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PENN, HAMILTON SE LEAD CHARGE INTO GIRLS GOLF STATE FINALS
Top-ranked Penn along with No. 2 and defending state champion Hamilton Southeastern are among the 21 teams that will compete for top honors in the 39th Annual IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin this weekend.

Twenty-one teams advanced five golfers each and 22 individuals have moved on without their squads for a total of 127 participants representing 43 different teams. The IHSAA will utilize a double wave start of threesomes with the first groups teeing off the Middle 9 course and the Road 9 course at 8:30 am ET / 7:30 am CT on Friday. The second group of players will begin their rounds at 1 pm ET / 12 pm CT. Those teams and individuals that make the cut will return for a second day on Saturday. The first round tee times and pairings are available here.

Hamilton Southeastern will be aiming for its third title in four years while Penn, last year’s fourth place team, won back-to back titles in 2004 and 2005. The two schools have combined for six of the last nine state championships. With both squads returning four of their top five players, they figure to be in the hunt again and join 12 other squads from the 2010 field.

Three of the top five scores in regional history were recorded last Saturday. Hamilton Southeastern shot a 305, the second-lowest score ever turned in, to capture the crown at New Castle’s Westwood Golf Course. Penn’s 309 to win the title at Beechwood in LaPorte was the fourth-lowest. No. 8 Yorktown, which finished second to HSE at Westwood, finished at 310, the fifth-best mark. Noblesville’s 302 at Westwood in 2002 is the regional standard.

Castle (324) claimed its first regional championship in school history by edging the field at Eagle Valley in Evansville on Saturday and securing a spot in the state finals for the first time in 31 years. The Knights finished 11th in 1980, the same year that Carmel last won the top spot. The Greyhounds (321) will try to improve on their state runner-up finish each of the last two years after winning the regional at Smock over the weekend.

Others to win regional crowns include: Center Grove (340) at Foxcliff; Indianapolis Cathedral (327) at Battle Ground and; Homestead (331) which won the rain-delayed title at Noble Hawk.

Martinsville, which placed second to Center Grove at Foxcliff, will be making its ninth consecutive appearance at The Legends inheriting the longest active string after Evansville Memorial’s streak of 11 straight years ended when it failed to advance out of the regional. The Tigers fell just short of Martinsville’s 12 straight trips from 1990-2001. The Artesians, with a record 11 state championships to their credit, won it all in 2007 and 2009.

Seven of last year’s top 10 individual finishers have also advanced back led by Katie Sharp of East Noble. The junior was last year’s state runner-up and also finished tied for fifth as a freshman. She fired a 69 at Noble Hawk over the weekend, the best regional score in the state.

Western’s Courtnee Cossell took honors at Battle Ground last weekend with a 70 while Kelly Grassel of Chesterton and Kari Bellville of Penn both shot 71 at Beechwood. Grassel tied for third overall in last year’s finals while Bellville tied for ninth.

Fans and media are invited to view the progress of the state finals by visiting Golfstat.com. The IHSAA will post the hole-by-hole scores for every player throughout the two days. Also, the most recent poll from the state coaches association may be accessed here.

State Finals
Round 1: Friday, September 30, 2011. 8:30 am ET / 7:30 am CT.
Round 2: Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. 8:30 am ET / 7:30 am CT.
Site: The Legends Golf Club, 2555 N. Hurricane Road, Franklin, IN, 46131. | Website
Admission: $8 per person per day; $12 per person both days.
Advancement from Round One to Round Two: Top nine teams; Any team within 12 strokes of the lead after Round One; Top nine individuals, excluding those individuals who advance with a team plus; Any individual within four strokes of the lead after Round One; Teams tied for ninth place and medalists tied for ninth place.
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com
Friday Tee Times & Pairings | State Tournament Information

Media Information

Media Hosts: Sports Information Director Jason Wille and staff assistant Mike Wilson will be on hand to assist in your coverage.

