The Manchester High School wrestling team didn't have the sectional they were hoping for, with just one wrestler, Aaron Snep in the 215 pound weight class, advancing to to the Peru Regional this Saturday.
For full story, see the February 3 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
by Eric Christiansen
There wasn’t much good news for the Manchester Lady Squires Saturday night in a 49-26 loss to Tippecanoe Valley.
Manchester was outscored 16-1 in the third quarter and had no answer for the Lady Viking defense.
“Our kids did a fantastic job playing together as a team,” Valley coach Gary Teel said. “We did a great job defensively. I really thought it was going to be a closer game that it was. Mark does a great job with his kids.”
For full story, see the February 3 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
The Manchester Squires couldn’t hold on to a 17 point second quarter lead and lost a heartbreaking 68-65 TRC game to Wabash Friday night.
The Squires started on fire, taking a 21-8 first quarter lead and increased the lead to 28-11 after back to back three pointers from Connor McLaughlin and Austin Blankenship.
For full story, see the January 20 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
Jessica Bedke continued her streak of strong performances with 16 points against Blackhawk Christian Monday night in a 45-35 Lady Squire win.
With the Lady Squires leading just 38-35 with 40 seconds remaining in the game, Bedke went 7-8 from the free throw line to help Manchester improve to 9-7 on the year.
For full story, see the January 20 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
The Manchester High School wrestling team took an early lead and never let Eastbrook get close in a 49-27 win.
“Our team is finally starting to understand what it means to be a good wrestling team,” coach Kyle Wood said. “We’re staying in good position and staying out of trouble. We’re in great shape and are finally gaining confidence.”
For full story, see the January 20 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
by Eric Christiansen
In a game where neither team led by more than three points in the first half, the Manchester defense and Jessica Bedke’s offense gave the Lady Squires some breathing room against North Miami. Manchester eventually was able to hold off North Miami with a 64-54 win.
For full story, see the January 13 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
by Eric Christiansen
Despite a miserable second quarter, the Manchester Squires found a way to pull out a win over visiting Lakeland Christian Academy.
Lakeland led Manchester 20-12 at halftime, but the Squires used a 9-0 run to start the second half to get back into the game and eventually grabbed the 40-34 win.
For full story, see the January 13 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
Manchester had all they could handle in the opening round of the Wabash County Tournament.
The Lady Squires faced off against the host Apaches, who were ranked #6 in Class 2A with an 8-1 record. Wabash moved to 9-1 after having no trouble with the Lady Squires 75-41.
For full story, see the January 6 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
On December 18, the Southwood Knights embarrassed the Manchester Squires 100-48.
On December 29, the Squires took a step in the right direction, despite dropping their second game in 11 days to the Knights, this time 71-42.
The Squires trailed just 15-11 after one quarter and were within striking distance at halftime, down 39-23.
For full story, see the January 6 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6363.
by Eric Christiansen
For the first two minutes of the 2009-10 season, things couldn’t have looked better for the Manchester High School boys’ basketball team.
The Squires took a 5-0 lead over Mississinewa, but that would be the last lead Manchester would see.
The visiting Indians went on a 24-0 run the rest of the first quarter to take command of the game and held on for a 63-48 win.
For full story, see the December 2 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ basketball team rebounded from three straight losses (see story below) with a 55-44 win over Lewis Cass Monday night to improve to 3-3 on the year.
Senior Jessica Bedke was the driving force for the Lady Squires, leading the way with 23 points, 11 steals, five rebounds, and two assists.
For full story, see the December 2 issue of the News-Journal. Call (260) 982-6383 to subscribe.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School wrestling team opened its season with a 60-15 loss to Peru last week.
Peru took a 15-0 lead before Bryce Pyrah got Manchester’s first three points with a 12-10 win in overtime.
For full story, see the December 2 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
by Eric Christiansen
Poor Brett Favre.
I know exactly what he went through this past Sunday as he made his triumphant return “home” to Lambeau Field.
It all started for me in 1985. I was playing freshman basketball for Wayne High School in Fort Wayne.
For full story, see the Nov. 4 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
It wasn’t the ending the Manchester Squires were hoping for.
After tying with Rochester for the Three Rivers Conference title, the Squires had high hopes of a deep run in the state tournament.
Instead, they ran into a juggernaut in Bishop Luers, falling to the Knights 45-21.
For full story, see the Oct. 28 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
What turned into a possible nail biter turned into a nightmare for the Manchester High School volleyball team in the opening round of sectional.
The Lady Squires stayed close for two sets, but fell to Northfield 25-19, 26-24, 25-10 to end their season with a 10-23 record.
For full story, see the Oct. 28 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
The Manchester High School girls’ cross country team finished 17th at the New Prairie Semi-state Saturday morning with 389 points. Corwn Point won the team event with a score of 76.
For full story, see the Oct. 28 issue of the News-Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
The Manchester Squires had another dominating performance on defense, and exploded on offense on their way to a 49-0 win over Wabash.
The win improves the Squires’ record to 7-1, 5-1 in the TRC. Wabash fell to 1-7 and 0-6 in conference play.
For full story, see the October 14 issue of the News Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
The girls’ cross country team finished their regular season in style, winning their second straight Three Rivers Conference title last week, easily outdistancing Rochester.
Manchester finished first wtih 32 points, while Rochester was second with 57.
For full story, see the October 14 issue of the News Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
Kyle Lahman’s magical run ended prematurely in the individual sectional championship match.
Lahman, along with the number one doubles team of Austin Gidley and Andy Dockter, qualified for the individual tournament by remaining unbeaten when the Squires were eliminated from the team tournament.
For full story, see the October 14 issue of the News Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
Homestead was too much for the Manchester High School girls' soccer team Monday night in the opening game of sectional held at Canterbury.
The Lady Spartans shut out the Lady Squires 4-0 to advance to the second round.
Ann Eichman got Homestead on the board eight minutes into the game with a goal for a 1-0 lead.
For full story, see the October 14 issue of the News Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
The boys’ soccer team ended its season with an 11-1 loss to 20th ranked Warsaw in the first round of the sectional last week.
Warsaw scored five first half goals from five different players and didn’t let up in the second half.
For full story, see the October 14 issue of The News Journal. To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
The Manchester Squires remained perfect on the year, using a running game and stifling defense to beat North Miami 21-7. The win moves the Squires’ record to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Three Rivers Conference.
North Miami, who had been averaging 26 points per game, had their chances, but as the pattern has been for the Squires, their defense came up strong when they needed to.
For full story, see the Sept. 23 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
The Manchester High School volleyball team improved to 2-1 in the TRC with a 25-17, 13-25, 25-23, 25-20 win over Tippecanoe Valley last week. Manchester improved to 10-11 overall with the win.
“We stayed focused tonight and were mentally in the game, which helped us finish with the win,” coach Sarah Lochner said. “Great defense and help from our bench were both keys to the win.”
For full story, see the Sept. 23 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
The boys’ tennis team lost its TRC opener to Wabash 4-1 last week, dropping to 0-6 on the year.
Wabash, who won four of the five spots at the TRC Individual Invitational a week earlier, once again dominated in four of the five positions.
Kyle Lahman was Manchester’s only winner, beating Zach Sailors 6-0, 6-1 to improve to 7-1 on the year.
For full story, see the Sept. 23 issue of the News-Journal. Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
The 6th annual Northern Indiana race weekend will be held in North Manchester on Saturday & Sunday, August 15-16, 2009. This is part of the HPRA (Human-Powered Race America) Midwest Race Series. Races will be held on the 1/3-mile paved drive around Manchester High School.
For full story, see the August 5 issue of the News-Journal.
To subscribe, call 260-982-6383.
Over the weekend of July 18-21, North Manchester hosted the 8 & Under girls’ softball state tournament. Ten teams from all over the state traveled to the complex to begin play Saturday morning.
For full story, see the July 29 issue of the News-Journal.
Call 260-982-6383 to subscribe.
by Eric Christiansen
The dream of competing at the state tournament ended prematurely for MHS golfer Josh Troyer.
Troyer finished with a 39-40-79, three strokes shy of making the cut. He finished 18th overall out of 74 golfers at Orchard Ridge. ....Read More
Eight members of the Manchester High School baseball team were named to the Three Rivers Conference All-Conference team for 2009.
The Squires had four players named first team, led by freshman pitcher Connor McLaughlin. ....Read More
Seven members of the Manchester High School softball team were named to the Three Rivers Conference All-Conference team for the 2009 season.
Katie Bowers was the only Lady Squire to be named to the first team, making the team as a catcher. ....Read More
Brittany Sievers finished 14th in the discus at the IHSAA Track and Field State Finals on Saturday in Bloomington to end her high school career. ....Read More
Despite graduating Friday night, high school is not quite finished for Josh Troyer.
The Manchester High School senior not only advanced to regional competition, Troyer won medalist honors with the low score at the Warsaw Sectional with a 75. ....Read More
By Eric Christiansen
This is going to be one busy week for Manchester High School senior Brittany Sievers.
Sievers, along with over 100 of her classmates, will take their final high school exam, then participate in commencement exercises this Friday night. ....Read More
In a pitcher’s duel, the Lewis Cass Kings ended the Manchester Squires’ season 2-1 Monday night to advance to the championship game of the Wabash Sectional. ....Read More
The boys’ golf team traveled to Peru Municipal Golf course and split with Peru and North Miami.
Manchester shot a 172, while Peru ended the day with a 164, and North Miami finished with a 182. ....Read More
Manchester College junior John Kimmel won the Division III 2009 NCAA Track and Field title in the high jump on Saturday, clearing 2.12 meters (6'-11 1/2") on his second attempt, edging out Zach Shew of McMurry University, who successfully cleared 6'-10 1/4" (2.11 meters) to place second. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ track team finished fourth at the Rochester Sectional and advanced 7 athelets in five events.
Brittany Sievers remained unbeaten on the season in the discus by winning with a throw of 125' 3". ....Read More
The Manchester High School boys’ track team finished eighth at the Plymouth Sectional and advanced four runners to the Kokomo Regional on Thursday. ....Read More
With one swing of the bat, the Manchester High School baseball team remained unbeaten in the TRC.
Clint Bischoff blasted a walk-off grand slam home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the Squires to a come from behind 11-9 win over North Miami Thursday night.
“That was a great come back win,” coach Jack Rupley said. “We gave them too many outs early in the game, and they took advantage of it, but we had two big innings in the sixth and the seventh.” ....Read More
In two swings of the bat, Southwood’s Mallory Harnish did enough damage to send the Manchester High School softball team packing.
Harnish hit a two run home run in the top of the first inning, and crushed a solo shot in the top of the ninth to help Southwood end Manchester’s season 6-5 Monday night at the Lewis Cass Sectional. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ tennis team saw their season come to an end Thursday night at the Peru Sectional at the hands of the host Lady Tigers 3-2.
Peru had beaten the Lady Squires 3-2 earlier in the season, and Manchester was hoping for a different outcome, and they nearly pulled it off. ....Read More
The MHS girls’ tennis team got their second win of the season, topping Tippecanoe Valley 4-1.
Manchester got straight set wins at both doubles spots, and from Tara Gnagy and Jessica Bedke.
Shelby Rager and Jenna Alexander won 6-4, 6-1 at one doubles, and Skye Haywood and Rebecca Ruppert won 6-3, 6-4 at two doubles. ....Read More
The MHS boys’ golf team split in a three way match with Whitko and Northfield.
Whitko walked away with two wins with a score of 158. Manchester finished with a 171, while Northfield scored a 196.
Whitko’s Grant St. Claire won medalist honors with a 36. Matt Budnik was Manchester’s top golfer with a 38. ....Read More
The Manchester High School baseball team went 3-0 in the TRC over the past week with wins over Southwood, Tippecanoe Valley, and Rochester.
In the three wins, the Squires gave up just four runs. ....Read More
The MHS softball team lost their TRC opener to Tippecanoe Valley 7-3 last week.
Manchester led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, but the Lady Vikings scored six runs in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead. Manchester fought back with two in the top of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ track team finished third at the Wabash County Meet last week.
Wabsh won with a score of 174, while Southwood was second with 114, Manchester was third with 111, and Northfield was fourth with 81. ....Read More
The MHS boys’ track team finished fifth at the Wabash County Meet last week with 74 points.
Southwood won with 184 points, while Wabash was second at 120, Northfield was third with 86, and White’s was fifth with nine.
Trae Bruce was Manchester’s only athlete to win an event, winning the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.40. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Freshman Connor McLaughlin pitched like a veteran Wednesday night in a 6-0 win over Fort Wayne Wayne.
McLaughlin pitched a complete game shut out, giving up four hits, striking out 11 and walking just two. The Squires improved to 2-5-1 with the win, with McLaughlin improving to 2-0 on the year. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The boys’ golf team ended their match with Huntington North tied at 170-170, but lost on the first tie-breaker rule, which matches the fifth highest scores from each team. Huntington North’s fifth player, Jordan Sweet, edged Manchester’s Aaron Olinger 48-50. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ track team won the 76th Ebrite Relays Saturday with 109 points.
The Lady Squires made their mark in the throwing events as Brittany Sievers and Crystal Fuller earned 28 of Manchester’s 109 points. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The MHS boys’ track team finished fifth out of eight teams at the Ebrite Relays this past Saturday.
The best result for Manchester was in the 110m hurdles where Trae Bruce finished third (16.69) anad Jacob Anderson was seventh (17.62). ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ swim team finished 11th at the Warsaw Sectional Saturday afternoon.
Manchester was represented in three events in the finals, one individual event, and two relays.
Kaytlyn Eberly finished 8th in the 50 free with a time of 28.29.
The 200 free relay team of Lille Terrill, Elizabeth Schilling, Kaitlyn Durden, and Eberly finished eighth with a time of 1:58.14.
The 400 free relay team of Eberly, Durden, Rebecca Ruppert, and Schilling finished eighth with a time of 4:26.32.
In the preliminaries on Thursday night, Ruppert finished 20th in the 100 back (1:22.79) and 25th in the 200 free (2:37.14), while Durden was 15th in the 100 butterfly (1:21.34.
Schilling was 17th in the 100 free (1:05.28), and Terrill was 22nd in the 50 free (29.87).
Manchester High School wrestler Dominick Byrns was eliminated from the Peru Regional in the first round, losing to Northwestern’s Evan Floyd.
Floyd ended up winning the heavyweight division, upping his record to 44-1.
Byrns, who missed a big chunk of the season with a torn ACL, finishes the season at 9-6.
Byrns also qualified for regional last year as a freshman.
“Dominick drew a really good wrestler in the first round,” head coach Kyle Wood said. “Since he finished fourth in our sectional, he automatically drew #1 seed.
“He has done a great job this year since he came back from the injury,” Wood added. “He’s already making plays to hit the weight room hard in the offseason, and he hopes to gain some weight.”
Byrns was the only Squire to advance to regional.
by Eric Christiansen
Amber Fratus decided to finish her final regular season game in style, pouring in 28 points and hauling in 13 rebounds to help the MHS girls’ basketball team hold off South Adams 54-44. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Northfield jumped out to a 15-3 lead over the Manchester Squires and never let the Squires in the game, cruising to a 51-30 win.
Northfield snapped a five game losing streak with the win, moving to 6-7 on the year. Manchester fell to 2-11. ....Read More
by Zach Glenn
MHS Sophomore Dominick Byrns took fourth place at the Peru wrestling Sectional on Saturday and freshman Payton Sorg took fifth. After a rough day of wrestling for the Squires, Byrns and Sorg were the only MHS wrestlers to place, with Byrns advancing to the Peru Regional next Saturday. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
In a game with no ties or lead changes, the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings had to wait until the final seconds of their tilt with the Manchester Lady Squires to clinch the outright Three Rivers Conference championship, 54-53. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch and 21 points from Scott Baker helped the Manchester Squires pick up their second win of the season, 53-47 over Lakeland Christian Academy. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
What a difference two weeks make.
In the opening game of the Wabash County Tournament, Southwood led Manchester 20-13 late in the first half before the Lady Squires pulled away for a 20 point win.
Monday night, there would be no first half scare as Manchester jumped out to a 17-3 lead late in the first quarter, and led by as many as 32 points before cruising to a 66-40 win.
The win improves the Lady Squires’ record to 7-6 and 2-3 in the Three Rivers Conference. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Cold shooting from the field hurt the Lady Squires in a 58-42 loss to Wabash Saturday night.
Manchester shot just 10-45 from the field for 22.2 percent against the Lady Apaches, which translated into a rough night for the Lady Squires. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Wabash Apaches pushed back against the Manchester Squires, picking up their first win of the season 69-56 against the team they lost to two weeks earlier at the Wabash County tournament. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The good news for the Manchester Squires was they held the Wawasee Warriors to five points under their team scoring average. The bad news for the Squires was they still gave up 90 points. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Manchester led TRC rival Whitko for 31 minutes and 54 seconds, but it was the final six seconds that made the difference on the scoreboard.
Whitko's Amanda Allender hit one of two free throws with six seconds left in the game to break a 48-48 tie, giving the Wildcats the eventual 49-48 win. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Northfield broke an 11 game losing streak to Manchester Saturday night, and in the process, started the TRC season with a 1-0 record.
Northfield (5-1, 1-0 TRC)held a 48-44 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but finished the game on a 12-1 run to put the Lady Squires (3-3, 0-1 TRC) away 60-45.
“You have to give Northfield a lot of credit,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “They really shot the ball well tonight. There were players who stepped up and hit some shots who normally don’t. It was a total team effort for them.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Before the 2008-09 season, Manchester boys’ basketball coach Gary Goshert knew there would be some bumps in the road with his young team. Last Thursday, the Squires nearly cleared the hurdle, but fell short at Alexandria 63-49.
“Regardless of records, or who we play, we want to continue to work on the little things that will make us a better basketball team,” Goshert said. “Tonight, we did a lot of good things, but we also have a lot of things to work on. ....Read More
The MHS boys’ swim team lost its opening meet of the season to Huntington North 131-44.
Huntington North won all 12 events.
Finishing second was the 200 medley relay team of Andrew Asbury, Jacob Vogel, Collin Buzzard, and Ryan Henderson, the 200 free relay team of Henderson, Max Mattern, Grey Harris, and Buzzard (1:50.83), Harris in the 100 free (1:03.34), and Mattern in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.36). ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ swim team opened its season with a loss to Huntington North 126-47.
Huntington North won all 12 events.
Finishing second was the 200 medley relay team of Elizabeth Schilling, Lille Terrill, Kaytlyn Eberly, and Kaitlin Durden (2:28.40), the same foursome in the 200 free relay (1:45.72), Rebecca Ruppert in the 200 free (2:44.02), Durden in the 100 butterfly (1:29.15), Schilling in the 100 free (1:10.69), and Kirsten Ridenour in the 100 backstroke (1:28.17). ....Read More
The Manchester High School wrestling team finished 1-3 on the day at the Wabash County Meet, good enough for fourth place.
Manchester beat White’s 63-6. Eddie Black won by pin :53 seconds in the first period, Geovanny Flores won by pin :50 in the first, Aaron Snep won by pin :44 in the first Ujarneg Sorensen won by pin :57 in the first, Preston Penrod won by decision 10-8, and six wrestlers won by forfiet. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
As expected, the Manchester Squires are experiencing growing pains to start the 2008-09 basketball season.
The young Squire team opened its season with a 71-45 loss to Mississinewa, followed by a 76-30 loss to Class 2A #5 Oak Hill Saturday night.
Against Mississinewa, the Squires fell behind early and never recovered.
The Indians took a 27-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended that lead to 39-18 at halftime. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ basketball team had a rough week, facing off against two of the top five teams in Class 2A. The Lady Squires were handled by #5 Winamac 82-51, and lost to #2 Oak Hill 83-43. They bounced back Monday night with a 54-33 win over Lewis Cass.
Winamac took control of the game early, taking a 26-13 first quarter lead.
Manchester had a hard time getting the ball inside, and relied on three 3-pointers, two from Katie Bowers and one from Jessica Bedke.
