophomore, and junior Brad Schultz (5-9, 165).

Senior Devon Emberton (6-2, 185) leads the Tigers with 18 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Anthony Dunville (6-0, 165) has 14 catches for 179 yards and one touchdown.

“Any time you play a Tim Abel coached team you have to expect a lot of different offensive formations and a go get ‘em defense,” said Scecina head coach Ott Hurrle.

Scecina’s three losses are to state-ranked opponents – 2A No. 10 Speedway (17-14), 2A No. 6 Heritage Christian (20-14) and Class A No. 1 Lutheran (31-20).

“They have played some really good competition,” said Able. “We will have to play well … better than we have the last two weeks.”

Senior Dequan Stennis (5-8, 170) leads the Crusaders with 557 yards rushing and five touchdowns this season.

Senior quarterback Aidan Ray (5-10, 175) has completed just under 50% of his pass attempts for 647 yards and six touchdowns.

Mason Beriault (5-8, 150), a junior, and seniors Anden Glawatz (5-9, 190) and Luke Soultz (6-1, 180) have combined for 27 receptions (seven touchdowns).

The two head coaches have a combined 409 career wins over the last three-plus decades. Hurrle is 208-152 in 32 seasons while Able is 201-127 in 29 seasons.

“He is the dean of the conference and always has his kids ready to play,” said Able of Hurrle.

Friday’s other ICC games include Beech Grove at Ritter (0-6, 0-4 ICC) and Cascade (2-4, 0-4 ICC) at Speedway.

Shelbyville football has shown marked improvement over its abbreviated three-week season. New head coach Brian Glesing has righted a sinking ship and created new momentum for a program that entered the 2021 season with a 25-game losing streak.

What lies ahead over the final three weeks of this regular season is a staunch character test with New Palestine, Mt. Vernon and Pendleton Heights on the schedule.

The Golden Bears (1-2, 0-1 Hoosier Heritage Conference) travel to unranked New Palestine (3-3, 3-1 HHC) Friday to face a program it has not beaten since 2012.

“We will see what kind of character we have,” said Glesing. “We have two tough opponents ahead. We just have to keep getting better each day.”

Not only is Shelbyville 0-8 against New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph, it has been outscored 479-51. Ralph, in his ninth year with the Dragons, is seeking career win No. 100 Friday night.

Sophomore Grayson Thomas (5-11, 170 pounds) keys the offense with 785 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns this season.

Senior quarterback Damon Hockett (6-2, 165) has completed 43-of-82 pass attempts for 748 yards and two touchdowns but has thrown seven interceptions.

The leading receivers are juniors Isaiah Thacker (15 receptions, 377 yards) and Blaine Nunnally (14 receptions, 227 yards).

“We’ve got our hands full with their offense,” admitted Glesing. “We have to do a better job of tackling (than we did against Yorktown). That is one thing we didn’t do well and it’s been a focus this week.”

Defensively, New Palestine has four players with 40-42 total tackles.

Freshman Michael Thacker leads the Dragons with eight tackles for losses and five quarterback sacks.

“They are aggressive,” said Glesing. “They have a strong attack up front and are very sound defensively.”

New Palestine’s three losses came to Class 5A, No. 4 Decatur Central (31-29), 3A No. 2 Brebeuf (38-14) and 4A No. 6 Mt. Vernon (49-10).

For the first time this season, Shelbyville’s offense sputtered in a 35-0 loss to Yorktown.

“Penalties and too many loss-yardage plays,” said Glesing. “We only had nine first downs (each game’s goal is to have 14) and when we got to the red zone we got stopped and missed a field goal.”

Friday’s game was Shelbyville’s first in four weeks after canceling three straight games due to a lack of players available due to COVID-19 protocols.

“We didn’t get out of the gate very well,” said Glesing. “We looked like we hadn’t practiced in three weeks and everybody was waiting for somebody else to make a play.”

Shelbyville’s two quarterback system of sophomore Eli Chappelow (6-0. 155) and senior Colton Adkins (6-0, 160) are a combined 16-for-37 passing this season for 190 yards and one touchdown.

Cael Lux (5-5, 125), a junior, leads the rushing attack with 260 yards and three touchdowns.

On defense, senior Roman Scott (5-11, 215) leads the team with 23 total tackles. Senior Bryce Shelton (6-2, 230) has 20 tackles.

Jackson Parker (6-2, 165), a junior, has three interceptions.

With its win over New Palestine, Mt. Vernon (5-1, 4-0 HHC) – Shelbyville’s opponent next week – is in control of the conference standings. The Marauders are at New Castle (2-4, 1-2 HHC) Friday.

Yorktown (4-2, 2-2 HHC) sits in third place in the standings and hosts Greenfield-Central (3-3, 1-2 HHC) this week.

Delta (4-2, 1-2 HHC) is at Pendleton Heights (3-3, 1-3 HHC).

Triton Central took the first step toward capturing its first boys tennis sectional title since 2016 on Wednesday with a 4-1 win over the defending sectional champions, Shelbyville.

The Tigers got straight-set victories from Alex Crouse at No. 1 singles, Tucker Hutchinson at No. 2 singles and Avram Rund and Quintin Potts at No. 1 doubles to secure the win and advance to today’s semifinal round against Southwestern.

Crouse defeated Shelbyville’s Bohdan Rollo, 6-0, 6-0.

Hutchinson improved to 14-4 at No. 2 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kade McNicholas.

Rund and Potts moved to 15-5 at No. 1 doubles with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Charlie Rife and Layne Pogue.

Triton Central’s No. 2 doubles pairing of Oliver Gearlds and Griffin Sego also improved to 15-5 with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win over Connor Zobel and Karson Schaf.

Shelbyville’s lone win came at No. 3 singles where Logan Prickett defeated Ashton Sturm, 6-4, 6-4.

Shelbyville finished the season 4-20.

Triton Central is 15-6 and 5-0 this season against the remaining sectional opponents. The Tigers swept Southwestern (5-7) twice in a three-day span earlier this month.

The second semifinal pits Morristown (1-9) against Waldron (6-8). The Mohawks have two 5-0 victories against Morristown this season.

In other prep events Wednesday:

Boys Soccer

Greenwood 6, Southwestern 0

At Greenwood, Alex Asumani had three goals and an assist to lead the Woodmen (4-9-1) to the win on Senior Night.

Fabian Martin, Josh Harris and Ethan Tichenor also scored goals for Greenwood.

Class A, No. 13 Southwestern dropped to 8-4-1.

Girls Soccer

Triton Central 2, University 2

At Triton Central, Lizzie Graham scored both goals for Triton Central (2-10-1) on Senior Night to push her Shelby County leading goals scored total to 20 this season.

Elizabeth Kemper shot a career low round of one-under-par 71 to help 18^th-ranked Taylor win the Battle at Blackthorn Saturday in South Bend, Indiana.

Kemper (photo), a Triton Central graduate, shot 85 Friday on the 5,692-yard, par 72 Blackthorn Golf Course then improved 14 shots Saturday to secure a top-10 finish in the individual standings.

Taylor ended Friday’s round tied with 16^th-ranked Bethel then posted the lowest team score (292) in the 18-year history of the event to earn a 16-shot victory.

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

Makenzie Logan

The Morristown graduate teamed with Nina Golfier to win a No. 3 doubles match for Huntington University’s women’s tennis team Monday over Indiana University Kokomo’s Kelsey Rhoades and Larissa O’Rourke, 7-6 (3).

Huntington defeated IU Kokomo, 6-0.

On Sept. 22, Huntington defeated Grace College, 4-3, in the quarterfinal round of the Crossroads League Tournament.

Grace’s Morgan Mast and Jenna Lewis defeated Logan and Golfier, 6-3. Logan was defeated at No. 6 singles by Kiersten Martin, 6-1, 6-2.

In the semifinals on Sept. 24, No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University shut out Huntington, 4-0.

Logan and Golfier were defeated by Breann Barger and Maria Way, 6-0.

Bailey Chandler

The Triton Central graduate finished with 23 assists and five digs for Eastern Illinois’ volleyball team Saturday in a 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 loss at Murray State.

The Panthers opened Ohio Valley Conference play Friday at Murray State with a similar 25-16, 25-15, 25-21 loss at Murray State. Chandler had one kill, 13 assists and four digs.

Eastern Illinois is 7-5 this season (0-2 OVC).

Maggie Schweitzer

The Triton Central graduate had three assists and 10 digs Saturday for Hanover College in a 26-24, 25-18, 25-11 loss to Muskingum University at the Transylvania Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.

Hanover (8-7) opened the tournament with a 25-13, 25-16, 25-11 victory over Marietta College. Schweitzer had one assist, three aces and four digs.

Maddy Beaver

The Triton Central graduate had four kills and two block assists for Goshen in a 25-19, 25-17, 25-14 loss Saturday at No. 8 Marian.

The loss was Goshen’s ninth straight.

On Friday, Goshen (3-18) lost to Huntington University, 25-19, 24-26, 25-15, 25-21. Beaver had six kills, three block assists and one dig.

Grace College defeated Goshen on Sept. 22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-13, 25-19. Beaver had four kills and three block assists.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate collected eight digs Sunday for Jacksonville State in a 25-21, 25-27, 18-25, 25-22, 15-10 win over Kennesaw State in the ASUN Crossover Tournament.

On Saturday, North Florida defeated Jacksonville State, 25-14, 14-25, 27-25, 17-25, 15-9. Schiffli finished with two assists and 13 digs.

The Gamecocks (12-4, 2-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) opened the conference event Friday with a 25-10, 25-15, 25-13 win over Stetson. Schiffli had one ace and four digs.

For the fifth time this season, Shelbyville’s boys soccer team finished a match in penalty kicks.

In its regular-season finale Tuesday, the Golden Bears ended regulation and overtime tied 1-1 with Pendleton Heights.

Both teams scored on its first four penalty kick attempts before Arabians goalkeeper William Phillips produced a stop.

Devan Swinford then delivered the game winner for the host Arabians (10-5, 5-1 Hoosier Heritage Conference).

Jacob Sikorski scored off a Kam Kail assist to give Pendleton Heights a 1-0 lead in the second half.

Shelbyville (8-8, 2-5 HHC) battled back to tie the score late in the second half with a Christian Haas header into the net off a Drew Hassebroek delivery, but neither team could find the back of the net in regulation and two seven-minute overtime periods.

Shelbyville is 2-3 in matches decided by penalty kicks. The Golden Bears defeated Batesville on Aug. 28 in the championship game of the Shelbyville Invitational and New Castle on Sept. 16.

The three losses came to Mt. Vernon, Yorktown and Pendleton Heights.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Boys Soccer

Knightstown 3, Morristown 0

On Senior Night at Morristown, the visiting Panthers improved to 8-5-1 this season with a shutout victory over the Yellow Jackets (2-9-2).

Volleyball

Pendleton Heights def. Shelbyville, 25-16, 25-21, 25-20

The high-powered Arabians improved to 25-3 this season and 4-2 in Hoosier Heritage Conference matches. Pendleton Heights’ only losses this season are to Mt. Vernon, Yorktown and Hamilton Southeastern – three teams who are a combined 58-9.

Shelbyville dropped to 13-9 (2-3 HHC).

Scecina def. Triton Central, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18

Allison Daves and Abbey McCoy combined for 29 kills to lead Scecina (15-10, 6-0 Indiana Crossroads Conference) past Triton Central (11-8, 4-3 ICC).

Kaitlin Bramlett led the visiting Tigers with nine kills. Maddy Brown had seven. Hallie Schweitzer and Brown each had 19 digs. Julia Sanders added 18 digs.

Maia Harris finished with a team-high 15 assists.

Cierra Lathrop had 26 digs for the victorious Crusaders while Natalie Bollenbacher and Daves combined for 32 assists.

Cross Country

Morristown’s Zavier Poole and Grace McLaughlin each finished runner-up in a three-team meet that included Hauser and Greenwood Christian.

Hauser’s Colin Kistler (20:44) and Callie Swegman (25:07) were the race winners.

Middle School Soccer

Shelbyville 2, Southwestern 1

Carter Cooley scored the lone goal for the Spartans.

Diego Hernandez and Joao Riveria each had a goal for Shelbyville.

Garrett Shaw was credited with 10 saves in goal for Southwestern.

The only Shelby County tennis team with a winning record will have the longest route to capturing the Shelbyville Tennis Sectional title.

Triton Central (14-6) opens the sectional tournament Wednesday against the host Golden Bears (4-19). The two teams have not met this year. Shelbyville is the defending sectional champion.

The winner advances to the semifinal round to face Southwestern (5-7).

In the other semifinal match, Waldron (6-8) takes on Morristown (1-9). The Mohawks already hold a pair of 5-0 wins over the Yellow Jackets this season.

The sectional pairings were announced Monday by the IHSAA. A total of 288 schools were drawn and placed into brackets.

The 64 team sectional winners move on to regional tournament play Oct. 5 and Oct. 6. Semistate matches will take place on Oct. 9 at Center Grove, Homestead, Jasper and Culver Academies.

The eight-team state finals are Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 with state quarterfinal matches at Carmel and Center Grove and semifinal and championship matches at North Central.

The winner of the Shelbyville Sectional advances to the Center Grove Regional to face the winner of the Franklin Central Sectional. That sectional includes Roncalli, Beech Grove, Franklin Central and Lutheran.

The other regional semifinal will feature the winners from the Southport Sectional and Center Grove Sectional.

Waldron closed out the regular season portion of its tennis schedule with a 3-2 victory Monday over Scecina on Senior Night.

Lucas Shaw was victorious at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-4.

Josh Kellems needed three sets to defeat Teddy Waninger at No. 3 singles, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

And Jacob Lindsey and Bryant Becker, Waldron’s lone senior, paired up for a No. 1 doubles victory, 6-2, 6-1.

Jack Fischer was defeated at No. 2 singles for Waldron (6-8) and Max Jones and Matthew Thomas were defeated, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls Soccer

New Palestine 3, Shelbyville 0

At New Palestine, Allie Blum scored two goals and Mckenzie Davis added a third to get the Dragons (10-4, 6-1 Hoosier Heritage Conference) the shutout victory over the Golden Bears (8-4-1, 3-3 HHC).

Mia Knoop and Sydney Miller had assists for New Palestine.

Whiteland 4, Triton Central 1

At Triton Central, Sarah Turcotte scored a pair of goals and had an assist to lead the Warriors (6-8) to the road victory.

Emma Gill and Alexa Laporte also scored goals for Whiteland and Haley Achs had two assists.

Lizzie Graham scored the only goal for Triton Central (2-10). Graham now has 18 goals scored this season.

Boys Tennis

Edinburgh 4, Morristown 1

At Morristown, the Yellow Jackets’ lone victory came at No. 2 doubles where seniors Carson Essex and Jerry Riley (photo) accepted a forfeit.

At No. 1 singles, Max Blandford defeated Grant Kessler, 6-4, 6-3.

Travis Jones needed a third set to get past Tyler Schonfeld, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 at No. 2 singles.

And Austin Brockman bested Austin Gabbard at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-0.

Ian Buchanan and Trevor Moon defeated Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes at No. 1 doubles, 6-3, 6-4.

Rushville 3, Shelbyville 2

At Rushville, Shelbyville’s doubles pairings produced victories against the Lions.

At No. 1 doubles, Ian Blackketter and Charlie Rife defeated Jensen Smith and Josh Wainwright, 6-2, 6-3. And Connor Zobel and Karson Schaf topped Trevor Hunter and Lucas Vaughn at No. 2 doubles, 7-5, 6-2.

Aidan Asher, Caden Tackett and Logan Prickett were defeated in straight sets in the singles matches.

Volleyball

Monrovia def. Triton Central, 13-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18

At Triton Central, Brooklyn Bailey finished with 14 kills, one ace and four total blocks in a home loss to the Bulldogs (13-8, 5-0 Indiana Crossroads Conference).

Maddy Brown had 11 kills and 28 digs for Triton Central (11-7, 4-2 ICC).

Julia Sanders finished with a team-high 37 digs. And Kate Isley collected 30 assists.

Waldron def. Edinburgh, 25-15, 25-19, 25-7

At Edinburgh, the visiting Mohawks improved to 15-8 this season while the Lancers dropped to 5-16.

Southwestern def. Bethesda Christian, 25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 15-11

At Southwestern, the host Spartans improved to 9-13 this season with a five-set victory over Bethesda Christian (8-7).

Kyla Robertson led Southwestern with 18 kills and 40 digs. Riley Engle contributed 16 kills and 27 digs.

Brooklyn Schneider finished with 47 digs.

Center Grove, Cathedral, Roncalli, West Lafayette, Fort Wayne Luers and Lutheran are the top-ranked teams in the Indiana Football Coaches Association state poll.

Center Grove (6-0) remains No. 1 in Class 6A ahead of Westfield (5-1), Carmel (5-1), Merrillville (5-1), Warren Central (5-1), Brownsburg (4-2), Hamilton Southeastern (5-1), Chesterton (5-1), Lawrence North (4-1) and Carroll (Allen) (5-1).

Unbeaten Cathedral stays No. 1 in Class 5A ahead of Valparaiso (6-0) and Bloomington South (6-0). Following in the top 10 are Decatur Central (5-1), Fort Wayne Snider (4-1), Fort Wayne Dwenger (4-2), Harrison (West Lafayette) (5-1), Concord (5-1), Castle (5-1) and Zionsville (3-3).

Roncalli improved to 6-0 to stay on top of Class 4A with Leo (6-0), Jasper (6-0), East Central (5-1), Mooresville (5-1), Mt. Vernon (5-1), Evansville Memorial (5-1), Chatard (2-4), Logansport (5-0) and East Noble (3-2) following.

West Lafayette (6-0) rises to No. 1 in Class 3A ahead of Brebeuf (5-1), Gibson Southern (5-1), Danville (5-1), Lawrenceburg (5-1), Mt. Vernon (Posey) (6-0), Brownstown Central (6-0), Western Boone (4-2), Norwell (4-2) and Tri-West (4-2).

Fort Wayne Luers (6-0) is No. 1 in Class 2A with Eastbrook (6-0), Andrean (4-2), Tipton (6-0), Linton-Stockton (6-0), Heritage Christian (6-0), Eastside (6-0), Evansville Mater Dei (4-2), Lafayette Central Catholic (3-3) and Speedway (5-1) rounding out the top 10.

Also receiving votes in the 2A poll were Monrovia (5-1), North Knox (5-1) and Southmont (5-1).

Lutheran (6-0) remains atop the Class A poll ahead of Adams Central (5-1), Monroe Central (6-0), Winamac (4-0), South Adams (4-2), Covenant Christian (4-2), Churubusco (4-2), South Putnam (5-1), Parke Heritage (4-2) and Perry Central (5-1).

Class A, No. 13 Southwestern improved to 8-3-1 Friday with an 8-2 victory Friday night over Central Christian.

Aiden Hartsell scored the first three goals of the game to run his season total to 39. In the final 10 minutes of the first half, Jonny Joy and Garreth Stringer each scored twice to give the Spartans a 7-0 halftime advantage.

Tucker Simmons opened the second-half scoring to push the lead to 8-0 before Jason Martinez and Elijah Mattingly found the back of the net for Central Christian (2-4).

Eli Fix had six saves in goal for Southwestern. Michael Clements also had two saves.

The Spartans are at Greenwood Wednesday:

In prep events Saturday:

Boys Soccer

Yorktown 2, Shelbyville 2 PKs 5-3

For the fourth time this season, Shelbyville had to decide a match in penalty kicks.

Jacob Heaton had two goals in regulation for Shelbyville but the Tigers (10-2, 5-2 Hoosier Heritage Conference) held the Golden Bears (8-7, 2-4 HHC) scoreless in two overtime periods then connected on all five penalty kick attempts to secure the conference win.

Girls Soccer

Triton Central 9, Monrovia 5

At Monrovia, Lizzie Graham scored four goals and Elaina Maurice added three more to help the visiting Tigers (2-9) end a 9-match losing streak.

The two Indiana Crossroads Conference teams were tied 2-2 at halftime before Triton Central erupted for seven second-half goals.

Kennedy Brown and Sophia Robertson also had goals against the Bulldogs (6-4-1).

Boys Tennis

Brown County 4, Southwestern 1

The Spartans’ No. 1 doubles pairing of Tristan Pappano and Caleb Pappano produced the only match victory.

Southwestern dropped to 5-7.

New Castle 3, Shelbyville 2

The Golden Bears got match wins at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles against the Trojans.

Shelbyville is 4-18 this season.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Delta, 25-17, 26-24, 25-22

The host Golden Bears improved to 13-8 (2-2 HHC) with a straight-set victory over the Eagles (5-14, 1-5 HHC).

Jaidyn Tackett led Shelbyville with 13 kills. Emily Parker had 11.

Emma Nolley finished with four aces and 18 digs. Gracie Leffler had 39 assists.

Maddie Smith led Delta with 10 kills. Camaya Murry had 12 digs and Addie Phillippe finished with 22 assists.

Class A Showdown

Morristown finished 1-3 in a tournament that routinely features top Class A programs in the state.

Lafayette Central Catholic (17-6) defeated the Yellow Jackets, 25-14, 25-5. Gracie Laster, Bella Thompson and Lilly Stoddard each had two kills for Morristown.

Blue River Valley improved to 8-10 with a 25-20, 25-17 win over the Yellow Jackets. Stoddard had a team-high 11 kills. Madison Espich collected 13 digs.

Loogootee (17-6) swept Morristown, 25-13, 25-10. Thompson finished with a team-high three kills. Hodgin, an all-tournament team selection, and Raegan Kleine combined for 23 digs.

Morristown’s victory came over Cowan, 25-11, 25-20. Thompson had a team-high eight kills. Kleine finished with nine digs and 23 assists.

Morristown is 9-12 this season.

Hauser Heritage Days Tournament

Waldron went 2-2 in the 9-team field.

Jennings County defeated the Mohawks, 25-15, 25-14. Alivia Elmore had six kills for the Panthers (13-9).

Greensburg swept Waldron, 25-18, 25-11. Josie Nobbe finished with seven kills for the Pirates (13-3).

Waldron defeated Oldenburg Academy, 25-13, 25-4.

Cross Country

Golden Bear Invitational

Shelbyville senior Stefanie Howard finished sixth in the Black Division Saturday at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville. She crossed the finish line in a new personal best 20 minutes, 11 seconds.

The Golden Bears finished 11^th in the division with Kaila Brattain (49^th, 22:45), Hannah Wright (65^th, 23:19), Kaylie McDonald (75^th, 24:15), Molly Fogle (94^th, 26:55) and Daisy Barrett (107^th, 28:39) competing.

Southwestern’s Lilly Rooks placed 13^th in the Gold Division race in a time of 23:13. Gracie Schlabach (16^th, 23:18), Jenna Drake (30^th, 24:29), Maxine Higdon (55^th, 27:40) and Malori Pike (56^th, 27:43) helped the Spartans to a 5^th-place finish in the division.

Waldron finished seventh with Hallie Ross (17^th, 23:19) leading the way. Also running for Waldron were Audrey Hogg (39^th, 24:48), Sophie Hudnall (49^th, 25:29), Cheyenne Lozier (52^nd, 25:49) and Riley Price (54^th, 27:08).

Shelbyville placed 10^th in the Black Division boys team standings.

Elijah Von Werder led the Golden Bears with a 41^st-place finish (18:36). Michael Fox was 48^th (18:50), Tristin Maloney was 83^rd (20:14), Ben Hinojosa was 85^th (20:23), Isaac Zermeno was 94^th (21:36), Isaiah Havens was 101^st (22:11), Gavin Harker was 107^th (23:26) and Gaige Harker was 115^th (26:17).

Waldron’s Will Larrison finished 18^th in the Gold Division in a time of 18:37. Also competing for the Mohawks were Jared Crosby (29^th, 19:28), Caden Shaeffer (49^th, 20:31), Ethan Richardson (59^th, 21:28), Nathaniel Evans (63^rd, 21:36) and Jimmie Taylor (86^th, 27:01).

Waldron was ninth in the team standings.

Southwestern finished 10^th with Dakota Claiborne (36^th, 19:49), Dane Kissell (43^rd, 20:12), Collin Cummings (57^th, 21:25), Ryan Griffin (67^th, 22:01) and Elias Clark (72^nd, 22:31).

Heritage Days Classic

In Hope, Triton Central finished fourth in the boys team standings.

Owen Sprinkle led the Tigers with a 12^th-place run (20:43). Also competing for TC were Lucas Bear (21^st, 21:27), Elizijuh Israel (23^rd, 21:50), Hank Hadler (26^th, 22:33) and Corbin Maurice (33^rd, 26:00).

Morristown had three entrants – Zavier Poole (7^th, 19:59), T.J. Butcher (29^th, 24:20) and Brayden Burris (36^th, 26:45).

Triton Central’s Hallie Schweitzer won the girls race in 21:29. Morristown’s Grace McLaughlin finished 14^th (25:42) and TC’s Brooke Bear was 30^th (34:50).

Morristown dominated the girls junior high race. The Yellow Jackets had six of the top eight finishers.

Taylor Tragesser won the race in 11:02 with teammates Chloe Tragesser (2^nd, 11:07), Clara Wallace (3^rd, 11:43), Lauren Kuhn (4^th, 11:48), Chloe Theobald (7^th, 12:14) and Brooke Kuhn (8^th, 12:17) close behind.

Triton Central was runner-up with Samantha Fladeland (5^th, 11:56), Ava Bedwell (10^th, 12:35), Jocelyn Oertel (14^th, 12:51), Brynne Aukerman (15^th, 12:53), and Rylee Pruitt (19^th, 13:16) finishing in the top 20.

Claire Larrison finished ninth and led Waldron to a third-place finish. Larrison crossed the finish line in 12:23 ahead of teammates Grace Fischer (13^th, 12:43), Brooklyn Milbourn (27^th, 13:53), Avery Haehl (29^th, 14:02) and Jessica Price (43^rd, 15:13).