Media Credentials: The 2011-12 IHSAA State Finals Media Credential will allow for admission. To apply, please e-mail your request (with name of individual) as soon as possible to IHSAA Sports Information Director Jason Wille at jwille@ihsaa.org. E-mail requests MUST originate from a recognized business account; e-mails from personal accounts (ie: yahoo.com, aol.com, etc.) will not be accepted. Deadline is Wednesday, September 28, at 4 pm ET / 3 pm CT. Approved requests will be left for pickup at the team check-in table located between the clubhouse and the cart barn. A limited amount of riding carts will be available to members of the media on a first-come, first-served basis. Your credential is necessary for cart rental. Please check in at the clubhouse for details.

Services: Working space and wireless access will be available in the cart barn. Copies of the official program including scorecards also will be available along with results from both days of the event. Tee-times and pairings for Saturday’s second round will be posted to the IHSAA website as soon as possible on Friday following completion of the first round.

Notables

Teams Qualified (21) *indicates regional champion.
Bloomington North, Carmel*, Castle*, Center Grove*, Chesterton, Evansville North, Fairfield, Hamilton Southeastern*, Homestead*, Indianapolis Cathedral*, Jasper, Lafayette Jefferson, Martinsville, Noblesville, Penn*, Roncalli, Valparaiso, Warsaw, Western, Yorktown, Zionsville.

Teams Returning from 2010 State Finals (14 of 21)
Carmel, Center Grove, Chesterton, Fairfield, Hamilton Southeastern, Indianapolis Cathedral, Jasper, Lafayette Jefferson, Martinsville, Noblesville, Penn, Roncalli, Valparaiso, Zionsville.

Individuals Qualified without a Team (22)
Allison Banasiak, Highland.
Jullian Busfield, South Bend Riley.
Maggie Camp, North Posey.
Elizabeth Carlson, Fremont.
Paige Crafton; Indianapolis Bishop Chatard.
Paxton DeHaven, Seymour.
Amanda Detmer, Madison.
Zoey Freese, Southport.
Darrah Holder, North Daviess.
Katherine Holdren, Delta.
Lauren Hruskovich, Lafayette Central Catholic.
Mattie Lindner, Lebanon.
Sabrina Matthews, Perry Meridian.
Ariana Mendez-Sota, LaPorte.
Jill Morrison, Winchester.
Morgan Nadeline, Anderson.
Morgan Patterson, Terre Haute South.
Katie Sharp, East Noble.
Brenna Sherwood, Elkhart Memorial.
Lucy Stevens, Guerin Catholic.
Carly Waggoner, Vincennes Rivet.
Anna Wilcoxson, South Bend St. Joseph’s.

Individuals Returning from 2010 Top 10 (7)
2. Katie Sharp, East Noble.
T3. Kelly Grassel, Chesterton.
T3. Briana Midkiff, Carmel.
5. Harley Dubsky, Valparaiso.
T7. Kayla Katterhenry, Castle.
T9. Brooke Beegle, Hamilton Southeastern.
T9. Kari Bellville, Penn.

Most Consecutive State Finals Appearances
12: Martinsville (1990-2001).

Active Streaks of Consecutive State Finals Team Appearances (3 or more years)
9: Martinsville.
8: Noblesville.
7: Hamilton Southeastern.
6: Roncalli.
5: Carmel, Indianapolis Cathedral.
4: Chesterton, Lafayette Jefferson, Penn.

First-Time Team State Finals Appearances
None.

State Finals Appearance Droughts Broken
31 years: Castle (1980).

Former State Champions in the Field
None.

Former State Runners-Up in the Field
Katie Sharp, 10, East Noble (2010).

First-Time Regional Champions in the Field
Castle, Center Grove, Indianapolis Cathedral.

Regional Championship Droughts Broken
None.

 

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BOYS TENNIS SECTIONALS BEGIN THIS WEEK
Sectional matches involving 301 teams around the state begin on Wednesday in the 45th Annual IHSAA Boys Tennis Team Tournament.