Winamac increased their lead to 45-27 at half time, and never looked back, leading 66-40 after three, and finishing with an 82-51 win. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
To call the upcoming season a rebuilding one for the Manchester High School boys’ basketball team would be an understatement.
The Squires lost 10 of their top 11 players from last season, including eight seniors and two players who moved.
Despite the depleted roster, head coach Gary Goshert is excited about the 2008-09 season. ....Read More
First year Manchester High School wrestling coach Kyle Wood is excited about not only the 2008-09 season, but with the future seasons as well.
Wood inherits a young team, but a team that is ready to learn and to grow.
Wood, a social studies teacher at MHS, was part of a strong wrestling tradition as an athlete at Columbia City High School. He was part of four sectional and three regional championship teams. He also was part of a team that finished in the top four at state.
Former teammate Kyler Kirby is on board as an assistant coach, along with Nate Birch, Scott Bowman, and Keith Sorg. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ and girls’ swim team are in a unique situation.
With the closing of the Manchester Community Pool, the swim teams will not only have all of their meets on the road, but they practice every evening at Rochester High School.
“It’s been an adjustment for everyone,” said first year coach Taylor Clifford. “Everyone is doing well. The kids understand (the situation). We just have to make an extra effort to get there. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ basketball team overcame 34 turnovers against Mississinewa to improve to 2-0 on the season with a 67-52 win.
Three Lady Squires scored in double figures, and nine players scored overall as Manchester led for all but two minutes of the game.
Junior Jessica Bedke led Manchester with 19 points, while Katie Bowers scored 16, and Amber Fratus tossed in 15 to pace the Lady Squires. ....Read More
by Eric Chrisitansen
The Manchester High School girls’ basketball team won’t intimidate anyone with their size this season, but head coach Mark Underwood hopes that his team’s work ethic will speak volumes.
“Size can be measured in different ways,” Underwood said. “It can be measured in stature, but it can also be measured in heart, desire, and hustle. When it comes to those attributes, we have a lot of girls with big hearts, and they play like it.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
This is a great time of the year to be a sports fan. The Major League Baseball playoffs are in full swing (unless you root for the Cubs), the NFL is once again proving to be the most popular sport in America, college campuses are buzzing on Saturday afternoons with tailgates and football, and the NBA and NHL have started their preseasons, which means we will soon give way to Mother Nature’s angry side.
Now that we have officially filled the criteria to make this a sports column, I am going to address something that is sweeping the nation, nay, the world: texting. ....Read More
The boys’ tennis team gave Peru all they wanted, but in the end, it was the Tigers ousting the Squires from the first round of sectional play last week.
The Squires had been counting on at least two singles wins most matches this season, and that is what they got Thursday night. Unlike most matches, however, it wasn’t Kyle Lahman and Scott Spaulding hauling in the wins, but Spaulding and Dale Ruppert.
Ruppert won his fourth match of the year at three singles, pulling out a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 win, while Spaulding held on for a 6-2, 6-4 win at two singles. ....Read More
Alumni and families of Manchester College students are invited to celebrate together this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11, Homecoming and Family weekend. Every one of the hundreds of visitors – from toddler to senior citizen – will find fun-filled events on the North Manchester campus. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Friday night was one the Manchester High School football team seniors would rather forget.
Playing in their final regular season home game, the Squires turned the ball over five times and had no answer for Southwood in a 36-7 loss to the Knights.
Southwood’s Nick Driskill led the Knights with 181 yards and one touchdown on the ground. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
After playing a solid first half of football last week, the Manchester Squires ran out of gas in the second half in a loss to Mississinewa.
One week later, it was a different Squire team who played four solid quarters of football, pulling out a 20-6 win over visiting Bluffton. ....Read More
The Manchester High School volleyball team improved to 4-1 with a 25-9, 25-10, 27-25 win over TRC rival Whitko in non-conference play.
“I’m very proud of this match because in game three, when we were down, I gave them a challenge to win, and they took control,” coach Sarah Lochner said. “When it is close, they need to gain confidence and they took a step in the right direction tonight.” ....Read More
Kyle Lahman continued his winning ways, but the boys’ tennis team fell to 0-3 with a 4-1 loss to Carroll.
Lahman beat Carroll’s top player, Tariq Anabataw 7-5, 7-6 (6) to improve to 3-0 on the year.
“Kyle showed a lot of heart pulling out two tough sets, especially the second set when the team match was already decided,” head coach Sarah Conwell said.
Scott Spaulding played a close first set, but fell 6-4, 6-1 at two singles, while Erik Hand lost a 6-2, 6-3 decision. ....Read More
The girls’ golf team fell to a tough Wawasee team 184-202.
Hayley Shafer led the Lady Squires with a 48. Erika Milam shot a 52, McKenzie Logan shot a 55, and Hannah Little and Katie Durden both shot 57.
“Three days ago, we played Peru on our home course and scored a 221,” coach Dorey Mobley said. “We played again today and improved 19 strokes. That’s the kind of improvement I am looking for.” ....Read More
by Shaun Tilghman
The Manchester College softball team will soon begin fall workouts and Tracy Cromer will have her first look at many of the players she will be working with as the new head coach.
Cromer joins the Spartan program following seven years of coaching experience at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She served as an assistant coach for two years before taking the reigns as head coach, and she leaves Northwestern with a record of 102-97-2, 28-11 this past season. During her five-year stint as head coach, Cromer led her team to two NAIA regional appearances and recorded three seasons of 20+ wins. ....Read More
by Shaun Tilghman
The Manchester College women’s soccer team recently reported to campus and as the players prepare themselves for the start of the upcoming season, so too does first-year head coach Andrew Stout.
Stout was named as the new coach in June and has 11 years of coaching experience at the high school, club and collegiate levels. He began coaching youth teams in the summer while he was still an undergraduate student at Indiana State University and took more than one of those teams to the Snicker’s Cup State Finals. ....Read More
by Shaun Tilghman
Sarah Conwell, of Kokomo, was recently named as the new boys tennis coach for Manchester High School.
Conwell is a 2008 graduate of Manchester College and was a two-sport athlete throughout her college career, participating in both tennis and basketball. She was a four-year member of the varsity tennis team at Northwestern High School, Kokomo, and at MC she played both singles and doubles tennis during the fall and spring seasons. ....Read More
The 5th annual Northern Indiana Human-Powered Race America (HPRA) race weekend will be held in North Manchester on Saturday & Sunday, August 16-17, 2008.
Races on both days will be held on the .35-mile 2-lane paved drive around Manchester High School. In addition to the traditional HPRA vehicle classes—Stock, Superstock, Superstreet, Streamliner, Junior (15 & under), Women, and Multirider—there will be an official Trike class this year, with some races of shorter length but including more cornering, which makes it more fun for both racers and spectators. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
It was one of those weekends any sports fan can appreciate, and every tennis fan will never forget.
It was one of those weekends where tennis fans around the world called/texted their friends to make sure they were watching. ....Read More
by Shaun Tilghman, Intern
Each year, the Indiana High School Athletic Association honors an outstanding official in eleven sports. Dave Switzer, North Manchester, was recently recognized as this year's recipient of the Interscholastic Officials Association Award for excellence in the sport of baseball.
Switzer was nominated for the award by his peers representing the Northeastern Athletic Officials Association, one of 26 such organizations located throughout Indiana. He was selected by a committee of representatives from those 26 associations for his individual service in promoting wholesome and healthy activities for the student-athletes of our state. ....Read More
It wasn’t the ending they were hoping for.
The Manchester High School boys’ golf team, a week removed from upsetting the 12th ranked team in the state, finished eighth at the Warsaw Golf Sectional with a team score of 355.
Wawasee won the sectional on a windy day with a 327 at Stonehenge Golf Course. Warsaw was second with a 338, Culver Military was third with a 343, Tippecanoe Valley was fourth with a 350, Southwood was fifth with a 351, Triton was sixth with a 351, Bremen was seventh with a 353, Culver Community was ninth with a 369, Plymouth was 10th with a 375, Northfield was 11th with 379, and Wabash was 12th with 440.
The top three teams advanced to the regional competiton, while T.J. Carpenter of Triton (76), Mix Kipfer of Bremen (79) and Trey Stoll of Tippecanoe Valley (79) all advanced as individuals.
Curtis Coverstone of Wawasee was meadlist with a 76.
Brecken Kennedy was Manchester’s top golfer, shooting a 41-41-82, while Josh Troyer was next with a 42-47-89. Andrew Chinworth shot a 44-47-91, David Cable shot a 47-46-93, and Kyle Lahman shot a 45-53-98.
“It was a tough day on a difficult, at times, narrow course,” coach Gary Goshert said. “We weren’t as consistent as we had been in the past couple of weeks. We had some pars and birdies, but a couple of times we blew up for sevens or worse.
“We got better as the season went on, and that showed with a couple of our invitationals, and of course, our win against Peru,” he continued. “We are losing a few seniors that have been a big part of the success of this program, and we are going to miss them.
“We were hoping to get at least one of our golfers to advance to regionals, but it didn’t work out that way,” Goshert added. “We had a good season overall, though.”
Manchester loses seniors Kennedy, Chinworth, and Cable.
by Eric Christiansen
On paper it looked like a mismatch between the Northfield Lady Norse and the Manchester Lady Squires in the first round of the Peru Tennis Sectional.
Northfield beat Manchester 4-1 earlier in the season and came into sectional play as the defending champion sporting an 11-1 record.
Manchester, after a seven match losing streak, stumbled in their last two matches.
Regardless, the match came down to three nail-biting singles matches. Unfortunately for Manchester, Northfield won two of those matches, ending the Lady Squires’ season with a 7-7 record after the 4-1 loss.
Northfield had no trouble in the doubles matches, with the number one team of Jessica Dyson and Megaon LaConfora beating Katherine Tate and Jenna Alexander 6-1, 6-0, and the number two team of Addie Ratcliff and Stephanie Beck beating Whitnee Hidalgo and Sadie Preston 6-1, 6-0. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School softball team had high hopes of ending Lewis Cass’s stranglehold on the Wabash Sectional, and for three innings, it looked like they might have a chance.
Instead, Lewis Cass scored 10 runs over the fourth and fifth innings to put away the Lady Squires 14-5.
“I’m proud of the way the girls kept battling,” coach Todd Volk said. “I hope we learn from it.”
Cass scored two quick runs in the top of the first inning, but Manchester battled back to tie it up at 2-2 in the bottom of the first. ....Read More
The Manchester High School boys’ track team advanced to the Kokomo Regional in three events and finished ninth at the Plymouth Sectional last week.
Plymouth won with 183 points, Culver Academies was second with 93, Triton was third with 80, Rochester was fourth with 73, North Miami was fifth with 55, Northfield was sixth with 41, Tippecanoe Valley was seventh with 34, Culver Community was eighth with 30, Manchester was ninth with 28, and Caston was 10th with 5.
Gavin McNeeley advanced to regional in the 200m dash, finishing fourth with a time of 23.68. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ track team will be represented in six events at the Bremen Regionals. They finished fourth at the Rochester Sectional last week.
Plymouth won the sectional with 163.5 points, Culver Academies was second with 124, Culver Community was third with 79, Manchester was fourth with 63.5, Northfield was fifth with 50, Rochester was sixth with 41.5, Triton was seventh with 37, Tippecanoe Valley was eighth with 36.5, North Miami was ninth with 20, and Caston was eighth with 8.
Audrey Johnson, a state qualifier last year, won the 800m run with a time of 2:23.64, while Brit Sievers won the discus with a throw of 119’ 8”.
“Audrey is just a workhorse,” coach Julie Cassel said. “She deserves to go on.
“Brit didn’t throw well last year at sectional, so this is a bit of redemption for her.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School softball team went 3-1 on the week, going 1-1 in conference play, and blasting Taylor in a doubleheader.
Loss to Rochester
Manchester took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Rochester, but couldn’t hold on in a 6-4 loss.
Rochester scored four in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead, and withstood Manchester’s comeback attempt to take the win.
Katie Bowers led the Lady Squires with three hits, while Carrie McLain had three RBI.
Jama Runkel took the loss on the mound, giving up five hits.
“We lost our aggressiveness after the first inning and let Rochester stay in the game,” coach Todd Volk said.
Doubleheader Win Over Taylor
The Lady Squires got their aggressiveness back Saturday with 11-1 and 10-1 wins over Taylor to improve to 8-7 on the year.
In game one, Taylor led 1-0 after one inning, but Manchester exploded for six runs in the second, three in the fourth, and two in the fifth to cruise to a 11-1 win.
Runkel got the win on the mound to improve to 5-6 on the year. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ track team finished fifth at the Three Rivers Conference Meet last week held at Tippecanoe Valley.
Whitko won the meet with 99 points, edging Southwood who finished with 98 points. Northfield had 85 points, Wabash had 75 points, finished fourth, Manchester and Tippecanoe Valley tied with 73.5 points, while Rochester was seventh with 63 points, and North Miami was eighth with 42 points.
Manchester was without numerous girls due to a scheduling conflict, which hurt their team score.
Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, Audrey Johnson, and the 1600m relay team of Addy Naragon, Coulter-Kern, Kari Miller, and Johnson all won events for Manchester.
Coulter-Kern won the 400m dash with a time of 1:03.37, while Johnson won the 800m run with a time of 2:27.13.
The 1600m relay team won with a time of 4:24.74.
Coming in third place was Andy Sharfman in the 3200m relay (12:53.65), Brit Sievers in the shot put (29’ 9”), and the 3200m relay team of Johnson, Katelyn Wade, Jordian Wade, and Liza Terrill (10:57.75).
Fifth place results were Sharfman in the 1600m run (5:46.98) and Kari Miller in the high jump (4’ 6”).
Coming in sixth place was Sydni Terrill in the 1600m run (5:54), and the 400m relay team of Shea Rager, Katie Eash, Gabi Nearing, and Naragon (57.15), while seventh place results were Addy Naragon in the 200m dash (30.77), Katelyn Wade in the 800m run (2:44.22), Gabi Nearing in the 100m hurdles (18.77) and the 300m hurdles (56.41) and Morgan Ozenbaugh in the discus (81’ 9”).
Eight place results were Claire Brumbaugh Smith in the 3200m run (14:02.06), and Coulter-Kern in the 200m dash (31.0).
The girls’ tennis team continued its winning ways, upping its winning streak to seven straight with wins over Whitko, Peru, Wabash, and Tippecanoe Valley.
Win Over Whitko
The tennis team edged Whitko in a TRC match up 3-2.
Once again, it came down to the singles matches, and once again, Manchester’s singles players came through.
Kristen Lahman won her match 7-6, (3), 6-4, while Tara Gnagy won 6-1, 6-4, and Julie Seifert won 7-5, 7-5.
The number one doubles team of Katherine Tate and Jenna Alexander lost 6-0, 7-6 (4), and the number two doubles team of Whitnee Hidalgo and Sadie Preston lost 6-4, 6-1.
“Kristen fought through a tough match to pull out the win for the team,” head coach Tim McLaughlin said. “She was very determined and it showed on the court.
“Julie and Tara continue to play consistent, smart tennis, and it’s working well for them,” he continued.
The JV team lost to Whitko 3-2.
Winning matches were Bri Dahlstrom 8-4, and the doubles team of Rebecca Ruppert and Lauren Wagoner 8-4.
Win Over Peru
The singles players had no trouble with Peru in another 3-2 win last week.
Lahman won 6-2, 6-2, Gnagy won 6-3, 6-2, and Seifert won 6-4, 6-3.
Tate and Alexander lost 6-3, 6-2, and Hidalgo and Preston lost 6-3, 6-2.
“We continue to get very consistent play from all the singles players,’ McLaughlin said.
The JV team lost to Peru 4-1.
Skye Haywood was the only Lady Squire to win, pulling out an 8-4 victory at three singles.
Win Over Wabash
The Lady Squires won their sixth straight match with a 3-2 win over Wabash Saturday afternoon, but this time, the singles player needed some help from the doubles teams, and they got it.
Lahman had little trouble with Katie Honeycutt 6-1, 6-2, while Gnagy won the deciding match over Laura Merriman 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Seifert lost her match at three singles 6-4, 6-1.
Hidalgo and Preston stepped up and pulled out a 6-3, 6-1 win at two doubles to help secure the win for Manchester.
Tate and Alexander lost a tough three setter 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-2.
“I am very proud of Whitnee and Sadie,” McLaughlin said. “It was their first win of the season.
“Tara fought back in the third set and did a great job to clinch the win for the team,” he continued.
Win Over Tippecanoe Valley
Despite winning their seventh straight match, Monday night’s win over Tippecanoe Valley was Manchester’s first 5-0 win.
Both doubles teams fought for three set wins, while the singles players had no trouble with the Lady Vikings.
Tate and Alexander pulled out a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 win, while Hidalgo and Preston battled for a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 win at two doubles.
“I was very proud of both doubles teams for not giving up,” McLaughlin said. “They fought hard, played some good tennis, and helped us get the 5-0 win.”
Lahman won her match 6-2, 6-2, Gnagy won 6-1, 6-3, and Seifert won 6-2, 6-1.
The win puts the Lady Squires at 4-1 in the TRCand 7-3 overall. and will travel to Southwood on Monday to try to clinch sole possession of second place in the Three Rivers Conference.
The JV team tied with Valley 3-3. Winning matches were Skye Haywood 8-7 (1), and the teams of Kaitlynn French/Lauren Wagoner 8-6, and Haywood/Bri Dahlstrom 8-2.
The tennis team will be at Southwood on Monday, and will host Mississinewa on Tuesday to end the regular season.
The Manchester High School softball team won three straight before falling to Southwood on Monday.
Win Over Canterbury
The Lady Squires jumped ahead early and poured it on Canterbury in a 21-5 win.
Katie Bowers set a school record with eight RBI in the game on five hits, including three doubles. Makayla Sainsbury had three hits and four RBI on the night.
Manchester took a quick 5-0 lead in the first inning. Canterbury hung in there, scoring four in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Lady Squire lead to 10-4, but a 10 run seventh shut the door on the Cavaliers.
Brittany Watson was the winning pitcher, improving to 2-2 on the year.
“I was worried we would be a little rusty having not played in a week, but the girls were really focused from the moment we stepped off the bus,” coach Todd Volk said.
Win Over Northfield
After season after season of close battles with Northfield, the Lady Squires left no doubts against the Lady Norse, winning 10-0 in five innings.
Jama Runkel improved to 3-4 with the shut out win on the mound.
Sainsbury went 3-3, while Allison Mussey had two hits and two RBI.
Manchester led just 4-0 heading into the top of the fifth, but scored six runs to take a 10-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Runkel and the Lady Squires defense took care of business to earn the win.
“Jama did a great job of throwing strikes and letting our defense back her up,” Volk said. “Offensively, everyone through the line up is putting the bat on the ball.”
Win Over Harding
The Lady Squires kept things rolling with another five inning 10-0 win, this time over Harding.
It was the fifth win in six games for Manchester.
Runkel got the win on the mound, throwing her second straight shut out.
Amber Fratus had three hits and four RBI.
“The girls did a good job of staying focused and doing what they had to do to get the win,” Volk said.
Loss To Southwood
The winning streak came to an end Monday night against Southwood, as the Lady Squires were on the wrong side of a shut out, losing 4-0.
Southwood scored two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth for their four runs.
Runkel took the loss on the mound, despite striking out eight.
Bowers led the Lady Squires with two hits.
“Southwood came up with the big hits when they needed them, and did a great job of shutting us down on the offensive end,” Volk said. “I thought Jama pitched a great game.”
The softball team will host Tippecanoe Valley on Wednesday, will be at Rochester on Friday, will host Taylor in a doubleheader on Saturday, and will be at North Miami on Monday.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ tennis team snapped a 16 match losing streak that dated back to the 2006 season in a loss to Logansport in the Peru Regional by beating Wawasee in a dramatic fashion, 3-2.