Triton Central’s Liam Thompson won the boys race in 10:26 which helped the Tigers to a runner-up finish in the team standings behind Hauser.

Also for TC, Janssen Capps was fifth in 11:04, Jayden Franklin was 10^th in 11:43, Reid Oertel placed 24^th in 12:33 and Lucas Graham was 33^rd in 13:32.

Waldron finished fifth in the team standings. Ethan Hirschauer led the Mohawks with a 6^th-place finish (11:50). Also for Waldron, Elijah Thompson was 21^st (12:17), Jacob Kuhn was 22^nd (12:23) and Caige Sheaffer was 23^rd (12:27). Kevin Crouch completed the scoring with a 40^th place finish in 13:58.

Morristown’s lone entrant, Max Compton, finished fourth in 11:00.

For Shelbyville to capture its first boys soccer sectional title since 2010, it will need two wins at the Mt. Vernon Sectional.

On Sunday, the IHSAA announced the Boys Soccer State Tournament pairings in preparation for next week’s postseason tournament.

Boys sectional tournaments in three classes run from Oct. 4 through Oct. 9. Regional semifinals are Oct. 14 with regional champs crowned on Oct. 16. Semistate championships are Oct. 23 ahead of the state championship games on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

Shelbyville received a quarterfinal round bye at the Mt. Vernon Sectional and will await the winner of the sectional opener – Connersville (7-6) at Mt. Vernon (7-6) – in the semifinal round.

The Golden Bears (8-7) have not faced Connersville this season and lost to Mt. Vernon in penalty kicks on Sept. 14.

The other quarterfinal matchups are Richmond (5-5-1) against Greenfield-Central (3-7) and East Central (11-3) vs. New Palestine (6-8).

The Mt. Vernon Sectional champion will play at the Lawrence North Sectional champion on Oct. 14 in the regional semifinal round. The Lawrence North Sectional features Tech, Franklin Central, Lawrence Central, Crispus Attucks, No. 18-ranked Lawrence North, Warren Central and Cathedral.

Southwestern is the defending sectional champion and enters the 2021 Class A sectional with a 5-1 record against the field.

The opening game at Southwestern features Morristown (3-8-2) against Hauser (2-7). The Jets defeated Morristown, 3-1, on Sept. 21.

The winner of that match will take on Class A, No. 10 Southwestern (8-3-1) in the semifinals.

The other semifinal game is Oldenburg Academy (4-7) against Greenwood Christian (3-9).

Southwestern is 2-0 against Morristown, 1-1 with Hauser this season and has wins over Oldenburg Academy and Greenwood Christian.

The Southwestern Sectional champion will play at the Lutheran Sectional champion on Oct. 14 in the regional semifinal. The Lutheran Sectional features No. 9 Lutheran, Irvington Prep, No. 20 Covenant Christian, Central Christian and Providence Cristo Rey.

Southwestern has won three sectional championships – 2006, 2016 and 2020 – but is still seeking its first regional championship.

Shelbyville High School’s girls soccer team received the quickest route to the Greenfield-Central Sectional championship game, but it has to go through the sectional favorite first.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced the girls soccer sectional pairings Sunday night with the postseason starting next week. Sixteen sectionals in each of the three classes run from Oct. 4 through Oct. 9. Regional semifinals are Oct. 13 with champions crowned on Oct. 16. Semistates are Oct. 23 with the winners advancing to state championship games on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

At Greenfield-Central, Class 3A, No. 18 Mt. Vernon (8-3-1) opens the sectional against Richmond (6-6-1). In the other quarterfinal matchup, New Palestine (9-4) faces the host Cougars (5-7). The winners of those two matches meet in the first semifinal contest.

In the second semifinal, Shelbyville (8-3-1) takes on 3A No. 16 East Central (11-2-1).

The regional semifinal round is scheduled for Oct. 13 with the Greenfield-Central Sectional champion playing at the winner of the Franklin Central Sectional which features Lawrence North, Roncalli, Lawrence Central, Franklin Central, Perry Meridian, Southport and Warren Central.

Shelbyville has never won a girls soccer sectional championship.

The Class A Triton Central Sectional pits three teams vying to upset the top-ranked squad.

In the first semifinal contest, Class A, No. 1 Heritage Christian (8-7) takes on the host Tigers (2-9). The second semifinal features University (5-6) vs. Scecina (6-5).

Heritage Christian defeated Triton Central, 11-2 on Sept. 18.

The winner of the Triton Central Sectional will host the winner of the Knightstown Sectional on Oct. 13 in a regional semifinal match. The Knightstown Sectional includes Centerville, Wapahani, Knightstown, Union County and Muncie Burris.

Triton Central has won three sectional titles – 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Shelbyville golfer Regan Mathies shot a season best 92 Saturday at the Lapel Golf Regional but did not make the cut to the state finals tournament.

Playing at Edgewood Golf Club, Mathies, a senior playing high school golf for the first time this season, shot 45 on the front nine. She closed out the back nine with a 47 for her best round of the season – two shots better than her sectional performance that qualified her for the regional.

The top three teams and the top five individual performances from a non-advancing team advanced out of the five regional tournaments around the state.

At Lapel, Noblesville was crowned regional champion with 313. Hamilton Southeastern finished two shots back at 315 while Batesville earned the final spot at 331.

Hamilton Southeastern’s Yanah Rolston was the regional champion with a 69. Noblesville’s Carolina Whallon was five shots back at 74.

The top five advancing from Lapel were Lapel’s Macy Beeson (75), Mt. Vernon’s Meredith Johnson (80), Richmond’s Esther Etherington (80), Lawrence Central’s Alli Seitz (81) and Mt. Vernon’s Alaina Nugent (82).

The State Finals will be held Friday and Saturday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.

Shelbyville waited three weeks to take the field due to Covid issues.

Yorktown waited three games for a good start to a game.

The waiting was over for both Friday at McKeand Stadium.  Yorktown scored on the game’s opening drive and shut out the Golden Bears, 35-0.

Shelbyville (1-2, 0-1 HHC) hadn’t played since a Week 2 win over Richmond that snapped the program’s 26-game losing streak. Since then, the Golden Bears were forced to cancel games with Delta, New Castle and Greenfield-Central. 

Yorktown (4-2, 2-2  HHC) has dealt with Covid issues of its own.  The Tigers only took 28 players to a Week 3 loss at New Palestine.  The next week, Yorktown rallied for a dramatic overtime victory over its biggest rival, Delta.  Last week, Yorktown suffered a loss to New Castle.  In each game, Yorktown fell behind 14-0 to start the game.

The Tigers fortunes quickly reversed Friday.  Yorktown took the opening kickoff and capped a 67-yard scoring drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Mason Moulton.  Moulton accounted for four touchdowns on the night, two rushing and two more through the air.

Fullback Jack Stinson scored a first quarter 2-yard rushing touchdown to up the Tigers lead to 14-0.  Yorktown took a 28-0 lead into halftime after Moulton added passing touchdowns to seniors Adam Morrow and Joey Hazen in the second quarter.

Moulton’s 8-yard run midway through the third quarter capped the scoring and activated a running clock for the remainder of the game.

Moulton was 8-for-13 passing for 174 yards.

Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing on the GIANT fm Sports Cagney’s Pizza King Postgame.

Shelbyville’s offense struggled with just 90 yards on the ground (Cael Lux 13 carries – 32 yards) and 76 passing yards between quarterbacks Colton Adkins and Eli Chappelow.  Chappelow played the second half for the Golden Bears.  With six quarters available for players each week Chappelow will still have a full game available for him in Monday’s JV start at Yorktown.

Shelbyville girls soccer needed a strong penalty-kick performance to secure its sixth-straight victory Thursday night at Greenfield-Central.

After two scoreless halves and overtime periods, the Golden Bears and Cougars set up for penalty kicks.

Ava Wilson matched a G-C goal in the first of five rounds.

Shelbyville goalkeeper Macy Cooley stopped the Cougars’ second-scoring attempt and Rebecca Valdez put the Golden Bears up 2-1.

Another G-C goal was matched by Sophie Parker to make it 3-2.

Cooley collected another save but the Golden Bears couldn’t capitalize with the game winner.

In round five, G-C scored to tie it up but Lilly Johnson pounded in the game winner for Shelbyville (8-3-1, 3-2 Hoosier Heritage Conference).

Greenfield-Central dropped to 4-6 (1-4 HHC).

In other prep events Thursday:

Boys Soccer

Shelbyville 3, South Dearborn 1

At South Dearborn, Christian Haas collected his first varsity hat trick scoring once in the first half and twice in the second half to push the Golden Bears’ record to 8-6 this season.

“For long stretches we completely dictated the play,” said Shelbyville coach Ben Purvis. “It was the best we’ve looked in a few weeks.”

South Dearborn has lost four of its last five matches to fall to 6-8.

The junior varsity match finished in a 1-1 tie. Zavier Leon scored for Shelbyville with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 4, Beech Grove 1

At Beech Grove, Triton Central’s doubles pairings continued their strong seasons.

At No. 1 doubles, Avram Rund and Quintin Potts defeated Lee Cummings and Caiden Lunsford, 6-0, 6-1.

And Oliver Gearlds and Griffin Sego topped Austin Magiri and Charlie Kidwell, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles.

Both teams are a Shelby County best 14-5 this season.

Triton Central (14-6) also got singles victories from Ashton Sturm and Cole Thomas. Sturm defeated Matthew Pettigrew at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2. Thomas blanked Logan Heilwagon, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Beech Grove’s lone match win came at No. 1 singles where Chase Alford defeated Tucker Hutchinson, 7-6 (12), 1-6, 11-9.

Trinity Lutheran 3, Southwestern 2

Southwestern won both doubles matches but could not capture a singles victory against Trinity Lutheran.

At No. 1 doubles, Caleb Pappano and Tristan Pappano defeated Nathan Finke and Cameron Greenwald, 6-1, 6-4.

Ty Burcham and Carter Snepp teamed up to defeat Evan Hunt and Will Gansman, 4-6, 7-6, 10-1 at No. 2 doubles.

Hunter Pappano lost at No. 1 singles to Ryan Klumen, 6-1, 6-2.

Solomon Hall topped Justin Swift at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2.

And Nathan Voelker defeated Jackson Burcham, 6-2, 6-4.

Southwestern is 5-6 this season.

Greenwood 4, Shelbyville 1

Shelbyville’s only match win came from Logan Prickett at No. 3 singles.

The Golden Bears are 4-17 this season. The Woodmen improved to 11-8.

Indian Creek 4, Waldron 1

Waldron dropped to 5-8 this season with a loss to the Braves.

Volleyball

Triton Central def. Southwestern, 25-12, 25-15, 25-17

The Tigers (11-6) used a balanced offensive effort to take down the Spartans (8-14).

Hallie Schweitzer, Maddy Brown and Brooklyn Bailey each had eight kills to lead Triton Central. Kayden Simmons added seven more and Kaitlin Bramlett had six.

Julia Sanders finished with a team-high 21 digs. Simmons finished with 14.

Setters Maia Harris (18 assists) and Kate Isley (16 assists) combined for 34 assists.

North Decatur def. Morristown, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 25-22

At Morristown, Caroline Stapp and Madelyn Bohman combined for 30 kills to lead North Decatur (12-5) over the Yellow Jackets (8-9).

The loss ended Morristown’s four-match win streak.

Aubrey Kennelly and Samantha Luttel each had 15 digs for North Decatur and Luttel, North Decatur’s setter, collected 43 assists.

Waldron def. Tri, 25-20, 25-11, 25-13

At Waldron, the Mohawks made quick work of the Titans to improve to 12-6 this season. Waldron has won seven of its last eight matches.

Tri has lost 9 of 10 to drop to 5-13.

Franklin def. Shelbyville, 28-26, 25-22, 25-23

Shelbyville suffered its first loss of the season to a potential sectional opponent.

Franklin has won five of its last six matches to improve to 9-10 this season.

Shelbyville is 12-8.

Week three of the Shelbyville football season kicks off Friday night when most other football programs across the state are in week six.

In quite possibly the longest month in program history, Shelbyville finally escapes the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic for a follow-up performance to its stunning 22-16 victory over Richmond on Aug. 27. The win was the first for the program since midway through the 2018 season.

“I hated that we lost three football games because you only get so many, especially for our seniors,” said head coach Brian Glesing. “We are excited. Everyone is happy to get back to work and have our full team together.”

Shelbyville was less than 24 hours from a week three Hoosier Heritage Conference contest with Delta when the number of COVID-19 cases within the program and close contact tracing throughout the school forced the cancellation of the game. Back-to-back road games at New Castle and Greenfield-Central were shut down as well meaning the Golden Bears are making their 2021 HHC debut Friday when Yorktown visits McKeand Stadium.

“Even with it raining today we went outside and practiced and everything went well,” said Glesing Wednesday afternoon. “The kids had fun with it. It’s always fun to have a rain practice.

“The mood is good. They are ready to get back at it … ready to play.”

Yorktown (3-2, 1-2 HHC) opened the season with consecutive routs of Anderson (46-6) and Muncie Central (49-12) before losing at New Palestine (42-14). The Tigers rebounded for an overtime win at Delta (28-27) before losing to New Castle, 28-21, last Friday night.

Sophomore quarterback Mason Moulton (6-3, 192 pounds) has been dynamic within the Yorktown offense. He has completed 80-of-141 pass attempts (57%) for 1,007 yards and 10 touchdowns. His two favorite receivers, Kolton Nanko (6-0, 170) and Carter Loveless (6-3, 230), have combined for 51 catches, 636 yards and seven TDs.

Moulton is the team’s second-leading rusher at 109 yards and four TDs. Jalen Thomas (5-10, 155) leads the Tigers with 263 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

“He is big, he runs and can throw,” said Glesing of Moulton. “They do a lot of things offensively as far as formations go.

“We have to control the ball, get first downs and win the time of possession battle and keep their offense off the field.”

Moulton threw for just over 300 yards and three touchdowns against New Castle.

Class 4A, No. 7 Mt. Vernon is the only HHC program with four wins this season and holds a one-game advantage in the HHC standings with a 3-0 mark. New Palestine is 2-1 with the other six teams at .500 or below.

“It’s interesting how our conference is going,” said Glesing. “(Yorktown) beat Delta then turned around and lost to New Castle. And we haven’t played a conference game yet.”

Yorktown is a 28-point favorite Friday according to Sagarin ratings, but Glesing sees a favorable matchup ahead of a tough three-game stretch to end the regular season.

“Yorktown will be a good opponent and I think we can compete with them,” he said. “And then we get into the meat of it after that with New Palestine, Mount Vernon and Pendleton Heights to finish it off.”

Friday’s game feels more like a season opener than a week six clash. Glesing had to refresh the team on its regular weekly schedule that was non-existent the last two weeks with no Thursday practices, Friday games or Saturday morning meetings.

“We had to reteach them on all these processes,” said Glesing. “Football is a game of routine during the football season. You have a Monday practice, you have a Tuesday practice, you have a Wednesday practice, you have a Thursday practice. They are all usually the same. Then a Friday game and Saturday morning and you get into that routine. We haven’t been able to get into that routine.

“That’s been an issue. I like routine. I think teenagers like routine. When you get out of your routine, people start to act differently.”

Friday night is Homecoming at Shelbyville. Wednesday afternoon’s festivities, including the parade and powderpuff football games, were canceled due to inclement weather. Friday night is the third day of fall and the weather looks terrific.

“It’s all new to me since this is my first Homecoming here. Every school is a little different,” said Glesing, in his first season at Shelbyville. “I think our student body is ready for a football game. I think the weather is going to be good on Friday. I hope for a big game, a party atmosphere like we had a month ago and a good football game.”

As part of Friday’s schedule, youth football players will be recognized at 6:55 p.m., the participants in a youth cheerleading camp last month will perform in between the first and second quarters, and the Homecoming court will be introduced at halftime.

The records are misleading.

Triton Central is 3-2 with losses to a pair of state-ranked opponents. Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter is 0-5 for the first time since 1996 with two of its losses to top-ranked teams in the state.

“They are the best 0-5 team in the state of Indiana,” said Triton Central coach Tim Able. “Ritter is talented, big and fast. Everyone we have played has unbelievable athleticism. They are young like us and have a new system with a new offensive coordinator and new defensive coordinator.”

Able may be overselling Ritter somewhat. Under first-year head coach Brad Purcell, the Raiders are allowing 40 points per game with a young and thin roster. Last Friday’s 32-19 loss to Constantine (Michigan) was the only time their opponent has not scored at least 40 points.

Look at the four losses, though. Ritter’s losses are to Class 2A, No. 11 Monrovia (41-12), Class A, No. 1 Lutheran (48-20), Class 3A, No. 1 Brebeuf (40-6) and Class 2A, No. 9 Speedway (41-21).

“They are athletic and long along the defensive line of scrimmage,” said Able. “We will need to use our speed, quickness and endurance.”

Triton Central is not yet back to full strength with sophomore running back Brayden Wilkins and freshman lineman Willie Baugh still sidelined with injuries. The good news is junior Brad Schultz is fully cleared for action on both sides of the ball.

The Tigers’ final four games of the regular season are all against Indiana Crossroads Conference opponents.

“We are ready to get on a little winning streak and get some momentum going,” said Able.

Playing well on Friday nights is not a given, even after a strong week of practice as the Tigers learned last week in a 27-9 win at Indian Creek.

“We had a great week of practice last week and then we didn’t execute certain things … do the simple things,” said Able.

The learning curve can be steep when you are relying on so many underclassmen.

“Mentally, we’ve responded quite well,” said Able. “They understand we weren’t pleased with the Indian Creek performance. And now it’s conference the rest of the way.”

Able entered his 29^th season as a head coach with 197 career victories. Reaching milestone win No. 200 was inevitable this season but not something he wanted to discuss. Now that the feat is accomplished with several family members in attendance and several more friends and former players reaching out to congratulate him, Able is more open about his career that includes winning a state championship with East Noble in 2000.

“Coaches are control freaks and we would like (a milestone) to be our best game ever coached or the best game we’ve ever played … and it was not,” said Able with a laugh. “Our psyche was we knew we could whoop them, and we didn’t come ready early like we should have.”

Able has been very public through social media what it means to have his father, Norman Able, in attendance at games this season while battling a tumor. At 92, “Stormin” Norman loves to watch TC football and be a part of the program.

“It meant a lot to my family,” said Able. “And my dad got to be there. Mom was there in spirit.”

Able’s mother passed away in 2013 while his father has continued ministry work that has taken him to Kentucky and Ohio as well as several stops in Indiana.

“He has been that rock,” said Able. “He didn’t get to play athletics when he was young. He played a little basketball when he was in college.

“He has always been the transportation and the support for us in all those things.”

Norman Able addressed the Tigers after Friday’s win (photo) while wearing a T-shirt that said, “My son just won #200.” He has only missed a small handful of games over his son’s three-decade coaching career. And his health is improving, so there are many more games ahead.

“It’s a milestone. Maybe I am a little crazy but it would be nice to get 250 before all is said and done,” said Able of his next coaching milestone.

The ICC schedule Friday includes Beech Grove (2-3, 1-3 ICC) at Monrovia (4-1, 3-0 ICC) and Scecina (3-2, 2-1 ICC) at Lutheran (5-0, 4-0 ICC). In non-conference games, Cascade (1-4) travels to North Putnam (1-3) and Edinburgh (4-1) is at Speedway (4-1).

Triton Central suffered its second consecutive loss to a Hoosier Heritage Conference opponent.

On Wednesday in Fairland, top 10-ranked Mt. Vernon earned a 25-15, 25-23, 25-13 victory over the Tigers (10-6).

Southern Illinois commit Cecilia Buhlman led the Marauders (17-3) with 22 kills. Buhlman has over 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career assists.

Macy Lyons and Meredith Hohnbaum each had eight kills.

Abby Herman collected nine serving aces and setter Rylee Ugen notched 43 assists.

Maddy Brown led Triton Central with eight kills. Brooklyn Bailey finished with five kills.

Julia Sanders and Brown each had 18 digs. Kate Isley and Maia Harris combined for 17 assists.

In other prep events Wednesday:

Girls Soccer

Scecina 3, Triton Central 1

At Triton Central, Madelynn Martin had a first half hat trick to get the Crusaders the Indiana Crossroads Conference victory.

Martin has a team-high 17 goals this season for Scecina (5-4).

Lizzie Graham scored Triton Central’s lone goal in the second half. Graham leads the Tigers (1-9) with 13 goals.

Volleyball

Southwestern def. Christel House Academy, 25-10, 25-12, 25-6

The Spartans improved to 8-13 with a road victory.

Senior Kyla Robertson (photo) became the second Spartan this season to eclipse 1,000 career digs. Brooklyn Robertson just recently accomplished the feat.

Christel House won the junior varsity contest.

As the Indiana high school fall sports season rolls along, it is time to think about the postseason.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced it will produce and stream four state tournament pairings shows in the weeks ahead.

Each program will air exclusively at IHSAAtv.org.

On Sunday, the boys and girls soccer tournament pairings will be announced starting at 7 p.m.

One night later, the state tennis tournament pairings will be revealed at 7 p.m.

The volleyball state pairings show follows on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.

The football state pairings show is one week later on Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.

Greg Rakestraw of ISC Sports Network will serve as host of the soccer, tennis and volleyball shows while Bob Lovell of Indiana Sports Talk and Paul Condry of Regional Radio Sports Network and Indiana Football Digest will host the football program.

Immediately following each show, a news release with the sectional pairings will be available online at IHSAA.org.

Elizabeth Kemper posted rounds of 90 and 79 for Taylor University’s golf team Monday and Tuesday at the Ball State Cardinal Classic played at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown, Indiana.

The invitational field featured more than a dozen Division I golf programs.

Kemper, a sophomore and Triton Central graduate, finished tied for 27^th overall on Sept. 11 after rounds of 82 and 80 at The Players Club Invitational in Yorktown.

Taylor, ranked 18^th nationally, finished third in the tournament ahead of two nationally-ranked programs.

On Sept. 7, Kemper helped Taylor win the Forester Invitational played at Brookwood Golf Club in Fort Wayne.

Kemper shot rounds of 84 and 80 to finish tied for 17^th in her season-opening tournament.

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

Jill Anspaugh

The Shelbyville graduate finished 72^nd overall for Franklin College Friday in Taylor University’s Ray Bullock Invite.

Anspaugh, who was the second Franklin College runner across the finish line, completed the 3.11-mile course in 21 minutes, 29 seconds.

Makenzie Logan

Huntington University’s women’s tennis team finished 1-3 in the IWU Fall Classic.

On Thursday, the University of Northwestern Ohio defeated Huntington, 7-0. Logan and her No. 3 doubles partner, Nina Golfier, were defeated 7-5. Logan lost her No. 6 singles match to Dayana Morejon, 6-0, 6-0.

Huntington was defeated Friday by Holy Cross College, 4-0. Logan and Golfier lost at No. 3 doubles. Logan’s No. 5 singles match was not finished after the match outcome was decided.

On Saturday, Huntington secured a 4-1 win over Judson University. Logan and Golfier lost at No. 3 doubles while Logan’s No. 6 singles match did not finish.

Huntington closed out the invitational with a 4-0 loss to No. 18 Indiana Tech. Logan and Golfier were defeated 6-1 at No. 3 doubles. Logan’s No. 6 singles match was not finished.

Daniela Joseph

The Shelbyville graduate carded an 18-hole score of 100 for Earlham College’s women’s golf team Saturday in the Beaver Fall Classic at Bluffton Golf Course in Bluffton, Ohio.

Nick Brokering

The Shelbyville graduate had two tackles for Mount St. Joseph Saturday in a 31-30 loss at Trine.

Mount St. Joseph is 1-2 this season.

Bailey Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had 10 assists and eight digs Sunday in Eastern Illinois’ 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 25-15 loss to visiting Indiana State University.

Two nights earlier, Eastern Illinois traveled to Indiana State and suffered a 25-10, 25-10, 25-15 loss. Chandler had three assists and five digs.

Eastern Illinois is 7-3.

Maggie Schweitzer

The Triton Central graduate finished with three assists, one ace and five digs Saturday for Hanover College as it finished a perfect 4-0 in its own Hanover Invitational.

The Panthers (7-6) closed out the invitational with a 25-16, 25-17, 25-8 win over Wilmington College. Also on Saturday, Hanover defeated Trine, 25-17, 25-8, 25-22. Schweitzer had one ace and six digs.

On Friday, Hanover topped Berea College, 25-17, 25-14, 23-25, 17-25, 15-13, and Spalding University, 25-10, 25-20, 25-19. Schweitzer had one assist, one ace and six digs against Berea and two assists, three aces and seven digs against Spalding.

Maddy Beaver

The Triton Central graduate collected four kills for Goshen College Saturday in a 25-11, 25-15, 25-16 loss to St. Francis (Ind.). The loss dropped Goshen to 3-15 this season.

On Friday, Goshen traveled to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and lost to Mt. Vernon Nazarene University, 25-14, 25-16, 25-21. Beaver finished with four kills and one dig.

Brooklyn Schiffli

Jacksonville State volleyball suffered two losses Friday to nationally-ranked programs.

Competing in the Stacey Clark Classic in West Lafayette, Indiana, Jacksonville State lost to No. 9 Purdue Friday, 25-16, 25-19, 25-20. Schiffli, a Triton Central graduate, had one ace, one assist and 10 digs in the loss.

That same night, No. 22 Tennessee pinned a 25-23, 25-21, 25-17 loss on the Gamecocks. Schiffli had one assist and eight digs.

Jacksonville State closed out the invitational with a 25-19, 21-25, 25-15, 25-16 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday. Schiffli finished with three assists and 13 digs.

Jacksonville State is 10-3 this season.

