IHSAA Media Release

February 5, 2002

Contact: Jerry Baker

E-mail: jbaker@ihsaa.org

Phone: 317-846-6601

GIRLS STATE BASKETBALL TOURNEY TIPS OFF TONIGHT

A field of 380 teams will take dead aim at Conseco Fieldhouse at some 64 sites across the state tonight (Feb. 5) as the sectional round of the Girls State Basketball Tournament gets underway.

One thing is certain, three of the classes will be sporting new champions when all is said and done on March 2^nd. Last year’s Class A champion, Triton, will not have an opportunity to defend that classification championship. They have moved up to 2A and will open play in the LaVille Sectional against Jimtown. Ft. Wayne Bishop Luers, winners of three straight titles in 2A, have moved up to 3A and will play Ft. Wayne Wayne in their opener in the Heritage Sectional. In 3A, the Irish of Indianapolis Cathedral, who took home the hardware the last two years, have moved to 4A and will face off against Warren Central in Sectional action at Indianapolis Arlington. Meanwhile, the Ben Davis Giants will go in search of their third in a row in 4A as they tip off against Indianapolis Northwest at Brownsburg.

Three teams enter tournament play with an unblemished record. In 4A, Bloomington South is 20-0. Class 3A sports a pair of undefeated teams, Alexandria at 21–0 and Vincennes Lincoln at 21–0.

Following tonight’s play, there will be activity again Friday night at the sectional sites, with the championship title on the line on Saturday. Unless otherwise specified by the host school, single game sessions will begin at 7:00 p.m., two-game sessions at 6:00 and 7:30 p.m., with the championship game at 7:30 p.m. A session ticket will cost $5.00. A season ticket is $9.00. Tickets are available at participating schools.

Click for ICGSA Girls Basketball Poll

Current List of Girls State Scoring Leaders

Current List of Girls State Season Best Performances

Current List of Boys State Scoring Leaders

Current List of Boys State Season Best Performances

GIRLS SWIMMING STATE FINALS THIS WEEKEND

The 28^th Annual Indiana High School Athletic Association Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals are now set for Friday and Saturday (Feb. 8-9) at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. On Friday, Feb. 8, the Natatorium will open at 3:00 p.m., with opening ceremonies at 5:45 p.m. and the first event at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 9, the Natatorium will open at 7:00 a.m., with the diving prelims starting at 9:00 a.m., the opening ceremonies at 12:45 p.m. and the finals and consolation finals taking the horn at 1:05. Individual session tickets for each day are $7.00. A season ticket, which covers both days, may be purchased for $10.00.

After setting three state finals records last year, Katherine Robinson of South Dearborn is the top seed in the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. Other multiple top seeds include Susan Hentschel of North Central (Indpls.) in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle, along with Leah Retrum of Columbus North in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. Retrum goes in search of her third straight title in the 500 yard freestyle.

In the team competition, top-ranked and defending state champion Carmel aims for its 16^th consecutive title and 17^th overall. The Greyhounds had a typically strong challenge from second-ranked North Central of Indianapolis at the Carmel Sectional to win their 18^th consecutive sectional championship 396 – 348. Carmel has the top seed in all three relays in the state finals. Columbus North also picked up its 18^th consecutive sectional crown in the Bull Dogs home pool with a 406 point total.

Munster compiled the state’s highest winning total with 435 points. The Mustangs were one of four schools to hit the “400” mark, including Lake Central (422), Columbus North (406) and Hamilton Southeastern (404).

Click for SECTIONAL TEAM RESULTS

28TH ANNUAL GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Feb. 8, 6 p.m. (swimming preliminaries)

Feb. 9, 9 a.m. (diving preliminaries and semi-finals) and 1 p.m. (consolations and finals)

Indiana University Natatorium, Indianapolis

Admission: $7 for one session; $10 for all sessions.

Credentials: The 2001-02 IHSAA State Finals Media Pass issued previously will be accepted for admittance.