With the team score tied at 2-2, Julie Seifert, who lost her first set 6-3, and fought back to win her second set 7-5, had the match riding on her racquet.
Seifert, a senior, but playing her second year of tennis, had no trouble, winning the third set 6-1.
“Julie said she wasn’t nervous at all (heading into the third set),” head coach Tim McLaughlin said. “She is a basketball player, and is used to playing in front of a large crowd in pressure situations. She did a great job to fight back to win the second and third sets.”
Also earning singles wins were Kristen Lahman, 6-4, 6-0, and Tara Gnagy, 6-3, 6-2.
“Kristen did a great job of playing mistake free tennis,” McLaughlin said. “Tara controlled the entire match.”
The doubles team of Katherine Tate and Jenna Alexander lost a close 7-6 (10), 6-3 match at one doubles, and the team of Whitnee Hidalgo and Sadie Preston lost 6-2, 6-1.
The JV team fell to Wawasee 5-0 with Shelby Rager, Marina Meinert and Skye Haywood all losing singles matches, and Rebecca Ruppert/Casey Brandenburg and Anisa Adam/Caitlynn French losing doubles matches.
Win Over Rochester
The girls’ tennis team won its second straight match Monday night with a 3-2 win over TRC rival Rochester. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ golf team improved to 2-0 in dual matches with a 174-241 win over West Noble last week.
Brecken Kennedy earned medalist honors with a 41, while Andrew Chinworth turned in a 42. Josh Troyer shot a 44, David Cable shot 47, and Matt Budnik shot a 55.
“We had three solid scores out of the top five golfers, but putting and chipping kept us from breaking into the 160s,’ head coach Gary Goshert said.
Three Way Win
The golf team made it 4-0 with a three way win over Lakewood Park and Churubusco. Manchester shot a solid 160, while Lakewood Park shot a 188, and Churubusco shot 204 at Eel River Golf Course.
Kennedy once again earned medalist honors, sharing it with Chinworth, who both shot 39 on the day. Troyer and Scott Spaulding both shot 41, and Cable finished with a 42 on the par-35 front nine. ....Read More
The MHS girls’ track team finished fourth at the Churubusco Relays Saturday with 59 points. Garrett won the meet with 106 points, while Central Noble was second with 63, and Churubusco was third with 62. Manchester tied with Westview with 59 points, Heritage was sixth with 52, Fremont was seventh with 49, Eastside and Bluffton tied for eight place with 43 points, Canterbury was 10th with 30, Woodlan was 11th with 28, and Prairie Heights was 12th with 19 points.
Mackenzie Coulter-Kern was the only Lady Squire to win an event, pulling out a first place in the 400m dash with a time of 1:02.63.
The Lady Squires finished second in two relays. In the 1600m relay, the team of Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, Audrey Johnson, Kari Miller, and Addy Naragon was second with a time of 4:26.27, while the 3200m relay team of Katelyn Wade, Jordain Wade, Andy Sharfman, and Liza Terrill was second with a time of 10:55.94.
The 400m relay team of Taylor Byers, Coulter-Kern, Shea Rager, and Naragon finished seventh with a time of 57.07.
Audrey Johnson was third in the 800m run (2:30.84), while Coulter-Kern was fifth in the 200m dash.
Andy Sharfman was fifth in the 1600m run (6:01.70) and the 3200m run (13:14.16.)
In the 1600m run, Sydni Terrill was sixth (6:03.56);
In the 400m dash, Kari Miller was 13th (1:09.21);
In the 300m hurdles, Gabi Nearing was seventh (54.05);
In the 800m run, K. Wade was 11th (2:47.91);
In the 3200m run, Sydni Terrill was seventh (13:18.92);
In the shot put, Leah McNeeley was 11th (26’ 6 1/2”), and Brittany Seivers was 14th (26’ 1”).
“We did not score in five of the first seven events, but the girls pulled themselves up by the bootstraps to end up four points from the second place trophy,” coach Julie Cassell said. “This meet is a great learning experience for our underclassmen.”
The track team will be at the Ebrite Relays at Carroll (Flora) this Saturday.
Final Standings
156
Eric Olinger
145
Aaron Olinger
142
Dave Wendel* (3rd place via tie-breaker)
Jerry Hoerdt
Harold Bolinger
140
Kathy Singpiel
139
Tina Clapp
138
Derek Self
135
Jason Groninger
134
Jackie Moore
133
Jeremy Johnson
131
Rosemary Bolinger
129
Matt Webb
124 ....Read More
For nearly two hours, the Manchester-Bluffton softball game was all Bluffton.
In the end, it was the Lady Squires celebrating an 8-7 comeback win in the opening game of the 2008 season.
Bluffton led 7-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but an eight run explosion from Manchester sent the Lady Tigers home frustrated and bewildered.
“Unbelievable heart!,” first year head coach Todd Volk said. “The girls never gave up. Even when they were down 7-0, they kept encouraging each other.”
Bluffton took control of the game early, scoring a run in the second inning, and one in the third for a 2-0 lead.
They added one in the fifth inning, and appeared to put the game away with four runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 7-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Bluffton retired the first nine Manchester batters, and allowed just three hits in the first five innings.
In the sixth inning, however, the phrase “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” was proven once again.
Katie Bowers led off the inning with a single, which led to eight straight Lady Squires reaching base. Jama Runkel followed with a single, followed by a single from Kobie Marks. Makayla Sainsbury walked, followed by Scarlett Melton reaching on an error.
Marissa Johnson and Emily Hill both walked, and Allison Mussey reached on an error.
After Brittany Watson struck out, Bowers singled, and Runkel followed with the go ahead RBI.
Runkel pitched five innings, and Watson got the win in relief, including shutting down the Lady Tigers in order in the top of the seventh inning.
Bowers led Manchester from the plate going 4-4, while Runkel was 2-3 on the day.
The Lady Squires will host Churubusco Wednesday, will be at Wawasee on Friday, and will host Fremont in a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Manchester College baseball team moved to 6-2 in HCAC action following an 11-10 win over visiting Bluffton University on Tuesday. Manchester trailed 4-1 after two innings of play, but HCAC Player of the Week Shawn Baker connected on a grand slam in the bottom of the third to give Manchester a 5-4 lead. The Spartans scored two in the fifth and three in the eighth in route to the 11-10 win.
Matt Holycross picked up win, relieving Shaun Carrico after two innings. Holycross pitched 4-2/3 innings with four strikeouts. Joe Egner recorded the last out of the game to pick up the save, his first of the year.
Baker ended the game 3-5 with a home run. David Tatham was 2-4, Ty Foster went 2-4, Josh Buell went 3-5 and Adam Pitrowicz went 1-3 with a pair of sac bunts and a double.
Manchester’s baseball team fell 11-2 to host Franklin College in the first of the conference three-game series on Friday.
Franklin jumped to a 6-0 lead after two innings against MC’s Colin Denihan, who suffered his first loss of the year. Denihan threw four innings with two strikeouts and five hits allowed. Wes Bucher threw for three innings with five hits and four runs allowed.
Offensively, Kaz Kalita paced Manchester with a 2-3 performance, while Adam Pitrowicz and Josh Buell finished the day 1-3. Buell drove in both of Manchester’s runs in the eighth inning on a two run homer to put MC on the scoreboard.
Manchester lost 8-7 in an extra inning of play, but rallied to pick up an 8-5 win in the second game to close out the three-game series with Franklin College.
In game one, Derek Hanson suffered the loss after 3-1/3 relief innings of action. He had two strikeouts with seven hits and three runs allowed. Matty Miller finished the game 2-5 with a double and an RBI while Jeff Mendenhall went 2-4 with two RBI.
In game two, Manchester posted an 8-5 win, giving pitcher Curtis Mallery his his fourth win of the season. Mallery threw four innings with three strikeouts and Shaun Carrico closed out the remaining three innings to pick up the save.
Danner Partridge was 2-4 with four RBI, two runs scored and a two-run homer for MC. Matty Miller also homered and was 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Josh Buell scored three of the Spartans’ runs with an 0-1 performance.
Manchester moves to 14-12 overall, 7-4 in the HCAC. They return to action Friday at Anderson and Saturday at home against the Ravens.
51
Brent Frantz
Pat Sainsbury
50
Jackie Moore
49
Pattie Webb
Rosemary Bolinger
Kevin Watson
Kendra Binkley
Chris Walters
Jim Rogers
Jeremy Johnson
Julie Frieden
Matt Frieden
Jerry Southworth
Teresa Johnson
Aaron Olinger
Dave McIntyre
Andrea Clingaman
Chris Bisch
48
Nathan Self
Tyson Gordon
Karla Coble
Peg Workman
Harold Bolinger
Jerry Hoerdt
Mike McKee
Brecken Kennedy
Kathy Singpiel
Janelle Walters
Hilary Wagoner
Andy Butterbaugh
Dave McKee
David Kline
Dale Sainsbury
Eric Olinger
Theresa Sites
Ray Felgar
47
Monica Herrera
Connor McLaughlin
Kari Speicher
Rose Garman
Kim Sparks
Adrienne Kamphues
Ned Bowman
Sue Gnagy
Melissa Shorter
Evan Olinger
Tina Clapp
Sue Butterbaugh
Heidi Stout
Jabin Burnworth
46
Gary Goshert
Anne Myers
Todd Speicher
Evan Speicher
Dave Wendel
Adam Penrod
Jeff Kamphues
Tim McLaughlin
Marsha Schannep
Lisa Southworth
Jim Sainsbury
Makayla Sainsbury
Kurt Stout
Eric Christiansen
Scotty Kelly
Larry Schuh
45
Luke Donathan
Annie Baker
Matt Webb
Eric Garman
Piper Garman
C.J.
Dorothy Coe
Steve Priest
Rolissa Underwood
Jerry Johnson
Kindra Clapp
Bertha Butterbaugh
Caleb Isaacs
Dick Norwood
Doug Westendorf
Mike Clark
44
Reed Christiansen
Joe Frantz
David Cable
Nicole Binkley
Dan Binkley
Kelley Bowers
Aaron Johnson
Kellie Pembroke
Steven Gidley
Karl Merritt
Karen Bechtold
Tim Garman
Aja Garman
Steven Camp
Brad Camp
Emily Penrod
Mike Leckrone
Chad Laughlin
Ben McLaughlin
Kevin Shorter
Bill Hippensteel
Alan Binkerd
Greg Hicks
Kevin Clapp
Kendra Beck
Mike Burgess
43
Jason Groninger
Chris Singpiel
Tim Baker
Andrew Baker
Jo Hays
Sam Frieden
Klay Bechtold
Craig Wagoner
Diane Binkerd
Ryan Lehman
Dave Lehman
Angela Johnson
Jerry Pottenger
Bryce Pyrah
Jim Barnes
42
Mark Donathan
Kathy Dierks
Derek Self
Roselene Brown
Stan Singpiel
Richele Binkley
Cary Walters
Kevin Bechtold
Mike Clark
Shannon Carter
Jon Gnagy
Larry Miller
Jack Rupley
Lori Sorg
Janet Dome
Kylee Clapp
41
Alexa Donathan
Ryan Binkley
Rex Holloway
Dennis Sites
Jeff Butterbaugh
Kyle Wieland
40
Scott Baker
Rita Haecker
Tawn McLaughlin
Donna Rogers
38
Jon Clark
Brett Tracy
by Eric Christiansen
This is a fun time of year for sports fans and non-sports fans alike.
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament, especially the first two days, has become a fictional national holiday. Work production decreases, gambling revenue increases. And everyone thinks they are a genius.
The News-Journal received 151 entries to our bracket contest, smashing the record of 94. More families seemed to get into the contest this year. Could it be the $500 first place prize donated from R & B Car Company? Either way, thanks for your interest, and thanks for giving me more work.
Other thoughts.
Phrases that have been coined to coincide with the tournament are driving me batty. Bracketology is the newest one that makes me want to hit somebody in the Adam’s Apple every time I hear it. Who puts that on their resume? I’m a bracketologist. Can a bracketologist write a prescription?
Of course Sweet 16 and Elite 8. I understand Sweet 16. That’s been in our language for decades. There was even a doo wop song called Sweet 16, I think. Elite 8 still just sounds forced. It’s like the ugly kid thinking if he gels and spikes his hair, he might get the girl.
And what about everybody talking about their picks? I know its fun, but when I go to get a burger, I mean, a salad, I don’t need the guy behind the counter telling me his entire bracket, and the upset he picked correctly. Picking Davidson over Georgetown doesn’t make you smart, it just makes you lucky. You didn’t know a thing about Davidson before last week. I still don’t know if Stephen Curry’s dad is Eddie or Del. They keep showing his dad and his crazy mom, and now we are all experts on Davidson.
I'm not buying it.
Enjoy the weekend.
The Manchester High School girls’ track team opened its season with an impressive win over Southwood, 70-52.
Manchester won seven of the 15 events, but depth was the key to the win for the Lady Squires.
MHS won two relays, with the 4x800m relay team of Katelyn Wade, Jordian Wade, Hanna Sharfman, and Audrey Johnson winning with a time of 11.37.8.
The 4x400m relay team of Addy Naragon, Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, Gabi Nearing, and Jessica Nearing won with a time of 4:45.5.
The 4x100m relay team finished second with a time of 57.4.
In individual events, Johnson won the 800m run with a time of 2:42.7, while Andy Sharfman won the 3200m run in 13:47.5, Coulter-Kern won the 400m dash in 1:04.4, Taylor Byers won the 100m dash in 14.2, and Brittany Sievers won the shot put with a throw of 30’ 3 3/4”.
Coming in second was Sievers in the discus (103’3”), Naragon in the high jump (4’4”), G. Nearing in the 100m hurdles (18.6) and the 300m hurdles (55.5), A. Sharfman in the 1600m run (6:04), J. Wade in the 800m run (2:57.2), Sydni Terrill in the 3200m run (13:45.5), Coulter-Kern in the 200m dash (29.7), and Katelyn Eberly in the 100m dash (14.4).
Finishing third was Crystal Fuller in the discus (74.9), Katie Eash in the long jump (11’ 9”), S. Terrill in the 1600m run (6:07), Liza Terrill in the 800m run (3:04), Claire Brumbaugh-Smith in the 3200m run (14.4), Johnson in the 400m dash (1:08), and Nearing in the 200m dash (30.5).
“The distance girls did an amazing job dominating their events,” head coach Julie Cassell said. “We also had several freshmen stand out like Naragon in the high jump, Gabby Nearing in the hurdles, and Taylor Byers in the 100. As always, Coulter-Kern, Johnson, and Sievers were outstanding. Those ladies lead by example, and set the bar high for their teammates. We still have some obvious kinks to work out, but I’d have to say it was a great start.”
The track team will host Rochester and Wabash on April 8.
by Tim McLaughlin
I love the NCAA tournament. It’s absolutely a sports lovers dream. All the top teams playing with a common goal in sight. Unpaid athletes playing for the love of the game, laying it on the line for the ultimate prize, the national championship.
Along the way, we’re certain to see unforgettable upsets (see George Mason, Valparaiso, and Cleveland State in past years), some of them of monumental proportions.
We all sit back and hope for the top teams, or at least our favorite teams, to be remaining at the end. Some people (the crazy ones with no life) actually enter numerous NCAA brackets contests, hoping to either win some monetary prize, or more importantly, have inner-office bragging rights over co-workers that last until the tourney rolls around again.
For those of you who have been entering the News-Journal contest for years, you know without a doubt that my picks are, year in and year out, basically terrible.
I actually do log on to espn.com every day three or four times. I also watch Sportscenter every night and listen to the so-called “experts” rattle off who they think has the best chance to end up in San Antonio, the site of this year’s Final Four. ....Read More
A former Squire will lead the Manchester High School girls’ tennis team into the 2008 season.
Tim McLaughlin, a 1991 MHS graduate, takes over the head coaching duties from Eric Christiansen, who left to take the head coaching position for men’s and women’s tennis at Manchester College. McLaughlin was an assistant coach under Christiansen with the MHS boys’ team in 1998 and 1999, and with the girls’ team in 2000.
“I’m excited to be able to coach the girls this spring,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a young team, but everybody is back from last season. I’m still getting to know the girls and learning all their names.”
McLaughlin played tennis for four years at Manchester High School from 1987-1990, and one year at the University of Indianapolis.
He inherits a team that went 0-13 last season but is optimistic about the upcoming campaign.
“We didn’t lose anyone, and by the end of last season, they were really improving,” he said. “I’ve been impressed with quite a few of the girls so far, and the newer girls are learning and working hard.” ....Read More
The 2008 Manchester Area Youth Soccer Program is open to all boys and girls in North Manchester and the surrounding areas currently completing grades K through 8. Those completing kindergarten must be six (6) years old by July 1.
Games will be played on seven Saturday mornings (May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, and June 7 and 14) from 9:30-11 a.m. at the Manchester College athletic fields, south of the Physical Education and Recreation Center (PERC).
Coaches will hold additional mid-week or early Saturday morning practices. There will be a $12 registration fee for each child. The fee will provide a color team shirt for each child and soccer ball for team play.
To register, please pick up forms at the Manchester Area Programs, located at 603 Bond Street, North Manchester, or at the North Manchester Community Pool. Forms must be received by Friday, March 28.
The program is organized and conducted entirely by volunteers. Players will be divided by age into separate leagues and teams within leagues for purposes of coaching and teaching fundamentals, conditioning, practicing drills and playing games. Emphasis will be placed on participation, sportsmanship, conditioning, skills, teamwork, and especially having fun. Each player will be given equal playing time in games regardless of skill level.
Manchester’s baseball team returned to action after a two-week break to split with Taylor University in doubleheader action.
In game one, Colin Denihan picked up his second win of the year in a 4-2 win. Denihan recorded five strikeouts in six innings of action, allowing just four hits while Derek Hanson picked up the save. Shawn Baker was 2-3 with an RBI and Josh Beuell went 1-3 with two RBI.
In game two, Taylor scores two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pick up a 2-1 win over Manchester. Wes Bucher took the loss for MC, facing four batters in the seventh. Corey Oetting and JT Podell were each 1-2 at bat, with Oetting picking up an RBI.
Manchester’s baseball team split a doubleheader with Tri-State University on Sunday for MC’s season home opener on Gratz Field.
In game one, Manchester won 4-2 as Shaun Carrico picked up the win with seven complete innings and four strikeouts. Jay Sheets and Josh Buell were 1-2 with an RBI to lead MC.
In game two Joe Egner took the loss as Manchester fell to the Thunder 3-0. Buell went 2-3 with Kaz Kalita, Corey Oetting and Shawn Baker going 1-3 at bat.
Manchester’s baseball team remained home on Monday to face Lakeland College and opened with a 4-2 win but fell in the second game 8-2.
In game one, Corey Oetting finished 2-2 with a pair of RBIs while Matty Miller and Josh Buell ended the game 2-3 with an RBI as Manchester defeated Lakeland 4-2. Curtis Mallery was the winning pitcher, going all seven innings with a pair of strikeouts and three hits.
In game two, Josh Atkinson suffered the loss, giving up five earned runs in six innings of action as Manchester lost 8-2. Six Spartans recorded one hit each in the contest with Josh Buell and David Tatham recording RBIs.
Manchester moves to 5-6 on the year.
by Eric Christiansen
Todd Volk has coaching and softball in his blood.
Volk, who has been coaching basketball at Manchester Junior-Senior High School for the past nine years, four years with the eighth grade girls, and five years with the high school JV team, and coaching volleyball at the junior-senior high for five years, and the past two years at Whitko, is now taking his coaching outdoors to the softball field.
Volk takes over the position from Jim Troyer, who resigned late last year.
He is excited for the opportunity to coach a sport he grew up playing, and a sport that runs deep in his family.
“Growing up in Michigan, we played two sports, baseball and fast pitch softball,” Volk said. “It’s something that’s been in my family. My grandfather played, my uncles, my aunt, my sisters, my dad. I grew up on that. It’s a sport that I am probably most comfortable. It’s been real natural for me.”