Greenwood Christian held a 3-2 lead inside two minutes left Tuesday night at Shelbyville. A road victory seemed imminent.

The Golden Bears thought differently.

Ava Wilson scored to tie the match and seconds later Evelyn Kiefer delivered the game winner for an improbable 4-3 win over the Cougars (2-7-1).

Shelbyville (7-3-1) has won five straight and is 5-1-1 in the month of September.

Shelbyville and Greenwood Christian played to a 1-1 tie at halftime. The Cougars gained the lead in the second half before the Golden Bears’ stunning comeback.

Kiefer scored twice to run her Shelby County leading goal-scoring total to 18. Wilson’s goal was her 13^th, second best amongst Shelby County girls soccer players.

Rebecca Valdez added her fifth goal of the season and Sophie Parker had two assists (17 this season). Emma Sandman also had an assist for Shelbyville.

Macy Cooley finished with six saves.

Shelbyville is at Greenfield-Central (4-5) Thursday.

In other prep events Wednesday:

Boys Soccer

Hauser 3, Morristown 1

At Hauser, the host Jets improved to 2-6 this season while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 2-8-2.

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 5, Morristown 0

The host Tigers improved to 13-6 this season with a makeshift lineup on Senior Night.

Tucker Hutchinson defeated Grant Kessler at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-0.

Avram Rund topped Tyler Schonfeld, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.

And Oliver Gearlds defeated Austin Gabbard at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

Rund and Gearlds have played doubles matches all season.

Alex Crouse and Quinton Potts teamed up for a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes.

And Griffin Sego and Ashton Sturm paired for a 6-0, 6-0 win over Carson Essex and Jerry Riley.

Morristown is 1-8 this season.

In junior varsity matches, TC’s Cole Thomas defeated Brady Schonfeld, 8-0, and Ben Toth defeated Morristown’s Luke Stidham, 8-3.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Lawrence Central, 25-14, 25-13, 25-18

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears (12-7) improved to 9-4 in the month of September after dispatching of winless Lawrence Central (0-8).

Jaidyn Tackett (11 kills) and Shelby Lasure (eight kills) led the offensive attack. Karlie Lawson, Payton Jackson and Tackett each had three aces.

Emma Nolley recorded a team-high eight digs and Gracie Leffler finished with 26 assists.

Morristown def. Oldenburg Academy, 27-25, 25-23, 25-20

At Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets collected their fourth straight victory to improve to 8-8 this season.

Oldenburg Academy dropped to 7-8.

The visiting Twisters won the junior varsity match, 25-24, 25-6.

Waldron def. South Decatur, 25-10, 25-10, 25-16

At Waldron, the host Mohawks pushed their record to 11-6 this season against winless South Decatur (0-9).

Waldron also won the junior varsity match in straight sets.

Hauser def. Southwestern, 25-16, 25-13, 25-23

At Hauser, the host Jets improved to 14-7.

The Spartans dropped to 7-13.

Cross Country

Waldron 15, Morristown Inc.

In a dual meet, Morristown did not have enough runners to field a full team against the host Mohawks.

Hallie Ross led Waldron with a first-place finish in the girls race. Also competing were Cheyenne Lozier (third place), Sophie Hudnall (fourth), Audrey Hogg (fifth) and Riley Price (sixth).

Caden Sheaffer won the boys race and three of his Waldron teammates followed across the finish line. Will Larrison was runner-up ahead of Jared Crosby and Nathaniel Evans. Ethan Richardson (sixth), Skylar Ferguson (seventh) and Kyle Lacy (ninth) also represented Waldron.

For Morristown, Zavier Poole finished fifth in the boys race while Grace McLaughlin was runner-up in the girls race.

Also for Morristown, T.J Butcher finished seventh and Brayden Burris was 10^th.

In a match that saw momentum swing back and forth through five sets Monday night in Fairland, Shelbyville finally prevailed over Triton Central, 17-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13.

Senior Emily Parker finished with 17 kills, four aces and 12 digs to lead the Golden Bears (11-7), who have won seven of their last 10 matches.

Shelby Lasure added 13 kills and Madison Bassett had eight kills and three aces. Kina Schultz collected five total blocks, Emmy Nolley had a team-high 22 digs and setter Gracie Leffler notched 46 assists.

Triton Central (10-5) got 12 kills each from Maddy Brown and Brooklyn Bailey. Kaitlin Bramlett and Bailey had three blocks apiece.

Julia Sanders led the defense with 32 digs. Brown followed with 19 and Kayden Simmons finished with 14.

Setter Kate Isley recorded 33 assists.

In other prep events Monday:

Boys Soccer

Greenfield-Central 3, Shelbyville 1

At Shelbyville, the visiting Cougars (3-7, 3-2 Hoosier Heritage Conference) opened a lead with first-half goals by Tyler Kerkhof and Drew Davidson.

Jason Scrivner added a penalty kick goal just over 13 minutes into the second half to make it 3-0.

Christian Haas converted a penalty kick goal in the game’s final two minutes for Shelbyville (7-6, 2-3 HHC), who celebrated Senior Night (photo).

Volleyball

Southwestern def. Knightstown, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18

At Southwestern, senior Brooklyn Schneider (photo) collected career dig No. 1,000 in the Spartans’ victory.

Southwestern improved to 7-12 this season.

Knightstown (6-11) got 13 kills from Paige Personett. Gwen Dyer had 31 assists.

Morristown def. South Decatur, 25-20, 25-13, 25-16

At Morristown, the host Yellow Jackets improved to 7-8 this season with a Mid-Hoosier Conference victory over winless South Decatur (0-8).

Morristown won the junior varsity match, 25-15, 25-8.

Prize Kiss was the favorite for a reason coming into the $46,937 John Deere Juvenile Challenge Final Monday at Indiana Grand. The Tony Cunningham trained freshman is always close at the wire and earned his second stakes win in the event to qualify for the Bank of America Challenge Championships set for The Downs at Albuquerque on Oct. 23.

Starting from post four, Prize Kiss was a few strides slower than his opponents at the start, but quickly rebounded and got into gear for jockey L.D. Martinez (photo). Stablemate All Star Beach was in contention for the lead early on.

Prize Kiss traveled down the stretch in the 350-yard dash to gain the win by three-quarters of a length at the wire in 18.25 seconds.

All Star Beach and Rolando Pina held ground inside well for second over Dominyuns Runaway and Jose Beltran, who finished a head back in third closing in on the outside.

Owned by Pamela Brickley Hann and Craig Zeneberg, Prize Kiss is now two for six in his career with only one start back of second place. The Kiss My Hocks colt was purchased out of the Heritage Place September Yearling Sale last fall for $38,000 and now has in excess of $138,000 for his connections. He won the $132,000 Heartland Futurity earlier in the season at Indiana Grand.

“He doesn’t always break that well and was a little off today, but Daniel (Martinez) said he got strong once he got out a ways,” said Cunningham, who finished one-two in the race as a trainer. “The team has done a super job with this horse. From the jockey to the grooms, they have all done a great job with him.”

The John Deere Juvenile Challenge, paired with the Q Racing Videos Distaff Challenge, also ran Monday at Indiana Grand, established a precursor to the 2022 Bank of America Challenge Championships, which will be hosted by Indiana Grand. The races will be the first time the Challenge has come to Indiana and preparations are already underway for the Quarter Horse racing showcase.

“This will be a big thing for Indiana,” said Cunningham. “If we can get more people paid in it will go over really well here at Indiana Grand.”

Jess Over Yonder and jockey Natasha Fritz made it three wins in a row with a victory in the $24,684 Q Racing Video Distaff Challenge Monday at Indiana Grand.

The duo covered the 400-yard dash in a time of 20.41 seconds.

Jess Over Yonder (photo) was speedy out of the gate and made her presence known from start to finish in the event. She had challengers on both sides of her coming down to the wire and held her ground for the win by a neck.

One Coldhearted Diva and Giovani Vazquez-Gomez finished second in the three-horse photo for the win. Shaw Island Senator and Juan Marquez finished third.

Jess Over Yonder is a homebred daughter of Apolitical Jess. Nick Johnson’s JF Racing Stables bred the Louisiana bred filly. Tim Eggleston handles the training for the sophomore filly that has not been worse than fourth since joining his stable in April. She is now three for seven this season and pushed her career bankroll over the $43,000 mark with the win.

Fritz, who has been aboard for all seven starts this year at Indiana Grand, was emotional following the win.

“We’ve grown so much together this year,” said Fritz. “She gives everything she’s got, and she aims to please. She’s just a thrill to ride. I was pretty confident early, and she fights for it. She wasn’t going to let those horses pass her.”

Fritz noted the support of the team behind the filly from the Eggleston barn and from the owners.

“I’m very blessed to have this whole team behind me,” said Fritz.

The Q Racing Videos Distaff Challenge was one of two on the card in preparation for the Bank of America Challenge Championships set for Oct. 23 at The Downs at Albuquerque. Jose Contreras of the Los Alamitos broadcast team provided additional racing analysis at Indiana Grand, which will host the 2022 event.

Preparations are already underway to provide the backdrop for the Quarter Horse showcase coming to Indiana next season.

Regan Mathies’ first and only high school golf season has proven memorable.

The senior, who joined the Shelbyville golf program this season, shot 94 Monday in rainy conditions at the New Palestine Golf Sectional at Hawk’s Tail Golf Course to advance to the regional round of the IHSAA state tournament.

Mathies’ 21-over par score also helped Shelbyville to a fifth-place finish at 422, trailing Mt. Vernon (339), Greenfield-Central (384), New Palestine (387) and Greenwood (400).

Mt. Vernon, Greenfield-Central and New Palestine earned automatic berths into Saturday’s Lapel Regional. The top three individual sectional scores Monday not on an advancing team also make the trip to Lapel.

Greenwood’s Maura Guilfoy posted the third best score overall at 80 to secure a regional spot along with Mathies (photo, second from right) and Greenwood’s Emma Baker, who shot 95.

Mt. Vernon’s Alaina Nugent was the sectional champion with a two-over par round of 75. Her teammate, Meredith Johnson, was runner-up at 78.

Following Mathies on the Shelbyville scorecard were Kaylee Tackett (100), Lanie Stephens (112), Madison Monroe (116) and Kate Linville (120).

Southwestern finished seventh in the team standings with Eastern Hancock between the Spartans and Golden Bears.

Lily Kerber (photo) led the Spartans at 106. Alison Muck was one shot back at 107. McKinley Correll (124), Sydney Griffin (135) and Olivia Chandler (137) completed the Southwestern roster.

Greenwood Christian placed eighth and Morristown was ninth.

Delaney Cornn led the Yellow Jackets at 112. Also competing Monday were Ashlee Ballinger (125), McKinley Kile (139) and Mollie Runnebohm (143).

The Yellow Jackets wore orange ribbons and bows in support for Morristown High School senior Quinton Batton, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

Triton Central did not have enough golfers to post a team score.

Emma Branham led the Tigers at 105. Kendra Erdmann was five shots back at 110. And Olivia Martin closed out the season at 129.

Southwestern continues to rise and fall in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association state poll.

After a 2-1 loss to Hauser Friday, the Spartans (7-3-1) slipped two spots to No. 10 in the Class A boys soccer poll.

Park Tudor is the top-ranked team in Class A this week followed by Providence, University, North White, Kouts, South Knox, Faith Christian, Forest Park, Lutheran and Southwestern.

Other notables in the top 20 are Jac-Cen-Del (12^th), Heritage Christian (13^th), South Ripley (14^th) and Cascade (15^th).

Fort Wayne Canterbury tops the 2A poll with Guerin Catholic, West Lafayette, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Mishawaka Marian, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Gibson Southern, Speedway, Heritage Hills and Culver Academies rounding out the top 10.

Other notables are Yorktown (13^th) and Batesville (20^th).

In the Class 3A poll, Fishers is No. 1 ahead of Noblesville, Chesterton, Castle, Penn, Valparaiso, Hamilton Southeastern, Elkhart, Lake Central and Evansville Memorial.

In the girls state coaches poll, Noblesville is No. 1 followed by Homestead, Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, Bloomington South, North Central, South Bend St. Joseph, Columbus North, Center Grove and Zionsville. East Central is 16^th and Mt. Vernon is 18^th.

In 2A, Chatard is top the squad with Cathedral, Evansville Memorial, Mishawaka Marian, Park Tudor, Brebeuf, Evansville Mater Dei, Hamilton Heights, Lawrenceburg and Tri West rounding out the top 10.

Despite a .500 record against strong competition, Heritage Christian is No. 1 in Class A. Forest Park is second ahead of Evansville Christian, Fort Wayne Canterbury, Argos, Providence, Faith Christian, Northeast Dubois, Speedway and Oldenburg Academy. Cascade is 17^th and Monrovia is 20^th.

Southwestern’s Grant Emerick and Waldron’s Josh Kellems and the doubles pairing of Bryant Becker and Matthew Thomas captured Mid-Hoosier Conference tennis titles Saturday.

Playing at No. 2 singles, Emerick (photo) defeated Edinburgh’s Travis Jones, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinal round and Hauser’s Caleb Wallace in the championship match, 6-2, 2-6, 10-6.

Morristown’s Grant Kessler was defeated by Wallace in the opening match, 6-3, 6-2. Wallace then eliminated Waldron’s Jack Fischer, 6-4, 2-6, 10-3.

In the No. 3 singles bracket, Josh Kellems (photo above) produced a 6-4, 6-4 win over Southwestern’s Hunter Pappano in the semis and then won a third-set tiebreaker over Edinburgh’s Austin Brockman, 2-6, 6-4, 10-6 to claim the title.

Hauser’s Carson Rose eliminated Morristown’s Austin Gabbard, 6-3, 6-1 in the opening match at No. 3 singles.

Becker and Thomas (photo above) scored a 6-2, 6-0 win over Morristown’s Carson Essex and Jerry Riley in the semifinals of the No. 2 doubles bracket to reach the championship match.

In the other half of the bracket, Southwestern’s Justin Swift and Ty Burcham defeated Hauser’s No. 2 doubles pairing, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 to reach the title tilt.

Becker and Thomas were crowned champions with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Swift and Burcham.

At No. 1 singles, Southwestern’s Tristan Pappano defeated Morristown’s Tyler Schonfeld, 6-2, 1-6, 10-6 before losing to Waldron’s Lucas Shaw, 6-3, 6-4.

Hauser’s Sam Miller was crowned champion after a 6-4, 6-2 win over Shaw.

At No. 2 doubles, Southwestern’s Caleb Pappano and Carter Snepp eliminated Waldron’s Max Jones and Jacob Lindsey in the semifinal round, 6-4, 6-3 before losing to Hauser’s entry in the championship, 6-1, 6-0.

Morristown’s Bryce Bryant and Rylan Jones were knocked out in the first round, 6-4, 6-0.

With a trio of runners finishing in the top 10, Southwestern’s girls cross country program (photo) won the Mid-Hoosier Conference title Saturday at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville.

Southwestern junior Lilly Rooks won the race in 23 minutes flat. Gracie Schlabach was fourth in 24:01 and Jenna Drake placed seventh in 24:28.

Southwestern also got top-20 finishes from Maxine Higdon (17^th in 28:32) and Malori Pike (19^th in 28:40).

The Spartans’ 40 points outdistanced South Decatur (51), North Decatur (56) and Waldron (71). No other MHC school fielded a full team.

Waldron’s Hallie Ross was sixth in 24:23. Also for Waldron, Sophie Hudnall finished 14^th (27:19), Audrey Hogg was 16^th (28:29), Riley Price placed 24^th (30:50) and Cheyenne Lozier finished 27^th (31:38).

Morristown’s lone entrant was freshman Grace McLaughlin (12^th in 26:36).

South Decatur won the boys conference championship with 30 points. Waldron was runner-up at 40 ahead of Southwestern (73), North Decatur (83) and Edinburgh (123).

Waldron freshman Will Larrison was the race runner-up in 19:27. South Decatur senior Trevor Newby was the MHC champion after crossing the finish line in 18:54.

Another Waldron freshman, Jared Crosby, placed fourth in 20:05. Completing the Waldron lineup were Caden Shaeffer (10^th in 21:07), Ethan Richardson (13^th in 21:49) and Nathaniel Evans (19^th in 23:05).

Southwestern’s Dane Kissell finished fifth in 20:08. Dakota Claiborne (ninth in 20:46) had a top-10 finish. Ryan Griffin (21^st in 23:28), Elias Clark (24^th in 23:38) and Collin Cummings (30^th in 26:14) also competed for Southwestern.

Morristown had three runners: Zavier Poole (sixth in 20:18), T.J. Butcher (31^st in 26:32) and Brayden Burris (33^rd in 28:10).

In the middle school girls meet, all five of Morristown’s runners finished in the top eight for a dominant team performance.

Taylor Tragesser won the race in 11:40 ahead of teammates Chloe Tragesser (12:09), Clara Wallace (13:29) and Brooke Kuhn (13:29). Chloe Theobald was sixth (14:21) and Hayden Mohr was eighth (14:56).

Waldron’s Claire Larrison (fourth in 14:05) and Grace Fischer (seventh in 14:46) kept the Mohawks from sweeping the top six spots.

Waldron finished runner-up to Morristown in the team standings with Avery Haehl finishing 14^th in 15:34, Brooklyn Milbourn getting 18^th in 16:10 and Jessica Price crossing the finish line in 28^th in 18:11.

Also running for Waldron were Arianna Thomas (18:57), Kassidy Meulen (19:18), Abby Crouch (20:13), Ava Leising (20:14) and Kendal Berauer (20:28).

Southwestern entered two runners: Adalyn Brewer (13^th in 15:33) and Sienna Shaw (18:29).

Hauser won the boys MHC title with Waldron and South Decatur the only other programs fielding full teams.

Southwestern’s Chris Claiborne (second in 12:06) and Jackson Bentz (fourth in 12:44) finished in the top five.

Morristown’s Max Compton was fifth (12:55).

Ethan Hirschauer led Waldron with a third-place finish in 12:35.

Six more Mohawks finished in the top 20. Elijah Thompson (12^th in 14:18), Jacob Kuhn (14^th in 14:21), Caige Sheaffer (15^th in 14:22), Kevin Crouch (16^th in 14:22), Spencer Armstrong (18^th in 14:39), Collin Cole (15:20), Wyatt Bogemann (28^th in 17:12) and Lucas Price (30^th in 19:46) completed the Mohawks’ lineup.

In other prep events:

Boys Soccer

Hauser 2, Southwestern 1

At Hauser Friday, Alex Lopez scored a pair of second-half goals to lead the Jets (1-6) past the Class A, No. 10-ranked Spartans (7-3-1).

Tucker Simmons had Southwestern’s only goal, his fourth of the season.

Eli Fix was credited with four saves in goal.

Morristown 4, Union County 4

At Union County Saturday, the visiting Yellow Jackets (2-7-2) and Patriots (0-9-2) played to a tie.

Girls Soccer

Shelbyville 8, Whiteland 1

At Whiteland, the Golden Bears (6-3-1) scored four goals in each half to collect their fourth-straight victory.

Evelyn Kiefer had four goals and an assist. She now has a Shelby County best 16 goals this season.

Ava Wilson scored her 12^th goal. Sophie Parker moved to 10 goals this season with a pair of scores against the Warriors. Parker also had two assists.

And Rebecca Valdez had one goal and one assist.

Hailey Pogue had 11 saves in goal.

Heritage Christian 11, Triton Central 2

At Triton Central, the No. 1-ranked team in Class A scored seven first-half goals to take control of the match and cruise to its sixth win of the season.

Lizzie Graham scored both goals for Triton Central (1-8). Graham has 12 goals scored this season.

Volleyball

Hauser def. Waldron, 20-25, 25-11, 25-19, 25-14

At Waldron Friday, the visiting Jets (12-7) got 17 kills from Kenze Bostic and 11 kills from Aniston Bostic to defeat the Mohawks (10-6).

Andie Clark had a team-high 28 digs and Adrianna Musillami collected 43 digs for Hauser.

Yorktown def. Shelbyville, 25-10, 25-12, 25-16

At Yorktown Saturday, Ava Eakins had 10 kills to lead the host Tigers (15-3) over the Golden Bears (10-7).

Jaidyn Tackett led Shelbyville with nine kills. Ashlyn Turner had six kills.

Emmy Nolley finished with a team-high 13 digs and Gracie Leffler finished with 26 assists.

Lawrenceburg Invitational

Southwestern dropped to 6-12 after a 1-3 performance at Lawrenceburg.

The Spartans defeated Rushville but lost to Rock Creek Academy, Lawrenceburg and Sycamore (Ohio).

Tri Central Invitational

Morristown defeated winless Argos, 25-17, 25-22 and Culver Community, 25-20, 14-25, 15-11 but lost to the host Trojans, 25-23, 19-25, 15-12.

Gracie Laster led Morristown (6-8) with 10 kills against Culver (8-13). Bella Thompson had nine kills.

Beth Hodgin added nine digs and Raegan Kleine collected 26 assists.

 On Friday, South Ripley (12-6) swept Morristown, 25-21, 25-12, 29-27.

Laster had a team-high 11 kills. Lilly Stoddard finished with eight kills.

Hodgin had 17 digs. Kleine finished with 23 assists and 13 digs.

Cross Country

Indiana Crossroads Conference Meet

Triton Central junior Hallie Schweitzer finished 12^th in the girls race in 24:37. Brooke Bear finished 37^th in 41:49.

Triton Central only had four entrants in the boys race – Hank Hadler (51^st in 23:41), Elizijuh Israel (52^nd in 23:46), Lucas Bear (55^th in 24:36) and Corbin Maurice (62^nd in 26:31).

Riverview Health Invitational

In Carmel, Shelbyville senior Stefanie Howard (photo) finished seventh overall out of 122 runners with a time of 20:43.

The Golden Bears finished 12^th in the team standings with Kaila Brattain (59^th in 23:54), Hannah Wright (77^th in 24:47), Kaylie McDonald (104^th in 27:46) and Daisy Barrett (110^th in 29:21) following Howard across the finish line.

Shelbyville placed 15^th in the boys team standings.

Running for Shelbyville were Elijah Von Werder (40^th in 18:43), Michael Fox (45^th in 18:49), Ben Hinojosa (91^st in 20:57), Tristin Maloney (109^th in 22:03), Isaac Zermeno (117^th in 22:40), Isaiah Havens (119^th in 23:10), Gavin Harker (131^st in 26:29) and Gaige Harker (134^th in 29:09).

The Indiana Football Coaches Association poll was released Monday and Triton Central is no longer a state-ranked team in Class 2A.

With its 27-9 win at Indian Creek, the Tigers improved to 3-2 this season but fell out of the top 15 that includes three Indiana Crossroads Conference schools.

Fort Wayne Luers (5-0) is No. 1 in 2A followed by Eastbrook (5-0), Andrean (3-2), Tipton (5-0), Linton-Stockton (5-0), Heritage Christian (5-0), Eastside (5-0), Evansville Mater Dei (3-2), Lafayette Central Catholic (2-3) and Speedway (4-1).

Just outside the top 10 are North Posey (4-1), Monrovia (4-1), Scecina (4-1), Rensselaer Central (3-2), North Knox (4-1) and Southmont (5-0).

A fourth ICC school, Indianapolis Lutheran (5-0), remains the top-ranked team in Class A ahead of Adams Central (4-1), Monroe Central (5-0), South Adams (4-1), Winamac (3-0), Covenant Christian (4-1), North Judson (4-1), Parke Heritage (3-2), Springs Valley (4-1) and Churubusco (3-2).

In Class 3A, there are two unbeatens in the top five. Brebeuf (5-0) is No. 1 followed by West Lafayette (5-0), Gibson Southern (4-1), Danville (4-1) and Lawrenceburg (4-1).

Mt. Vernon (Posey) (5-0) leads the next five ahead of Tri-West (4-1), Brownstown Central (5-0), Owen Valley (5-0) and Mishawaka Marian (3-2).

The Class 4A top 10 are Roncalli (5-0), Leo (5-0), Jasper (5-0), East Central (4-1), Mooresville (4-1), East Noble (3-1), Mt. Vernon (Fortville) (4-1), Evansville Memorial (4-1), Chatard (1-4) and Logansport (4-0).

Cathedral (5-0) heads the Class 5A poll. Valparaiso (5-0) is second followed by Bloomington South (5-0), Decatur Central (4-1), Fort Wayne Snider (3-1), Mishawaka (4-1), Zionsville (3-2), Fort Wayne Dwenger (3-2), Harrison (West Lafayette) (4-1), Bloomington North (4-1) and Castle (4-1).

Center Grove is No. 1 in Class 6A ahead of Westfield (4-1), Carmel (4-1), Brownsburg (4-1), Merrillville (5-0), Warren Central (4-1), Hamilton Southeastern (4-1), Ben Davis (2-3), Chesterton (4-1) and Carroll (Allen) (4-1).

Locally, Triton Central hosts winless Ritter (0-5) Friday at Mendenhall Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Shelbyville (1-1) returns to the gridiron to host Yorktown (3-2) at McKeand Stadium Friday. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Southwestern closed out its regular season golf schedule with a 215-218 victory over Edinburgh at Timbergate Golf Course. Jac-Cen-Del finished incomplete.

On Senior Night, Lily Kerber led the Spartans with a 49. Alison Muck (50) and McKinley Correll (54) were close behind. Olivia Chandler carded a season-best 62 and Sydney Griffin shot 66.

Izzy Richardson led Edinburgh with 51. Macie Blandford was one shot back at 52. Gracie Myers (56), Jillan Turner (59) and Cloee Britton (60) rounded out the Lancers’ scorecard.

Jac-Cen-Del’s Tracy McKittrick was the medalist with 48. Emma Wagner shot 64 and Ally Mosier posted 68.