Top SEEDS

200 Medley Relay	Carmel, 1:47.39
200 FREESTYLE	Susan Hentschel, North Cntl (Indpls) 1:50.56
200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY	Leah Retrum, Columbus North 2:03.16
50 FREESTYLE	Katherine Robinson, South Dearborn 23.91
100 BUTTERFLY	Katherine Robinson, South Dearborn 56.74
100 FREESTYLE	Susan Hentschel, North Cntl (Indpls) 50.96
500 FREESTYLE	Lea Retrum, Columbus North 4:51.41
200 FREESTYLE RELAY	Carmel, 1:36.83
100 BACKSTROKE	Erin Morris, Ft. Wayne Snider 56.82
100 BREASTSTROKE	Stephanie McKaig, Ft. Wayne Concordia 1:05.14
400 FREESTYLE RELAY	Carmel, 3:30.61

GIRLS STATE DIVING REGIONALS TONIGHT

The diving regionals portion of the 28^th Annual Girls State Swimming and Diving Tournament Series is on tap tonight (Feb. 5) at Bloomington North, Hamilton Southeastern, Kokomo and Penn. The first through eighth place winners will advance to the state finals at the Indiana University Natatorium at IUPUI in Indianapolis. Tonight’s action begins at 6:00 p.m., with an admission price of $4.00.

WRESTLERS MOVE TO SEMI-STATE ROUND OF STATE TOURNAMENT

Top-ranked Evansville Mater Dei leads a field of 16 into the semi-state round of the Team State Wrestling Championships at eight sites Wednesday, Feb. 6. The Wildcats will be looking to add to their state record total of 16 semi-state titles, including seven in a row, after defeating Evansville Memorial 67–3 and Princeton 60–3 in the Mater Dei Regional. Semi-state action will begin at 7:00 p.m. and take place at Bellmont, Center Grove, Concord, Frankfort, Lawrence North, New Castle, Valparaiso and Vincennes Lincoln. The team finals are slated for Saturday, Feb. 23, at Center Grove High School, Indianapolis.

The Individual Wrestling Championships will continue into their semi-state on Saturday, Feb. 9, at Evansville Central, Merrillville, New Castle and New Haven. From there, the winners advance to the state finals February 15^th and 16^th at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Top-20 Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Teams

Still Alive In The Semi-State

Final Regular Season Poll

Rank	School	Poll Points	Last Week's Rank	Semi-States won	Active Streak
1.	Evansville Mater Dei	220	1	13	7
2.	Bellmont	208	2	11	4
3.	Perry Meridian	199	3	1	0
4.	Franklin	175	5	6	6
7.	Warren Central	146	7	5	0
10.	Bloomington South	108	10	1	0
11.	Mishawaka	99	9	4	2
13.	Portage	91	12	7	2
14.	Lake Central	88	15	0	0
19.	Columbia City	18	20t	0	0
20t.	Harrison (West Lafayette)	16	--	0	0

Unranked: Hamilton Southeastern, Elkhart Memorial, Zionsville, New Castle, Yorktown.

SEMI-STATE PAIRINGS

February 6, 2002, 7 p.m. (local time); one round, Tickets: $5

Winner at each site advances to state finals Feb. 23 at Center Grove High School, Greenwood

BELLMONT

Columbia City vs. Bellmont

CENTER GROVE

Franklin vs. Hamilton Southeastern

CONCORD

Elkhart Memorial vs. Mishawaka

FRANKFORT

Harrison (West Lafayette) vs. Zionsville

LAWRENCE NORTH

Perry Meridian vs. Warren Central

NEW CASTLE

Yorktown vs. New Castle

VALPARAISO

Lake Central vs. Portage

VINCENNES LINCOLN

Bloomington South vs. Evansville Mater Dei

Milestones

With their 59 – 44 victory over Tri-West Hendricks on Jan. 29th, the Cadets of Cascade set a new school record for wins in a single season as head coach, Don Helmick, saw his team’s mark move to 15 – 4.