Volk is looking forward to running a program, and is thankful for the preparation he got from coaching with MHS girls’ varsity basketball coach Mark Underwood.
“I owe it all to my brother from another mother,” he said of Underwood. “I have learned so much from him…not just x’s and o’s, but how to run a program. I thank him a thousand times over. It was hard for him to recommend me, because he probably knew that meant he was going to lose me as a JV coach. I am forever grateful for that. I have learned how to run a class program, where family, grades, and stuff like that are really what it’s all about.” ....Read More
Manchester College won their third straight women’s basketball conference tournament championship Saturday following a 52-50 win over Anderson. Manchester’s Sarah Bose connected on an 18-foot baseline jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining to give Manchester the victory, mirroring the previous two HCAC Tournament championship games where Manchester posted a 67-65 win over Franklin in 2006 and a 70-69 win over Transylvania in last year’s tournament.
“Coach (Josh Dzurick) drew up a play for Kelley (Meiklejon) and me on the left side, and if I wasn’t open, I was supposed to get the ball to Kelley,” Bose explained. “I just felt like I had it.”
“I’m so proud of this group,” Dzurick said. “I keep going back to my seniors, and I know everybody contributes to the success of this team, but Sarah (Conwell) and Jess (Henn) have done so much for this program. As a coach, you just want them to go out with another tournament."
Manchester was looking for revenge against a team that defeated them 75-44 a weak earlier.
“When we played them the first time last week, it gave us a sour feeling leaving here, and we kept that in the back of our minds,” Meiklejon said. “We knew we had to come out strong, and we were ready to play, and so enthused to come here and run them out of the gym.”
“It feels amazing to come in here wanting to prove ourselves that we are better than what we showed last week,” Henn said. “It really showed on the court. It was a great team effort.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
A furious second half comeback was thwarted by mistakes, as the Manchester Squires ended their season with a heartbreaking 61-59 loss to Wabash in the opening game of the Lewis Cass Sectional Wednesday night.
Wabash dominated the first half, taking a 34-16 halftime lead.
The Squires responded with a fury, cutting the lead to 46-42 at the end of the third quarter, and actually led by six points, 57-51 with 2:47 left in the game.
Wabash, however, took advantage of Manchester miscues to outscore the Squires 10-2 over the last 2:30 of the game to advance to the semi-finals.
“This kind of game hurts because of the lead we had, and we let it slip away,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “We weren’t ready to play in the first half and Wabash was. They took it to us.
“I couldn’t be happier with how we played for 14 of the last 16 minutes of the game,” he added. “We could have easily folded up our tents, but these kids showed that they have heart. I really liked how we played in the second half.”
The first half saw Manchester miss five inside shots in the first three minutes of the game, while Wabash started the game on fire, scoring 15 points in the first 4:30 of the game.
Niko Macaluso gave the Apaches a quick 8-2 lead with three free throws and a three pointer.
Travis Ritter scored two straight baskets, followed by a free throw from Luke Harness, and a basket from Greg Lane to end a 13-0 run.
Aaron Medley hit a basket inside, but the Apaches went on a 9-0 run to lead 24-4.
Dan Bourne did his best to keep the Squires in it, scoring nine points in the second quarter, and a David Cable three pointer made it 34-16 at halftime.
“That’s as well as we played all season,” Wabash coach Matt Stone said. “We did everything right in the first half.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Records were made to be broken.
It’s an old cliché, but it couldn’t have been more true this past weekend at the Warsaw Swimming and Diving Sectional.
Four swimmers combined to break three Manchester High School swimming records, two of them twice in three days, and in the process, all four will be representing MHS at the state finals this weekend.
D.J. Brown, Gavin McNeeley, Josh Kissinger, and Joey Rich teamed up to break the record in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay, while McNeeley broke the record in the 100 breaststroke.
Despite McNeeley’s success in the breaststroke, all he wanted to talk about were the relay teams.
“I thought it was a possibility, but everything kind of clicked and we all swam our hearts out,” he said. “It just all came together.”
Brown was overwhelmed at the possibility of having his name in the record books and going to state. ....Read More
Manchester College’s women’s basketball team maintained a half game lead over Anderson in the conference standings following the Spartans 74-64 win over Defiance on Wednesday night.
Manchester used a 13-2 run midway through the first half to take a 27-15 lead with seven minutes remaining, and held a 35-26 lead at halftime. Defiance cut the lead to three, 43-40 with 14 minutes remaining in the game, but MC outscored Defiance 17-6 over the next eight minutes of action to take an 11-point lead, 60-49 with six minutes remaining.
Rachel Wilkinson scored a game-high 18 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor and 8-10 free throws to go with her six rebounds. Kelley Meiklejohn and Sarah Bose added 16 points each, with Meiklejohn adding nine rebounds and Bose recording six assists and seven steals. Jessica Henn added 15 points and nine rebounds in the Spartans’ win.
Manchester’s women’s team picked up a 47-41 win over Rose-Hulman on Wednesday and remain a half game up over Anderson in the league standings. A win by Manchester on Wednesday would lock the conference title outright for Manchester.
Manchester held a 25-18 lead at the half and were outscored by the Engineers 23-22 in the second period after shooting 5-16 from the field.
Rachel Wilkinson led Manchester with 15 points, hitting 8-10 free throws and adding two steals. Kelley Meiklejohn added nine points and two rebounds while Sarah Bose had seven points, four assists and a steal.
Manchester improves to 16-7 overall, 11-3 in the HCAC. They travel to Anderson on Wednesday before returning home for the final game of the regular season Saturday at home against Hanover. The women tip-off at 3 p.m. followed by the men at 5 p.m., all part of the Manchester College M Association Winter Homecoming weekend.
by Eric Christiansen
The Columbia City Eagles had an answer for everything the Manchester Squires threw at them Friday night, running away with a 61-43 win.
The loss stopped a two game winning streak for the Squires, dropping them to 5-13 on the year.
“We just didn’t come ready to play tonight,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “We fell behind early, and when you fall behind even six or seven points against a team like Columbia City, it’s almost like a 15 point deficit.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a patient, deliberate offensive attack.
Manchester finally got on the board with 3:44 left in the first quarter as Dan Bourne cut the lead in half with a three pointer.
Columbia City’s Jordan Moss and David Cable traded baskets, but the Eagles closed the quarter with a 7-2 run, including a three point play from Moss. Moss scored nine first quarter points to help the Eagles take a 15-7 lead at the end of the first.
“We didn’t double down on Moss as well as we wanted to and he hurt us inside,” Goshert said of the 6’4” post player. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
One Manchester High School wrestler fell, but one survived and advanced to the Woodlan Semi-State at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum this Saturday.
Senior Blaine Miller (215) finished third at the Peru Regional, which advanced him to the semi-state.
Miller made quick work of his first opponent, Marq Reser of Western, getting a pin in just 23 seconds.
In the semi-finals, Miller was pinned by eventual champion Will Hawkins of Taylor.
“I got a quick take down, but made a mistake, he put me on my back and stuck me,” Miller said. “It’s one of those I kind of want back.”
The loss sent Miller into the third place match, with the winner moving on, the loser seeing his season end.
Miller had to face off with Maconaquah’s Josh Cade, who beat Miller in the sectional finals a week earlier.
“Last week, I shot on his left leg and got in trouble,” Miller said. “This time, I shot on his right leg, got him to the ground, which is where I like to be. I was able to get the pin after that.”
Miller improved to 29-3 on the season, and is looking forward to next week’s semi-state.
“I’ve never been at the coliseum for a sporting event,” he said. “It feels good to be there. There are only going to be good wrestlers there. There won’t be any 23 second pins.”
Freshman Dominick Byrns’ day didn’t last as long.
Byrns faced off with top seed Quintin Burkett of Northwestern.
Burkett got a quick take down, and recorded a pin in 19 seconds.
“He just took me down, laid on top of me, and I couldn’t move him,” Byrns joked after the match.
Burkett ended up winning the heavyweight division.
The semi-state begins at 9:00 a.m. in Fort Wayne.
The Manchester High School girls’ swim team may have only competed in five events in the Warsaw Swimming and Diving Sectional Finals, but coach Kyle Wieland couldn’t have been happier with his team’s performance in both the preliminaries and the finals.
“Out of a possible 13 swims, we had 12 personal bests,” Wieland said. “The girls swam their best at the end of the season, which is what really matters, and shows their improvement.”
Diver Catherine Chapman was Manchester’s top finisher, placing fifth, just missing advancing to regional.
Chapman scored 243.14, 14 points behind Logansport’s Erin Landis.
“Catherine continued to improve as the season went on,” Wieland said. “She had a really good year.”
Three relay teams also competed in the finals.
The 200 free relay team of Kaytlyn Eberly, Shelby Minnix, Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, and Scarlett Melton finished seventh with a time of 1:54.37.
The 200 medley relay team of Amelia Flora, Ashton Bradford, Eberly, and Minnis finished eighth with a time of 2:16.62.
The 400 medley relay team of Chapman, Coulter-Kern, Leah McNeeley, and Melton was disqualified, and didn’t place.
“I was really happy with how the girls swam at sectional, but more importantly, how they improved all season long,” Wieland said. “We’re going to miss our seniors, but I’m looking forward to seeing what our younger swimmers will do next season.”
The boys' swim team will be at the Wawasee Sectional on Thursday, February 14, and Saturday, February 16.
by Eric Christiansen
The girls’ basketball team wrapped up its season with a big road win, beating South Adams 44-32 to finish the regular season 7-13, winning four of their last five games.
“We told the girls at the beginning of the year that it was going to be a process,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “We had a team with basically very little varsity experience. The girls understood that, and have never given up. You have to give them credit for that.”
The Lady Squires fell behind early at South Adams, trailing 15-11 at the end of the first quarter.
Two three pointers from Jessica Bedke helped cut the lead to 21-20 at halftime.
The Lady Squires grabbed a 28-27 third quarter lead, outscoring the Lady Starfires 8-6.
The fourth quarter, however, was all Manchester.
Katie Bowers scored seven of her team high 13 points in the fourth, while Becka Guthrie scored four, and Audrey Johnson nailed a three pointer to help Manchester outscore South Adams 16-5, and pull out the 44-32 win. ....Read More
I normally don’t like writing about the Super Bowl. It is probably the most written-about sporting event in our country, everybody has an opinion, and mine will probably just get lost in the shuffle.
I will not talk about the commercials. I will not talk about the halftime show. I will definitely not talk about Paula Abdul’s new song and her pre-game “performance”.
Never mind, yes I will. All I will say is that the former Laker Girl and choreographer made Britney Spears’ performance at the Video Music Awards look inspired.
I will not talk about the Manning family ruling the football world.
I will not talk about the horrible idea to put House on after the game.
I will not talk about the Patriots and their place in history.
What I will talk about is the greatness of the game, and where it ranks in the history of Super Bowls.
I can’t remember ever being so engrossed in a football game, except one, but I won’t talk about Montana to Clark and “The Catch”, and how a handsome, young, dapper 11 year old’s dreams of a Dallas Cowboys championship were crushed.
Sunday’s game had a great story line. There was a villain, and the leader of the villains in his hoodie.
There was the underdog QB, fighting to get out of the shadow of big brother, and fighting for the hearts of New Yorkers and New Jerseykers every where. (I think he got both.)
There was “The Catch 2”. Enough said. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Two Manchester High School wrestlers advanced to the Peru Wrestling Regional, and the team finished eighth at the Peru Sectional last Saturday.
Senior Blaine Miller finished as runner-up at the 215 pound weight class, while freshman Dominick Byrns finished fourth at the 285 pound weight class.
Miller had no trouble in his first two matches, winning by pin in under a minute.
“Those two matches weren’t much of a struggle,” he said.
In the championship match, however, Miller met Maconaquah’s Josh Cade, and dropped a 12-5 decision.
“I had a better record than he did, but he had more experience,” Miller said of his final match. “We just locked up for a while, the ref told us to work a move, and I tried to shoot. He didn’t do much, and waited for me to make a mistake.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Lady Squires basketball team won its third straight game last week, taking care of Triton 47-34. Manchester improved to 6-12 on the season with the win.
Triton led early, taking an 8-4 lead at the end of the first period, and held on to a 19-16 halftime lead.
But, just like their last game against Rochester, the Lady Squires exploded in the third quarter, outscoring Triton 18-6 in the period to lead 33-25 after three quarters.
Jessica Bedke and Audrey Johnson both hit three pointers in the fourth quarter, while Becka Guthrie hit 4-4 from the line, and Laci Welches hit 2-2 free throws to give the Lady Squires a cushion in the 13 point win.
“We had a great second half both offensively and defensively,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said.
Kyla Zile led a balanced Manchester scoring attack with 10 points and added four rebounds. Johnson had eight points, Katie Bowers had seven points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and five steals, Guthrie had six points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, Noelle Patrick had six points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals, Welches had three points and four rebounds, Bedke had three points, while Amber Fratus and Julie Seifert both had two points each. ....Read More
By Eric Christiansen
A year ago, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings raced out to a 19-2 lead over the Manchester Squires and never let the Squires back into the game.
That was a scenario the Squires didn’t want to see happen again Friday, but it almost did.
Valley took a quick 13-2 lead, but thanks to some hot shooting from Dan Bourne, the Squires climbed back into the game, but never took the lead, and eventually let the Vikings pull away for a 75-46 win.
Valley improved to 6-0 in the conference, while the Squires dropped to 0-5 in the TRC.
The Vikings led 39-30 midway through the third quarter, but used an 11-0 run to jump to a 50-30 lead, and used another 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to slam the door.
“I was disappointed in the way we played tonight, especially in the third and fourth quarters,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said.
“We played pretty good basketball at times tonight; other times we were careless with the basketball and made some bad decisions with the ball,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said. “We should have put the game away in the first half.”
The Vikings weren’t able to put the game away in the first half, thanks to the offensive explosion of Dan Bourne. ....Read More
The Manchester High School swim teams handled Canterbury at home last week, with the girls winning 107-68, and the boys winning 120-37.
For the girls, Manchester won seven of the events, and finished second in seven.
Winning events were the 200 medley relay team of Scarlett Melton, Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, Leah McNeeley, and Kaytlyn Eberly (2:19.94), McNeeley in the 200 IM (2:49.41) and the 100 free (1:06.53), Eberly in the 50 free (29.45), Catherine Chapman in diving (158.30), Melton in the 100 butterfly (1:16.20), and the 200 free relay team of Coulter-Kern, Shelby Minnix, Chapman, and Elizabeth Schilling (2:00.04).
Coming in second place was Schilling in the 200 free (2:26.93) and the 500 free (6:46.90), Amelia Flora in the 50 free (30.78), Chapman in the 100 free (1:07.11), Melton in the 100 back (1:19.12), Marina Meinert in the 100 breast (1:29.92), and the 400 free relay team of Coulter-Kern, Schilling, McNeeley, and Melton (4:28.88).
Finishing in third place was the 200 medley relay team of Casey Brandenburg, Liza Terrill, Sydni Terrill, and Shelby Rager (2:33.35), Ashton Bradford in the 200 IM (3:13.90), Minnix in the 50 free (30.83) and the 100 free (1:08.52), Paige Woods in the 100 butterfly (1:31.05), Eberly in the 500 free (6:57.40), Rager in the 100 breast (1:32.02), and the 400 free relay team of Minnix, Flora, Bradford, and Eberly (4:40.30). ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
After suffering through four straight losses, the Manchester Lady Squires got back on the winning track Monday night, rolling to a 41-24 win over Blackhawk Christian.
Manchester used a 15-3 run to turn a four point game late in the first half into a rout.
“I’m happy to get a win, but I’m not happy for me, I’m happy for the girls,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “They worked really hard tonight, and played a total team game.”
The Lady Squires used a balanced scoring attack, and smothering defense to take control of the game.
Laci Welches and Julie Seifert used back to back baskets to take a 4-0 lead, but Blackhawk went on a 7-2 run to lead 7-6.
Bucka Guthrie responded with an inside basket, followed by back to back three pointers from Noelle Patrick to give the Lady Squires a 14-7 lead.
Late in the second quarter, Blackhawk cut the lead to 18-16, but Manchester went on a 17-3 run, with five different players scoring, to take a 35-19 lead.
“I really liked our effort the entire game,” Underwood said. “We sometimes go through some offensive slumps, but defense is always something that you can work at. I really liked our defensive effort tonight.
“Blackhawk Christian is a young team, and give them credit for coming in here and playing a good game,” he continued. “They’re going to get better, and next year, when we go to their place, we know they’ll be ready to play.”
Patrick led Manchester with 11 points, while Katie Bowers and Welches both had eight points. Guthrie had six points, Kyla Zile had four, and Seifert and Jessica Bedke both had two points. ....Read More
The boys’ swim team finished second at the Oak Hill Invitational, edging Rochester in the final event, the 400 free relay.
Oak Hill won with 475 points, while the Squires were second with 313, and Rochester was third with 307. Tippecanoe Valley was fourth with 151 points, while Northfield was fifth with 32, and Alexandria was sixth with 12.
Manchester and Rochester were tied heading into the 400 free relay, but both of Manchester’s teams beat out Rochester’s to pull out second place.
The team of D.J. Brown, Nate Cain, Ryan Henderson, and Gavin McNeeley finished second with a time of 3:39.89, beating Rochester’s team by three seconds, and the team of Collin Buzzard, Andrew Baker, Alex Sharfman, and Joey Rich finished sixth with a time of 3:11.59, edging Rochester’s second team by two seconds.
Gavin McNeeley had a big day individually, winning the 100 free with a time of 50.82 and the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.34. McNeeley was also part of the second place 200 medley relay team, along with Joey Rich, Brown, and Josh Kissinger, with a time of 1:47.28.
Also in the 200 medley relay, the team of Andrew Blankenship, Jacob Vogel, Nate Cain, and Max Mattern finished fifth (2:06.43).
In the 200 free, Buzzard was seventh (2:14.28), and Blankenship was 11th (2:21.48).
In the 200 IM, Grey Harris was fifth (2:33.63), and Vogel was ninth (2:48.59).
In the 50 free, Brown was third (24.01), and Kissinger was fourth (24.05).
In the 100 butterfly, Brown was third (1:04.13), and Cain was fifth (1:08.27).
In the 100 free, Ryan Henderson was seventh (59.59), and Mattern was 10th (1:04.45).
In the 500 free, Buzzard was sixth (6:12.47), Harris was seventh (6:14.13), and Baker was 10th (6:26.67).
In the 200 free relay, the team of Henderson, Mattern, Baker, and Buzzard was fourth (1:47.29), and the team of Blankenship, Vogel, Sharfman, and Harris was sixth (1:57.97).
In the 100 back, Cain was fifth (1:10.41), and Blankenship was sixth (1:16.49).
“This was by far our best meet of the year,” coach Kyle Wieland said. “We had so many lifetime bests that it’s difficult to determine who did the best. If we can better this performance at sectional, this will be a very successful season.”
The swim team will host Columbia City on Monday.
Manchester’s women’s basketball team picked up their 19th straight conference win Wednesday night as the Spartans defeated Bluffton 61-58.
Manchester held a three point lead at the half 29-26, but Bluffton rallied to take an eight point lead, 47-39 with 11 minutes remaining. Manchester went on a 13-2 run over the next six minutes of action to take a three point lead with five minutes to go in the contest.
Sarah Conwell led Manchester with 14 points, hitting 5-8 shots from the floor, 3-5 three point attempts and had six rebounds. Kailey Honn went 4-5 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line for 12 points. She added six blocked shots and three rebounds.
Manchester’s women’s basketball team posted their 20th straight conference win Saturday following a 57-45 road win.
Manchester held a 21-12 lead at the half, limiting Rose-Hulman to 5-21 shooting from the field, yet connected on 6-20 shots themselves. The Spartans regrouped in the second half to shoot 12-22 from the field in route to the 57-45 win.