In other prep events Thursday:

Girls Golf

Greenfield-Central 200, Shelbyville 211

At Hawk’s Tail, Kaylee Tackett led the visiting Golden Bears with a 49 to close out the regular-season schedule.

Boys Soccer

Southwestern 0, Lutheran 0

In a battle of top-10 ranked teams, neither won.

Class A, No. 8 Southwestern (7-2-1) got four saves in goal from Eli Fix.

Class A, No. 9 Lutheran (5-3-2) had four saves from Cade Tabit.

Shelbyville 0, New Castle 0, PKs 4-2

At Shelbyville, goalkeeper Jalen Hounshell had a breakaway save early in the contest and blocked a penalty kick to keep the Golden Bears from falling behind.

After regulation and two overtime periods, the Hoosier Heritage Conference match was decided in a shootout. And the Golden Bears never missed, converting four straight attempts to seal the victory over the Trojans (1-8-1, 0-5 HHC).

Shelbyville improved to 7-5 overall and 2-2 against HHC opponents.

Rushville 6, Morristown 2

At Rushville, the Lions (3-6-2) secured their first victory since Aug. 24.

The Yellow Jackets lost their fifth straight to fall to 2-7-1 this season.

Boys Tennis

Southwestern 4, Beech Grove 1

At Southwestern, the host Spartans (5-5) celebrated Senior Night by sweeping the doubles matches and getting singles wins from Grant Emerick and Hunter Pappano.

At No. 1 doubles, Caleb Pappano and Carter Snepp defeated Caiden Lundsford and Cohan Heilorgm, 6-2, 6-4.

Ty Burcham and Justin Swift made quick work of Charlie Kidwell and Austin Magiris at No. 2 doubles, 6-1, 6-2.

Emerick rolled past Matt Pettigrew at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-3.

Hunter Pappano defeated Lee Cummings at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-2.

At No. 1 singles, Beech Grove’s Chase Alford topped Tristan Pappano, 6-4, 6-4.

New Palestine 5, Triton Central 0

At New Palestine, the high-powered Dragons (13-3) dropped a total of seven games in sweeping the Tigers (12-6).

At No. 1 singles, Ezra Schweir defeated Tucker Hutchinson, 6-1, 6-1.

Colin Darley bested Ashton Sturm at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

And Zach Au topped Cole Thomas at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-0.

At No. 1 doubles, Jackson Havel and Clayton Wesley defeated Avram Rund and Quinton Potts, 6-0, 6-2.

And Zayden Stiller and Caleb Davis completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds.

Taner Feris and Ben Toth won junior varsity singles matches for Triton Central.

Eastern Hancock 5, Morristown 0

At Eastern Hancock, the Royals won all five matches in straight sets against the visiting Yellow Jackets (1-7).

At No. 1 singles, Zeke Dixon defeated Grant Kessler, 6-1, 6-1.

Nolan Stout topped Tyler Schonfeld, 6-1, 6-2.

Luke Schilling bested Austin Gabbard, 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 1 doubles, Bryce Wennen and Wyatt Sutton defeated Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes, 6-0, 6-0.

And Peyton Stevens and Bo Dixon defeated Carson Essex and Jerry Riley, 6-0, 6-0.

Indian Creek 4, Shelbyville 1

At Indian Creek, Shelbyville No. 1 singles player Aidan Asher improved to 9-5 this season but the Golden Bears (2-12) lost their seventh straight match.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Greenfield-Central, 13-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20

Shelbyville (10-6, 1-1 HHC) lost the first set then stormed through the next three to secure the conference victory against Greenfield-Central (4-11, 1-3 HHC).

Jaidyn Tackett had a season-high 20 kills for Shelbyville. Emily Parker followed with 10 while Madison Bassett and Ashlyn Turner combined for 11 more.

Tackett also had a team-high seven serving aces. Emma Nolley, Payton Jackson, Gracie Leffler and Parker each had three.

Leffler and Kina Shultz each had three total blocks.

Nolley led the defensive effort with a team-high 17 digs.

And Leffler finished with 36 assists.

Triton Central def. Rushville, 25-16, 25-15, 25-13

Brooklyn Bailey had 14 kills to lead Triton Central (10-4) to its sixth straight win.

Julia Sanders delivered five aces and notched 30 digs. Bailey also had two aces and 11 digs.

Kate Isley collected 24 assists against the Lions (1-8).

Eastern Hancock def. Southwestern, 25-12, 25-9, 25-22

At Eastern Hancock, the host Royals improved to 13-4 this season while the Spartans lost their third straight to fall to 5-9.

Waldron def. Morristown, 25-13, 25-17, 25-15

At Waldron, the Mohawks pushed their win streak to five straight and have lost just one set over that span.

The Mohawks move to 10-5 while the Yellow Jackets fell to 4-6.

Waldron won the junior varsity match, 20-25, 25-19, 15-6.

Junior High Soccer

Southwestern 1, North Decatur 1

Carter Cooley scored with two seconds left in regulation to get the Spartans a tie against North Decatur.

Garrett Shaw was credited with 16 saves for Southwestern (5-2-1).

Indiana Grand Racing & Casino has requested four additional racing days for the 2021 racing season. The dates were approved Thursday, Sept. 16 by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC). The track will now offer racing on Columbus Day Monday, Oct. 11 and extend the final day of racing to Thursday, Nov. 11. The previous closing day was set for Monday, Nov. 8.

Several factors played into the request for additional racing days. Business levels have exceeded expectations this season to cover purses over four additional racing days plus the horse population is growing for the final two months of racing with horsemen seeking additional racing opportunities in Indiana. Also, one day was canceled in August due to extreme heat, which will be considered a make-up day on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 11.

“We’re very pleased to be in a position where we are able to request additional racing dates at the end of our current 120-day meet,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “The Indiana horsemen, our loyal partners, are very deserving of these additional opportunities and, upon approval from the IHRC, we’ll end our meet with a bang on Veteran’s Day, November 11.”

The 2021 racing season will now offer 123 days of live action. First post on Monday, Oct. 11 through Thursday, Nov. 11 will be 2:25 p.m.

Tim Able believes there are several issues in play as Triton Central football went from 2-0 to 2-2 in an eight-day span.

The Tigers’ back-to-back losses came to Indianapolis Lutheran and Monrovia – two of the three toughest teams on their schedule.

Key injuries have gashed a roster that was not deep in the first place.

The offense’s biggest weapon was forced to miss a week due to a helmet-to-helmet penalty incurred in week two.

 And there has to be growth week to week for a program to succeed.

“We have to get better in all three phases of the game,” said Able, sitting on 199 career victories as a head coach. “We have to get better. The other teams have been better than us. We have too much to clean up.

“We haven’t gotten worse but we haven’t improved as much as the two teams we’ve played the last two weeks.”

Lutheran, ranked No. 1 in Class A, and fast-rising Monrovia are a combined 7-1. There are only two teams left on Triton Central’s schedule with winning records.

“The time is now,” said Able of righting the ship. “We have to play well and not worry about who we are playing.”

Class 2A, No. 15 Triton Central travels to Indian Creek Friday for its first football game this season played on natural grass. The Braves, a long time rival of the Tigers, are a miraculous 1-3 this season.

At Brown County last Friday, the Eagles led 12-7 with seconds left on the scoreboard clock. Rather than take a knee on fourth down and turn the ball back over to Indian Creek, Brown County went for the first down – and fumbled. James Kelly scooped up the ball and ran 90-plus yards for the game-winning score.

Sophomore Jackson Wise (5-10, 165) could start under center against Triton Central but Able is game planning for senior Aiden Neathery (6-2, 210) also to call plays. The duo are a combined 26-of-62 passing for 393 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Brandon Murray (6-1, 181) is Indian Creek’s leading rusher with 245 yards and two TDs. Neathery also will work from the backfield.

“They have two really good athletes (Murray and Neathery) that are as good as we will face all year,” said Able.

Senior Sam Creek (6-1, 150) has eight receptions for a team-leading 157 yards this season.

In Indian Creek’s three losses to Batesville (TC’s scrimmage opponent), Greenwood and Owen Valley, the defense allowed 119 points.

Triton Central will have junior Brad Schultz back on the field Friday after missing the last two weeks with an ankle injury. Able expects Schultz to be limited to offensive plays only in his first week back.

“We want to bring him back slowly,” said Able.

The Tigers will still be without sophomore running back Brayden Wilkins and freshman lineman Willie Baugh due to injuries.

With that trio injured, senior Devon Emberton and sophomore Anthony Dunville have stepped up on both sides of the ball.

Freshman Chase Chandler also is getting more varsity responsibilities.

Triton Central played Lutheran without Schultz and leading rusher Ray Crawford, who are key players on both sides of the ball and special teams.

Crawford returned for Monrovia but the rushing game was shut down forcing sophomore quarterback Jace Stuckey to carry the load.

“We’ve played two weeks without our best receiver, one week without our best running back and our No. 2 running back has been out the last two weeks … it’s been hard to get that continuity (on offense),” said Able. “When you have everybody it makes things a lot smoother.”

After scoring 80 points in the first two weeks against Cascade and Greensburg, the offense has just three touchdowns in the last two weeks.

“We have a lot more flexibility now and feel like we are where we need to be in our packages,” said Abel. “We just have to clean them up.”

Triton Central and Indian Creek have played 23 times since the 1994 season. The Braves hold the advantage 12-11. Since the rivalry renewed in 2016, the Tigers have won four of five.

In Indiana Crossroads Conference games Friday, Cascade (1-3, 0-3 ICC) travels to top-ranked Lutheran(4-0, 3-0 ICC) and 2A No. 11 Speedway (4-0, 3-0) is at Monrovia (3-1, 2-0 ICC).

In non-conference games, 2A No. 12 Scecina (3-1, 2-1 ICC) is at 2A No. 6 Heritage Christian (4-0) and Washington (1-3) is at Beech Grove (1-3, 1-3 ICC).

Jacksonville State finished 3-0 in its own volleyball invitational Friday and Saturday in Jacksonville, Alabama, to improve to 9-1 this season.

Triton Central graduate Brooklyn Schiffli (photo) helped the Gamecocks defeat Nicholls, 25-11, 25-14, 25-22 and South Alabama, 25-21, 26-24, 14-25, 13-25, 15-12 on Friday and Southern Mississippi Saturday, 12-25, 25-20, 25-23, 27-25.

Schiffli had one serving ace and four digs against Nicholls and 10 digs against South Alabama. On Saturday, the freshman finished with one ace and eight digs.

Jacksonville State travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, for the Stacey Clark Classic. On Friday, the Gamecocks face No. 9 Purdue and No. 22 Tennessee before returning Saturday to take on Purdue Fort Wayne.

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

Maddy Beaver

The Triton Central graduate had one kill, one dig, one block and one block assist for Goshen volleyball on Sept. 8 in a 25-12, 25-14, 25-20 loss to Bethel University.

On Sept. 10, Beaver finished with one kill and two assists in a 25-7, 25-6, 25-18 loss at Indiana Wesleyan.

Goshen is 3-12 this season.

Maggie Schweitzer

The Triton Central graduate had one kill, eight assists, one ace and 13 digs for Hanover volleyball Tuesday in a 25-22, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20 loss at Indiana University Southeast.

Hanover defeated Heidelberg University Friday, 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-14 in the Pam Briggs Classic in Westerville, Ohio. Schweitzer had two aces and four digs.

On Saturday, Hanover lost to Mount Union, 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-8. Schweitzer finished with one kill, two aces and four digs.

Hanover closed out the Pam Briggs Classic Saturday with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-12 win over Capital. Schweitzer had two aces and six digs.

Hanover is 3-5 this season.

Bailey Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had five assists Friday in Eastern Illinois’ 21-25, 17-25, 25-11, 25-22, 15-7 win at Southern Illinois.

Eastern Illinois is 7-1 this season.

Nick Brokering

The Shelbyville graduate was credited with three tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback sack Saturday for Mount St. Joseph football in a 33-14 win over Alfred University.

Daniela Joseph

The Shelbyville graduate scored rounds of 100 and 101 to finished tied for 48^th for Earlham College’s women’s golf team in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Preview Tournament played Saturday and Sunday at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Indiana.

Jill Anspaugh

The Shelbyville graduate placed 17^th overall for Franklin College’s women’s cross country team in the Hanover Invitational. She completed the course in 21:41.

Makenzie Logan

The Morristown graduate won a singles and doubles match for Huntington tennis Tuesday in a 7-0 victory over St. Francis.

Logan teamed with Nina Golfier to secure a No. 3 doubles win over Sophia Vandegriff and Tyra Grischke, 6-1. Logan defeated Vandegriff at No. 5 singles, 6-4, 3-6, 11-9.

Huntington also defeated Mount Vernon Tuesday, 5-1.

Logan and Golfier were defeated at No. 3 doubles, 6-3 by Emily Allison and Laurel Sidle. Logan’s No. 5 singles match against Allison did not finish.

On Sept. 9, Huntington defeated Manchester, 7-0. Logan and Golfier won at No. 2 doubles and Logan won a No. 4 singles match over Anna Hollingsworth, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Huntington defeated Goshen Saturday, 6-1. Logan and Golfier lost at No. 2 doubles but Logan rebounded for a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Anna Osborne at No. 5 singles.

Also on Saturday, Grace swept Huntington, 6-0. Logan and Golfier were defeated at No. 3 doubles. Logan’s No. 5 singles match with Jenna Lewis was halted due to darkness.

Huntington is 5-6 this season.

Maddy Brown had 10 kills, three service aces and 15 digs Wednesday to lead Triton Central volleyball to its fifth-straight victory.

The Tigers (9-4, 4-1 Indiana Crossroads Conference) defeated Speedway, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 in Fairland.

Brooklyn Bailey added nine kills, two blocks and nine digs. Riley Ross had seven kills.

Julia Sanders finished with a team-high 22 digs and three aces. Hallie Schweitzer and Kaitlin Bramlett each had 14 digs.

Kate Isley led the offense with 19 assists.

With the loss, Speedway dropped to 1-10 this season and 1-3 against ICC opponents.

In another prep volleyball match Wednesday:

Trinity Lutheran def. Southwestern, 25-8, 25-10, 25-8

The No. 1 team in Class A rolled past the Spartans (5-8) in Seymour.

Ruthie Bingham led Trinity Lutheran (15-4) with 16 kills. Carson Bowling had 12. Bailey Tabeling and Bingham combined for 10 aces.

Addison Darlage finished with 36 assists.

It was another stellar performance by Mr Michel as he rallied home for the win in the ninth running of the $108,000 Leader of the Class Sale Futurity Wednesday at Indiana Grand.

Ridden by Erik Esqueda, the sorrel freshman is now three for five in his brief career.

Mr Michel (photo) is not known for his great starts, having encountered trouble in the past. But he had no trouble in the Leader of the Class Futurity. Esqueda got him rolling in the first few strides. Once he gets rolling, he’s hard to stop.

Delreys Wagon Train and L.D. Martinez were in good position early on along with Keens Blood Legacy and Jose Ruiz in the center of the track. Midway through the 350-yard dash, Mr Michel came powering up and went right on by for the lead and the eventual win by one and one-quarter lengths. Leaving With Fire and Berkley Packer closed quickly on the outside for second, just a nose ahead of Knockout Swing and Rolando Pina for third.

The time of the sprint was 17.872 seconds, a new stakes record.

Mr Michel is owned by Alberto Valadez and trained by Claudio Barraza. Mark Michel bred the Kiss My Hocks gelding, who was a $17,500 purchase from last year’s QHRAI Speed Sale in Indiana.

Esqueda is the youngest of three brothers currently riding in Indiana, joining Cristian and Cesar. Still in his teens, the youngest Esqueda is now two for two aboard Mr Michel. It was the first career Futurity win for the top 10 Quarter Horse jockey as he guided the gelding to the fastest time in the trials leading up to the final.

Mr Michel now has nearly $100,000 in purse earnings for his connections. Esqueda was excited for the win aboard the standout two-year-old.

“He broke super well,” said Esqueda. “He gained the lead pretty early and finished really strong. I want to thank his connections. A huge thank you for getting the opportunity to ride such a great horse.”

The stakes race is a precursor to the first-ever qualifiers for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships set for Monday at Indiana Grand. Two regional qualifiers are set on the card with the John Deere Juvenile Challenge as Race 9 and the Q Racing Videos Distaff Challenge set as Race 10. Points for the finals will be awarded in the events.

The 2022 Bank of America Challenge Championships will be hosted by Indiana Grand.

Fireball Baby earned her first stakes win of 2021 Wednesday with a commanding win in the 21^st running of the $100,000 Hoosier Heartland Stakes. The mare now has five stakes wins to her credit, all at Indiana Grand.

“I received a text from Mr. (Philip) Bauer and he said this horse was the best in this race,” said jockey Marcelino Pedroza, a two-time leading rider at Indiana Grand. “He knows where his horses go, so I knew he was giving me a big opportunity. I was glad to get that text and I was ready to ride.”

Fireball Baby (photo) was ready to go when the gate sprung open. Pedroza had her in good striking position around the first turn in the one and one-sixteenth mile event before moving onto the lead down the backstretch three-wide as Brewsky and Joe Ramos held positioning inside with Hitthefloorrunning and Andres Ulloa sitting between horses.

Heading into the final turn, Pedroza asked Fireball Baby for a little more momentum and she responded with a big move, opening up to five lengths for the stretch drive. Pedroza kept the daughter of Noble’s Promise focused under a hand ride all the way to the wire for the win by five and one-quarter lengths.

Pretty Assets and DeShawn Parker closed for second over Hitthefloorrunning for third. The time of the race was 1:45.97.

“Early on, I just wanted to stay out of trouble,” said Pedroza. “At the three-quarter pole, she was pulling me. I knew then she was going to win. She was the best today.”

Fireball Baby is now six for 22 lifetime. The win in the Hoosier Heartland was her first of 2021 for Richard and Tammy Rigney’s Rigney Racing. They also bred the mare, who is by their sire, Noble’s Promise, who passed away following his first crop which includes Fireball’s Baby.

She now has in excess of $464,000 in career earnings and is inching closer to a spot among the state’s all-time top five money earners for Indiana sired horses. Philip Bauer, who began his stable in 2013 after working for Ken McPeek as an assistant trainer, conditions Fireball Baby for the Rigneys.

He’s been a fierce contender on the Indiana racing circuit for the past two years and Cash Logistics just added to his bankroll with a win Wednesday in the 21^st running of the $100,000 Empire Stakes at Indiana Grand.

Ridden by Alex Achard, it was his second stakes win at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana.

A field of 12 entered the gate for the Empire Stakes with Cash Logistics (photo) beginning his journey from post nine. A slow start caused him some traffic trouble early on before he was able to find his best stride and move up into fourth in three-wide fashion early in the one and one-sixteenth mile event. Royal Icing and Edgar Morales rallied quickly from the extreme outside to secure the top spot and led the field through the first half of the race.

Around the final turn, Vice Cop and Marcelino Pedroza had a short lead from the inside before the late closers began swooping in, which included Cash Logistics widest of all. In the stretch, Cash Logistics opened up on the field by more than two lengths and was under a hand ride by Achard to the wire for the win by two and one-quarter lengths.

Starspangledxpress and DeShawn Parker moved in for second over Max Express and Sammy Bermudez, who closed from the back of the pack to finish third. The time of the race was 1:45.75.

“He broke flat today, and he was bumped a little because of the late break,” said Achard, who has been aboard for four of his six career wins. “But once he got started, he was fine.”

Cash Logistics is owned by Charlie Hancock and James Hancock and was bred by James Hancock. Genevieve “GiGi” Londono has trained the horse since the very beginning for the Hancocks.

“He (James) bred this horse at our farm in Floyds Knobs,” said Charlie Hancock. “We have a few brood mares and I used to train, but we let GiGi handle that now. She’s done a great job for us.”

Charlie Hancock is a long time participant in Thoroughbred racing. A judge by trade following a 36-year career practicing law in Floyd County, he was the youngest person to ever hold a trainer’s license in the state of Kentucky. His father bought him his first horse, Man’s Quest, when he was 13 years old. Now, the Hancock family is continuing the tradition of winning races through Cash Logistics.

A son of Unbridled Express, Cash Logistics has six wins in 14 career starts. The five-year-old gelding is three for seven this season and his earnings were boosted to more than $270,000 with the win in the Empire Stakes.

“He’s the same horse in the barn that you see when he races,” said Londono. “He’s a neat horse to be around and does everything you ask of him. It makes my job easy.”

Any list of the greatest Southwestern High School soccer players now starts with Aiden Hartsell.

In nine matches this season, the senior has collected all four offensive records within the Spartans program.

In Tuesday’s 8-0 win over Morristown, Hartsell scored five goals to push his season total to a program-record 36 goals and his career total to an even 100, also a program record.

Ranked No. 8 in the most recent state coaches poll in Class A, the Spartans improved to 7-2.

Hartsell (photo, left) clearly understands he is a talented scorer. He is pursuing a future playing at the collegiate level as his record-setting season progresses. The speedy, left-footed striker knows even more so his teammates are making this happen for him.

“I just want to lead my team in a positive way and make it far into the postseason. (The records) mean a lot but without the team those records wouldn’t have been able to happen,” he said Saturday morning after Southwestern’s 3-2 loss to No. 2 Providence. “It is all a team effort.”

Hartsell scored 35 goals and had 21 assists in 2020. So did his older brother, Anick, who has been wiped off the top of the Southwestern record board.

Head coach Taylor Meredith knew the offensive success of the 2021 Spartans would clearly be on Hartsell’s shoulders, but he did not expect such a scoring onslaught so early in the season.

In Southwestern’s season-opening 6-1 win over Knightstown, Hartsell scored three goals and had three assists to break Anick’s career assists record of 37. But by halftime and the Spartans up 2-0, Hartsell did not have a goal.

“We had a conversation at halftime where I said, ‘Hey, you might only get 15 goals this year and 30 assists instead,’” said Meredith, who earned career win No. 50 Tuesday against Morristown. “And then real quick I was wrong and I don’t even know why I said that.”

Hartsell scored three goals in just over six minutes in the second half to start his record-collecting spree.

In game two of the season, Hartsell scored six goals in Southwestern’s 7-1 win over Hauser to set a new program record for goals in a game. He has since moved that record to seven goals in one game.

And he broke Anick’s career goals scored record in match three, a 5-3 victory at Oldenburg Academy.

“There is that level where you have to want it more than everybody else,” said Meredith of a goal-scorer’s mentality. “And he does that. He has that mindset where he is going to score every single time.”

Hartsell is satisfied with the records but there is a bigger goal out there for his final season – winning the program’s first regional championship.

“The goal is to do better than last year,” said Hartsell of the Spartans’ 2-1 loss to Lutheran in the regional title game.

Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Providence, the defending state champs in Class A, could prove to be a stepping stone to accomplishing that feat and, potentially, set up a semistate rematch with the Pioneers.

“We will take this (loss) to heart and remember this one,” said Hartsell. “If we go far down the postseason we know we will see these guys again. We will take this game and let it humble us and push us and drive us the rest of the year.”

And it’s Hartsell in the driver’s seat for Southwestern.

“It’s his charisma that makes him special,” said Meredith. “He is the funniest kid. He is always loud and joking. He never backs down from a challenge. I think competing with his brother all of his life has made him special. He was always getting beat on by Anick, who was bigger and stronger and could put him in his place.

“Now that he is playing without him, it’s crazy. He is so fast and so talented with the ball on his feet. His competitive level is insane.”

Southwestern gets another postseason preview today with a road trip to Lutheran (5-3-1), ranked No. 9 in this week’s poll.

Shelbyville High School’s girls soccer team exploded for five second-half goals Tuesday to pull away from visiting Connersville for a 6-0 victory.

Ava Wilson scored three goals for the Golden Bears (5-3-1), winners of three straight. Evelyn Kiefer scored twice and Sophie Parker had her eighth goal of the season and team-leading 13^th assist.

Kiefer (12 goals) and Wilson (11 goals) lead Shelbyville’s offensive attack.

Wilson and Emma Sandman also had assists in the victory.

Connersville is 4-4 this season.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Franklin 154, Shelbyville 237

At The Legends, Franklin’s Ava Ray shot 2-under-par 34 to lead the 10^th-ranked Grizzlies over the Golden Bears.

Reese Phillips and Morgan Sandrock shot 39s for Franklin and Maria Williams followed at 42.

Kaylee Tackett and Regan Mathies each shot 57 for Shelbyville. Completing the scorecard were Kate Linville (58), Madison Monroe (65) and Lanie Stephens (67).

Southwestern 213, Greenwood Christian 228

At Timbergate, Southwestern senior Lily Kerber shot a season-best round of 44 to lead the Spartans to the win.

Also for Southwestern, McKinley Correll carded 52, Alison Muck shot 58 and Sydney Griffin finished at 59.

Taylor Harris led Greenwood Christian with a 49. Emma Adams (51), Emily Heldmand (62), Eli Nipa (66) and Emma Hoge (67) competed for Greenwood Christian.

Morristown 234, Knightstown 261

At Royal Hylands, Delaney Cornn (51) and McKinley Kile (58) posted season-best scores to lead Morristown to a victory in its final regular season match.

Also for Morristown, Ashlee Ballinger shot 57 and Mollie Runnebohm carded 68.

Cascade 201, Triton Central Inc.

At Hawk’s Tail, Emma Branham (45) and Olivia Martin (59) posted season-best scores in the Tigers’ final regular season match.

Kendra Erdmann shot 60 to complete TC’s scoring.

Bri Andres led Cascade with a 44. Neveah Hubner was one shot back at 45. Mariah Richardson (54) and Kara Berge (58) completed Cascade’s scorecard.

Boys Soccer

Mt. Vernon 2, Shelbyville 2, PKs 10-9

At Mt. Vernon, Shelbyville’s Drew Hassebroek scored in the game’s final minute to tie the Hoosier Heritage Conference contest and send it to overtime.