Survivors of the 64 sectionals which run through Saturday (Oct. 1) will advance to the 16 regional tournaments. Those semifinal matches are set for Tuesday, Oct. 4, and championships on Wednesday, Oct. 5. The four semi-states will be played Saturday, Oct. 8, and the state finals Friday, Oct. 14, and Saturday, Oct. 15, in the Indianapolis area.

Sectional pairings were drawn Monday by the 64 host sites and are posted directly into the tournament brackets here.

A link to the regional pairings in the individual tournament of singles and doubles players are also included below.

45th IHSAA Boys Tennis Team State Tournament
Sectionals
Dates: Sept. 28-Oct. 1.

State Tournament Information (Team)

State Tournament Information (Individual Singles/Doubles)

State Coaches Poll (IHSTeCA)

Notables

Most Consecutive Sectional Championships
31 by Homestead (1979-2009).

Active Sectional Championship Streaks (Three or more years)
30: Munster.
24: Floyd Central.
22: Center Grove.
21: Silver Creek.
18: Delta.
17: Castle.
15: Valparaiso.
14: Plymouth.
12: Columbus North.
9: Evansville Memorial, Penn, River Forest.
8: Muncie Central.
7: Culver Academies, Highland, New Albany.
6: Zionsville.
5: Jasper, Logansport, Northview, Vincennes Rivet.
4: Austin, Crown Point, Hammond Bishop Noll, Jeffersonville, LaPorte.
3: Angola, East Noble, Marion, New Palestine, North Posey, Norwell, Plainfield.

Top 10 All-Time Sectional Championships
37: Munster.
33: Columbus North, North Central (Indianapolis).
32: Homestead.
30: Jasper
28: Richmond.
27: Floyd Central, Silver Creek.
26: Brebeuf Jesuit, Crawfordsville.

 

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STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
The following lists of statistical leaders are compiled by VarVee.com, the IHSAA’s official statistics gathering partner. The IHSAA encourages each of its member schools to participate by registering at www.varvee.com and updating statistics by each Monday through the end of the season.

Football: State Statistical Leaders
Volleyball: State Statistical Leaders
Boys Soccer: State Statistical Leaders
Girls Soccer: State Statistical Leaders
Boys Tennis: State Statistical Leaders
Girls Golf: State Statistical Leaders

 

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NEWS & NOTES FROM AROUND THE STATE
Have an interesting note? A conference or school record, coaching milestone or something else of interest? Please e-mail IHSAA Sports Information Director Jason Wille at jwille@ihsaa.org for consideration.

Whiting’s 41-3 win over Hammond Bishop Noll on Sept. 16 was Oilers coach Jeff Cain’s 119th victory. That made him the winningest football coach in school history, passing Ray Gallivan — for whom Whiting’s stadium is named — who had 118.

With Concord's 26-10 football victory at Goshen on Sept. 16, Concord's Tim Dawson collected his 150th head coaching victory.  Dawson has a career record of 150-96 in 23 seasons, all at Concord.

On Sept. 16, Kokomo set a school record with 514 rushing yards against New Castle in varsity football. The win also marked the 32nd consecutive year Kokomo has downed New Castle in football and was also the 32nd straight North Central Conference win for the Wildkats.

The New Palestine girls soccer team gave head coach Dana Merrick a milestone victory recently, beating Greenfield-Central 1-0. The victory was No. 200 in Merrick's career since soccer became an IHSAA-sanctioned sport. Merrick has been the Dragons' soccer coach since 1985 and has a record of 241-113-44 overall, 200-80-30 under IHSAA sanctioning. The Dragons are now 9-0-2 and remain unbeaten in HHC play. They currently have a 38-game regular-season unbeaten streak.

Fremont running back Trevor Wirick rushed for 416 yards in the Eagles 58-21 victory over Central Noble on Sept. 16.

Angola tennis coach Tony Wright won his 600th career match as the Hornets (14-1) beat Fort Wayne Snider 4-1 in boys tennis recently. The Hall of Famer has coached the boys tennis team at the school for 40 years, and the girls squad for 34 years and coached the Hornets in more than 1,000 matches.