Jessica Henn led Manchester with 15 points, shooting 4-5 from the floor and 7-8 at the free throw line. She added six rebounds in the win. Kelley Meiklejohn added 13 points and three rebounds with a pair of steals. Lauren Kalis chipped in seven points and five rebounds for the Spartans.
Manchester moves to 10-4 overall, 5-0 in the HCAC. They host Anderson on Wednesday.
The Manchester High School wrestling team fell to Eastbrook in their first home match of the season, 66-18.
Manchester’s points came from Blaine Miller, who got a first period pin for six points, Brecken Kennedy, who won by forfeit for six points, and Dominick Byrns, who won by pin for six points.
Byrns, who was wrestling in the heavyweight class, wrestling up a weight class, pinned his much taller and bigger opponent in the first period.
“I was nervous before the match because I was wrestling in the heavyweight class,” Byrns said. “I thought I was going to get killed.”
The rest of the Squire line up all lost by pin.
The wrestling team hosts Rochester on Wednesday, Maconaquah on Thursday, and will be at North Miami for the TRC Meet on Saturday.
Girls’ C-Team Basketball
The MHS girls’ basketball C-team fell to 2-3 with a 27-22 loss to Triton.
Shea Rager and Lauren Wagoner both had five points.
“The girls played hard for not playing in over a month,” coach Sarah Purdy said.
8th Grade Girls’ Basketball
The eighth grade girls’ basketball team defeated Peru 35-19 in their season opener.
“It was a solid effort defensively, as our pressure defense made it difficult for their guards,” coach Matt Webb said.
Hannah Little led the Lady Squires with seven points, while Malyssa Bedke had six points. Hanna Schmidt had five points, Amy Collett, Meika Kennedy, and Natalee Cain had four points each, Mikie Crate had three points, and Kaylee Watson added two points.
The B-team also beat Peru, winning 26-20.
Katie Smith had 10 points, Cain had eight points, Bailey Al-Khateeb had four points, while Hannah Lochner and Amy Collett both had two points.
7th Grade Girls’ Basketball
The seventh grade girls’ basketball team beat Peru 36-11 in their season opener.
Kayla Flack led Manchester with 24 points. Kalene Freshour had four points, while Chloe Leifer, Lindsey Budnik, Bekah Brunn, and Autumn Brewer all had two points each.
The B-team edged Peru 13-11.
Stephanie Buss had six points, Renae Blocher had five points, and Cassie Nybo had two points.
8th Grade Boys’ Basketball
The eighth grade boys’ basketball team fell to Columbia City 31-17.
Caleb Thomas had seven points, while Logan Brunn had six points.
7th Grade Boys’ Basketball
The seventh grade boys’ basketball team lost to Indian Springs Eagles 42-16.
Jeff Henson had four points.
“We were down by three points at the half, but got outscored 22-2 in the third quarter,” coach Brandon Baker said. “We need to learn how to play a complete game.”
Two ideas merged into one reality at Manchester High School.
Talk of a virtual wall of fame at MHS has been circulating for a couple of years, and with the help of community member Jim Speicher, the final touches were put into place last week.
Speicher wanted to donate some money to the high school in memory of his wife, Barb, who passed away last year. Barb Speicher was a cook at Manchester High School from 1975-2002.
“I told (MHS principal) Nancy Alspaugh that I wanted to donate some money, but didn’t know exactly what for,” Speicher said.
Alspaugh mentioned that the school was looking for an ice cream machine in the cafeteria, but that wasn’t something Speicher wanted to do.
When Speicher heard about the virtual wall of fame, he thought that sounded like a good idea.
“Barb would have liked it,” he said. “It’s good for the school and the community. It’s neat for all the athletes to see their pictures, and possibly their parents’ pictures. It’s a good idea, whoever had it.”
Speicher donated $2,500 for a 56” LCD television, which is part of a trophy case in the high school commons, displaying recent conference, sectional, regional and state championships.
“We’ve been wanting to do something to display the history of the athletic program, and thanks to the contribution made by the Speicher family, we were able to do it a lot sooner than we’d hoped,” Manchester High School athletic director Kyle Wieland said.
“I just donated the money, the school did it all,” Speicher said. “I’m just glad we could do it. Barb loved Manchester High School.”
Sammy Squire has turned 50 years old and we need your help in celebrating his birthday. The party will take place at the boys’ basketball game on January 18th, and everyone is invited. To begin the night, the Athletic Booster Club is hosting a fundraising dinner with a Hawaiian theme being served from 5:30-8:00. The menu includes a Pork Bar-B-Q Sandwich, Chips, Hawaiian Fruit Cup, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and your drink will be served in a commemorative cup marking the first 50 years of Squire Athletics. The cost is $6.50 and tickets can be purchased at the door.
We encourage everyone to dress in their Hawaiian attire to join in the celebration. Besides the dinner, the night will include give-aways, contests, and memories. We invite all former Squire coaches of any boys’ or girls’ sports to attend and be introduced at halftime of the varsity game. Please let us know you are coming and we will provide you with free admission to the game.
Whether you attend every event or just come once in a while, you won’t want to miss this night. Sammy Squire will only turn 50 once, and we need your help in celebrating this special occasion. We hope to see you all there.
Less than two minutes into the Manchester Lady Squires’ contest with 8th ranked North Miami, Manchester coach Mark Underwood called a time out.
With his team trailing 6-0, and having given up two three pointers, Underwood told his team they weren’t ready to play, and challenged them to improve their effort.
After the game, despite a 52-35 loss to the Lady Warriors, Underwood couldn’t have been happier.
“We can talk about the opponent, and tell them how good they are, but seeing is believing,” Underwood said. “North Miami came out ready to play, and played very well. They are doing a lot of damage to a lot of good opponents.
“What I’m most proud of is the way we competed,” he continued. “It wasn’t just the starters, or just a couple of people I brought off the bench…every person came into the game and did positive things.”
North Miami raced out to an 8-0 lead, thanks to three pointers from Amy Mathias and Alicia Burrus, and another basket from Mathias. ....Read More
Manchester’s women’s basketball team posted a 70-59 road win over Franklin Saturday to improve to 3-0 in conference play.
Manchester and Franklin went into the half with a 36-36 tie, and the Spartans held FC to 26 percent field goal shooting in the second half to take the 70-59 win.
Kelley Meiklejohn led MC with 16 points, connecting on 7-13 shots from the floor and had nine rebounds and three blocked shots on the day. Kristen Lancaster added 13 points on 6-6 shooting from the field and added two steals defensively. Rachel Wilkinson and Jessica Henn added nine points each, while Sarah Bose had eight rebounds to go with her seven points, five steals and five assist performance.
Manchester improves to 8-4 overall, 3-0 in the HCAC. They host Bluffton on Wednesday night.
In high school wrestling, sisters are never kissed.
Manchester and Wabash battled to a 36-36 tie, but Wabash picked up the team win on criteria, scoring more pins than the Squires did to pull out the win.
The match included two double forfeits, and eight wins by forfeit.
Wabash was without six of its varsity wrestlers for disciplinary reasons.
In the four matches that actually took place, Manchester was only able to win one of them.
Brecken Kennedy started the match with a win by forfeit at 171.
At 189, Bryant Wiley took on Shawn Gatchel. Wiley took control early, scoring a takedown for a 2-0 lead.
With three seconds left in the second period, Wiley took a 4-0 lead on a reversal.
In the third, Wiley nearly pinned Gatchel with 49 seconds left, but Gatchel recorded a quick reversal and got the pin to tie it up at 6-6.
At 215, Blaine Miller won by forfeit, followed by a forfeit win by Dominick Byrnes.
Both teams forfeited 103 and 112, and Manchester forfeited 119, 125, and 130 to put Wabash ahead 24-18.
John Dill lost by pin at 135, but Jacob Hutchinson got a pin over Tyler Ferguson in 1:27.
“Tyler probably wrestled the best match of the night,” Manchester coach Ryan Good said.
Kyle Coffey won by forfeit at 145 to tie the team score up at 30-30.
With Dillon Gable accepting a forfeit at 152, freshman Josh Amick faced off with Wabash junior Blake Bozarth for the deciding match.
Bozarth scored the pin over Amick with 40 seconds left in the first period to tie it up at 36-36, but Wabash took the win on the first criteria.
In action last December, the Squires came close, but couldn't pull out their first win of the season.
Manchester lost to North Miami 36-34 with Coffey, Gable, Kennedy, Wiely, Miller, and Byrnes picking up wins.
The Squires lost to Northfield 66-12 with Miller and Byrnes winning by pin.
The Squires lost to White's 48-24 with Gable, Dill, Rex Tharp, and Byrnes all winning.
"It's hard to win team matches with you have to forfeit so many spots," Good said. "We're wrestling well, just aren't deep enough."
The Squires will host Eastbrook Thursday for their final home match of the year, starting at 6:00 p.m.
by Eric Christiansen
Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it any better.
The team with the worst record in the tournament, with a head coach walking the sideline for the first time in three weeks due to an automobile accident, not only wins the county championship, they do it in dramatic fashion, at the buzzer, in overtime, Hollywood style.
Spenser Penrod’s 15 footer as time expired in overtime gave the Squires an improbable county championship over Northfield 55-54.
With 6.9 seconds remaining in overtime, Northfield’s Jordan Culver hit two free throws to give the Norse a 54-53 lead.
Penrod got the inbounds pass, drove right down the middle of the floor, stopped near the free throw line, and let his shot go.
“It felt good the second it left my hand,” Penrod said.
The shot was good, hitting nothing but net, sending the Squires and their fans into pandemonium.
Penrod has dreamt about this moment his entire life.
“Every kid imagines this situation,” Penrod said. “You go out and shoot for a while, and that last shot is always a buzzer beater. If you can hit more than you miss, when you get into a situation like this, chances are you are going to make it. We’re on top of the world right now, the whole team is.”
Dan Bourne, who was named the tournament’s MVP, couldn’t have been happier for Penrod, and for the team.
“When he shot it, I thought, ‘Please, God, let it go in,’” the Squire senior said. “We deserve one.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Some teams live and die by the three pointer.† Friday night, the Manchester Squires were living all night long.†
Senior Dan Bourne was 5-8 from behind the arch, while classmate Spenser Penrod went 3-6 from three point range to lead the Squires to a 63-42 win over the Wabash Apaches in the opening game of the Wabash County Tournament.
“We got some big shots from both Dan Bourne and Spenser Penrod,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said.† “They were both feeling it, and that was a big boost for us.”
“Bourne has been killing us for three years,” Wabash coach Matt Stone said.† “Penrod also had a really nice game for them.”
The Squires advanced to the championship game against Northfield with the win.
Nolan Holloway got things going for the Squires early, hitting Manchester’s first two baskets, on assists from Bourne and Aaron Medley.
Niko Macaluso made it 4-3 with a three pointer, followed by David Cable hitting from 10 feet to make it 6-3. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
It was over almost before it started.
After defeating Northfield in the opening round of the Wabash County Tournament, the Lady Squires faced off against defending champion Wabash in the championship game.
Wabash raced out to a quick 6-0 lead and never let Manchester back into the game in a 55-28 win.
“Wabash had a total team effort,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “They were the aggressor in every facet of the game, and we were just letting them do what they wanted to do. We didn’t bring the competitive nature, and we kind of played scared.”
Wabash controlled the opening minutes of the game, including getting two early baskets from Jordan Fox, one a three pointer, to take a 6-0 lead.
Audrey Johnson finally got Manchester on the board at the 4:09 mark with a three pointer of her own, but freshman Kaleigh Hensley answered with a three pointer, followed by another basket from Fox for an 11-3 lead.
Manchester hit four three-pointers in the first half, two from Jessica Bedke, but could never get the inside game going. ....Read More
The Manchester High School JV boys’ basketball team finished third in the Wabash County Tournament, losing to Northfield in the opener, and handling Wabash in the consolation game.
Friday morning, Northfield raced out to an 18-4 lead and held on for a 35-22 win.
“We just dug ourselves in too big of a hole,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “You can’t to that and expect to win. I do like how we played the last three quarters, but four minutes in that first quarter just really hurt us.”
The Squires cut the lead to 27-20 with four minutes left, but couldn’t get any closer.
Ryan Binkley and Scott Baker led the Squires with seven points each, while Nate Miller had four, and Austin Gidley, and Austin Blankenship both had two.
In the consolation game, the Squires outscored Wabash in every quarter to take a 35-21 win.
Baker led the Squires with 15 points and seven rebounds.
“We played our first complete basketball game so far this year,” Christiansen said. “We kept attacking the basket, and I really liked our defensive effort.”
The Squires led just 4-3 at the end of the first quarter, and took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
“We brought up two freshman from the C-team, Devan Knecht and Austin Flack, and they did a great job of handling the ball,” Christiansen said. “We had a lot of players do some good things. Ryan Binkley did a great job of getting us into our offense, and our big guys, Nate Miller, Broc Skaar, Scott Baker, and Austin Blankenship controlled the boards. I hope we continue with this effort the rest of the way.”
Along with Baker, Binkley had six points, Skaar and Blankenship both had four points, while Austin Gidley, Miller, and Skyler Dingess all had two points.
The Squires will host North Miami on Friday in a TRC match up.
The JV girls’ basketball team finished third in the Wabash County Tournament, falling to Southwood in the opener, and beating Wabash in the consolation game.
Against Southwood, the Lady Squires had their chances to win, but missed free throws in the fourth quarter gave the win to the Lady Knights, 22-18.
The Lady Squires trailed 18-16 heading into the fourth quarter, but missed their last eight free throws of the game, including three front ends of one and ones.
“We did everything right,” coach Todd Volk said. “Our effort was outstanding, but you have to knock down your free throws. That was the difference in the game. We missed eight, but I look at it as 11 because of the one and ones. It’s a matter of having confidence and just shooting them and shooting them.”
Nicole Binkley led the Lady Squires with eight points and five steals. Emily Hill had four points, while Erika Milam, Jama Runkel, and Brittany Sievers all had two points.
In the consolation game, Manchester had no trouble with Wabash, pulling out a 31-20 win.
Volk was concerned about the mentality of his team heading into the game.
“It’s pretty hard to motivate kids for the consolation game,” he said. “But, I’m pleased they came out motivated and ready to play. They had every reason to have excuses, whether it is the holiday, or not playing for first place. But, they came out and did a good job.
“We played a pretty good game, and thankfully, we didn’t need the free throws in the end,” Volk added.
Erika Milam led Manchester with six points and eight rebounds, while Nicole Binkley had five points and five rebounds. Jama Runkel and Marissa Johnson had five points each, Tara Gnagy and Sievers had four points each, and Brittany Wagoner had three.
by Eric Christiansen
Free throws have been a thorn in the Manchester’s Lady Squires’ side at times this season.
Thursday night against Northfield, the Lady Squires attempted just two free throws through 32 minutes of play, but nailed 9-11 in two overtime periods to pull out a 61-57 win over their county rivals.
Sophomore Jessica Bedke led the Lady Squires in the overtime periods, hitting 5-5 from the free throw line and scoring seven points.
“I’ve always said that free throws are mental, and tonight, the girls showed the mental toughness it takes to not only hit the free throws in pressure situations, but to pull out a close game,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “We’ve shot free throws in practice, and put them in every possible situation to put pressure on the girls, but it’s impossible to simulate a game situation. I’m really proud of them for stepping up and knocking them down.”
Northfield coach Marlene Richter was also happy with her team’s effort, and looks forward to the teams’ rematch this weekend in the Wabash County Tournament.
“I told the girls that we played a good game, and it may help us next week, where we get to play them on our turf,” she said. “I think we’ll be ready to go.” ....Read More
Illinois Weselyan snapped a three-game win streak by the women’s basketball team as number eight in the nation IWU defeated Manchester 87-55.
Manchester and IWU were tied at 9-9 six and a half minutes into the game, but the Titans went on an 11-0 run to take a 20-9 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Manchester pulled to within five points, 20-15 with seven minutes left, but IWU closed out the first half with a 22-7 run to take a 42-22 lead at the break.
Kelley Meiklejohn led Manchester with 12 points on 4-10 shooting. She added three rebounds, one assist and a steal. Sarah Bose, Rachel Wilkinson and Kelsey DeMott added seven points each. DeMott added five rebounds while Bose added four rebounds and six assists.
Manchester falls to 6-3 on the year, and travel to the Wittenberg Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 28-29. Manchester opens against John Carroll at 12:30 p.m.
MC’s men’s basketball team fell to host Franklin and Marshall 64-49 Tuesday night.
After a 4-4 tie five minutes into the first half, F & M went on a 15-4 run to take a 19-8 lead with eight minutes left in the first half, and held a 27-16 lead at the end of the first half.
The Spartans scored six straight to start the second half, but F & M scored ten unanswered to take a 37-22 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game.
James Reed led MC with 16 points on 4-8 shooting, 4-7 from behind the arc and 4-4 at the free throw line. He added four rebounds and two steals. Jamaal Wade added 16 points and five rebounds, while Jeff Grabowski added nine points on 4-6 shooting.
The University of Mary Washington’s Ben Stokes sunk a three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat Manchester 56-53 on Thursday.
Manchester jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game, but UMW scored 10 unanswered to tie the game with four minutes left in the half, but the Spartans rebounded to take a 26-23 lead at the break.
MC took a 38-30 lead early in the second half, but UMW ran off nine straight points to take a one-point lead with 11 minutes remaining. The Spartans went ahead seven, 48-41 with seven minutes to go, but the Eagles tied the game at 51-all with three minutes to go. Jeff Grabowski tied the game at 53-53 with 24 second remaining before the Stokes’ three-point game winner.
James Reed continued his streaky shooting as he led the team with 18 points, hitting 7-8 shots from the field. He added four rebounds and two assists. Grabowski was 4-8 from the floor for nine points and five rebounds with two blocked shots. Mitch Schaefer added eight points while Jake Koziel had eight rebounds.
The Spartans fall to 3-7 on the year, and return to action Wednesday, January 2 as they travel to Elmhurst.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School wrestling team had three champions at the Wabash County Meet Saturday at Northfield.
Bryant Wiley, Blaine Miller, and Dominic Byrnes were all named county champions by finishing first in their respective weight classes.
The team went 1-3 on the day in the team competition, beating White’s 54-15, and losing to Southwood 60-21, to Wabash 57-18, and losing to Northfield 54-24.
Wiley (189) went 4-0 on the day, and never saw the second period of any match. The Manchester senior pinned White’s in 55 seconds, Wabash in 1:49, Northfield in 1:32, and Southwood in 1:15.
“Bryant is an experienced wrestler, and very aggressive,” head coach Ryan Good said. “He will try a move, and if it doesn’t work, he’ll instantly go to another one. Sometimes, it’s too much for kids to handle. He is always looking for something, and eventually, he’ll find it.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ basketball team enjoyed a halftime lead, and trailed by just two going into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t pull it out in the end, falling to 1-5 with a 51-45 loss to Lewis Cass last week.
The Lady Squires led 11-10 at the end of the first period, with five different girls scoring, and led 22-19 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Taylor DeHaven went off for Lewis Cass, scoring 13 points, including three 3-point plays to help the Lady Kings take a 38-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Despite seven fourth quarter points from Katie Bowers, and two free throws from Becka Guthrie, it wasn’t enough, as Cass shot 7-8 from the line down the stretch to close it out.
“Improvement was seen tonight,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “We’re going to get there. We just need to stay positive and be patient.”
Bowers led the Lady Squires with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Julie Seifert had six points and six rebounds, Noelle Patrick had six points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals, Audrey Johnson had five points, Amber Fratus had four points, Brittany Sievers had three points and six rebounds, Kyla Zile had two points and three rebounds, Guthrie had two points, and Kristen Lahman had two points.
Thirty three points from Dan Bourne, including 20 in the third quarter, helped propel the Manchester Squires to its first win of the season, 65-43 over Alexandria.
Bourne led all scorers with 33 points, and scored 20 of Manchester’s 21 points in the third quarter to turn a close game into a 17 point lead heading into the fourth.