After two scoreless overtime periods and 10 penalty kicks apiece, Shelbyville missed in round 11 and Mt. Vernon’s Zach Johnson was able to convert to get the Marauders (6-3, 4-2 HHC) the victory.

Johnson scored in regulation and Brennan LaBelle put a shot in the net as Mt. Vernon built a 2-0 lead.

Al Hernandez cut the deficit in half for Shelbyville (6-5, 1-2 HHC) off an assist from Benny Cazares and Hassebroek sent the match to overtime with his late-match heroics.

Mt. Vernon won the junior varsity game, 4-1. Trent Todd scored Shelbyville’s lone goal.

Southwestern 8, Morristown 0

The Class A, No. 8-ranked Spartans improved to 7-2 this season on another record-setting night for senior Aiden Hartsell.

Hartsell scored five first-half goals to push his season total to 36, surpassing the single-season scoring record he held with his brother, Anick, that was set in 2020.

Aiden Hartsell also reached the 100 career goals milestone in the win.

Johnny Joy, Jordan Jones and Garrett Stringer also had goals for Southwestern.

Eli Fix was credited with two saves in goal. Michael Clements had one.

Morristown goalkeeper Dyllan Ruttledge had five saves.

In a junior high match, Southwestern defeated Morristown, 4-0.

Carter Cooley had two goals and an assist for Southwestern. Ethan Sipes and Landon Drake also scored goals. Kiera Stringer finished with two assists.

Boys Tennis

Waldron 4, Hauser 1

At Hauser, the visiting Mohawks (5-7) swept the three singles matches and got a straight-set win at No. 2 doubles to defeat the Jets.

Bryant Becker and Matthew Thomas won at No. 2 doubles, 7-5, 6-0.

Waldron got singles wins from Lucas Shaw (7-6, 6-3), Jack Fischer (6-7, 6-1, 6-3) and Josh Kellems (6-3, 6-2).

At No. 1 doubles, Hauser’s Eli Miller and Levi Gollmer defeated Max Jones and Jacob Lindsey, 6-2, 6-1.

Isaiah Jones won a junior varsity match for Waldron, 8-5.

Southwestern 5, Oldenburg Academy 0

The Spartans (4-5) lost just one game in sweeping all three singles matches and accepted forfeits in both doubles matches.

At No. 1 singles, Hunter Pappano defeated Will Hollingsworth, 6-1, 6-0.

Jackson Burcham was victorious at No. 2 singles over Thad Eaglin, 6-0, 6-0.

And at No. 3 singles, Ben Schlabach defeated Carson Rater, 6-0, 6-0.

Triton Central 4, Edinburgh 1

At Triton Central, the host Tigers won their seventh straight match to improve to 12-5 this season.

The doubles combinations of Quinton Potts and Avram Rund (No. 1 doubles) and Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds (No. 2 doubles) lost just one game combined to improve to 13-4 this season.

Tucker Hutchinson also improved to 13-4 at No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Travis Jones.

Ashton Sturm improved to 8-2 at No. 3 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Austin Brockman.

Edinburgh’s Max Blanford defeated Alex Crouse at No. 1 singles, 7-6 (4), 3-0 (retired).

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Morristown, 25-16, 25-8, 25-7

At Morristown, Shelbyville started slow but dominated the second and third sets to secure the victory.

Jaidyn Tackett led the Golden Bears (9-6), winners of five of their last six, with 13 kills and 11 digs. Shelby Lasure added 12 kills.

Emma Nolley and Payton Jackson each had four aces. Kina Schultz collected three total blocks.

Gracie Leffler added to her career assists record with 35 assists.

Cross Country

Morristown Inc., Oldenburg Academy Inc.

At Morristown, Zavier Poole finished second in the boys race in a season-best time of 19 minutes, 52 seconds.

Grace McLaughlin won the girls race in 27:27.

Maddy Brown and Brooklyn Bailey each had 20 kills to lead Triton Central to its fourth-straight win Monday over visiting Knightstown, 25-11, 24-26, 25-18, 24-26, 15-6.

Brown and Bailey did most of the damage for Triton Central, now 8-4. No other Tiger had more than four kills in the win.

Julia Sanders had a team-high four service aces with Brown and Bailey combining for five more. Sanders also had a team-high 29 digs over the five sets. Hallie Schweitzer finished with 20 digs.

Kate Isley collected 27 assists. Maia Harris had 11 assists.

For Knightstown (3-6), Paige Personett had 10 kills. Gwen Dyer finished with 19 digs and 28 assists.

The Panthers have lost three straight.

In other prep events Monday:

Girls Golf

Shelbyville 218, Beech Grove Inc.

At Blue Bear, Regan Mathies matched her season-best score of 49 to take the medalist honor and lead the Golden Bears to the win.

Kaylee Tackett and Kate Linville each shot 52 and Lanie Stephens carded 65.

The Hornets were led by Brooke Roessler’s 61.

Greenwood Christian 240, Morristown 245, Triton Central Inc.

At Blue Bear, Triton Central’s Emma Branham bested the field with a round of 47. Kendra Erdmann shot a season-best 53 and Olivia Martin finished at 62 for the Tigers.

Delaney Cornn led Morristown with a 54. Also on the Yellow Jackets’ scorecard were Ashlee Ballinger (56), McKinley Kile (64) and Mollie Runnebohm (71).

Taylor Harris led Greenwood Christian with a 48.

Girls Soccer

Ritter 1, Triton Central 1 (PKs 3-0)

At Triton Central, Lizzie Graham scored her team-leading 10^th goal of the season but the Tigers (1-7) struggled in the penalty-kick round and lost their seventh-straight match.

Graham put the Tigers up 1-0 at halftime but the Raiders (6-3) recovered with a second-half goal.

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 5, Waldron 0

At Waldron, just two days after defeating the host Mohawks in the Shelby County Tournament championship, the Tigers secured another 5-0 victory to improve to 11-5 this season.

At No. 1 singles, Triton Central’s Alex Crouse improved to 9-7 with a hard fought 7-5, 1-6, 10-5 win over Lucas Shaw.

Tucker Hutchinson collected his Shelby County-leading 12^th win of the season at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 6-4 over Jack Fischer. Hutchinson is 12-4 this season.

Ashton Sturm improved to 7-2 at No. 3 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Josh Kellems.

Quinton Potts and Avram Rund matched Hutchinson’s win total with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Max Jones and Jacob Lindsey. Potts and Rund are 12-4.

Oliver Gearlds and Griffin Sego also moved to 12-4 at No. 2 doubles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Bryant Becker and Matthew Thomas.

Waldron dropped to 4-8.

In junior varsity singles matches, TC’s Cole Thomas and Jameson Palmer defeated Isaiah Jones and Andy Lacy, respectively, 8-1.

Morristown 3, Lutheran 2

At Lutheran, the Yellow Jackets got singles wins from Grant Kessler and Tyler Schonfeld and added a forfeit victory at No. 2 doubles to collect the team’s first win of the season.

At No. 1 singles, Kessler defeated Reese Bullock, 6-2, 6-2.

Schonfeld was equally strong at No. 2 singles, netting a 6-1, 6-1 win over Blake Miller.

Carson Essex and Jerry Riley accepted a forfeit victory at No. 2 doubles.

At No. 3 singles, Lutheran’s Isaac Vance topped Austin Gabbard, 6-1, 6-0.

And at No. 1 doubles, Cole Perkins and Caden Perkins defeated Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes, 6-4, 6-0.

Morristown is 1-6 this season.

Greenfield-Central 4, Shelbyville 1

At Shelbyville, Aidan Asher improved to 8-6 at No. 1 singles for the Golden Bears (2-11) with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Mathew Hyre.

Chris Long defeated Shelbyville’s Logan Prickett at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-1.

Caden Robertson topped Cade McNicholas at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 1 doubles, Corbin Tilley and Jack Weidner defeated Connor Zobel and Karson Schaf, 6-1, 6-0.

And at No. 2 doubles, Tyler White and Casey Hunt bested Charlie Rife and Layne Pogue, 6-0, 6-1.

Volleyball

Morristown def. Southwestern, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 25-14

At Morristown, the Yellow Jackets played their first match since Aug. 31. With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 4-4 this season.

Southwestern dropped to 5-7.

Morristown won the junior varsity match, 25-17, 19-25, 15-7.

Waldron def. Rushville, 25-11, 25-15, 25-11

At Rushville, the visiting Mohawks won their fourth straight match to improve to 9-5 this season.

Olivia Yager led Rushville (1-7) with four kills, six assists and eight digs.

Cross Country

Morristown’s Zavier Poole ran his home course in 21 minutes, 29 seconds while Grace McLaughlin completed the course in 27:16.

Southwestern soccer’s loss to the defending state champions turned out to be a win in the most recent state coaches poll released Monday afternoon.

Providence, the defending Class A state champions, scored with just under four minutes remaining Saturday, to secure a 3-2 win at Southwestern. The Pioneers were ranked No. 4 in the poll but climbed two spots this week.

Southwestern was 11^th but is now back in the top 10.

Park Tudor is No. 1 in the Class A poll followed by Providence, University, North White and South Knox. Kouts is sixth ahead of Heritage Christian, Southwestern, Lutheran and Cascade.

Southwestern is at Lutheran Thursday.

Guerin Catholic is No. 1 in Class 2A followed by West Lafayette, Fort Wayne Canterbury, Mishawaka Marian, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, Speedway and Culver Academies.

Fishers leads a central Indiana dominated top five in Class 3A. Noblesville is No. 2 followed by Chesterton, Hamilton Southeastern and Castle. Elkhart is sixth ahead of Penn, Evansville Memorial, Valparaiso and Northridge.

On the girls side, Noblesville is No. 1 and Hamilton Southeastern is No. 2 in 3A. Carmel is third followed by Homestead, Bloomington South, North Central, South Bend St. Joseph, Columbus North, Zionsville and Center Grove.

Triton Central’s second loss of the season nearly knocked it out of the Indiana State Football Coaches poll released Monday.

The Tigers, now 2-2, are ranked 15^th in the Class 2A poll behind Speedway (4-0), Scecina (3-1), Eastern Hancock (3-1), and North Posey (4-0).

Fort Wayne Luers (4-0) continues to be ranked No. 1 in 2A. Eastbrook (4-0), Andrean (2-2), Tipton (4-0), Evansville Mater Dei (3-1), Heritage Christian (4-0), Eastside (4-0), Linton-Stockton (4-0), Rensselaer Central (3-1) and Lafayette Central Catholic (2-2) complete the top 10.

In Class A, Lutheran (4-0), one of two teams to defeat Triton Central this season, remains No. 1 ahead of Adams Central (3-1), South Adams (4-0), Monroe Central (4-0), Winamac (3-0), Parke Heritage (3-1), Covenant Christian (3-1), North Judson (4-0), Springs Valley (4-0) and Churubusco (2-2).

Brebeuf (4-0) and West Lafayette (4-0) are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Class 3A. Gibson Southern (3-1) is third ahead of Danville (3-1), Tri-West (4-0), Lawrenceburg (3-1), Mt. Vernon (Posey) (4-0), Brownstown Central (4-0), Owen Valley (4-0) and Western Boone (2-2).

In Class 4A, Roncalli (4-0) is No. 1 followed by Mooresville (4-0), East Noble (3-0), Leo (4-0), Jasper (4-0), East Central (3-1), Mt. Vernon (Fortville) (3-1), Northridge (4-0), Chatard (0-4) and Northview (4-0).

Three unbeaten teams sit atop the 5A poll with Cathedral (4-0) at No. 1. The Irish are followed by Valparaiso (4-0), Bloomington South (4-0), Fort Wayne Dwenger (3-1), Decatur Central (3-1), Fort Wayne Snider (2-1), Zionsville (2-2), Mishawaka (3-1), Kokomo (4-0), Bloomington North (3-1) and Castle (3-1).

Center Grove is No. 1 in 6A at 4-0. Westfield (3-1), Carmel (3-1), Merrillville (4-0) and Brownsburg (3-1) round out the top five. Warren Central (3-1) is sixth with Hamilton Southeastern (4-0), Ben Davis (2-2), Chesterton (4-0) and Lawrence North (3-0) rounding out the top 10.

Edinburgh was crowned Mid-Hoosier Conference Girls Golf Tournament champion Saturday while two Southwestern golfers earned All-MHC honors.

Led by Izzy Richardson and Macie Blandford, the Lancers’ posted a team score of 422 at Timbergate Golf Course to claim the team title.

Southwestern was second at 443. Morristown finished third at 493. No other MHC school has a girls golf program in 2021.

Richardson was the medalist for the tournament with a 28-over-par score of 100. Blandford finished one stroke back at 101.

Completing the Edinburgh scorecard was 110 from Gracie Myers and 111 from Jillan Turner.

Southwestern’s Lily Kerber also posted 101 to finish runner-up in the individual standings. Alison Muck shot 104 to join Richardson, Blandford and Kerber on the All-MHC team (photo above).

Also for Southwestern, McKinley Correll shot 111 and Sydney Griffin finished at 127.

Delaney Cornn topped Morristown’s scorecard with a 109. McKinley Kile (121), Ashlee Ballinger (123) and Mollie Runnebohm (140) also represented the Yellow Jackets.

In other prep events Saturday:

Girls Golf

Hoosier Heritage Conference Tournament

At Albany Golf Club, Mt. Vernon’s Alaina Nugent was the individual winner and her Marauders won the team title.

Mt. Vernon shot 351 to secure a 25-shot victory over Pendleton Heights (376). Greenfield-Central (389) finished third and the host, Delta (392), placed fourth.

The second half of the standings included Yorktown (397), New Palestine (408) and Shelbyville (432). New Castle did not have a team score.

Regan Mathies led Shelbyville with a 104. Kate Linville followed at 107. Madison Monroe shot 108 and Kaylee Tackett finished at 113.

Boys Soccer

Providence Cristo Rey 4, Morristown 2

Kevin Cervantes scored a pair of goals and Jose Sanchez had a goal and two assists to keep the Wolves (6-0) unbeaten this season.

Both teams scored twice in the first half before Providence Cristo Rey pulled away.

Bryan Jara also scored a goal and Jayro Guerrero had two assists in the win.

Morristown dropped to 2-5-1 this season.

Girls Soccer

Shelbyville 5, Delta 3

At Delta, the visiting Golden Bears fell behind 2-0 at halftime and 3-2 in the second half but rallied for the HHC victory.

Delta’s Addie Chester, a University of Louisville recruit, scored a pair of first-half goals to give the Eagles (5-3, 0-3 HHC) the lead at the break.

Shelbyville (4-3-1, 2-2 HHC) responded with two quick goals early in the second half but Chester got the hat trick to help Delta regain the lead. The senior now has 34 goals scored this season to lead the state standings.

It was all Shelbyville from there, scoring three times to secure the road victory.

Evelyn Kiefer had two goals for Shelbyville to push her season total to 10, which leads all Shelby County soccer players. She also had an assist.

Ava Wilson collected her eighth goal of the season and Sophie Parker notched her seventh.

Macy Cooley was credited with two saves in goal.

Boys Tennis

Shelbyville Invitational

Shelbyville’s No. 1 singles player Aidan Asher won both his matches but the Golden Bears finished 0-2.

Columbus East defeated the Golden Bears (2-10), 3-2. Asher and Ian Blackketter, playing at No. 3 singles, secured match wins.

Shelbyville then lost 4-1 to Seymour. Asher had the only match win.

Volleyball

Noblesville Invitational

Shelbyville rolled into the championship match where it lost a thrilling three-set match to the host Millers.

The Golden Bears, 8-6 now, opened the tournament with a 25-14, 20-25, 15-10 win over Wes-Del (12-3). Jaidyn Tackett, Madison Bassett, Ashlyn Turner and Emily Parker combined for 21 kills.

Emma Nolley and Tackett each had four service aces. Nolley led the team with 11 digs.

Shelbyville followed with a 25-20, 25-15 victory over Jay County (4-7). Bassett and Parker combined for 17 kills. Gracie Leffler collected 26 assists.

The Golden Bears defeated Franklin Central, 25-15, 25-13 to reach the championship match.

Parker had a team-high 10 kills in the win. Tackett had four aces. Kina Shultz added three total blocks. Parker and Payton Jackson combined for 13 digs.

Shelbyville won the first set against Noblesville but the Millers rallied to secure the championship, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12.

Tackett, Turner and Parker each had eight kills. Tackett had four aces to finish the day with 16 total. Bassett and Turner combined for five total blocks. Nolley had a team-high 11 digs and Leffler collected 25 more assists.

Noblesville (7-6) was led by Gabby Weihe’s 11 kills and four blocks. Ella Peter had 10 kills. Riley Branch had 30 assists.

Cross Country

Whiteland Invitational

Shelbyville’s Stefanie Howard and Michael Fox (photo above) finished on the podium Saturday with strong performances in Whiteland.

Howard placed seventh overall (20 minutes, 35 seconds) for a Golden Bears team that finished seventh in the team standings. Also competing for Shelbyville were Kaila Brattain (30^th, 22:42), Angel Kreider (39^th, 23:31), Beech Grove transfer Hannah Wright (42^nd, 23:55), Kaylie McDonald (44^th, 24:02) and Daisy Barrett (70^th, 28:30).

Southwestern finished ninth in the team standings and was led by Lilly Rooks’ 21^st-place finish in 22:03 (photo above). Gracie Schlabach was 30^th (22:46); Jenna Drake finished 37^th (23:27); Maxine Higdon placed 64^th (26:48); and Malori Pike finished 69^th (28:23).

Waldron was 11^th in the team standings. Scoring for the Mohawks were Hallie Ross (41^st, 23:45), Cheyenne Lozier (52^nd, 24:56), Sophie Hudnall (53^rd, 24:57) and Riley Price (66^th, 27:09).

Triton Central’s Hallie Schweitzer finished 24^th in 22:16.

Fox, Waldron’s Will Larrison and Shelbyville’s Beau Kenkel each had top-25 performances Saturday.

Fox finished 14^th in 18:18. Larrison was 18^th in 18:22. And Kenkel placed 23^rd in 18:34.

Shelbyville finished seventh in the team standings with Ben Hinojosa (64^th, 21:29), Isaac Zermeno (69^th, 22:10), Gavin Harker (77^th, 24:17), Gaige Harker (78^th, 24:40) and Isaiah Havens (81^st, 25:10).

Larrison helped the Mohawks finish ninth in the team standings. Also competing for Waldron were Jared Crosby (32^nd, 19:02), Caden Shaeffer (41^st, 19:20), Skylar Ferguson (57^th, 20:43), Nathaniel Evans (61^st, 21:08) and Ethan Richardson (73^rd, 22:41).

Southwestern finished 11^th with Dane Kissell (45^th, 19:32), Dakota Claiborne (47^th, 19:54), Ryan Griffin (67^th, 21:38), Elias Clark (71^st, 22:14) and Collin Cummings (82^nd, 25:22).

Triton Central was 13^th with Owen Sprinkle (55^th, 20:35), Lucas Bear (70^th, 22:12), Hank Hadler (74^th, 22:43) and Corbin Maurice (80^th, 25:01).

Shelbyville Middle School’s girls cross country team finished seventh in the team standings with Haylee Barnes (28^th, 14:10), Sophia Cunningham (32^nd, 14:12), Kathryn Seal (66^th, 16:09), Courtney Gross (81^st, 17:38), Aerin Garcia-Santiago (82^nd, 17:41), Serenity Sanders (89^th, 18:14) and Claire Kamplain (92^nd, 18:25) competing in Whiteland.

Southwestern’s Adalyn Brewer finished 64^th (16:02) and Sienna Shaw was 73^rd (17:13).

Triton Central tennis steamrolled to another Shelby County Tournament title Saturday afternoon at Waldron High School.

The Tigers swept Southwestern, 5-0, in the semifinal round then followed suit in the championship match against the host Mohawks.

Triton Central improved to 10-5 this season with straight-set wins in all 10 of its matches Saturday.

In the semifinal round against the Spartans, TC’s singles players dropped just six games overall in securing three victories.

Alex Crouse defeated Grant Emerick, 6-0, 6-1. Tucker Hutchinson topped Hunter Pappano, 6-1, 6-1. And Ashton Sturm bested Justin Swift, 6-1, 6-2.

Triton Central’s No. 1 doubles team of Avram Rund and Quinton Potts defeated Tristan Pappano and Caleb Pappano, 7-5, 6-3.

And Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds defeated Carter Snepp and Ty Burcham, 6-4, 6-0.

Southwestern fell to 3-4 this season.

In the other semifinal match, Waldron blanked Morristown, 5-0.

Lucas Shaw topped Tyler Schonfeld, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.

At No. 2 singles, Jack Fischer defeated Grant Kessler, 6-4, 6-3.

And Josh Kellems won at No. 3 singles over Austin Gabbard, 6-1, 6-0.

Waldron’s No. 1 doubles pairing of Max Jones and Jacob Lindsay defeated Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes, 6-3, 6-2.

And Bryant Becker and Matthew Thomas rolled past Carson Essex and Jerry Riley, 6-1, 6-1.

Morristown is 0-6 this season.

In the championship match, the young Waldron squad battled Triton Central but failed to win a set.

Crouse defeated Shaw at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 7-6 (6).

Hutchinson prevailed over Fischer, 6-1, 7-5.

And Sturm topped Kellems, 6-4, 6-1.

Rund and Potts defeated Jones and Lindsey, 6-2, 6-3.

While Gearlds and Sego secured a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Matthew Thomas.

The Mohawks are 4-7 this season.

Brian Glesing grabbed a pair of shoes, put them on and leaned back into the black chair inside the football coaching office Friday afternoon. The frustration of dealing with COVID-19 was evident as he prepared for a three-day weekend rather than a Saturday afternoon conference football game at New Castle.

“It’s very frustrating. We are meeting with the administration every day,” said Glesing, who had Shelbyville off to a 1-1 start but has seen week three’s home game against Delta and week four’s road game at New Castle cancelled because of a lack of available players for each game. “We are just following the rules. That is all we can do.”

Shelbyville’s program had players out due to COVID-19 and contact tracing in the first two weeks of the season but the numbers game finally caught up with a team that does not have a deep roster.

Glesing was still in full preparation mode through Thursday of week three of the regular season but he knew the COVID-19 numbers were not trending in the right direction as his team prepared for Delta.

“We had some injuries and we had some COVID-19 (cases) but we were still OK,” he said. “Then Thursday night at about 9 p.m., some players started texting the coaching staff and myself that they had received the letter, the dreaded contact tracing letter. At that point, we were already barely surviving with the COVID (protocols) and they added about five or six more (players). That devastated us.”

Shelbyville was to travel to New Castle today for a 1 p.m. Hoosier Heritage Conference game but that was canceled earlier in the week. A week five trip to Greenfield-Central is very much in doubt because of the lack of players practicing.

Glesing estimated he had 14 players, sophomores through seniors, at practice Thursday with about six more freshmen. Once the players are cleared to return from quarantine, there is still the IHSAA-mandated rule that a player must have a minimum number of practices before competing again.

“You get a couple kids back and a couple more get added (to the quarantine list),” said Glesing, in his first season as Shelbyville’s head coach. “We get a couple kids back and three more get added. We get a couple kids back and then they get sent back home for more contact tracing. It’s like plugging a dam … plug one hole here and three more spots open.”

Glesing is not questioning the process of dealing with a pandemic. Shelbyville’s program is not the only one experiencing difficulties.

“I understand everybody’s position,” said Glesing. “We want the kids safe. Everyone is following the rules and the guidelines. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just going to continue, and for us, it’s not even our players – yes we have some that are positive but more often than not it’s been from kids in school and being contact traced.

“It’s not just the football team. It’s kids getting contact traced from sitting in lunch together, or sitting in class together, or on the bus. It’s not just the football team, it’s the whole school.”

Shelbyville Central Schools system sent out a message Friday updating the COVID-19 cases in the district. Since Monday, there were 45 cases of COVID-19 reported and confirmed; 20 at Shelbyville High School, 11 at Shelbyville Middle School, four each at Coulston and Hendricks elementary schools and six at Loper Elementary.

As Glesing prepared Friday to leave the football facility, he received another text message from a player that received the contact tracing letter.

“It’s nobody’s fault. It just is what it is,” said Glesing. “Everyone has their political opinions on vaccination or no vaccination, we’re just following the rules.

“Now we do have some kids that are vaccinated and they don’t have to follow the (quarantine) protocol. It’s their choice and their family’s choice and we have not ever said that they have (to get vaccinated). It’s their right and their choice. You cannot fault that.”

Coming off the program’s first win in three seasons on Aug. 27 against Richmond, Glesing saw his newly-enthused squad have a great week of practice.

“This week, we have kind of treated it like spring practice,” he said. “We don’t have very many out there so a lot of the young kids have gotten good reps.”

The program opted not to practice Friday or today and will assess the situation again on Monday.

“I think Monday we will have a pretty good idea (if we play),” said Glesing.

Southwestern soccer coach Taylor Meredith warned his team to slow down the pace of play to make the most of each situation in the final minutes of a tie match Saturday morning.

That failure to change the mindset proved costly for the Class A, No. 11 Spartans against Class A, No. 4 Providence.

Providence senior Billy Hoke, who already had two goals in the contest, centered the ball across the front of the Southwestern net which was not cleared. Providence junior Luke Jorden didn’t miss the opportunity to score the game-winning goal.

With three minutes and 43 seconds left in regulation, Jorden’s goal gave the visiting Pioneers a 3-2 victory. The defending Class A state champions improved to 5-2-1 this season.

“Not that we were playing for a tie but we were still playing like we were down,” said Meredith. “There was a lot of buildup to (that goal) that was wrong and, again, I thought we were playing crazy like we were down a goal again and had a couple of people out of position.”

Aiden Hartsell scored both of Southwestern’s goal to push his season total to 31 – four short of tying the program record for a season – and career total to 95 – already a program record.