Sr. Britney Froedge scored a Crawfordsville school record 36 points in the Athenians’ 58 – 56 triumph over Indianapolis Manual Jan. 29^th.

Stephanie Wideman of Taylor moved past the 1,000 career point mark on Jan. 16 in a 58 – 40 loss to Clinton Central. She finished the game with a career total of 1,012 points, while scoring 252 this season. She moved to sixth on the school's all-time scoring list, both girls and boys.

The Kokomo Lady Wildkats saw their 53-game home court winning streak come to an end on Jan. 30 as they dropped a 54 – 53 decision to North Central (Indpls.) in overtime. Earlier in the week, on Jan. 26, Kokomo had wrapped up its fifth straight North Central Conference title, their ninth in the last twelve seasons.

Mandy Geryak of Martinsville scored 25 points in the Artesians’ 67 – 64 win at Pike on Jan. 30, moving her past the career 1,000 point plateau.

Noblesville’s Molly Martin extended her school record for assists to 154 on Jan. 30 as she contributed eight more to the total as the Millers rolled to an 82 – 60 victory over visiting New Palestine.

Leah Enterline surpassed the 1,000 career point mark in girls basketball as she led Heritage to a 56 – 51 win over Ft. Wayne Canterbury on Jan. 24.

The Jasper wrestling team tied their school record by winning its seventh consecutive sectional championship at Southridge on Jan. 26.

The Eastern (Greentown) wrestling squad won its first-ever sectional on Jan. 26 defeating Tri-Central 184.5 to 164 at Taylor. At the same time, Eastern’s Anthony Amonett picked up his 100^th career victory and Kyle Hannah set a school record for victories in a career with his 114^th.

Kokomo Sr., Andrew Soots, became the school’s all-time leader in victories with his 104^th win in the 189-pound bracket in the Taylor Sectional on Jan. 26.

Pioneer won its first sectional crown in school history on Jan. 26, as they outpointed Logansport 188 – 166.5.

The Lady Tigers of Northwestern became the first team to win three straight Mid-Indiana Conference championships with their 53 – 39 victory over Eastern (Greentown) on Jan. 16.

Chesterton’s boys swim team won its sixth straight Duneland Athletic Conference championship on Jan. 26. Ryan Orzechowicz and Paul Schmidt of Crown Point set conference records in diving and the 100 backstroke respectively in the meet.

Huntington North Sr., Adam Thompson, finished with a school record 40 points in the Vikings’ 77 – 72 loss to Indianapolis Broad Ripple on Jan. 26. It broke the mark of 39 set by Doug Carver in 1972 and Scott Neff in 1988.

Jr., Jenny Dawes, became the leading scorer in Wabash school history on Jan. 26, as she scored 21 points against Madison-Grant, moving her total to 1,082 and surpassing the mark held jointly by Michele Melzoni and Michele Miller.

Shenandoah’s Clay Johnson tallied 21 points on Jan. 26 to pass the 1,000-point career mark in a Raiders win over Centerville.

Winchester Sr., Tyler Clevenger, moved past his brother, Derrick, to become the Golden Falcons’ all-time leading scorer on Jan. 26 in their victory over Tri.

East Central Sr., Nick Strub, surpassed Andrew Wolf as the school’s all-time match winner with his 167^th victory in the Batesville sectional on Jan. 26. Strub is a four-time sectional champ.

Kara Abel of Bloomington South set school records on the beam and all-around in the South Invitational on Jan. 26. as the Panthers finished second in the competition.

Tri-Central’s Lady Trojans tied the school record for wins in a season when they picked up their 15^th on Jan. 29 with a victory over Eastern (Greentown), 46 – 36, to move their record to 15 – 5.

Rachel Monroe of Sullivan made Indiana wrestling history at North Knox on Jan. 26 when she became the first girl in state wrestling history to win a sectional championship. Her opponent, also a girl, Kylea Knaus of Vincennes Lincoln, was forced to forfeit because of a cracked vertebra in her neck.