“Dan shot the ball really well, and he really didn’t force too many shots,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “Most of his shots were within the rhythm of our offense.”
Manchester raced out to a 9-2 lead, and held a 15-8 lead late in the first quarter, but Alexandria went on a 9-0 run to take a 17-15 lead midway through the second.
“We kind of started rushing our shots in the second quarter,” Goshert said. “We struggled with that in our first two games, and we need to quit doing that. When we run our offensive plays, we usually seem to get good looks.”
After a Manchester time out, the Squires slowed things down, and closed out the half on a 12-3 run to take a 27-20 lead.
Aaron Medley scored six straight points for the Squires, including one on a offensive rebound put back, and the other two on assists from Cornelius Cuffy and David Cable.
Cable hit two free throws, and Bourne scored inside to cap off a 10-0 run. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ swim team lost a 110-67 decision to Huntington North to open its season.
Scarlett Melton and Catherine Chapman both won events for the Lady Squires.
“We really needed a meet to get things going,” head coach Kyle Wieland said. “We have been practicing for five weeks without a competition, and I could tell they were starting to get bored. It was good to have a meet.”
Melton won the 50 free with a time of 28.68, and Chapman won diving with a score of 130.15.
Coming in second place was the 200 medley relay team of Melton, Ashton Bradford, Leah McNeeley, and Amelia Flora (2:18.51), the 400 free relay team of Elizabeth Schilling, Shelby Minnix, Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, and Melton (4:36.39), Schilling in the 200 free (2:29.62) and the 100 free (1:07.72), Kaytlyn Eberly in the 50 free (29.11), and Cindi Myers in diving (117.90).
Third place results were McNeeley in the 200 IM (2:44.86), Minnix in the 100 free (1:07.82), Bradford in the 500 free (7:02.61) and the 100 breaststroke (1:27.47), the 200 free relay team of Flora, Eberly, Paige Woods, and Schilling (2:06.36), Melton in the 100 back (1:21.08), and the 400 free relay team of Eberly, Flora, Bradford, and McNeeley (4:45.64). ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester Squires finished last season on a high note, getting to the sectional finals, and holding a third quarter lead over Lewis Cass in the championship game. They hope this is the year they get over the hump.
The Squires lost three players to graduation, Brandon Shepherd, Lucas Renz, and Zach Sievers, but return their top seven players from last season, and have added two juniors and a freshman to the varsity mix, and hope they find the right combination for success this season.
Manchester will once again be led by a trio of big men, Dan Bourne (17.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg), David Cable (11.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg), and Aaron Medley (8.9 ppg).
“We will look to those three a lot this year, just like we did last season,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “They are all pretty versatile players who can score inside and outside.”
Also returning for the Squires will be seniors Spenser Penrod, Ian Pattison, Nolan Holloway, and Jody Griggs, who will all see playing time at guard. Juniors Corey Thomas and Ryan Binkley will also handle the ball and look for varsity minutes.
“Our guard play will be very important this year,” Goshert said. “If we struggle handling the ball, it’s going to be tough to score. All of our players have worked hard in the offseason at all facets of the game.”
Freshman Cornelius Cuffy moved into the area and will be a force inside for the Squires this season. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester Lady Squires took 66 shots and pulled down 26 offensive rebounds against Mississinewa Friday night.
Normally, those types of stats would mean a victory, but for Manchester, it just meant a dismal night of shooting.
Mississinewa, who had been shooting 25 percent from the field in their previous two games, shot 50 percent, while the Lady Squires struggled to find the hoop, shooting 23 percent (15-66) in a 37-33 Lady Indian win.
“It seems that one time a year, every team has a game where it’s like they can’t even throw it in into the ocean from a row boat,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said after the game. “That was the case for us tonight. We’re going to continue to shoot in practice, and we’ll try to make those shots game-like, and hopefully, the next time we come out, we’ll be able to get a few more of them to drop.”
It looked like Manchester was going to run away with the game, taking a 5-0 lead in the first quarter, while Mississinewa committed five turnovers on their first five possessions.
Kyla Zile and Jessica Bedke both scored inside, and Julie Seifert hit 1-2 from the line, but Mississinewa went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 10-5 lead, until Katie Bowers hit a three pointer to cut the lead to two.
Seifert kept things close, scoring the Lady Squires final six points of the half, but the Lady Indians took an 18-16 lead into the locker room.
Manchester’s shooting woes really showed in the third quarter, going 1-12, as Bedke scored Manchester’s only basket, on an offensive rebound put back.
Mississinewa led 29-19 early in the fourth quarter, but then the tide shifted, but only for 2:10.
Manchester rallied to tie things up at 29-29 with a 10-0 run.
Audrey Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound, brought the ball up the floor, and found Bowers for a jumper.
Johnson hit a jumper, followed by an offensive rebound put back from Seifert. Bedke stole the ball and got an assist on a Bowers lay up, and Kyla Zile hit Bowers for a bucket with 4:16 left in the game, and all of a sudden, Manchester was back in the game.
Mississinewa regained the lead on two free throws, but Zile scored on a pick and roll with Bowers to make it 31-31 with 2:15 left in the game. ....Read More
by Tim McLaughlin
For 23:45 seconds of the sectional championship game between Manchester and Lewis Cass, the Squires gave the host Kings, 9-2 and ranked #10 in Class 2A, all they could handle.
Then, in a period of just under ten minutes, Cass ran off four unanswered touchdowns to squash any hopes the Squires had of winning their first sectional title since 1991.
“They (Cass) are very good. For a half, we gave them everything they could handle. Turnovers just killed us, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to make mistakes (and win),” said head coach Brandon Baker.
Both teams came out of the gates ready to play, but it was the defense of each that set the tone early on.
Manchester got the ball first. After a Blaine Miller first down run, the Cass defense held to force MHS to punt.
Cass then strung together two consecutive first downs, but a Nolan Holloway quarterback sack on third down forced the home team into a fourth and long.
On their second possession, Manchester again was able to muster a first down, this time on a Dylin Kennedy to Jon Walker pass, but Cass once again held, forcing the Squires to punt.
Cass then went to work offensively. Beginning at the Squire 48-yard line, the Kings kept the ball on the ground, relying on a series of fakes and trickery to keep the Squire defense off balance. After three first downs, Cass punched the ball into the end zone at the 9:37 mark of the second quarter. The converted PAT gave the home team a 7-0 lead.
Manchester didn’t score on their third possession, but was able to pin Cass on their own 10 yard line after Miller’s punt.
The Squire defense stepped up, forcing Cass to a three and out, which led to Skyler Howard’s 16 yard punt return. Manchester was in business with the ball at the Cass 31 yard line.
Dylin Kennedy wasted no time connecting with Brecken Kennedy for 14 yards, and two plays later, lofted the ball towards the endzone where Howard was being single-covered. Howard made a great adjustment to the ball, fought off the defender, and caught the ball with one hand for the score. Broc Skaar added the PAT, and with 2:47 remaining in the half, the game was tied 7-7.
“It would have been easy for us to start feeling sorry for ourselves when they scored, but we came out fighting,” said Baker. “Dylin made a great throw to Skyler for the touchdown,” he added.
Momentum was clearly on the side of the Squires, and if MHS could keep Cass from scoring before half-time, they had to like their chances of winning.
Cass quickly moved the ball to midfield as quarterback Rory Mannering connected with a pass for a first down. Two more first downs followed, and with 15 seconds still to play in the second quarter, Cass had the ball on the Squire 12-yard line.
Mannering dropped back to pass and lofted a pass towards the corner of the end zone where Cass receiver Damon Foreman was headed. Foreman managed to keep his feet inbounds, and hauled in the pass with 11 seconds showing on the clock.
The PAT followed, and the Kings took a 14-7 lead into the lockerroom. “That was an amazing first half of football,” said Baker. “It was the best we have played all year. The emotion, the intensity, and the execution were great.
“To Cass’s credit, they never got in a hurry before the end of the half, they just marched it down the field and made a great throw and catch to put us down at the half,” Baker added.
Cass got the ball first in the third quarter and took it right down the field on MHS. At the 7:29 mark, Cass ran it in from 25 yards and led 21-7.
Then, on the Squires’ next two possessions, Kennedy was intercepted by Cass defenders, both of which led to King touchdowns. With 2:51 still to play in the third quarter, Cass had stretched their lead to 35-7. “They are a very well coached and disciplined team,” said Baker of Cass. “We knew they would come out and make adjustments in the second half, just as we did, they just beat us up in the second half,” he added.
Although not out of the game, Manchester clearly would need a miraculous turn of events to climb back into the game.
MHS was able to manage a score in the fourth quarter when Holloway plunged into the endzone from three yards out, but it was too little, too late for the Squires.
Cass claimed the Sectional title with a 42-14 win and will play against 11-1 Wheeler in Friday’s Regional game.
“It was a very trying season,” said Baker. “We started off pretty bad and weren’t playing together, but as the year went on, it was great to see us come together as a team. We got better each week. The defense played well all year. The offense started to pick it up, and it was great for our program to play for the sectional championship,” said Baker. “The seniors will be missed. They have put a lot of time and effort into the program. The main thing I want the seniors to know is that when they come back and watch us play for more sectional championships, that it is because of their hard work that we are as good as we are. When we are winning in the future, it is because of them,” Baker concluded.
by Eric Christiansen
After a four year run that saw the Manchester High School girls’ basketball team win three sectional titles, the Lady Squires enter the 2007-08 campaign with a lack of varsity experience.
Manchester coach Mark Underwood doesn’t see that as a problem.
“Last year is gone,” the Squire coach said. “You won’t hear me talk about last year, because that is not something we can get back. What we can try to do is be the best we can be this year. We have control on how hard we work, the kind of attitudes we have, and how we stay together as a group. So far, I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen.”
There will be plenty of new faces for the Lady Squires, but one face that will be familiar, especially to opposing teams, is that of Katie Bowers.
Bowers, a junior, returns for her third year of varsity action, and will be looked upon as a leader on and off the court.
“Katie is a pretty good athlete,” Underwood said. “Putting myself in the other coaches’ shoes, we have played plenty of teams that had a really good player. We could think about that person, but whenever we did, it seemed someone else stepped up and hurt us.
“But, Katie will be a hard one to completely stop,” he continued. “She is very athletic, and is probably going to make some things happen in a positive way, even if she is getting some attention from the other teams.”
However, Underwood stressed that it isn’t a one person show. Two other Lady Squires saw significant varsity action last season, seniors Audrey Johnson and Kyla Zile.
“We have six seniors,” Underwood said. “Four of those six played JV last year, but now is their chance. Even though they are new to the varsity, they are not new to our program.”
Denae Pyle, Kristen Lahman, Carrie McLain, and Julie Seifert will all begin their senior seasons looking to contribute on the varsity team.
“We have a lot of new faces, but this is a situation where we have players who have been in the program, and have been with us and preparing for this day since they were in seventh grade, or even before that in camps,” Underwood added. “They are hungry and ready to get on the floor and see we what they can do. Unless I miss my guess, it’s going to be a group that is going to work hard, have great attitudes, and stay together.”
One area that Underwood feels will be a strong point will be outside shooting.
“We’ve got kids who can knock down shots from the perimeter,” Underwood stated. “We hope any of them, when they are out there, and have the opportunity to score, won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”
And, a Mark Underwood coached team wouldn’t be complete without a strong focus on defense.
The Lady Squires gave up just 36 points per game, and Underwood hopes that trend continues this season.
“We always hang our hat on our defense,” he said. “If we’re playing good defense, and we should be doing that every game, we will be fine. There will be some games when the shots aren’t falling, but if we are concentrating on the defensive end, and make it hard for a team to score, that can keep you in a game. Defense is just determination.”
Determination is what Underwood is expecting from his team, especially with an unseasoned roster.
“We knew with an inexperienced group, we just have to take things one game at a time,” he said. “Our goals are the same all the way through. Our main goal to keep improving, and be playing the best at the end of the year. We will make adjustments as we go, work with the kids, and talk about changes we need to make. We hope to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season and be ready for the tournament.”
Underwood will once again be assisted by JV coach Todd Volk, as well as the returning junior high coaches, Matt Webb and Bill McNeeley.
Former Lady Squires Brit Rager and Sarah Purdy are also joining the coaching squad, with Rager as a volunteer assistant coach, and Purdy walking the sideline for the C-team. Jen Howard, a teacher at Laketon Elementary, will be the sixth grade coach.
The Lady Squires open their season this Friday at home against Bluffton, and will travel to Prairie Heights on Saturday.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester Squires had so much fun the first time, they decided to do it again.
One could be referring to winning their first sectional game in nine years, or beating Whitko 16-6 in week four of the regular season.
Either way, the Squires are playing for the sectional championship for the first time since 1998, after shutting out Whitko 20-0 on a cold, windy night.
“This is just great for our program,” said head coach Brandon Baker. “The guys have worked hard to get to this point and it’s nice for the younger players to continue to get work,” he added.
The Squires moved the ball well on their first drive, using a combination of a solid running game and big play passing from quarterback Dylin Kennedy.
Twice on the drive, Kennedy came up with big third down passes to keep the drive alive.
On third and four, Kennedy found Skyler Howard for a 24 yard strike to put the ball on the Wildcat 37 yard line.
After two rushes from Nolan Holloway for a combined six yards, Kennedy found his older brother Brecken for a 10 yard pass to keep the ball moving.
The Squires faced another third down, but an incomplete pass brought up fourth down, and kicker Broc Skaar.
Skaar calmly booted a 33 yard field goal to give Manchester a 3-0 lead with 7:45 left in the first quarter.
Whitko took over on their own 24 yard line, but on the second play of their drive, Ryan Brumbaugh was hit by Blaine Miller, and fumbled the ball. Kyle Henderson recovered, giving the Squires the ball on the Whitko 18 yard line.
Manchester took little time to make Whitko pay for the turnover. Dylin Kennedy hit Brecken on a post pattern for an 18 yard touchdown. Skaar’s extra point made it 10-0 midway through the first quarter. ....Read More
by Tim McLaughlin
The Squire football team wasn’t necessarily out for revenge Friday night against Bluffton, but when the game came to a close, Manchester players had avenged an early-season loss against the Tigers, and in the process, secured the schools’ first post-season win since 1998 with a 21-7 victory.
“The win was huge for us,” said Squire coach Brandon Baker. “The guys set the goal at the beginning of the season to win sectional. We got a good draw, and we have been continuing to improve as the year has gone on,” Baker added. “I knew we could play with Bluffton. The first time we played them, it was probably the worst game I’ve been associated with since being at Manchester. We had to prove to ourselves that we could win this game, and we came out on top,” he continued.
Manchester set the tone early.
Bluffton got the ball first, but the Squire defense forced the Tigers to punt after three unsuccessful plays.
After two quick first downs by the Squire offense, Dylin Kennedy hooked up with Skyler Howard on a 24-yard pass play that set the Squires up with a first and goal opportunity on the Bluffton two yard line.
On a third and goal from the one-yard line, Blaine Miller powered the ball across the goal line for a touchdown. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Going into the doubles state finals, David Cable and Bryant Wiley knew they had to play their best tennis to advance to the semi-finals. In the end, they played well, but not enough to topple a powerhouse Delta team of Dan Klingenberg and Jeff Price, falling 6-2, 6-2 to end the season with a 24-2 record.
Klingenberg and Price, who entered the match with a 27-0 record, finished runners-up, losing to a Center Grove team that won its second state doubles title. The Delta team was 55-2 over the last two seasons.
“I couldn’t be happier with their performance today,” Manchester coach Eric Christiansen said of Cable and Wiley. “They didn’t play their best match of the year, but they competed with a very strong team, one of the best in the state.”
The Squire duo’s only other loss was to Floyd Central, who was named second team all-state. Cable and Wiley were also named second team all-state. (See related story on page 3B.) Cable and Wiley had a match point in that loss, but eventually fell in a third set super-tiebreak. ....Read More
One final post-season honor was bestowed upon the Manchester High School boys’ tennis team.
David Cable and Bryant Wiley, who represented MHS at the state finals, were named Second Team All-State Saturday at the All-State Meeting.
This is the first time tennis players from Manchester High School have been named to the first or second team in the All-State voting. Brad and Eric Simcoe were named Honorable Mention All-State in 2003.
“This is a great accomplishment for David and Bryant,” Manchester coach Eric Christiansen said. “These two have worked hard as tennis players, and as a doubles team. They have continued to improve their teamwork throughout the season, and really deserve this honor. They played their best tennis against the best teams in the state, and proved they deserved to be at the state finals. I’m really proud of them.”
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School volleyball team ended its season at the Southwood Sectional, falling to Northfield in three games, 25-11, 25-16, 25-21.
Manchester fell behind early in the first game 7-2, and never recovered, losing 25-11.
Game two wasn’t much different, as the Lady Norse never trailed in a 25-16 win. The Lady Squires were only able to win more than one point in a row three times in the game.
Manchester looked to make a match out of it in game three, jumping out to an 8-3 lead.
Katie bowers served an ace for a 3-1 lead, and after a Northfield point, and two Lady Norse errors, Tara Gnagy made it 6-2 with a tip winner.
Northfield cut the lead to 8-6, but a Katelyn Wade kill, followed by three aces from Amber Fratus gave the Lady Squires a 12-6 lead.
Manchester held onto a 15-9 lead after a kill from Wade, but Northfield went on a 3-0 run on a kill and ace from Holly Reed, and a kill from Karyn Wilcox.
The Lady Squires didn’t back down, however, as Wade and Becka Guthrie got a huge block on Wilcox for a 17-12 lead.
Brittany Sievers made it 18-15 on a cross court kill, but a defensive error, a Riley Blatz winner, and a hitting error from Manchester made it 18-17.
Sievers and Wilcox traded points, as the Lady Squires held onto the lead 19-18, but Northfield made their move.
A 4-hit call against Manchester tied it up at 19-19. Northfield took the lead 21-19, but Reed was called in the net to cut the Lady Norse lead to 21-20.
Northfield, however, took the next three points on two Manchester errors and a tip from Reed to make it 24-20.
Julie Seifert cut it to 24-21 on a tip winner, but a serve from Fratus went into the net on the final point of the match.
Manchester finishes with a 6-26 record.
The honors keep rolling in for the Manchester High School boys’ tennis team.
The number one doubles team of David Cable and Bryant Wiley and the number two doubles team of Steven Camp and Kyle Lahman both made the All-District team.
Cable and Wiley were ranked second in the district behind Westview among all doubles teams, while Camp and Lahman tied for eighth with Carroll’s and Fairfield’s number one doubles teams. Camp and Lahman were the only number two team selected.
“This is a great honor for these guys, and shows the respect they have earned from the other coaches in the area,” Manchester head coach Eric Christiansen said. “Brad Simcoe and Eric Simcoe were the only other players that I know of in the history of the school to make All-District, and they were ranked eighth. To have two teams ranked in the top 10 is unbelievable.”
The All-District teams are determined by the coaches in attendance at the district meeting.
“It’s a two hour selection and argument meeting,” Christiansen said. “We all sit in a classroom and fight for our kids. Our strength of schedule really made a difference in the minds of the other coaches, especially with both doubles teams beating #15 Homestead and #13 Canterbury, Camp and Lahman beating #11 Floyd Central, and Cable and Wiley coming up one point short against Floyd Central.”
Cable and Wiley still have a chance to make the either First or Second team All-State, while Camp and Lahman are still in the running for honorable mention All-State. Those teams will be announced this Saturday.
Cable and Wiley are still in the hunt for a state title, and will be competing at the state finals this weekend at Park Tudor High School. They will face ******** Friday at 2:00 p.m.
David Cable and Bryant Wiley aren’t quite ready for their tennis season to come to an end.
The senior duo improved to 24-1 on the year and advanced to the state finals with wins over Crawfordsville and New Haven to win the regional title last Saturday at Ben Davis High School.
“This is awesome,” Wiley said. “I didn’t really have any nerves, which shocked me. I was pretty calm, but I think that’s helped me a lot.