Hartsell’s first goal came in the match’s first 15 minutes Saturday when he raced down the far sideline, using his speed to get clearance, and fired a shot to the far corner past Providence goalkeeper Charlie Scott.

Nine minutes later, Hoke broke free from his defender and slipped a shot past Southwestern goalkeeper Eli Fix.

Hoke broke through the Southwestern defense early in the second half and beat Fix once again for a 2-1 lead.

Southwestern picked up the offensive push from there and found opportunities to tie the match. Off a Hartsell corner kick, Jordan Jones headed a shot that rose just over the top of the goal with 18 minutes left.

Six minutes later, Hartsell settled a Jonah DeArmitt pass into the middle of the field, eluded a defender and beat Scott to the far post to tie the match.

After Jorden put the Pioneers back in the lead, Southwestern got one final corner kick attempt from Hartsell but Scott rose above the bodies and punched the pass out toward midfield.

Saturday’s match was a potential semistate preview, should both teams get that far.

“There are always better teams out there than what we’ve been playing,” said Hartsell of the unique pairing. “We knew this would be the hardest match of the season when we scheduled them.”

The Spartans have never won a regional title but are experienced and have an elite scorer that opponents are now focusing on stopping.

“Early in the season, Aiden could kind of do his own thing and make it work,” said Meredith. “(Providence) knew Aiden going in. They were prepared for him. That is something we are going to have to work on at practice to give Aiden some different tools and give him some more support as well.”

The Spartans, 6-2 now, have two conference matches this week against Morristown Tuesday and Hauser Friday with another battle against a state-ranked team in Class A, No. 10 Lutheran (5-2-1) in between on Thursday.

“We are good. We knew we would have a test against Attucks (Southwestern’s only other loss this season, 3-1) and we knew this would be a test and we have Indy Lutheran coming up but we’ve already beaten everyone in our sectional,” said Meredith. “That’s a big confidence boost for these guys.”

Learning lessons while growing up can be painful. 

So can learning while growing up on the Friday night football field.

Triton Central is trying to do just that while matching up against competition that is often older and more experienced.  Throw in bigger and stronger and you have Monrovia.  The Bulldogs scored 30 unanswered points en route to a 38-14 Indiana Crossroads win at Bud Mendenhall Field Friday.

Triton Central (2-2, 1-2 ICC) dropped its second straight game.  Friday’s loss to Monrovia mirrored the Tigers loss to Indianapolis Lutheran the week before.  Triton Central was pushed around on the line of scrimmage, failed to establish a running game while providing more evidence of a developing passing attack.

Triton Central head coach Tim Able spoke with GIANT fm Sports.

The game started well for the Triton Central Homecoming crowd.  Monrovia used an across the field lateral on the opening kickoff to start a drive near midfield.  Three plays later the Bulldogs had to punt.  Triton Central started at the 10-yard line and engineered a 90-yard drive capped off by a one-yard Jace Stuckey touchdown on a quarterback sneak on fourth down to lead, 7-0.

Monrovia took the lead for good, 8-7, in the final minute of the first quarter on a two-yard run by sophomore Brayton Belcher followed by a successful two-point conversion.

Monrovia would go on to score 22 second quarter points highlighted by two touchdown runs of 11 and one yard by Dustin Kostrzewski.  The junior running back added the two-point conversion after each.

Kostrzewski’s second touchdown was set up by the Monrovia defense.  Sophomore Eli Welch intercepted a Jace Stuckey pass at the Monrovia 43 – yard line and returned  it to the Triton Central 23-yard line to set up a short field.

Belcher scored his second touchdown of the night late in the half and Monrovia took a 30-7 lead into the locker room.

After a scoreless third quarter, a lucky bounce allowed Triton Central a glimmer of hope.  A Stuckey pass was deflected into the hands of sophomore wide receiver Anthony Dunville who turned and sprinted 69-yards into the endzone.  The touchdown brought the Tigers within two scores, 30-14, with 9:56 remaining.

But Monrovia left no doubt on the next drive.  Utilizing a dominant offensive line the Monrovia rushing attack moved the ball downfield as Kostrzewski capped the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run with just over four minutes remaining followed by the two-point conversion.

Monrovia (3-1, 2-0 ICC) was successful on four of its five two-point conversion attempts.

Triton Central’s rushing game was muzzled by the Bulldog’s defensive line led by senior Jett Massey.  Massey recorded two quarterback sacks and several hurries.   For Triton Central, sophomore Ray Crawford had just seven yards on five carries.  Stuckey rushed 12 times for minus-four yards to with a touchdown.  Stuckey was sacked four times.

Through the air, Stuckey was 22-for-37 passing, 188 yards, with a touchdown and interception.

Wide receiver Anthony Dunville recorded a season-high eight catches for 139 yards.  69 of those came on the deflected pass in the fourth quarter.

Crawford led the team with nine catches for 73 yards.

Monrovia’s balanced rushing attack was led by Belcher’s 96 yards and Kostrzewski’s ran for 94.

Bulldogs quarterback Eli Wagner threw for more yards than he had for the season.  Wagner was 4-for-8 passing with 87 yards.  84 yards went to junior wideout Corbin Byrnes on three catches.

Coach Able says he’s proud of the effort.  Growing up is a process and they’ll get better.

Shelbyville's boys soccer with Yorktown on Saturday, September 11, has been postponed.

The new date is September 25.  Time is to be announced.

Holy Justice won her second straight start and her first stakes win in the 21^st running of the Back Home Again Stakes at Indiana Grand.

Ridden by Jose Riquelme, the two-year-old chestnut filly won the six-furlong sprint in 1:13.24.

Holy Justice (photo leading) left the gate for positioning but so did several other contenders. She sat patiently mid pack as Flirty Dancer and Joshua Morales set the tempo up front. Around the only turn of the race, Riquelme moved around rivals and was in a pack of horses hoping for the win at the head of the lane.

It was anybody’s race to win at the top of the stretch as Holy Justice emerged in the center of the track as a serious contender. She dug in gamely and fended off late challengers to score the win by a half length over Louder Than Words and Sammy Bermudez, who rallied up late for second. No More Fake News and DeShawn Parker finished a close third.

Holy Justice is owned by Bruce Murphy and Genaro Garcia’s Southwest Racing Stable. They purchased her for $1,800 out of the Indiana Mixed Sale last fall as a yearling.

“I think we got really lucky with this filly,” said Garcia, who also trains. “We bought a couple. This filly was not big, but she had nice conformation and we liked her breeding. Plus, the Justice (Farms) horses are really nice.”

Holy Justice is now two for three in her career with earnings of nearly $100,000. It was the first time Riquelme had ridden her in a race.

“I worked this filly, and I liked her,” said Riquelme. “She is a good mover. We were boxed and boxed today, but when we got clear, she was running. I think she’s going to be a really good one.”

Mowins and Sammy Bermudez rallied around opponents in the stretch to score an impressive win in the 21^st running of the Circle City Stakes Wednesday at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville.

The time of the six-furlong sprint was 1:11.89.

Mowins (photo) began from post one as the favorite of the field and got away in mid pack before moving into third at the halfway point. Bermudez moved the two-year-old Mohaymen colt to the outside for the stretch drive and challenged race leader Oro Azteca and Emmanuel Esquivel for the top spot.

In the stretch, Mowins pulled away from the field to score the win by two and one-half lengths under wraps. Oro Azteca finished second over Blue Kalon and Orlando Mojica in a tight three-horse photo for third.

Mowins earned his second win in four starts. He is owned by Clary Thoroughbreds and Penny Lauer and trained by Mike Lauer. He increased his career bankroll to more than $100,000 with the win in the Circle City Stakes.

Triton Central senior Emma Branham and the Southwestern Spartans will go down as trivia answers when it comes to the history of the Shelby County Girls Golf Tournament.

The inaugural event was held Thursday at Hawk’s Tail Golf Course in Greenfield where Southwestern posted a 20-shot victory over Morristown. Triton Central was incomplete with just three golfers but produced the tournament’s first individual champion.

Branham shot 12-over-par 48 for nine holes Thursday to secure a 4-shot victory over Morristown’s Delaney Cornn (52).

Southwestern and head coach Gary Muldoon (photo above) claimed the team trophy with three golfers shooting between 54 and 56.

Lily Kerber and McKinley Correll each posted 54s while Alison Muck shot 56. The Spartans’ scorecard was completed by Sydney Griffin’s 61.

For Morristown, McKinley Kile shot 62, Ashlee Ballinger carded 64 and Clara Hale shot 67. Mollie Runnebohm was one shot back at 68.

After Branham, Kendra Erdmann shot 59 for TC and Olivia Martin shot 66.

Waldron does not have a girls golf program.

Shelbyville’s girls soccer team scored six first-half goals Thursday to roll to a 10-0 victory over visiting Triton Central.

Sophie Parker and Evelyn Kiefer each scored three goals to lead the Golden Bears (3-3-1). Kiefer leads Shelbyville with eight goals scored.

Ava Wilson had two goals to push her season total to seven.

Lilly Marshall and Rebecca Valdez rounded out the Golden Bears’ goal scorers.

Parker and Ella Johnson each had two assists. Parker now has six goals and 12 assists this season. Wilson and Emma Sandman also had assists.

Macy Cooley earned the shutout in goal.

The loss was the sixth straight for Triton Central (1-6), who have been shutout in its last two losses.

In other prep events Thursday:

Girls Golf

New Palestine 195, Shelbyville 208

At Blue Bear Golf Course, New Palestine’s Zoe Nelson and Hanna Beller each shot 45 to share the medalist honor and lead the Dragons past the Golden Bears.

Also for New Palestine, Kate Stanfield shot 50 and Lauren Appleby shot 55.

Kaylee Tackett led Shelbyville with 47. Kate Linville (50), Regan Mathies (54) and Madison Monroe (57) completed the Shelbyville scorecard.

Boys Soccer

New Palestine 3, Shelbyville 1

At New Palestine, Shelbyville was without its starting goalkeeper, two captains and a fourth role player for its second Hoosier Heritage Conference match of the year.

Elliott Canova provided the only first-half scoring for New Palestine (4-4, 3-1 HHC). Ethan Windham and Cody Crawmer added second-half goals to secure the win.

Christian Haas had the only goal for Shelbyville (6-4, 1-1 HHC).

New Palestine won the junior varsity match, 4-0.

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 5, Southwestern 0

At Triton Central, the Tigers (8-5) swept the Spartans (3-3) with straight-set victories in all five matches.

Alex Crouse defeated Grant Emerick, 6-0, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.

Tucker Hutchinson collected his ninth win of the season at No. 2 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Hunter Pappano.

And Ashton Sturm topped Justin Swift at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-2.

At No. 1 doubles, Avram Rund and Quinton Potts improved to 9-4 with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Carter Snepp and Caleb Pappano.

And Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds also improved to 9-4 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ty Burcham and Jackson Burcham.

Triton Central’s Derreck Uhls won a junior varsity match.

Eastern Hancock 4, Waldron 1

At Eastern Hancock, Josh Kellems produced the lone victory for the Mohawks (3-6). Kellems defeated Luke Schilling, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 to improve to 4-2 this season at No. 3 singles.

At No. 1 singles, Zeke Dixon defeated Waldron’s Lucas Shaw, 6-3, 6-3.

Nolan Stout bested Jack Fischer at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-1.

At No. 1 doubles, Jacob Lindsey and Max Jones lost to Bryce Wennen and Wyatt Sutton, 6-2, 6-1.

And Myles Wennen and Peyton Stephens defeated Bryant Becker and Matthew Thomas at No. 2 doubles, 6-0, 6-2.

Hauser 5, Morristown 0

At Morristown, Carson Essex and Jerry Riley lost a hard-fought match at No. 2 doubles to Hauser’s Hagan Weidersatz and Alex Bower, 7-5, 5-7, 12-10.

Sam Miller defeated Morristown’s Tyler Schonfeld at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 2 singles, Caleb Wallace topped Grant Kessler, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

And Carson Rose defeated Austin Gabbard at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-4.

The Jets swept the match with a 6-1, 6-0 victory by Eli Miller and Levi Gollmer over Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes.

Mt. Vernon 3, Shelbyville 2

At Mt. Vernon, the visiting Golden Bears (2-8) dropped to 0-5 in HHC matches.

Logan Prickett improved to 5-3 this season at No. 3 singles for Shelbyville with a 6-0, 7-6 (4) win over Mati Jones.

Shelbyville’s other win came from Caden Tackett at No. 2 singles. He defeated Brady Pearson, 6-3, 6-1.

At No. 1 singles, Adam Kuon topped Shelbyville’s Aidan Asher, 6-0, 6-2.

Manny Downs and Robbie Moore defeated Ian Blackketter and Charlie Rife at No. 1 doubles, 6-3, 6-0.

And Brock Barr and Isaac Damer bested Karson Schaf and Connor Zobel at No. 2 doubles, 6-4, 6-1.

Volleyball

Shelbyville def. Hauser, 24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18

At Hauser, Shelbyville played without senior Emily Parker but got 25 combined kills from Jaidyn Tackett and Shelby Lasure to get back to .500 this season at 5-5.

Karlie Lawson, Payton Jackson and Gracie Leffler combined for nine service aces while Madison Bassett and Kina Schultz combined for 10 total blocks.

Emma Nolley had a team-high 16 digs and Leffler notched 42 assists.

Waldron def. Greenwood Christian, 25-20, 25-14, 25-17

At Waldron, setter Emily Tyree collected a career-high 38 assists to lead the Mohawks (8-5) over the Cougars (4-7).

Madalyn Hudnall finished with a team-high 17 kills to lead Waldron, winners of three straight. Mackenzie Shaw and Kaylee Young combined for 16 more kills.

Megan Bogemann had a team-high 17 digs.

Faith Kresge and Olivia Shingleton topped Greenwood Christian with seven kills apiece. Milana Schundelmier had five aces and Savannah Danielson finished with 18 assists.

Southwestern def. South Decatur, 25-23, 27-25, 25-16

At Southwestern, the Spartans rallied to win set two and rolled through set three to improve to 5-6 this season. Southwestern has won four straight.

South Decatur stayed winless at 0-5.

Triton Central did not get a gridiron win Friday at Class A, No. 1 Lutheran -- but it got an education.

“We did as best we could,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able of his team’s 35-7 loss to the Saints. “They’ve got a good team. They’ve got a good program. We had a chance down 21-7 with an opportunity to make a catch and score a touchdown and make the game more interesting. We just didn’t take advantage of the opportunities and that’s part of our growing pains.”

Triton Central (2-1, 1-1 Indiana Crossroads Conference) fell out of  the top 10 state rankings in Class 2A with the loss, one that would come with an asterisk if the Tigers and Saints were to meet again later this season. Triton Central, now ranked 12^th in the state coaches poll, played without two of its top playmakers in sophomore Ray Crawford junior Brad Schultz.

Crawford, the Tigers’ leading rusher (267 yards, 2 TDs) and second-leading receiver (130 yards, 2 TDs), returns to the lineup Friday while Schultz will miss a second consecutive week recovering from an ankle injury.

With Schultz out, senior receiver Devon Emberton (11 receptions, 146 yards, 2 TDs) and sophomore running back Brayden Wilkins (20 carries, 114 yards) have been given more responsibilities in the offense.

Week four is Homecoming Week for Triton Central. Monrovia (2-1, 1-0 ICC) is the opponent Friday night at Mendenhall Field.

The Bulldogs’ offense is one dimensional which presents a challenge to Tim Able’s defense.

“You want to make them throw the ball,” said Able. “They are comfortable running the ball and if you let that happen, they will make you bleed.”

The heavy-duty run offense features three running backs – sophomore Brayton Belcher (236 rushing yards, 4 TDs), junior Dustin Kostrzewski (209 yards, 1 TD) and senior Todd Camic (183 yards, 4 TDs).

“They like to give the ball to all three and evenly distribute it,” said Abel.

To prepare, Abel has instructed his defense in practice to tackle all three rushers after the snap.

“We don’t use a ball (in practice),” he said. “We tackle all three of them which helps us simulate the speed.”

Quarterback Eli Wagner, a junior, is 4-for-12 passing for 76 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Monrovia finished 2-8 in 2020 in head coach Andy Olson’s inaugural season. The Bulldogs’ junior varsity was undefeated, though, countered Able.

Triton Central won last year’s conference clash, 33-20. Monrovia is a 10-point favorite based on the Sagarin ratings of Indiana high school football teams.

With Shelby County’s other football program, Shelbyville, shut down for the second straight week due to positive cases of COVID-19, Able believes Triton Central is in good shape.

“So far, so good. (Positive cases) have really slowed down here. We have a lot more kids in classes,” said Able.

Lutheran sits atop the ICC standings at 3-0 (3-0 ICC).

Class 2A, No. 11 Speedway follows at 3-0 (2-0 ICC) ahead of Monrovia, Scecina (2-1, 1-1), Triton Central, Beech Grove (1-2, 1-2), Ritter (0-3,0-2) and Cascade (0-3, 0-3).

Friday’s schedule includes Beech Grove at Scecina, Speedway at Ritter, Cloverdale at Cascade and Lutheran at Lapel.

Indian Creek posted a team score of 210 Wednesday at Hawk’s Tail Golf Course in Greenfield to defeat Triton Central, who only had three golfers available.

Indian Creek’s Ciara Green was the medalist with a 46. Also scoring for the Braves were Hannah Emenhoser (49), Bailey Dowty (55), and Christole Baugh (60).

Emma Branham led Triton Central with a 56. Kendra Erdmann followed at 57 and Olivia Martin posted a season-best round of 61.

Royal Prince and Fernando De La Cruz (photo) pulled in a win Wednesday in the $150,000 Caesars Stakes at Indiana Grand. The race was the highlight of the 11-race card that included four stakes races and marked the richest day of turf racing in the state of Indiana.

Starting from post four in the reduced field of five, Royal Prince got away second behind Dyn O Mite and Jose Riquelme, following along in a stalking position throughout the one-mile turf event. At the head of the stretch, Royal Prince made his move and, at first, looked like he would go right on by as the selected favorite of the field. However, Dyn O Mite came back to challenge.

The duo battled the entire length of the stretch in close quarters with Dyn O Mite getting the last call by a half length. However, contact between the two switched the order after a disqualification and moved Royal Prince up for the win.

Perfect Silent Cat and Luca Panici, making his first start at Indiana Grand, finished third. The time of the race was 1:35.26.

Royal Prince is now three for eight in 2021 and four for 11 lifetime. He is owned by Steve Landers Racing LLC and trained by Brad Cox. He moved his career earnings over the $300,000 mark with the win. The grey son of Cairo Prince, a $70,000 yearling purchase is now a two-time stakes winner.

“This horse is always solid and showed today that he is that caliber of horse,” said Ricky Giannini, assistant trainer for Brad Cox who oversees the string at Indiana Grand. “He is stationed at Keeneland so he may go there for his next start.”

The Caesars Stakes was complemented by Empire of Hope, a Caesars Entertainment Racing initiative to bring funding and awareness to racehorse aftercare programs. Nearly $14,000 was raised through several promotions and donations geared toward the cause. A special presentation showing the support was held in the winner’s circle with Randy Klopp, Indiana HBPA member and past president, Rachel McLaughlin, On-Air racing analyst, and Eric Halstrom, vice president and general manager of racing at Indiana Grand.

On a day when the spotlight was turned on to four stakes and racehorse aftercare programs, it was the winner of the fifth race that stole the show.

Bern N Ash, a longshot owned by Deborah and David Clay, earned his first career win and marked the first winner for the new owners in the racing business.

Delving into racehorse ownership has quite a story behind it for the Clays.

“We bought a 42-acre farm eight years ago in Eminence, Kentucky,” said Debbie Clay. “We tried to raise vegetables on the land, but it wasn’t working out. I told David we needed to figure out what to do with the land and told him to pray. Two weeks later he came home with a Thoroughbred mare he got off a truck headed to slaughter named Highest Ground. We paid $400 for her papers and we were in the breeding business.”

The Clays formed their farm, D & D Drennon Creek Farm, and began accumulating mares, either through buying them off of trucks headed to slaughter or by adopting them. The farm has produced winners for them as breeders. However, their first win as owners came at a time they needed it most.

“David has battled and beat cancer twice and he’s battling it again,” said trainer Stephen Dunn. “This was their first win as owners. It means so much to all of us.”

The Clays now have four in training, but Bern N Ash is the first to make it to the track. At odds of 30-1, expectations weren’t high on the drive up from Eminence, Ky., but the trip was well worth the drive.

Starting from post eight in the one and one-sixteenth mile turf event, Bern N Ash and Tommy Pompell were wide most of the race but continued to pursue the top spot all the way to the wire, getting the lead late in the race between horses and winning by a neck. He paid $17.60 for the win.

David, who has lost his ability to speak due to cancer, was in the winner’s circle with Bern N Ash. It was an emotional victory for the entire team.

“We are just a little mom and pop shop,” added Debbie. “We are getting ready to fight another battle with David’s cancer. This makes our trip back home a little brighter.”

Although David cannot speak, he’s still able to communicate through a pad and pen he keeps with him, saying, “What we have is PDL, plain dumb luck.”

It’s a little luck and a lot of heart both on and off the track for a couple that found their way into the horse racing industry eight years ago.

Ray Basile’s goal this season is to teach his young Triton Central squad to play fast. With that, the veteran coach knew his volleyball team would struggle getting up to speed.

Now 11 matches into the season, the Tigers are rolling right along. On Tuesday at Warren Central, Triton Central swept the Warriors, 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 to improve to 7-4.

Maddy Brown had a team-high 12 kills, pushing her season total to a team-best 113. Seven more Tigers had at least one kill.

Hallie Schweitzer (five aces) and Julia Sanders (four) combined for nine aces.

Sanders had a team-high 15 digs to push her season total to 250.

Setters Kate Isley, 16 assists, and Maia Harris, four assists, have a combined 257 assists this season.

Triton Central has won five of its last six matches.

Warren Central is 2-8.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Indian Creek 211, Edinburgh 216, Southwestern 223

At Tameka Woods, Hannah Emenhiser shot 6-over-par 42 to lead Indian Creek to the win. Ciara Green (52), Bailey Dowty (57) and Allison Vavul (60) completed the Braves’ scorecard.

For Edinburgh, Izzy Richardson carded 49 to finish ahead of Macie Blandford (52), Hannah Pile (56) and Jillan Turner (59).

Lily Kerber matched her season-best round of 47 to lead Southwestern. Alison Muck (53), McKinley Correll (56) and Sydney Griffin (67) also competed Tuesday.

New Palestine JV 220, Morristown 252

At Hawk’s Tail, Hanna Beller shot 51 to lead New Palestine’s junior varsity team to a victory over the Yellow Jackets.

Also for New Palestine, Janie Hamilton shot 53, Lily Kirchner followed at 57 and Ava Hasecuster and Rachel Hamilton each shot 59.

Delaney Cornn led Morristown with 56. Also on the scorecard were Ashlee Ballinger (61), Mollie Runnebohm (67), McKinley Kile (68) and Clara Hale (71).

Triton Central Inc., Monrovia Inc.

At Hawk’s Tail, each Indiana Crossroads Conference school only had two available golfers.

Led by Brooke Farley’s 47, Monrovia defeated Triton Central, 107-109.

Boys Soccer

Batesville 1, Shelbyville 0

At Batesville, the Bulldogs (8-2) scored in the game’s final 15 minutes to end Shelbyville’s five-match win streak.

Jalen Hounshell was credited with nine saves in goal for the Golden Bears (6-3).

Batesville avenged an Aug. 28 loss to Shelbyville in the championship game of the Shelbyville Invitational. After a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation and overtime, the Golden Bears prevailed 8-7 on penalty kicks.

Shelbyville’s junior varsity defeated Batesville, 2-1. Trent Todd and Aiden Helfer scored goals for Shelbyville.

Girls Soccer

Pendleton Heights 3, Shelbyville 1

At Shelbyville, the visiting Arabians (5-1-1, 2-0 Hoosier Heritage Conference) scored a pair of first-half goals and never trailed.

Isabelle Phillips scored twice and Katie Coleman had Pendleton Heights’ third goal with assists by Phillips, Ava Chamberlin and Zoe Welch.

Shelbyville’s only goal came from Ava Wilson – her fifth of the season. Sophie Parker collected her 10^th assist on the goal.

Macey Cooley was credited with 18 saves for Shelbyville (2-3-1, 1-2 HHC).

The Golden Bears host Triton Central Thursday.

In the junior varsity match Tuesday, Liz Herrberg scored twice to lead the Arabians to a 4-1 victory.

Kincade Dorsey scored Shelbyville’s lone goal.

Speedway 11, Triton Central 0

At Speedway, the Class A, No. 7-ranked Sparkplugs scored seven first-half goals to cruise to the ICC victory.

Speedway improved to 7-0 this season and 2-0 against conference foes.

Triton Central lost its fifth straight to fall to 1-5 (0-3 ICC).

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 4, Hauser 1

At Triton Central, Tucker Hutchinson improved to 8-4 at No. 2 singles this season for the Tigers (7-5) with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Caleb Wallace.

Both of TC’s doubles teams also stand at 8-4 after wins Tuesday.

At No. 1 doubles, Avram Rund and Quinton Potts defeated Eli Miller and Levi Gollmer, 6-3, 6-2.

Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds blanked Hagan Wiedersatz and Alex Bower, 6-0, 6-0.

Triton Central’s other win came at No. 3 singles where Ashton Sturm defeated Carson Rose, 6-0, 6-0.

Hauser’s only victory came at No. 1 singles where Sam Miller topped Alex Crouse, 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.

Knightstown 5, Southwestern 0

At Southwestern, the Spartans (3-2) captured seven games total off the visiting Panthers.