On Jan. 26 in the Shelbyville Sectional, Columbus North wrestler, Kevin Meyer, won his 107^th career match, breaking the school record set by Thadeus Douglas two years ago. Later in the day, Meyer picked his 108^th victory as the Bull Dogs grabbed their seventh straight sectional title.

North Newton’s Brianne Harwood became the school’s all-time career scoring leader on Jan. 29 as she tossed a game-high 20 points at North White to move her career total to 1,209, breaking the school record previously held by Jenny Spillers.

With their victory at Decatur Central Feb. 1, the Bloomington South girls basketball team completed its first unbeaten regular season in the school’s history. The Panthers go into the state tournament ranked No. 1 in 4A with a 20 – 0 record.

Shanna Zolman of Wawasee missed her final free throw in the Warriors’ 46 – 25 win over Northridge Feb. 1, breaking her streak of consecutive free throws made, which dates back to Dec. 28, 2001, at 70. Earlier in her career, Zolman had streaks of 55 and 63. With her 28 points that evening, she is now at 3,028 for her career, heading into tournament play.

Anthony Winchester of Austin recorded his fourth 50+ points game Feb. 1 when he hit the half-century mark against Charlestown. Winchester earlier in the season had scored 55 against Paoli and North Harrison and 50 against Scottsburg.

Andrean’s Jamie Gutowski scored her 1,000^th career point on Jan. 31 in the Fighting 59ers 56 – 38 loss to Gavit in the Lake Athletic Conference Tournament.

Reicina Russell of Terre Haute South became the first junior in the school’s history to reach the 1,000 point mark in the Braves 76 – 36 victory over Sullivan on Jan. 30.

Lindsay Jackson of Bloomington North posted a school record and qualified fastest in the 100-yard freestyle Jan. 31 in qualifying action in the Bloomington swimming sectional.

IHSAA Overtime

Mo Moriarity is stepping down as head football coach and athletic director at Bloomington South to become an assistant on the Indiana University football staff. Moriarity won a pair of Indiana state football championships in 1993 and 1998 and leaves the Panthers with a 15-year record of 143 – 31.

Tom Smith, former head basketball coach and, for the last seven years, principal at Speedway High School, has announced he will retire in July 2002, after three decades of commitment to the Speedway school system. For each of the last two years, the school has received “Four-Star” status by meeting above average performance criteria set forth by the state of Indiana.

Members of the New York City Fire Department were on hand at Marion on Jan. 25 and were honored before the tip-off of the game between the Giants and Ft. Wayne Northrop. Members of the department were at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 and were spending time in the state thanking the citizenry for their visits, letters, prayers and money.

The Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame induction luncheon is scheduled for Feb. 17 at Jonathan Byrd’s Cafeteria in Greenwood. The Billy Thom Award will be given to Valparaiso’s John Cook. Maddox Taylor will be presented with the Family Award.

After 33 years on the job, Mike Ward, has announced his retirement as wrestling coach at Taylor. Over the years, he has coached 59 individual sectional champions and watched 13 of his athletes compete for state titles.

The Kouts Corral, home of the Kouts Mustangs and Fillies, was renamed the Paul A. Rommelmann Gymnasium on Jan. 25. Rommelmann was the principal at the school for 34 years and also worked with the IHSAA Board of Directors for 15 years.

Chris Svarczkopf has been named head football coach at Ft. Wayne Bishop Dwenger, succeeding Andy Johns who resigned in December, but will continue as the Saints’ athletic director. Svarczkkopf has been offensive line coach at the school the past two seasons.

John Todd, first basketball coach of East Chicago Central when it opened in 1986, died at his home in East Chicago on Jan. 29. In eleven years at Central (1986-97), Todd won 188 games. Prior to that, he was the head coach at East Chicago Roosevelt from 1980-86. He was 63.

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