“It feels good to have all the hard work pay off to go to state,” Cable added. “I thought we would have a chance to go far as a team, or as a doubles team.”
“It’s every kid’s dream to compete at the state championship, and David and Bryant get to live out that dream,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “I know they are happy, not only for themselves, but for the team.
“They played very well in their first match,” he continued. “They were focused, and played a very dominant match.”
Cable and Wiley beat Crawfordsville’s Jonathan Streetman and Joshua Rogers 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.
They got off to a quick 3-0 lead, and back to back aces from Cable gave the Squires a 5-2 lead.
Crawfordsville held serve to make it 5-3, but Wiley recorded back to back aces of his own to take the first set 6-3.
Wiley and Cable both held serve twice in the second set to help them take the second set 6-1, and the match.
“We pretty much stuck to our game plan of being aggressive and didn’t make too many errors,” Wiley said. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Manchester Squire coach Brandon Baker has been looking for a complete game all season from his team. Friday night, they delivered, beating Northfield 14-6,while the defense shut down Northfield’s offense.
“We played a full game,” Baker said. “We actually came out ready to go, and that is the first time we have done that. Part of that is because these guys know each other. They run around with each other. But, that’s what we need to do.”
The win improves Manchester’s record to 3-6, 3-4 in the TRC, while Northfield drops to 5-4, 3-4 in the TRC.
Both teams moved the ball in the first quarter, but neither team could find the end zone.
Manchester looked to be in good shape to score early after a Brecken Kennedy interception on the Manchester 30 yard line and a 14 yard return.
Manchester got a first down on a fake punt from Blaine Miller, but after a five yard run from Nolan Holloway put the ball on the 37 yard line, Trenten Quinn intercepted Dylin Kennedy.
Northfield punted, giving the ball back to Manchester with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
The Squires went on a 14 play, 81 yard drive, highlighted by a 25 yard catch from Brecken Kennedy, and a 19 yard catch from Skyler Howard. Three plays later, Nolan Holloway found the end zone on a six yard run with 8:55 left in the half. Broc Skaar’s extra point made it 7-0.
After another Northfield punt, Manchester got the ball to the Northfield 33 yard line. Skaar tried to make it 10-0, but was short on a 51 yard field goal attempt.
Northfield finally got a drive going, moving the ball from their own 20 yard line into Manchester territory. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ volleyball players went out in style in their final home match, outlasting Blackhawk Christian in five games, 16-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13.
The first game was all Blackhawk, who jumped out to an 8-2 lead.
Manchester cut the lead to 12-11, but an 8-0 run put the game out of reach.
In game two, Blackhawk led for the most of the game, holding an 18-17 lead.
Tara Gnagy tied things up with a kill. Two Blackhawk errors gave Manchester a 20-19 lead, but a tip and a kill from the visitors gave them a 23-21 lead.
Manchester coach Sarah Dillon called a time out, slowing down the Blackhawk momentum.
Brittany Sievers came out of the time out on fire, getting two kills and a block for three straight points and a 24-23 lead.
After a Blackhawk time out, a ball hit by Katie Bowers rolled over the net for the win, 25-23.
Game three was a back and forth affair, with Manchester taking a 5-2 lead on a kill from Gnagy, two from Sievers, and one from Julie Seifert.
Blackhawk responded with a 6-1 run, but a Jessica Bedke ace, along with four errors from Blackhawk Christian, gave the Lady Squires an 11-8 lead.
Manchester held onto the lead over the next 24 points played, but Blackhawk tied it up at 22-22 with a kill.
With the score tied at 23-23, Manchester was called for four hits, followed by a Blackhawk Christian ace to allow Blackhawk to take the third game 25-23.
Game four was a back and forth affair early on, with four lead changes and seven ties.
With the score tied 11-11, Manchester went on a 5-0 run on two kills from Bowers, and three Blackhawk errors.
Blackhawk cut the lead to 23-22, but a missed serve from Blackhawk and a tip on game point from Brittany Sievers gave the game to Manchester 25-22.
The start of game five looked like it would go Blackhawk’s way, as they took a 4-1 lead, but Manchester rallied to take a 10-7 lead on two blocks and a tip from Katelyn Wade, a Bowers kill, and an ace from Bedke.
Blackhawk won two points to cut the lead to 10-9, but Wade added another kill for an 11-9 lead.
A Manchester error made it 11-10, but Sievers had a kill and a block to put Manchester two points from the win.
An error from Blackhawk made it 14-10, but a tip winner from the Lady Braves and a roller off the net made it 14-12.
Another Manchester error made the score 14-13, but a Blackhawk service error ended the game and the match 15-13.
Manchester will take on Northfield in the semi-finals of the Southwood Sectional Saturday morning.
by Eric Christiansen
While the boys’ tennis team ended its season in the sectional final, the number one doubles team of David Cable and Bryant Wiley kept their season alive by advancing to the individual doubles sectional with wins over Wabash and Peru.
Tuesday, Cable and Wiley won their first match with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Tipton, then followed that up with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Northwestern.
“I think they came out a little flat in both matches, but played well enough to win,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “It took some time to get over the hurt from the team sectional, but they got focused.”
Cable and Wiley had to wait two hours to find out if they had to play another match, while Kokomo and Logansport battled in the team regional final. In the end, Logansport pulled out a third set tie break over Kokomo to advance to the doubles tourney.
Saturday, Cable and Wiley made quick work of Logansport in the sectional final, cruising to a 6-2, 6-0 win.
“They played one of the best matches of the season (against Logansport),” Christiansen said. “As far as I know, Manchester has never had anyone advance to the individual regional. They are having a great year, and I hope they can keep it going this weekend.”
The Manchester duo will face Crawfordsville in the opening match of regional at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis at 10:00 a.m.
by Eric Christiansen
It was a sweet homecoming for Manchester High School as the Squires picked up their second win of the season, 32-18 over Wabash.
The game was much closer than the score indicated, as Wabash had two opportunities late in the game to tie things up.
With the score tied at 12-12 at halftime, Manchester took a 19-12 lead on a one yard touchdown run from Nolan Holloway.
The Squires made it 25-12 on a Holloway eight yard touchdown run with 11:13 left in the game, but Wabash wouldn’t let the Squires pull away.
Wabash answered Holloway’s fourth quarter touchdown with a score of their own just two minutes later as quarterback Greg Lane found Trey Mendenhall for a 16 yard diving touchdown catch to cut the lead to 25-18.
Manchester used a balanced running attack to take four minutes off the clock and move the ball to midfield, but Holloway fumbled with 5:45 left to give Wabash new life.
Wabash moved the ball to the Manchester 14 yard line with 3:52 left. After two incomplete passes, Blaine Miller sacked Lane to force Wabash to go for it on fourth and 16 from the 20 with 3:20 left. ....Read More
After nearly 65 minutes into the Manchester Lady Squires’ girls’ soccer sectional match up with Western, with the score knotted up at 0-0, coach Carrie Clothier was preparing for overtime, and possibly a shoot out.
“I was about ready to get a pad out and go over who our best penalty kickers were,” Clothier said
She didn’t need to, thanks to three goals in four minutes, to advance the Lady Squires to the sectional semi-finals against Kokomo, with a 3-0 win over Western.
“I’m very excited,” Clothier said. “We didn’t know a lot about Western. We tried to scout them, if you will, but we just could not find much about them. So, we’re glad to come in here and play our game.”
Manchester was missing two players, but Clothier said every girl on the roster got to play, which made the win especially sweet.
“It’s awesome to see us play together as a team,” she said.
After a scoreless first half, and 24 minutes of scoreless soccer in the second half, Jessica Nearing lined up for a free kick on a dead ball.
Nearing, who has scored in every sectional game in which she has played, continued that streak with a well placed shot above the Western goal keeper to give Manchester a 1-0 lead.
Western almost returned the favor, but Manchester keeper Jentri Cripe made a diving save one minute later on a shot just 10 feet away.
With 13:02 left, Mackenzie Coulter-Kern scored on a break-away, slipping the ball past the Western keeper.
Two minutes later, Coulter-Kern was at it again, this time, breaking away and floating a shot over the top of the Western keeper.
“I’m just glad Jess had that vision for that part of the net, and that just started the roll,” Clothier said.
“We played awesome,” team captain Audrey Johnson said. “Mac (Coulter-Kern) scoring was amazing, and we just had good play all around.”
“I’m looking forward to Thursday,” Clothier said.
Manchester will face Kokomo Thursday night at Kokomo High School at 5:00 p.m.
C-Team Football
The Manchester Football C-team fell to 2-4 with a 21-0 loss to Southwood last week.
“Our defense gave up too many big plays,” coach Jack Rupley said. “Our offense wasn’t consistent enough to put us in the end zone.”
8th Grade Volleyball
The eighth grade volleyball team lost to Lakeview 25-21, 25-13 to fall to 8-5 on the year. Mike Crate had three aces, while Hannah Little had three kills.
The eighth graders improved to 9-5 with a 25-13, 25-16 win over previously undefeated Northfield.
Little had five kills, while Alexah Egolf had four aces.
“This was an awesome win,” coach Lindsey Bradtmueller said. “I’m so proud of the girls.”
The eighth graders had no trouble with Wabash,winning 25-16, 25-13.
Natalee Cain and Egolf both had four aces.
7th Grade Volleyball
The seventh grade volleyball team lost to Lakeview 25-14, 25-19.
“Even though we lost, the girls played a good game,” coach Liz Myers said.
The seventh graders fell to 6-8 with a 25-16, 17-25, 15-10 loss to Northfield.
Emily Hover had four aces, Autumn Brewer had two kills, while Kayla Flack, Chloe Leifer, and Lindsey Budnik all had one kill.
The seventh graders had no trouble with Wabash, winning 25-21, 25-18.
Autumn Brewer had two kills and four aces, while Kayla Flack had seven aces.
8th Grade Football
The eighth grade football team picked up its first win of the season with a 20-0 shut out over Southwood.
Preston Penrod rushed for two touchdowns, while Mazerick Shambarger had one touchdown and a two point conversion.
“The offensive line did an awesome job opening holes all night, and the defense was very stingy all night, wrecking havoc on the Southwood offense,” coach Dane Simcoe said. “(It was) an all around total team effort. We, as coaches, are extremely proud of all these young men. They have tasted victory and are hungry for more.”
7th Grade Football
The seventh graders only needed one score to pick up their first win of the year, 6-0 over Southwood.
Manchester scored it’s touchdown on a 75 yard pass and run from Cody Harlan to Evan Olinger, which set up a five yard touchdown run.
“The defense never quit,” coach Ron McConnell said. “With their backs against the goal line, they come up huge to force a turnover on downs. The offense finally got clicking and punched it in for the victory.”
Manchester’s football team picked up a 20-13 win over Bluffton on Saturday as Manchester celebrated its Homecoming weekend.
Manchester scored with six minutes remaining in the first quarter as Joel Hawkins scored on a three-yard scamper into the endzone for a quick 6-0 lead following the failed PAT attempt. Jermiah Jones’ second pick in two games set up another score for MC as Caleb Grimes connected with Jared Yoder on a 23-yard touchdown pass for a 13-0 lead with 1:43 remaining.
Bluffton scored with two ticks left in the first half to trail 13-7, but MC answered in the fourth quarter as Adam Schell scored on a 11-yard TD pass from Grimes with 10:15 remaining to go ahead 20-7.
Bluffton responded with a TD with five minutes to go in the game, and had the ball with three minutes remaining in the game, but John Sams picked off a Bluffton pass at the Manchester six yard line with 28 seconds remaining to seal the win for MC.
Brandon Wells led MC with 89 yards rushing, while Joel Hawkins added 62 rushing yards for MC. Grimes was 8-11 passing with 131 yards and two touchdowns. Yoder and Schell accounted for four receptions each, Yoder with 62 yards on the day and Schell adding 44 yards. Defensively, Mitch Harnish led MC with 16 tackles and a sack. Sam Kent added eight tackles and a sack, and Trent Weisser had five tackles and 2.5 sacks for the Spartan defense, who limited Bluffton’s rushing attack to just 68 yards on the day.
Manchester improves to 3-2 on the year, 1-1 in the HCAC. They travel to Hanover on Saturday.
For the second year in a row, the sectional championship match between Manchester and Peru came down to the third set of the number three singles match.
Last season, Manchester was the victor. This season, Peru pulled the upset 3-2, sending the Manchester Squires home shocked and looking for answers.
“This one hurts really bad,” said Manchester coach Eric Christiansen. “In my 11 years of coaching boys’ and girls’ tennis, I can’t think of a loss that is this tough to swallow. I feel for the kids. We set a goal of winning a regional championship, and to fall short in the sectional is disappointing.”
Going into the match, both coaches, Christiansen and Peru’s Mike Saine, felt that a 3-2 score was in store, and both coaches felt the three singles matches were going to be key.
“Manchester is stacked at doubles, so we knew we had to get all three singles matches,” Saine said. “We were fortunate to hold the trophy at the end of the match.”
“I felt comfortable that we would win both doubles matches, and I liked our chances to win one of the three singles matches,” Christiansen said. “We had our chances in all three matches, but couldn’t capitalize on the leads we had.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Football is not a one man sport, but don’t tell that to the Manchester Squires.
Southwood junior all-state candidate Nick Driskill did everything he could to make sure his Knights came out on top against the Squires Friday night 21-20 in overtime.
Not only did he rush for over 100 yards, and score two touchdowns, including one in overtime, but Driskill made the defensive play of the game in the extra period.
“I’ll be completely honest,” Manchester coach Brandon Baker said. “Nobody else in the state makes that tackle.”
The tackle in question came on a trick play from Manchester, but Driskill wasn’t fooled.
After Southwood scored on their first possession of the extra period on a six yard touchdown from Driskill, and made it 21-14, Manchester had four plays to get the ball into the end zone and force the tie.
Squire quarterback Dylin Kennedy looked for older brother Brecken, who scored two earlier touchdowns, but the pass was incomplete.
On second down, Nolan Holloway plunged up to the middle for a five yard gain.
On third down Dylin Kennedy threw the ball up for grabs, and Skyler Howard came down with the pigskin to cut the lead to 21-20. ....Read More
Football
Despite three turnovers by Defiance in the first half, Manchester trailed 7-3 heading into the break, but fell victim in a 27-8 loss to Defiance to snap Manchester’s two-game win streak and giving the Spartans their first conference loss of the year.
Defiance scored on their first possession of the game on a 63-yard drive to take a quick 7-0 lead, but the Spartan defense stepped up and forced three first half turnovers by Defiance. Jermiah Jones had an interception and a forced fumble with a recovery that resulted in a 22-yard Brandon Wells field goal on two of DC’s possessions and Jeff McDonald had a pick for the Spartans late in the second quarter.
In the third period, Adam VanZile recorded a safety for MC three minutes into the third period to give Defiance a 7-5 lead, but the Yellow Jackets responded with a 65-yard touchdown run to take a 13-5 lead. Wells hit a 24-yard field goal to make it 13-8 Defiance with 2:02 remaining in the third, but DC scored two unanswered touchdowns for the 27-8 win.
Quarterback Joel Hawkins led MC with 93 yards rushing on 25 carries. He was 14-32 passing for 137 yards and an interception. Defensively, it was Jeff McDonald leading the way with 11 tackles and an interception. Jones had six tackles with a pick, forced fumble and recovery. Mike DePoy and Beau Bradtmiller added seven tackles each.
Manchester drops to 2-2, 0-1 in the HCAC and hosts Bluffton next Saturday, all part of MC’s Homecoming Week festivities.
Brian Woods and Pepo Villalba scored three goals apiece as Manchester defeated Taylor-Fort Wayne 11-0 Tuesday afternoon.
Elie Francois put the Spartans on the board early in the game to pick up the game winner, and added two assists in the win. Others scoring goals for MC included Aaron Cripe, Parker Swanson, Dante Samuel and Thomas Turner. Assists on the afternoon came from Brian Huss, who had two, Swanson, Chris Rowe, Villalba, Abdiaziz Moburuk, Alex Doberenz and Micha Sollenberger, who also had two goals for MC.
Jake Johnson and Matt Mullen combined for the shutout win in the goalkeeper position.
Manchester and Rose-Hulman ended in a 2-2 tie in conference action Saturday afternoon.
Manchester scored in the second minute of action as Elie Francois connected on a Chris Rowe assist to take a quick 1-0 lead, and the score remained that way after the first half of play. The Spartans came out early in the second half as Parker Swanson connected on a header from a Tyler Yeager corner kick to take a 2-0 lead in the 46th minute of play. Rose responded with a goal in the 62nd minute, and tied the game in the 81st minute of
play on a penalty kick.
Jake Johnson recorded four saves for MC, who move to 6-3-1 on the year, 0-1-1 in the HCAC. They return to action twice at home this week, as they host Earlham on Wednesday and Mount St. Joseph on Saturday.
Women's Soccer
Manchester’s women’s soccer team fell 5-0 to Rose-Hulman on Saturday, evening their conference record at 1-1 on the year, 2-7-2 overall.
Manchester goalkeeper Erica Hedges recorded six saves for the Spartans, who were outshot 23-3 by the Engineers.
The women’s soccer team closed out the weekend with a 5-0 win over St. Mary of the Woods. Kali Lauzon picked up the hat trick with three goals on the day, while Paige Koomler added two goals and three assists. Stephanie Taylor added one assist in the win, while goalkeeper Erica Hedges recorded two saves in 85 minutes of action.
eyball team picked up its eighth straight win Friday night as they picked up a 3-0 win over Rose-Hulman, winning by scores of 30-21, 30-17, 30-22.
Stephanie Rion led Manchester with 17 kills and 17 digs, with a solo block and two block assists. Amy Carnahan added 14 kills and 16 digs, while Tasia Smith added seven kills and two blocks. Christa Peden had eight kills and two blocks and Lauren Nash added 36 assists and 12 digs.
team’s quest for a sixth straight conference championship came more of a reality on Saturday as Manchester picked up a 9-0 win over Mount St. Joseph and a 6-0 win over Bluffton, marking the program’s 43rd straight conference victory, which dates back to the 2002 season. Manchester, winners of five straight HCAC conference championships improve to 7-2 on the year, 7-0 in the HCAC following the wins.
ook third place overall and helped the women tie for fourth place out of 12 teams at the Earlham College Invitational. Becca finished the race in 19:51, and was followed by Megan Miller who was 18th in 20:45, Jessica Bremer took 24th in 21:01, Jordan Folok was 30th in 21:15, and Breana Lindsay was 37th in 21:21.
On the men’s side, MC’s men’s harriers took fifth place out of 11 teams, and was led by Kyle Pletcher’s 22nd place finish in 28:02. Andy Hopkins was 37th in 28:39, followed by Kyle Cline in 39th place in 28:39, Andrew Doub in 41st with a time of 28:51, and Ryan Spiess was 44th in 29:02 to round out the top five.
Manchester College’s football team posted its biggest win margin dating back to the 1996 season (a 57-12 win over Defiance) as Manchester defeated Hiram 54-14 in their final tune-up before the start of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference season opener at Defiance next Saturday.
Brandon Wells (Woodburn, Ind./Woodlan) accounted for 24 of the Spartans 54 points on the board, as the sophomore running back ran for a 22-yard touchdown, caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Joel Hawkins, connected on 21 and 27-yard field goals and was 6-7 on PAT attempts. He rushed for a career high 157 yards on 16 carries, and added three receptions for 36 yards.