Hunter Steiner defeated Southwestern’s Tristan Pappano, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

Aiden Richardson bested Grant Emerick, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.

And Brayden McDaniel topped Hunter Pappano at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-0.

Both of Southwestern’s doubles pairings lost 6-0, 6-1.

Southwestern got junior varsity singles match wins from Jackson Burcham and Ben Schlabach.

Rushville 5, Waldron 0

At Rushville, Waldron forfeited the No. 2 doubles match and was swept in straight sets in all three singles matches.

Marlin Hershberger defeated Lucas Shaw at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-1.

Sam Smith blanked Josh Kellems at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

And Cameron Jackman topped Jacob Lindsey at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-2.

At No. 1 doubles, Jensen Smith and Josh Wainwright defeated Max Jones and Matthew Thomas, 6-1, 5-7, 10-8.

Volleyball

Waldron def. Indiana Deaf, 25-22, 25-15, 21-25, 25-7

At Indiana Deaf, Waldron got 15 kills from Madalyn Hudnall, 11 from Kaylee Young and eight from Mackenzie Shaw to improve to 7-5 this season.

With starting setter Emily Tyree out with an illness, Josee Larrison stepped into the varsity role and had 26 assists.

Megan Bogemann led Waldron with 12 digs.

ZaniBelle Hoglind led Indiana Deaf (5-5) with seven kills and six aces. Nicholle Bradach had 17 digs and Seanna Baird collected 18 assists.

New Castle def. Shelbyville, 17-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-23

At Shelbyville, the host Golden Bears (4-5, 0-1 HHC) won the first set but then dropped the next three to the Trojans (4-4, 1-0 HHC), winners of four straight.

Jaidyn Tackett led Shelbyville with 14 kills. Emily Parker finished with 13 kills and 12 digs.

Madison Bassett had three blocks. Emma Nolley earned a team-high 17 digs. And Gracie Leffler notched 31 assists.

Indiana’s richest day of turf racing is set for Wednesday, Sept. 8 featuring four stakes for Caesars Stakes Day at Indiana Grand. Purses for the day exceed $700,000 for the 11-race card which is capped off by four stakes, including the $150,000 Caesars Stakes (Listed) and the $150,000 Indiana Grand Stakes (Listed).

Heading the list of entrants in the Caesars Stakes, slated as Race 10, is Royal Prince from the Brad Cox barn. The three-year-old son of Cairo Prince comes into the race off a second-place finish in the $100,000 KY Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby at Ellis Park in early August. The grey stakes winning colt has only missed the top three once in seven starts this season. He will start from post seven at odds of 8-5 with Fernando De La Cruz in the irons.

The Cox Stable will also saddle the favorite in the Indiana Grand Stakes, featuring the fillies over the turf running at a distance of one mile. The Uncle Mo filly was a winner in her last start at Ellis Park in mid-August, her first and only start of 2021. She is now three for four in her brief career. De La Cruz will also ride from post eight at odds of 2-1 in Race 9.

The Caesars Stakes and the Indiana Grand Stakes will be bookended by the 21^st running of the $100,000 Back Home Again Stakes in Race 8 and the 21^st running of the $100,000 Circle City Stakes in Race 11. The four stakes will offer a special All Stakes Pick 4 on Races 8 – 11.

Caesars Stakes Day will also feature “Empire of Hope,” a Caesars Entertainment Racing initiative to place the spotlight on racehorse aftercare programs. Indiana Grand will offer several activities to raise funding for the cause throughout the program, including t-shirt sales and Peppermints for Ponies, where guests purchase peppermints to feed to the pony horses following Race 4 on the card.

A “Parade of Champions” will also take place with five current pony horses highlighted as retired racehorses. Ethan Hunt and Niceandeasydoesit, both serving as outriding horses, will be featured following the sixth race along with Gallant, Even Fever, and retired Quarter Horse Stealtheshowjo.

The afternoon card will also feature the $1,000 Caesars Stakes Warriors Contest, open to players both on-track and online. The top handicapper on the six contest races will receive a $500 gift card. The contest is open to all players currently residing in the United States that are 18 years of age and older. The contest begins on Race 5. Entries should be submitted to:  indianagrandcontest@gmail.com by 4:20 p.m. to play.

The 19^th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is now in progress and continues through Monday, Nov. 8. Live racing is conducted at 2:25 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. A special Indiana Champions Day highlighting the state’s top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses will be held Saturday, Oct. 30, beginning at noon. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.caesars.com/indiana-grand. 

Marian University tight end Luke Hornung pulled down a 15-yard pass from quarterback Zach Bundalo for the first touchdown reception of his career.

The Triton Central graduate (photo) helped give Marian a 7-6 lead in the second quarter Saturday against Tiffin University.

However, that would be the Knights’ only touchdown of the game. Tiffin pulled away for a 34-10 victory to drop Marian to 0-1 this season.

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

Kenneth Gipson

The Triton Central graduated played offensive line for Rose-Hulman Saturday in a 33-23 loss to Wabash in Terre Haute, Ind.

Gipson is a sophomore in the Rose-Hulman football program.

Nick Brokering

The Shelbyville graduate was credited with two tackles for Mount St. Joseph’s football team in a 36-20 loss to Albion in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Brokering is a senior defensive lineman.

Daniela Joseph

The Shelbyville graduate carded rounds of 96 and 106 to finish 25^th overall for Earlham College’s women’s golf team in the Women’s Stateline Shootout at Miami Whitewater Forest Golf Club in Harrison, Ohio.

Joseph is a senior at Earlham.

Jill Anspaugh

The Shelbyville graduate ran a career best time of 26 minutes, 17 seconds for Franklin College Saturday in the season-opening invitational hosted by Franklin College at Blue River Memorial Park’s cross country course in Shelbyville.

Anspaugh finished 34^th overall in the field. The Grizzlies placed fifth out of 11 teams.

Brock Pitman

The Shelbyville graduate logged a combined 16 minutes of playing time in a pair of Anderson University soccer losses.

On Sept. 1, Anderson lost its season opener to DePauw, 6-0. Pitman, a freshman midfielder, played nine minutes.

Anderson secured its first win three days later, 3-1 over Emory & Henry.

On Saturday, Pitman played seven minutes in a 1-0 loss to Heidelberg.

Makenzie Logan

The Morristown graduate scored a pair of wins Saturday for Huntington University’s women’s tennis team.

Logan was victorious at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 6-0 over Bethel’s Anna Pope. Logan and her doubles partner, Nina Golfier, won at No. 2 doubles, 6-3.

Huntington defeated Bethel, 7-0, before losing to No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan. Logan lost at No. 5 singles, 6-3, 6-0 to Breann Barger and at No. 2 doubles with Golfier, 6-0.

On Friday, Huntington lost to Olivet Nazarene, 4-2. Logan won at doubles but lost her No. 5 singles match to Nirva Patel, 6-2, 6-2.

Bailey Chandler

The Triton Central graduate had 13 assists and seven digs for Eastern Illinois volleyball in its first loss of the season Saturday to Northern Illinois, 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15.

Two nights earlier, the Panthers defeated the same Northern Illinois squad, 25-23, 19-25, 25-15, 25-15. Chandler finished with nine assists, one ace and two digs.

Maggie Schweitzer

The Triton Central graduate made her collegiate debut Saturday for Hanover College volleyball against No. 16 Muskingum in Ada, Ohio, at the Ohio Northern Invitational.

Schweitzer, a freshman setter, did not record a statistic during Hanover’s 25-22, 16-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-9 loss that dropped the Panthers to 1-3 this season.

Maddy Beaver

The Triton Central graduate finished with three kills and two block assists to help Goshen College defeat Calumet College of St. Joseph, 26-24, 25-19, 25-12.

As part of the CCSJ Tri-Match, Goshen also defeated Bluefield State College, 32-30, 25-16, 25-13 Saturday. Brown had six kills.

Goshen improved to 3-8 this season.

Brooklyn Schiffli

The Triton Central graduate had five digs, one assist, one ace and one kill Saturday for Jacksonville State volleyball in a 23-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-19 win at Charleston Southern.

Playing in the Charleston Southern Tournament, Jacksonville State lost to Wyoming Saturday, 29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17. Schiffli had 10 digs, one kill, one ace and one assist.

Jacksonville State is 5-1 this season.

Shelbyville volleyball lost in straight sets Monday night to Columbus East.

The Olympians swept the Golden Bears, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16 to improve to 10-2 this season. Shelbyville dropped to 4-4.

Jaidyn Tackett led Shelbyville’s offensive attack with eight kills. Emily Parker finished with six kills to push her season total to a team-leading 99. Tackett follows with 77 kills.

Ashlyn Turner had a team-high three total blocks against the Olympians.

Setter Gracie Leffler collected 22 assists to bump her season total to 249 assists. She is the school’s career leader in assists.

Emma Nolley had 16 digs, running her season total to 106. She is closing in on the program’s career record for digs.

Payton Jackson added 11 digs and Parker had 10.

Columbus East also swept the junior varsity match, 25-22, 25-19.

Shelbyville returns to action tonight at William L. Garrett Gymnasium for its Hoosier Heritage Conference opener against New Castle (3-4, 0-0 HHC).

Southwestern soccer will host the defending Class A state champions Saturday morning.

Class A, No. 4 Providence (3-2-1) will travel north to face the 11^th-ranked Spartans (6-1) at 10 a.m. Providence captured its first boys soccer state championship in 2020 with a 2-1 victory over Argos.

Luke Hesse and Edward Bobkoskie scored goals for Providence in the state championship game and goalkeeper Jacob Braswell was credited with six saves -- but all were seniors.

The Pioneers suffered their second loss of the season Saturday, 5-0 to Columbus East. Their only other loss came to Floyd Central, 2-1 on Aug. 25.

Southwestern’s only loss this season came Thursday to Indianapolis Crispus Attucks, 3-1. The Spartans rebounded for a 6-1 victory Saturday over Greenwood Christian.

Park Tudor is the No. 1 team in Class A in the most recent state coaches poll. The Panthers are followed by Heritage Christian, University, Providence, South Knox, North White, Cascade, Kouts, Jac-Cen-Del and Indianapolis Lutheran.

Southwestern leads the next ten ahead of Northeast Dubois, Forest Park, Covenant Christian, Faith Christian, North Putnam, Carroll (Flora), Illiana Christian, Oldenburg Academy and Tell City.

Fort Wayne Canterbury is No. 1 in Class 2A. Two more Fort Wayne schools are in the top 10.

Guerin Catholic is No. 2 ahead of Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, West Lafayette, Mishawaka Marian, Gibson Southern, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Heritage Hills, Speedway and South Bend St. Joseph.

Other notables in the top 20 are Yorktown at No. 14 and Batesville at No. 20.

Three of the top four schools in Class 3A are neighbors.

Noblesville is No. 1 with Fishers, Chesterton, Hamilton Southeastern and Evansville Memorial in the top five. The second five are Castle, Elkhart, Penn, Northridge and Valparaiso.

Noblesville also in No. 1 in the Class 3A girls poll with Hamilton Southeastern and Carmel following. Homestead is No. 4 and Bloomington South is No. 5. The second five are Columbus North, North Central, Zionsville, South Bend St. Joseph and Center Grove.

Evansville Memorial sits atop the 2A poll with Chatard, Cathedral, Brebeuf, Mishawaka Marian, Evansville Mater Dei, Park Tudor, Hamilton Heights, Tri West and Lawrenceburg rounding out the top 10.

In Class A, the top 10 are Forest Park, Evansville Christian, Heritage Christian, Fort Wayne Canterbury, Argos, Providence, Speedway, Boone Grove, Tipton and Andrean.

Triton Central’s first loss of the season caused it to fall in the state rankings.

In the most recent Indiana Football Coaches Association poll, Triton Central is ranked 12^th in Class 2A.

Fort Wayne Luers (3-0) sits firmly atop the 2A poll with Eastbrook (3-0), Andrean (1-2), Evansville Mater Dei (3-0) and Tipton (3-0) rounding out the top five.

The next five are Heritage Christian (3-0), Eastside (3-0), Lafayette Central Catholic (2-1), Linton-Stockton (3-0) and Rensselaer Central (2-1).

Speedway (3-0), Triton Central (2-1), LaVille (2-1) and North Posey (3-0) are just outside the top 10.

Triton Central lost to Class A, No. Lutheran Friday. The Saints (3-0) stand tall in the Class A poll ahead of South Adams (3-0), Adams Central (2-1), Monroe Central (3-0), Winamac (3-0), Parke Heritage (2-1), Covenant Christian (2-1), North Judson (3-0), Southwood (2-1), Churubusco (2-1) and South Putnam (2-1).

The top of the 3A poll is muddled with Brebeuf (3-0), Gibson Southern (3-0) and West Lafayette (3-0) all receiving first-place votes. The trio are followed by Danville (2-1), Tri-West (3-0), Lawrenceburg (2-1), Western Boone (2-1), Mt. Vernon (Posey) (3-0), Brownstown Central (3-0) and Owen Valley (3-0).

The 4A, 5A and 6A polls have traditional powerhouses on top.

Roncalli (3-0) is No. 1 in 4A followed by Mooresville (3-0), Leo (3-0), East Noble (2-0), Jasper (3-0), East Central (2-1), New Prairie (3-0), Delta (3-0), Chatard (0-3) and Pendleton Heights (3-0).

With Mt. Vernon (Fortville) (2-1) ranked No. 11, a total of three Hoosier Heritage Conference schools are ranked this week.

Unbeaten Cathedral (3-0) leads the 5A poll with Fort Wayne Dwenger (3-0), Valparaiso (3-0), Zionsville (2-1), Bloomington South (3-0), Decatur Central (2-1), Mishawaka (3-0), Fort Wayne Snider (2-1), Whiteland (1-1) and Bloomington North (3-0) all in pursuit.

Center Grove is nationally-ranked and the easy choice as No. 1 in 6A. Westfield (2-1), Carmel (2-1), Merrillville (3-0), Brownsburg (2-1), Warren Central (2-1), Ben Davis (2-1), Hamilton Southeastern (3-0), Chesterton (3-0) and Fishers (3-0) follow the Trojans in the poll.

Shelbyville High School senior Stefanie Howard (photo) finished 31^st Saturday in the Rick Weinheimer Classic, hosted by Columbus North at Ceraland Park in Columbus.

With a personal-record time of 20 minutes, 13 seconds – Shelby County’s top time this season -- she moves within 30 seconds of the school record.

Also for Shelbyville, Kaila Brattain set a new personal record, finishing 78^th in the large school division in 22:05. Angel Kreider (25:23) and Daisy Barrett (28:06) also competed for Shelbyville.

On the boys side, Beau Kenkel (photo, second from left) posted the best time by a Shelby County runner this season, finishing 88^th in 18:05. Michael Fox followed in 91^st in 18:06.

Shelbyville placed 17^th in the team standings with Tristin Maloney (119^th in 19:04), Isaac Zermeno (157^th in 22:02) and Gavin Harker (158^th in 23:06) completing the scoring. Ayden Holmes (23:33), Isaiah Havens (23:54) and Gaige Harker (28:20) also ran for the Golden Bears.

In the small school division, Southwestern placed 13^th in the girls team standings and 20^th in the boys standings.

Lilly Rooks led Southwestern with a 38^th-place finish in 21:57. She was joined at the finish line by Gracie Schlabach (57^th in22:52), Jenna Drake (72^nd in 23:22), Maxine Higdon (121^st in 28:12) and Malori Pike (122^nd in 28:17).

Triton Central’s Hallie Schweitzer finished 58^th in 22:53 and Brooke Bear was 133^rd in 35:55.

Southwestern’s Dane Kissell (80^th in 19:11) and Dakota Claiborne (82^nd in 19:19) finished within 10 seconds of each other to lead the Spartans.

Triton Central’s Owen Sprinkle was 116^th in 20:31.

Also representing Shelby County were Southwestern’s Collin Cummings (21:07), Triton Central’s Lucas Bear (22:33), Southwestern’s Elias Clark (22:47) and Ryan Griffin (24:54) and Triton Central’s Corbin Maurice (25:21).

In the middle school girls race, Waldron’s Claire Larrison finished 30^th in 13:39. Also running for Waldron were Grace Fisher (46^th in 14:12), Brooklyn Milbourn (15:09), Avery Haehl (15:21), Jessica Price (16:04), Kassidy Meulen (16:41), Arianna Thomas (17:05), Ava Leising (18:53) and Caleigh Kropp (18:55).

Representing Southwestern were Adalyn Brewer (15:56) and Sienna Shaw (17:24).

Southwestern’s Chris Claiborne placed 39^th in the boys race in 12:04. He was followed across the finish line by Jackson Bentz (12:38), Ryan Wildman (14:26) and Aiden Mitchell (15:27).

For Waldron, Spencer Armstrong led the scoring with a time of 13:10. Jacob Kuhn (13:39), Caige Sheaffer (14:05), Kevin Crouch (14:31) and Collin Kuhn (14:38) also raced.

In other prep events:

Boys Soccer

Shelbyville 3, Delta 1

Drew Hassebroek gave the host Golden Bears the first lead of the Hoosier Heritage Conference match Saturday morning in Shelbyville.

Hassebroek converted a penalty kick in the second half for his sixth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead for the Golden Bears (6-2, 1-0 HHC).

Brayden Stanley scored on a penalty kick for Delta (4-2, 0-2 HHC) to cut the deficit in half but Christian Haas got Shelbyville an insurance goal with less than 10 minutes to play.

“It wasn’t our best game but we matched Delta’s physicality and stayed strong defensively to hold on to the win,” said Shelbyville coach Ben Purvis.

Jalen Hounshell was credited with five saves in goal for the Golden Bears, who are at Batesville Tuesday.

In one half of junior varsity play, Delta prevailed 2-1 with a goal in the final seconds of play.

Trent Todd scored for Shelbyville.

Southwestern 6, Greenwood Christian 1

Aiden Hartsell scored all six goals for the 9^th-ranked Spartans (6-1).

Hartsell, Southwestern’s career scoring leader, scored twice in a 2-minute span of the first half to get the Spartans up 2-0.

Greenwood Christian’s Ethan Rothrock answered with a goal of his own to cut the lead to 2-1 by halftime.

Hartsell scored three quick goals in the second half and added another in the game’s final minute to run his season total to 29 – six away from tying the single-season record.

Conner Gooch, Jordan Jones and Johnny Joy had assists for Southwestern. Goalkeeper Eli Fix was credited with four saves.

Boys Tennis

Southwestern 4, Waldron 1

The Spartans improved to 3-1 Friday with a win over the Mohawks (3-4), who have lost three straight.

Waldron’s lone win came at No. 1 singles where Lucas Shaw improved to 5-2 this season with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Tristan Pappano.

Southwestern’s Grant Emerick defeated Josh Kellems at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2.

Hunter Pappano added another win for the Spartans at No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jacob Lindsey.

At No. 1 doubles, Caleb Pappano and Carter Snepp improved to 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Max Jones and Matthew Thomas.

Southwestern’s doubles pairing of Ty Burcham and Jackson Burcham collected their second straight forfeit victory.

New Palestine Invitational

New Palestine 5, Triton Central 0

The Tigers won a total of 12 games against the Dragons, who moved on to the championship round where it defeated Greenwood.

At No. 1 doubles, Triton Central’s Avram Rund and Quinton Potts were defeated by Jackson Harrell and Clayton Wesley, 6-4, 6-3.

Triton Central 4, Shenandoah 1

In the third-place match, Tucker Hutchinson (No. 2 singles), Potts and Rund and the combo of Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds (No. 2 doubles) all improved to a Shelby County best 7-4 this season.

Hutchinson topped William Abbeit, 6-0, 6-1.

Potts and Rund cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Calyn Toffolo and Landen Mathes.

Sego and Gearlds battled William Jennings and Tyler Nuzzdessel for a 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 win.

Ashton Sturm added Triton Central’s fourth win, 7-6 (5), 6-0 over J.T. Rogers at No. 3 singles.

At No. 1 singles, Shenandoah’s Clay Conner defeated Alex Crouse, 4-6, 6-0, 10-3.

Triton Central is 6-5 this season.

Cross Country

Union City Invitational

Morristown’s Zavier Poole placed 33^rd in the boys’ race in a season-best time of 20:49.

Grace McLaughlin, a Morristown freshman, finished 21^st in the girls race in 24:59 – also a season best.

In the junior high race, Morristown’s Max Compton finished fourth in 12:50.

Morristown’s girls dominated the event, putting all seven runners in the top 22.

Taylor Tragesser won the race in 12:20 with Morristown teammates Chloe Tragesser (third in 13:14), Lauren Kuhn (seventh in 14:01), Brooke Kuhn (eighth in 14:01) and Clara Wallace (ninth in 14:25) all finishing in the top 10.

Chloe Theobald placed 12^th in 15:00 and Hayden Mohr was 22^nd in 16:25.

Mohawk Invitational

In the first annual race hosted by Waldron, the Mohawks captured both team titles.

For Waldron, Ethan Hirschauer (12:33) and Claire Larrison (13:44) were runner-ups in the boys and girls races, respectively.

High Rolling Seize is representing his family well. The two-year-old gelded son of Seize the Win added his name to the record books Saturday at Indiana Grand, scoring the win in the 22^nd running of the $191,747 Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Futurity at Indiana Grand.

High Rolling Seize (photo) came into the final as the fastest qualifier in the trials. Although he is now four for six in his career, the QHRAI SSA Futurity marked his first career stakes win. He just missed the title by a neck in the $190,000 Gordon Mobley Futurity in July. He now joins his father as a stakes winner at Indiana Grand.

Starting from post two, High Rolling Seize and Shanley Jackson got a good break and were a threat early in the 350-yard dash. The freshman was all business, rallying home for the win by one length in a time of 18.076 seconds. Prize Kiss and L.D. Martinez finished second over Botticelli Beach and Erik Esqueda for third.

High Rolling Seize was the second choice on the board, paying $8 for the win. He is owned by breeder Glenn Graff and trained by Matt Frazier, who is based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Frazier also campaigned Seize the Win to multiple stakes wins in both Indiana and at Hialeah during his racing career and still holds the stakes record in the QHRAI SSA Derby.

High Rolling Seize bumped his career bankroll up over the $175,000 mark. With his win in the trials, he is now on a two-race win streak heading into the final two months of racing at Indiana Grand. High Rolling Seize will likely return for the $150,000 Miss Roxie Little Futurity on Indiana Champions Day – an Oct. 30 racing card that features four Thoroughbred races and six Quarter Horse Stakes.

Missing two key players can be damaging to any team’s chances on a Friday night.  Add to it that Triton Central’s two missing players accounted for positions on offense, defense and special teams and that the Tigers were playing #1 (1A) Indianapolis Lutheran.  The result was a 35-7 Indiana Crossroads Conference loss.

#8 (2A) Triton Central (2-1, 1-1 ICC) entered the game without the services of junior Brad Schultz (ankle) and sophomore Ray Crawford (serving suspension following Week 2 officials call of helmet-to-helmet contact).  Crawford is expected to return for the Tigers home game with Monrovia.  Schultz will be evaluated in the days leading up to the Week 4 game.

Lutheran (3-0, 3-0 ICC) jumped out to an early lead by taking advantage of a Triton Central quarterback Jace Stuckey fumble.  The Tigers argued Stuckey tried a forward pass as he tried to elude the rush but the play was ruled a fumble recovered by the Saints.  Lutheran wide receiver-converted-quarterback Montasi Clay put the Saints on the board with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Javen Holsey. 

Lutheran doubled the lead to 14-0 late in the first on a Clay 26-yard run. 

Triton Central was able to move the ball through the air.  Quarterback Jace Stuckey was 17-for-29 passing for 176 yards.  He threw for the Tigers only score, a 32-yard touchdown to Devon Emberton.  It was one of 10 receptions for 120 yards by the 6’2” senior receiver.

Triton Central head coach Tim Able on the Cagney’s Pizza King postgame on GIANT fm Sports.

It was a different story for the Tigers on the ground.  TC rushed for just 26 yards on 21 carries.

Triton Central was down 21-0 when the Tigers finally got on the board with 2:31 left to go in the third quarter with the Stuckey – to- Emberton score.

Lutheran put the game away late in the period when Clay returned from leg cramps just moments before to sprint to an 82-yard touchdown.  Sophomore running back Joe Davis capped the scoring with a nine-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

Triton Central will return home to play Monrovia in an ICC matchup Friday.  Monrovia (2-1, 1-0) is coming off its first loss, 34-8 to #12 (2A) Linton-Stockton.

Triton Central – Monrovia can be heard on GIANT fm Sports with pregame at 6:00 pm.

It was a fight to the finish in the 22^nd running of the $108,591 Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Derby to close out the fifth all-Quarter Horse racing program Saturday at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana.

In the end, a three-horse photo determined the winner, giving Sammy Mendez and Fire the Cartel (photo) the nod on the far outside.

Starting from post nine, Fire the Cartel wasn’t a factor early on as Stone Lake and L.D. Martinez had a short lead from the center of the track over WRs Raise the Bar and German Rodriguez down along the rail. The two were prominent until the final strides when Fire the Cartel joined them in a race to the wire, scoring the win by a nose. WRs Raise the Bar and Stone Lake couldn’t be separated at the wire to finish in a dead heat for second.

The time of the 400-yard dash was 20.26 seconds.

Owned by Rose Bode, Fire the Cartel earned her second win in five starts in 2021. The sorrel filly by Five Bar Cartel, who was also bred by Bode, is now four for 10 lifetime. She more than doubled her career bankroll and now possesses more than $108,000 in earnings. Randy Smith trains and scored his sixth win of the day to close out the card and also establish a new record.

Coming into the day, both Smith and Mendez were sitting on records for most wins in one season. Mendez rode three winners for Smith to establish a new track record for most wins by a Quarter Horse jockey with a tally of 37 wins to break the record by one. Smith blew by his previous best year in 2020 of 53 wins, ending the day with a new standard of 59.

It was another stellar performance by Valiantinecandyrocks, who was untouchable in the 13^th running of the $84,200 Bob Woodard Memorial Classic during the fifth all-Quarter Horse day Saturday at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana.

Valiantinecandyrocks (photo) was out of the gates in a flash, getting the early lead in the 400-yard dash. The five-year-old black mare by Valiant Hero led comfortably down the lane, stretching out to a three-quarter length win at the wire under wraps with jockey Sammy Mendez.

Beach Mercedes and German Rodriguez gave trainer Randy Smith a daily double in the race followed by Jess A Flyin Beach and L.D. Martinez, who recovered from a stumble out of the gate to finish an impressive third. The time of the dash was 19.929 seconds.

Owned by breeders Lance and Tammy Finlinson of Greenwood, Indiana, Valiantinecandyrocks earned her third win in four starts in 2021. She is 9-for-18 lifetime and has been a favorite from the Finlinson’s breeding and racing operation since she was born at their farm. They were trackside Saturday to accept the trophy and awards for their prized mare.

“That was some great racing, and this mare has gotten so good this year,” said Finlinson. “She breaks, leads and takes off. Randy and Debbie (Smith) and their team have done such a good job with her along with Sammy (Mendez). They are superstars. There is one more stakes coming up at the very end of the meet that hopefully she will be in. This rest is well deserved and will be good for her.”

Valiantinecandyrocks is out of the Finlinson’s great brood mare, Jesses Candy, who continues to produce stakes winners. She now has more than $214,000 in career earnings.

One more all-Quarter Horse racing day is set for Oct. 9, featuring a day dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The program begins at 10 a.m. and will feature a chocolate and wine tasting station, massage chairs, pink martinis, spa package giveaways, and T-shirt sales with all proceeds going to Indiana Women In Need (IWIN), a local cancer organization.

Four trials for Indiana Champions Day will be included with the Miss Roxie Little Futurity, Sterlie Bertram Memorial, QHRAI Derby and Governor’s Stakes and the $75,000 Hoosier Park Classic.

Shelbyville High School’s volleyball program celebrated Senior Night with a strong victory Thursday against potential sectional opponent Greenwood.

At Garrett Gymnasium, seniors Jaidyn Tackett (photo) and Emily Parker each had 12 kills to lead the Golden Bears (4-3) to a 25-15, 25-22, 25-20 win.

Senior Emma Nolley added to her program career record for serving aces with five more. Karlie Lawson, a junior, also had five aces.

Senior setter Gracie Leffler, the career record holder for assists at SHS, finished with 30 assists.

Shelbyville returns to action Monday hosting unbeaten Columbus East (7-0).

In other prep events Thursday:

Girls Golf

Columbus East 157, Shelbyville 218

At Otter Creek, the host Olympians posted a season-best team score to defeat the Golden Bears.

Harley Gant was medalist after shooting 37 to lead the Olympians. Also on the scorecard were 41s by Peyton Meier and Lilly Steinwedel and 43 from Cristen Martinez.

Kaylee Tackett (photo), who scored a hole-in-one at practice this week at Blue Bear Golf Club in Shelbyville, and Lanie Stephens each shot 53. Kate Linville and Regan Mathies followed with 56s, and Madison Monroe shot 57.

Southwestern 213, Morristown 243

At Blue Bear, Southwestern’s Lily Kerber was the only golfer to break 50. Her 49 earned her the medalist honor.

McKinley Correll (51) and Sydney Griffin (56) each posted season-best scores and Alison Muck followed at 57.

Delaney Cornn led Morristown on Senior Night with a season-best 53. Ashlee Ballinger shot 61. McKinley Kile (63), Clara Hale (66) and Mollie Runnebohm (66) all posted season-best scores.

Boys Soccer

Shelbyville 4, Madison 0

At Shelbyville, Drew Hassebroek scored on a penalty kick to put the Golden Bears (5-2) up 1-0 at halftime.

Christian Haas, Jake Heaton and Aiden Helfer added second-half goals to put Shelbyville on a 4-match winning streak.

Goalkeepers Jalen Hounshell and Nathan Tweedy shared the shutout. The pair combined to make five saves.

Shelbyville won the junior varsity match, 1-0. Brock Wischmeyer scored on a second-half penalty kick.

Crispus Attucks 3, Southwestern 1

Uriel Clemente scored three second-half goals for Crispus Attucks to pin the first loss of the season on the Class A, No. 9 Spartans (5-1).

Garreth Stringer had the Spartans' only goal off an assist from Tucker Simmons.

Girls Soccer

Shelbyville 2, Madison 2

At Madison, all the scoring came in the second half as the Cubs (4-3-1) and Golden Bears (2-2-1) played to a tie.

For Shelbyville, Ava Wilson tallied her fourth goal of the season while Ella Johnson collected her first. Sophie Parker notched her ninth assist of the year.

Macy Cooley had three saves in goal.

Cascade 6, Triton Central 2

At Triton Central, the Cadets improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in Indiana Crossroads Conference matches.

Lizzie Graham led Triton Central (1-4, 0-2 ICC) with two goals in the loss.

Hope Smith and Abby Polivitch shared goalkeeping duties for the Tigers and were credited with six saves.

Boys Tennis

Triton Central 4, Scecina 1

Both of Triton Central’s doubles combinations improved to 6-3 this season with straight-set wins.

At No. 1 doubles, Quintin Potts and Avram Rund won 6-0, 6-2.

Oliver Gearlds and Griffin Sego defeated Max Krause and Teddy Wanigger, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

Tucker Hutchinson also improved to 6-3 this season with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Scecina’s Quinn Schreiber at No. 2 singles.

Ashton Sturm collected his first varsity win of the season at No. 3 singles for Triton Central with a 6-4, 6-3 win.

Cole Thomas and Jameson Palmer had junior varsity match wins for TC.

Southwestern 3, Edinburgh 2

At Edinburgh, the visiting Spartans improved to 2-1 with its second Mid-Hoosier Conference win of the season.

Grant Emerick defeated Edinburgh’s Travis Jones, 3-6, 6-2, 7-3 at No. 2 singles.

Southwestern won both doubles matches.

Carter Snepp and Caleb Pappano teamed up to defeat Ian Buchanan and Milas Burkman, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.

Ty Burcham and Jackson Burcham received a forfeit win at No. 2 doubles.

At No. 1 singles, Edinburgh’s Max Blandford defeated Tristan Pappano, 7-6, 6-2.

And Austin Brockman bested Southwestern’s Hunter Pappano at No. 3 singles, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Ben Schlabach won a JV match for Southwestern.

Greenfield-Central 5, Morristown 0

At Greenfield-Central, the host Cougars lost two games total in sweeping the Yellow Jackets.

For Morristown, Tyler Schonfeld, Grant Kessler and Austin Gabbard were defeated in singles matches.

The doubles pairings of Bryce Bryant and Rylan Janes at No. 1 and Carson Essex and Jerry Riley at No. 2 also lost in straight sets.

Trinity Lutheran 4, Waldron 1

At Waldron, No. 1 singles player Lucas Shaw improved to 4-2 this season with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Trinity Lutheran’s Ryan Kleman.

Josh Kellems and Matthew Thomas lost singles matches in three sets for Waldron.

At No. 1 doubles, Cameron Gruenwald and Nathan Voelker defeated Waldron’s Jacob Lindsey and Max Jones, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.

Waldron forfeited the No. 2 doubles match.

New Palestine 5, Shelbyville 0

At New Palestine, the Dragons (7-3) had dominant performances at doubles, with two teams dropping just one game to the Golden Bears (2-7).

New Palestine’s Ezra Schwier, Colin Darley and Zach Au won singles matches in straight sets.

Volleyball

Triton Central def. Lutheran, 25-21, 14-25, 25-22, 25-20

At Lutheran, Maddy Brown delivered a team-high 11 kills to lead the Tigers (6-4). Kaitlin Bramlett added nine kills and five aces.

Hallie Schweitzer led the defensive effort with 24 digs.

Setters Kate Isley and Maia Harris combined for 32 assists.

Triton Central has won four of its last six matches.

Waldron def. Knightstown, 25-22, 25-15, 25-11

At Knightstown, Madalyn Hudnall led the Mohawks (6-4) with 16 kills. Mackenzie Shaw finished with seven kills.

Megan Bogemann, Emily Tyree and Alyssa Benson combined for eight aces against the Panthers (2-4).

Bogemann had a team-high 13 digs. Tyree finished with 24 assists.

Southwestern def. Edinburgh, 25-19, 25-13, 19-25, 25-20

At Edinburgh, the visiting Spartans won their third straight to improve to 4-6 this season. The Lancers dropped to 4-9.

When the scoreboard clock at J.M. McKeand Stadium finally hit zero, Brian Glesing relaxed and enjoyed what just happened.

Shelbyville defeated Richmond, 22-16, for its first varsity win since Sept. 14, 2018, ending a 26-game losing streak.

“I sat back and watched it because that is what it is all about … the kids and our fans,” said Glesing Wednesday evening from the football coaches office.

The celebration was genuine – and unexpected.

“We had kids crying. That was cool,” said Glesing.

Cael Lux carried the ball 31 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns as the Golden Bears played sound fundamental football for the second straight week under Glesing, in his first year at Shelbyville.

There are no tricks assured the veteran football coach. Maintaining control of the football, amassing first downs and not turning the ball over is a simple concept in a game that can be made quite complicated.

“That is the kind of style of football I’ve always been around,” said Glesing (119-95 in his 19^th year as a head coach). “It’s ball control … I think our players understand getting 10 yards is the goal. Not having loss yardage plays, not getting sacked or losing five yards on a play is big. Even if you gain one yard it’s better than losing four. Second and nine is so much better than second and 15.”

The statistics back Glesing up. Shelbyville has not had a turnover this season – no fumbles lost, no interceptions thrown and the two quarterbacks, Colton Adkins and Eli Chappelow, have not been sacked.

“If you give up a sack that’s the end of the possession,” said Glesing.

This season, Shelbyville’s offense is averaging 206.5 rushing yards per game, or 4.2 yards per carry which keeps the first down chains moving in the right direction.

Getting 200 yards Friday in the Hoosier Heritage Conference opener against Class 4A, No. 9 Delta (2-0) will prove tougher.

“We have to block their defensive line,” said Glesing. “Their defensive line is quick off the ball. They have some good players up front. They are not overly big but they are quick and feisty and mean off the ball.

“And they are very aggressive. We can’t simulate that at practice. It’s totally different than what we’ve seen the first two weeks. We saw some size the first two weeks and now we’re seeing more athletic guys on the line. It will be a challenge for us for sure because we haven’t seen that yet.”

Delta has allowed 16 points in the first two weeks while racking up 63 points on offense with a strong rushing attack.

“We cannot give up the big play,” said Glesing. “If we can make them earn their yards and not give up the big play … if they score then it’s not the end of the world. If we make them earn it, we will be OK. If we give up those 40- and 50-yard runs, it will be a long night.”

The Eagles’ offense relies on junior running back Abram Stitt (6-0, 150 pounds), who leads the team in rushing yards (231), receiving yards (71) and touchdowns (4).

Sophomore quarterback Kadin Bond (5-11, 170) has been efficient (9 of 12, 169 yards, 2 TDs) when he has put the ball in the air.

Delta’s depth concerns Glesing more than anything.

“They have good football players, that’s the thing for them,” he said. “It’s doesn’t matter if they are throwing or running. They are well coached. They play hard and they have good football players all around. That’s a tribute to their program and what they’ve built the last 20 to 25 years.”

Glesing will not measure Shelbyville’s success on the scoreboard Friday night. One win will not translate into a long winning streak, especially with the 7-week grind ahead that is the Hoosier Heritage Conference schedule. What he will look for is more improvement from a team that suddenly has a little bit of confidence.

“I’ve done this so many times where you start a program in August, and we’re basically brand new, and compare it to what we look like in October,” he said. “We already look night and day so much better than we did three weeks ago. It’s just repetition. We need to practice over and over and over again.

“This is the first week we’ve stayed on schedule because we didn’t have to deal with the heat. We’ve been able to have a good week of practice of just repping things over and over again.

“You can’t get bored coaching football because it is all about repetition and doing the same thing over and over again,” continued Glesing. “We still have a lot of habits to break. We still have some things to fix but we are so much better than we were three weeks ago. We are better than we were one week ago. That is all we can ask, is to get a little bit better each time.”

Glesing hopes a lively crowd returns to McKeand Stadium Friday where Shelbyville Middle School athletes will be honored and the participants from the youth cheerleading camp Tuesday will perform.

“I loved our student section (last Friday),” said Glesing with a smile. “That was awesome. That’s what high school football is supposed to be. Of course winning helps and being in football games helps, but I want the whole school and everyone to be a part of it. That’s what Friday nights are supposed to be.”

Kickoff at McKeand Stadium is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Class 2A, No. 8-ranked Triton Central will take on Class A, No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran Friday without two of its top playmakers.

Brad Schultz, a junior, and sophomore Ray Crawford are unavailable for the Indiana Crossroads Conference showdown on the south side of Indianapolis.

Schultz (6 carries, 84 yards; 3 receptions, 41 yards) suffered an ankle injury during a Greensburg kickoff return for a touchdown midway through the third quarter last Friday.

“He is out this week. We will evaluate it next week,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able. “He could miss two weeks.”

Crawford, a cornerback on defense, was flagged early in the fourth quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a Greensburg receiver and was ejected. Crawford, TC’s leading rusher and receiver (397 yards, 4 TDs), will serve a one-game suspension in week three.

Without the talented duo, Able has a plethora of positions to fill with a roster that is not deep with big-game experience. Schultz and Crawford start on both sides of the ball and are TC’s kick returners while Schultz is the No. 1 punt returner.

“We are losing key playmakers and that is tough,” admitted Able.

Lutheran’s high-powered offense was already going to make it tough on Triton Central (2-0, 1-0 ICC). It has scored 100 points in wins over Beech Grove and Ritter.

Senior quarterback Montasi Clay (6-0, 180 pounds) has thrown seven TD passes and ran for three more scores. Junior wide receiver Micah Mackay (6-1, 183) has four touchdown receptions. Sophomore running back Joe Davis (5-8, 148) has three rushing touchdowns. And senior receiver Jake Pasch (6-0, 165) has one rushing touchdown and two scoring receptions.

“We need to make them move slowly down the field,” said Able. “It will be a tough test but we feel we can put points on the scoreboard too.”

Triton Central has averaged 40 points per win this season, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for six more. Sophomore quarterback Jace Stuckey was impressive in a week one win at Cascade but ran the ball 13 times while only completing 2-of-6 pass attempts in week two against the Pirates.

“He didn’t have to throw the ball much last week,” said Able. “We were able to use our speed and quickness. He will need to throw more (this week) efficiently and effectively.”

Brayden Wilkins carried the ball nine times for 59 yards last week, all in the fourth quarter. Able expects the sophomore to have a greater role this week in Crawford’s absence.

Senior  Jaquan Blake and junior Lucas Kleeman also could see more rushing attempts.

Without Crawford and Schultz on the field, Stuckey will look for senior Devon Emberton, junior Haydn Ball, sophomore Anthony Dunville and freshman Chase Chandler in the receiving patterns.

Able (199 wins in his 29^th season overall) and Lutheran head coach Dave Pasch (175 wins in 25^th year) have combined for 374 career victories. Both have established winning cultures at their schools – Able has put the Tigers in the sectional championship game in each of his eight seasons in Fairland while Pasch is not far removed from a four-year stretch (2016-2019) where the Saints played in four straight semistate games and the 2019 state championship game.

“This is by far the best team we’ve played,” said Able. “On both sides of the ball, they are very talented. It’s a successful program with a great coach.”

Lutheran is the only 2-0 team against ICC opponents. Monrovia (2-0, 1-0 ICC), Speedway (2-0, 1-0) and Triton Central are 1-0 in conference contests.

Beech Grove is 1-1 overall and 1-1 in ICC games. Scecina (1-1, 0-1), Cascade (0-2, 0-2) and Ritter (0-2, 0-2) round out the conference standings after two weeks.

Class 2A, No. 14 Speedway travels to Beech Grove and Cascade is at Scecina in the only other ICC matchups in week three.

Ritter hosts 3A No. 2 Brebeuf (2-0) and Monrovia hosts 2A No. 12 Linton-Stockton (2-0).

Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds pulled out a three-set victory Wednesday at No. 2 doubles but Triton Central still fell short in its attempt to defeat visiting Knightstown, 3-2.

Sego and Gearlds improved to 5-3 this season with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jace Wilkerson and Baylor Hogan.

The Tigers’ only other win came at No. 2 singles where Tucker Hutchinson topped Aiden Richardson, 6-4, 6-1. Hutchinson is 5-3 this season.

At No. 1 singles, Knightstown’s Hunter Steimel defeated Alex Crouse, 6-1, 6-4. Crouse is now 5-3 at TC’s top spot.

Brayden McDaniel bested TC’s Ashton Sturm at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-1. Sturm was making his 2021 singles debut for the Tigers.

At No. 1 doubles, Kyle Johnson and Connor Pyle defeated TC’s Quintin Potts and Avram Rund, 6-0, 6-4. Potts and Rund are 5-3 this season.

Triton Central won four of the five junior varsity matches Wednesday.

Jameson Palmer, Cole Thomas, Ben Toth and Derreck Uhls were victorious in singles matches. Reuben Crisler and David Foley were defeated in a doubles match.

Triton Central volleyball found itself challenged Monday night by Waldron but a strong second-set performance quickly righted the Tigers.

Triton Central improved to 5-4 this season with a 22-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-10 victory over the Mohawks (5-5).

The Tigers had a balanced hitting performance with Maddy Brown (9 kills), Brooklyn Bailey (8), Kaitlyn Bramlett (8) and Hallie Schweitzer (6) combining for 31 kills.

Kate Isley and Bailey each had five service aces.

Julia Sanders collected 44 digs while Brown and Schweitzer combined for another 35 digs.

Isley notched 25 assists.

In other prep events Tuesday:

Girls Golf

Shelbyville 206, Southwestern 214, Jac-Cen-Del Inc.

At Timbergate, three of Southwestern’s four scoring golfers posted season-best scores but Shelbyville’s consistency helped it take the team victory.

Kate Linville led the Golden Bears with a 50 while Kaylee Tackett, Regan Mathies and Lanie Stephens each shot 52. Madison Monroe followed at 54.

Lily Kerber topped Southwestern’s scorecard with a season-best 47. Alison Muck (50) and McKinley Correll (52) also had season-best rounds. Sydney Griffin (65) and Olivia Chandler (69) rounded out the Spartans’ roster Tuesday.

Jac-Cen-Del’s Tracy McKittrick was the medalist with a 10-over par score of 46. Ally Mosier shot 68 and Emma Wagner posted 71.

ICC Tournament

At Deer Creek, Triton Central’s Emma Branham (photo above) earned All-Indiana Crossroads Conference honors after shooting 101.

Kendra Erdmann just missed the all-conference list at 106. Olivia Martin finished at 135.

Out of the six teams competing at the conference tournament, only three had full rosters.

Boys Soccer

Beech Grove 8, Morristown 1

The Hornets evened their season record at 2-2 with the win.

Morristown dropped to 2-4-1.

Girls Soccer

Mt. Vernon 9, Shelbyville 0

At Shelbyville, the Class 3A, No. 17-ranked Marauders scored seven first-half goals to cruise to the Hoosier Heritage Conference victory.

Mt. Vernon improved to 4-1-1 (2-0 HHC).

Goalkeeper Macy Cooley was credited with 21 saves in the loss for Shelbyville (2-2, 1-1 HHC).

Rushville 6, Triton Central 3

At Rushville, Lizzie Graham scored two of the Tigers’ three goals to push her season total to seven.

Vivian Blye had the other goal for Triton Central (1-3).

Allie Yung and Lily Krodel each scored two goals for Rushville (2-1).

Boys Tennis

Pendleton Heights 3, Shelbyville 2

At Shelbyville, the Golden Bears won two of the three singles matches.

At No. 2 singles, Caden Tackett defeated Ryland Mills, 6-2, 6-4.

Logan Prickett improved to 4-2 this season at No. 3 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Austin Perny.

Pendleton Heights’ Sam Bowers topped Aidan Asher at No. 1 singles, 7-6, 7-6.

Shelbyville’s doubles combinations of Ian Blackketter and Charlie Rife (No. 1 doubles) and Karson Schaf and Layne Pogue (No. 2 doubles) were swept in straight sets.

Connor Zobel posted Shelbyville’s only junior varsity match victory.

Triton Central 5, Brown County 0

The Tigers (4-3) got back to their winning ways with a solid performance against the Eagles.

Alex Crouse did not lose a game in sweeping Brandon Saechao at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

Tucker Hutchinson defeated Eli Sichting at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-0.

Cole Thomas dispatched of Jack Sichting at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-2.

Quintin Potts and Avram Rund improved to 5-2 at No. 1 doubles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Austen Deckard and Trevor Shields.

Griffin Sego and Oliver Gearlds defeated Jon Kirchoffer and Owen East at No. 2 doubles, 6-0, 6-2.

Triton Central finished 0-2 Saturday at the Franklin Central Invitational.

The host Flashes defeated the Tigers, 4-1, with Crouse scoring TC’s only victory.

Plainfield swept Triton Central, 5-0, in its second match.

Volleyball

Guerin Catholic def. Shelbyville, 25-16, 25-9, 25-19

At Shelbyville, Guerin Catholic swept the Golden Bears (3-3) to improve to 4-5 this season.
Guerin Catholic also won the junior varsity match, 25-16, 25-21.

Liberty Christian def. Morristown, 25-20, 25-20, 14-25, 25-21

At Liberty Christian, the visiting Yellow Jackets (3-4) dropped the first two sets and never recovered.

The Lions improved to 3-3 this season.

Middle School

Soccer

Southwestern 3, Morristown 0

Carter Cooley scored all three Southwestern goals with Ethan Sipes and Kiera Stringer credited with assists.

Cross Country

Morristown 15, Shelbyville 50 (girls)

Shelbyville 15, Morristown Inc. (boys)

The Yellow Jackets dominated the girls race to defeat the Golden Bears. Four of the Yellow Jacket runners complete the course in under 13 minutes.

Shelbyville High School's Royce Carlton has been named as the October Coach Spotlight by the National High School Strength and Conditioning Association.

He talked with GIANT fm Sports about the honor and the efforts to create the new SHS weight room soon to be constructed.

Ten races will be featured on the fourth All-Quarter Horse Day Saturday at Indiana Grand. The program will be capped off by three finals, including the $191,747 Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Futurity and the $108,591 QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby.

First post for the card is 10 a.m.

The 22^nd running of the QHRAI Futurity, slated as the ninth race on the card, features Botticelli Beach (photo), who overcame a bad stumble at the start to still recover and score the win in her trial. The freshman filly by Escondido Beach is three for four in 2021, including a win in the $190,000 Gordon Mobley Futurity. The grey filly is owned and trained by Claudio Barraza and will be ridden by Erik Esqueda from post eight in the 10-horse final.

Joining Botticelli Beach as a favorite is High Rolling Seize, the quickest qualifier from the trials. The Seize the Win gelding has won three of five starts in 2021 and was second to Botticelli Beach in the Gordon Mobley Futurity. Glenn Graff owns and bred the gelding with Matt Frazier, who also trained the gelding’s father, Seize the Win, handles the conditioning. Shanley Jackson comes in to ride from post two at odds of 2-1.

Also featured on the card is the 22^nd running of the QHRAI SSA Derby, slated as the 10^th and final race. Beach Blast has won four of five this season and has been tagged as the early morning line favorite. The Escondido Beach gelding is on a four-race win streak from the Randy Smith Stable. James Flores comes in to ride from post one at odds of 3-5.

WH Imastreakinbeach is the second choice on the morning line at odds of 6-1. He was the quickest qualifier from the trials for trainer Erin Thompson and owner Thomas Wylie. Jose Ruiz will ride from post five.

The 13^th running of the $84,200 Bob Woodard Memorial Classic also is featured on the card as the eighth race. The event for older Indiana bred Quarter Horses is headed by Valiantinecandyrocks from post five.

The five-year-old Valiant Hero mare comes into the race off an impressive score in the $84,000 Indiana Grand Classic during the last All-Quarter Horse day. Owned by Tammy and Lance Finlinson, Valiantinecandyrocks begins from post five at odds of 9-5 under the direction of trainer Randy Smith and jockey Sammy Mendez.

The All-Quarter Horse racing program will be followed by the first Cornhole Derby, featuring teams vying for $1,000 in prize money. The event will take place on the track immediately following the races with the top team of two going home with $500.

Other events for the day will be a fundraiser for the Shelbyville High School Chorale Department, selling sno cones and cotton candy.

The Ethan West Stable has been named the Barn Crew of the Month for August at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville. The award is presented by the Indiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and Texas Corral of Shelbyville.

The Ethan West Stable, located in Barn 13, was selected for its overall appearance of the shed row as well as the condition of the horses. The stable consists of 30 head with 10 members of the West team overseeing the care of each individual horse.

“We are having a good year, and if it wasn’t for them, we would not be experiencing that,” said West, who is in his fourth year as a trainer. “Grooms are the backbone of this business. They are the ones in there grinding it out every day. They get here early, and they stay late. This summer, I have the hardest working crew I’ve ever had. They are dependable and a solid group of individuals that make the operation a success.”

West and his crew will enjoy a night out at Texas Corral, located on the north side of Shelbyville. They were honored in a special winner’s circle ceremony Monday at Indiana Grand and received $200 in gift certificates for dinner.

The crew also will be recognized with a banner hanging on the outside of the barn for their hard work and dedication to their horses and the racing program at Indiana Grand.

The award, now in its fifth year, is made possible by the Indiana HBPA.