Manchester jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter following a Joel Hawkins 10-yard touchdown run, a Wells 27-yard field goal and a Chris Cecil 21-yard TD reception from Hawkins. Following a Hiram touchdown, Wells connected on his second field goal of the day, this time a 21-yarder, and caught an 18-yard pass from Hawkins after Manchester’s special teams, led by DeRon Jenkins, forced a Hiram fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give MC a 27-7 lead with three minutes left in the half. ....Read More
The Laketon, North Manchester, and Urbana Lions Club, along with the North Manchester Chamber of Commerce, are working together to bring the Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show to Manchester High School gym on October 18, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
The Harlem Ambassadors play over 200 games per year and are the largest provider of entertainment services to the military having performed at over 100 bases worldwide. A Harlem Ambassadors game features fast-paced, dazzling basketball, ball handling tricks, slam-dunks, and also some hilarious comedy routines throughout the performance. The Ambassadors Team consists of men professionals with major college and pro experience. All of the Ambassadors are college educated, drug-free, and positive in appearance. Unique to the Harlem Ambassadors is that their featured comic performer is a woman player. She is a world class basketball player and a world class comedienne. She plays and competes against the men and represents a great role model for young girls. She can do the splits at the free-throw line and make baskets from that position. The 1st and 3rd quarters are at a faster pace. In these two periods, the Ambassadors will face some past local basketball stars for a game of fun basketball. The 2nd & 4th quarters involve more elaborate comedy routines, and the pace of the game is slower. The players for these two quarters are also local players - however, some of their basketball skills mayor may not be quite as sharp and their ability to “keep up” while running up and down the court may not be what it used to be! The Ambassadors travel with their own referee. The Ambassadors travel to play basketball but their ultimate goal is to promote “Stay Off Drugs - Stay In School”.
There will be a Harlem Ambassadors basketball raffle at the game along with other Harlem Ambassadors souvenirs for sale. There will also be an autograph session with all of the Ambassadors following the game.
This will be an evening filled with family fun for all ages and an evening that you won’t want to miss. The proceeds from this event will be divided by the four participating groups for their various community projects. Ticket prices are: Advance: Senior Citizens and students are $5.00; Adults are $7.00; At the door: Senior Citizens & students are $6.00; Adults are $8.00 and can be purchased from any of the Lions Clubs members or at the North Manchester Chamber of Commerce.
After letting the TRC title slip away in 2004 and 2005, the boys’ tennis team won its second straight Three Rivers Conference championship with wins over Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester. Since 1987, when boys’ tennis was recognized as a conference sport, Manchester has won 16 conference titles in 21 seasons.
Win over Tippecanoe Valley
Despite having number one doubles team David Cable and Bryant Wiley out of the line up, the Squires had little trouble with Tippecanoe Valley, sweeping the varsity match 5-0 while not dropping a set.
Steven Camp and Andrew Gnagy teamed up for the first time, but had no problem in a 6-1, 6-1 win at number one doubles.
Scott Spaulding and Andrew Baker also teamed up for the first time at two doubles and pulled out a 7-6 (0), 7-5 win .
Nate Cain won at number one singles 6-0, 7-5, while Gavin McNeely and Kyle Lahman both won their matches 6-0, 6-1.
The JV team also swept the Vikings, winning 4-0.
Dennis Svennsen won at number one singles 8-1, while Dale Ruppert won 8-1 at number two singles, and Andy Dockter won his match at three singles 8-0.
The doubles team of Brandon Gray and Jacob Kincaid won 8-4.
“The guys were ready to play today,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “We had a slower week, but this match is the beginning of the home stretch for us before sectional (Thursday).” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
With the Manchester offense sputtering in their first two games, Manchester coach Brandon Baker decided to switch things up with a new offensive attack.
While only scoring one touchdown against Tippecanoe Valley in week three, the Squires were able to move the ball by opening things up, and with a new passing attack.
The Squires finally saw the offensive success they were hoping for in a 16-6 win over Whitko to move to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the TRC.
“We did a lot of things well,” Manchester coach Brandon Baker said. “We did a pretty good job on offense, and a great job on defense.
“I like that we played four solid quarters of football,” he continued. “The guys were confident coming into the game, something that we didn’t see in the first two games. Even though we got beat last week, they had confidence. I could see it tonight. There is such a difference in these guys when they know and believe they can win. Tonight, they believed they could win, and they played well.”
Manchester opened the game with a three and out series, but held Whitko to a punting situation on their first drive.
Whitko’s snap was off the mark, and as the Wildcat punter went after the ball, Kyle Henderson made a hit, knocking the ball loose, allowing Brady Miller to recover on the Whitko 13 yard line.
Three plays later, Manchester quarterback Corey Thomas found Skyler Howard in the right side of the end zone. Thomas’s pass was short, but Howard came back for the catch and the score with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
Whitko turned the ball over on downs on their next possession, but Manchester gave the ball right back to the Wildcats on a Nolan Holloway fumble.
The Squires forced the Wildcats into another punting situation, and again, the snap was off the mark, this time going over the punter’s head.
Manchester took over on the Whitko 15 yard line, but the Squires squandered the scoring opportunity, as the hand off from Thomas to Blaine Miller was off the mark.
The Manchester defense, which Baker has been pleased with all season, came through again, as Whitko quarterback James Stoddard fumbled in the end zone. Stoddard recovered the fumble, but Henderson jumped on Stoddard and the ball for the safety and a 9-0 lead with 12.5 seconds left in the quarter.
Manchester got the ball back due to the safety, and moved the ball to the Whitko 25 yard line. Thomas found Howard on the right side streaking to end zone, but the pass was off the mark, setting up a 42 yard field goal attempt by Broc Skaar.
Kicking into a stiff wind, Skaar’s kick missed, giving the ball back to Whitko.
Whitko didn’t score on their next two possessions, and the Squires took over on their own 40 yard line with 4:36 left in the half.
Thomas hit Howard for a nine yard pass, followed by a two yard run from Blaine Miller for the first down.
The Squires got a break as Thomas looked for Howard again, and a pass interference call put the ball on the 33 yard line.
Thomas to Howard was the call again, and this time, the duo connected for a 29 yard reception, putting the ball on the four yard line with 1:43 left.
After an incomplete pass, Holloway put the ball on the one with a three yard run, then plunged it in with 50 seconds left. Skaar’s extra point made it 16-0.
Whitko looked like they were going to make a game of it as Stoddard found Trent Rowland for a 74 yard strike on the second play of the half to cut the lead to 16-6.
Netiher team scored again, and although both teams moved the ball, the ball never got inside the 30 yard line in the second half.
“We still have a few wrinkles to iron out, but for the most part, we did a nice job offensively,” Baker said. “We played with a lot of heart tonight, and that’s what we started to see last week. If we can continue to work hard and keep a good attitude, we can win a few more games, and get to where we want to be.”
The Squires will host North Miami next week with a 7:00 p.m. kick-off.
First Downs, M-13; W-5
Rushes/yards, M-44-123; W-26-18
Passing/yards, M-10-21-123; W-5-15-118
Total yards, M-246; W-126
Penalties, M-6-36; W-8-54
Rushing-Manchester: Kyle Henderson 17-66, Nolan Holloway 20-52, Blaine Miller 7-5
Passing-Manchester: Corey Thomas 6-14-77, Dylin Kennedy 4-7-46
Receiving-Manchester: Howard 5-74, Blake Hudson 2-17, Josh Robinson 1-9, Ryan Binkley 1-8.
The boys’ tennis team had a successful week last week, knocking off the 11 time defending regional champion, nearly pulling off an upset against the 12th ranked team in the state, and winning four of five positions at the TRC Tournament.
Win Over Kokomo
The Squires lost three matches in 2006, two of them to Kokomo, including getting eliminated by the Wildkats in the regional championship. Fast forward a season, and the Squires have put themselves in contention for a regional title with a 4-1 win over Kokomo.
“This was a huge win for our program,” head coach Eric Christiansen said. “This was the match we had circled on our schedule since last October. The guys really stepped up and played an amazing match.”
The Squires had no trouble in the doubles matches with David Cable and Bryant Wiley winning 6-2, 6-2, and Steven Camp and Kyle Lahman winning 6-3, 6-4.
Andrew Gnagy, playing three singles, also had little trouble, pulling off a 6-0, 6-2 win to clinch the match.
Gavin McNeeley overcame a slow start to pull out a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win at two singles, while Nate Cain fell 6-1, 6-2.
“We were ready to play today, and came in with confidence,” Christiansen said. “I think the regional title still goes through Kokomo, no matter who wins our sectional.”
The JV team beat Kokomo 4-2. Winning singles matches were Scott Spaulding (8-2) and Dennis Svennsen (8-6), while winning doubles matches were the teams of Andrew Baker/Jacob Kincaid (8-2) and Spaulding/Dale Ruppert (6-3).
Loss To #12 Canterbury
Against highly ranked Canterbury, the Squires put themselves in a position they wanted to be in, with a chance to win the match.
In the end, it was the 12th ranked team in the state (one class system) edging the Squires 3-2.
Once again, the doubles teams proved victorious, setting up a dramatic finish at number three singles.
Cable and Wiley battled for two sets, winning the first 7-5, but dropping the second 6-3. The third set, however, was all Manchester, as the number one duo looked unbeatable in a 6-0 thrashing.
At two doubles, Camp and Lahman started off strong, winning the first set 6-2, but also was forced into a third set, dropping the second 6-4. The Manchester senior and sophomore never trailed in the second set and came away with a 6-4 win in the third.
Cain played what Christiansen said was his best match of the year, but fell short 6-4, 6-2, and McNeeley lost his match 6-3, 6-0, turning all eyes to the number three singles court, where Andrew Gnagy was also doing battle in a third set.
Gnagy dropped the first set 6-4, but stormed back to win the second set 6-1. In the third set, Gnagy fell behind 4-1, and then 5-2, but looked to rally, closing the gap to 5-3, and held a game point to get it to 5-4.
Canterbury’s Alex Yahanda, however, never let Gnagy any closer, pulling off the 6-3 win, squashing any chances the Squires had of an upset.
“This was the best loss I’ve been around in 11 years of coaching,” Christiansen said. “Our doubles are rolling, and Andrew never stopped fighting. This will be a learning match for him. He is so new at singles still, but is learning what it takes to play this spot.
“I’m proud of the whole team,” he continued. “Our doubles teams showed a lot of heart in those third sets, and Nate and Gavin played well against very good competition.”
The JV team also lost to Canterbury 4-2. Winning for the JV were the doubles teams of Baker/Spaulding (8-0) and Svennsen/Andy Dockter (8-0).
TRC Tournament
The Squires finished the Three Rivers Conference tournament with four first place finishes to win the team competition with 26 points. Wabash was second with 19, Whitko was third with 15, and Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley tied for fourth with 10 points.
Nate Cain won the number one singles tournament, beating Tippecanoe Valley 4-6, 6-2 (10-5) (super tie-break in lieu of 3rd set), Whitko 6-1, 6-3, and Rochester 6-4, 6-0 in the finals.
Andrew Gnagy won the number three singles tournament, beating Rochester 6-0, 6-2, and Wabash 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Cable and Wiley stormed through the number one doubles tournament, beating Whitko 6-0, 6-2, and Wabash 6-0, 6-0.
Camp and Lahman were just as dominant, beating Whitko 6-1, 6-0, and Wabash 6-0, 6-0.
McNeeeley had a rough day, dropping a hard fought match with Wabash 4-6, 7-6 (4), (10-6), but bounced back to beat Tippecanoe Valley 8-5. Andrew Baker subbed in for the final match and lost to Rochester 8-2.
“I was really happy with how the day went,” Christiansen said. “The doubles teams had no trouble, and I loved the way Nate and Andrew fought through some tough matches. Gavin gave everything he had in his loss, and never quit.
“We start the TRC schedule this week, and we showed that we will be favored, but nothing will be easy,” he continued.
The tennis team will be at DeKalb on Wedensday, at Whitko on Thursday, at the Homestead Invitational on Saturday, and at Columbia City on Monday.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ golf team improved to 6-4 with wins over West Noble and Whitko.
Manchester shot a 215, while West Noble and Whitko both shot 227.
Hayley Shafer was medalist on the night, shooting a 50. Allson Mussey and Scarlett Melton both shot 55, while Kylee Clapp and Lauren Mussey both shot 56.
“The girls have worked hard this season, and it is definitely showing in their scores,” coach Dorey Bungitak. “I can’t wait to see what we can do at TRC.”
Loss To Huntington North
The girls’ golf team dropped a 182-217 decision to Huntington North.
Allison Mussey led Manchester with a 51, while Clapp and Lauren Mussey both shot 53. Melton shot a 60, and Shafer added a 61.
“I’m really excited to see how we do at conference this weekend now that we have played LaFontaine already this season, and did well,” Bungitak said. “We know what we are capable of doing, and I hope that we can show everyone else, when it matters most.”
For the JV, McKenzie Logan shot a personal best 53. Erica Milam shot a 63, Katherine Tate and Katie Underwood both shot 64, McKenna Egner shot a 68, and Shelby Rager shot a 71.
Loss to Warsaw
The golf team fell to 7-6 with a 200-219 loss to Warsaw.
Lauren Mussey shot a personal best 48 to lead the Lady Squires. Shafer shot a 51, while Allison Mussey shot a 57. Melton shot a 63, and Clapp shot a 67.
“We could have had at least one more score in the 40s, but we always have at least one really bad hole. That’s okay, though, it happens,” Bungitak said. “We need to work on preventing that bad hole from happening. I think it can be prevented, as long as we use course management, and take our time on our putts.”
The girls’ golf team finished last at the Three Rivers Conference Tournament last Saturday, held at LaFontaine Golf Club, Huntington, IN.
Rochester won the tournament with a team score of 408. Wabash was second with 423, Whitko was third with 428, Tippecanoe Valley was fourth with 446, and Manchester was fifth with 448. Northfield and Southwood competed, but didn’t have enough golfers to field a full team.
Lauren Mussey led Manchester with a 105, while Allison Mussey and Scarlett Melton both shot 113. Kylee Clapp shot a 117, and Hayley Shafer added a 121.
Caston/Southern Wells
Earlier in the season, the golf team topped Caston and Southern Wells with a 212. Southern Wells shot a 235, while Caston shot a 258.
Shafer was medalist for the night with a 51. Lauren Mussen shot a 53, while Allison Mussey, Clapp, and Melton all shot 54.
“We have a lot to be proud of,” Bungitak said. “We are continuously improving.”
Whitko/Tippecanoe Valley
The golf team split a three way match with Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley, shooting a 220. Whitko shot a 214, while Valley turned in a 233.
Allison Mussey and Lauren Mussey both shot 52, while Shafer shot a 57. Clapp shot a 59, and Melton shot a 67.
“We had a few girls with double-digit scores on a hole, and if we can eliminate those, we can shoot scores in the 40s,” Bungitak said. “We have achieved so many goals this year, and it’s exciting to know our hard work is paying off.”
A nationwide search for a new athletic director has brought Manchester College to its own baseball diamond. Rick Espeset, who led the Spartans to the 2004 NCAA Division III World Series, will step into the position immediately, announced President Jo Young Switzer.
Espeset will continue as head coach of the baseball team as he assumes leadership of the 17-sport Athletics Department. He succeeds Athletic Director Tom Jarman, who retired this summer after 18 years in the post.
“Rick Espeset has been a highly successful baseball coach for over a decade at Manchester. His leadership skills and deep knowledge of athletics make him the perfect fit for our program,” said Glenn R. Sharfman, vice president and dean for academic affairs.“He is committed to excellence both on and off the field.”
Espeset is an acknowledged leader in his profession, in line to serve as national chair of the NCAA Division III baseball committee in 2009. He is in the middle of a four-year appointment as chair of the NCAA Mideast Region.
“Rick is committed to an athletic program with integrity, competitiveness, and high expectations for students,” said Switzer, noting Espeset was selected from a national field of strong candidates. ....Read More
The MHS girls’ soccer team picked up its first win of the season with a 3-2 win over North Miami Monday night.
Denae Pyle got the scoring started on a pass from Mackenzie Coulter-Kern for a 1-0 lead. Josi Cripe scored the second goal of the night midway through the half, followed by a goal from Addy Naragon. Andy and Hannah Sharfman joined for the assists.
Jessica Nearing, Jentri Cripe, and Kelly Bowers shared time in goal to get the win.
North Miami tried to make a game of it with two goals late in the game, but Manchester held off the Lady Warriors to pick up the win.
The Lady Squires will be at the Bremen Tourney on Saturday.
It’s been 15 years, but the Manchester High School boys’ tennis team finally got the upper hand against Carroll, edging the Chargers 3-2 last week.
Manchester dominated the doubles competition, and got a convincing win from Gavin McNeeley at singles to rebound from a team loss to Bishop Dwenger the night before (see below).
McNeeley had little trouble at the two singles spot, winning 6-2, 6-2, while the number one doubles team of David Cable and Bryant Wiley won 6-1, 6-0, and the number two doubles team of Steven Camp and Kyle Lahman won 6-2, 6-0.
Nate Cain fell 6-2, 6-2 at one singles, and Andrew Gnagy lost 6-1, 7-6 at three singles.
“Losing to Bishop Dwenger might have been the best thing to happen to us,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “I like the way the guys responded, and with a new line up, they played really well. Gavin frustrated his opponent and never let up, and the doubles teams were dominant. Nate played a very good player, and Andrew played his first varsity singles match, and played well in the second set.”
The JV team also beat Carroll, winning 6-1.
Winning singles matches were Scott Spaulding, Andrew Baker, Dennis Svennsen and Erik Hand. Winning two doubles matches was the team of Jacob Kincaid and Andy Dockter.
Loss To Bishop Dwenger
The Squires suffered their first loss of the season to Bishop Dwenger 3-2.
In heat that reached over 100 degrees with the heat index, the match came down to a three hour battle at the three singles spot between the Squires’ Kyle Lahman and Dwenger’s Nathan Maskal.
Maskal won the first set 6-2, but Lahman battled back to win the second set 6-3. Lahman battled heat exhaustion in the second set, feeling nauseous at times, but bounced back to take a 4-2 lead in the third set. That was all Lahman had left, as he lost the next four games, and the match 6-4.
“Kyle gave everything he had, and that’s all I can ask,” Christiansen said. “We don’t like losing, and I know Kyle isn’t happy, but hopefully we can learn from this. We might have been a little overconfident heading into this match. Maybe it will be an eye opener.”
Bryant Wiley won his match at two singles 7-6, 6-2, while the two doubles team of McNeeley and Camp won 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Cain lost 6-2, 6-2 at one singles, and Cable and Gnagy fell 7-5, 6-4.
The JV team beat Dwenger 6-3. Winning singles matches were Dennis Svennsen and Erik Hand, and winning doubles matches were the teams of Scott Spaulding and Andrew Baker, Brandon Gray and Baker, Spaulding and Hand, and Jacob Kincaid and Andy Dockter.
The Squires will host Huntington North on Thursday, and 17th ranked Kokomo on Tuesday in a rematch of last year’s regional championship.
by Eric Christiansen
While the Manchester defense played well, the offense had the Squire coaching staff and players scratching their heads.
The Squires opened their season with a 20-3 loss to Mississinewa last Friday, but after the game, head coach Brandon Baker saw some positives.
“The defense played well,” he said. “Except for the first play of the game, where we gave up a 49 yard run, we held them to under 50 yards rushing. Even after that big play, the defense stepped up and didn’t let them score.”
In fact, Manchester forced Mississinewa to a turnover on downs on their first possession, and forced the Indians to punt on their next two possessions.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Indians scored, but it wasn’t the defense that allowed the points.
Mississinewa’s Travis Cunningham picked off a loose fumble in the air and ran it back for a 50 yard touchdown with 9:08 left in the first half.
After each team traded punts, the Squires were forced to punt again, but this time, the punt was partially blocked, giving the Indians the ball on the Squire 27 yard line.
After receptions of 12 and 18 yards, Jon Dalton punched it in from the one yard line to give Mississinewa a 14-0 lead. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ golf team got their season started early, taking on Wabash on August 2, and pulling out a 218-227 win.
Hayley Shafer and Allison Mussey both led Manchester with scores of 52. Kylee Clapp and Lauren Mussey both shot 57, while Scarlett Melton shot a 66, and McKenna Egner added a 66.
“I am so proud of all of these girls,” assistant coach Michelle Bucher said. “We had only three days to practice for this match, but all the girls came out ready to play. This is a great way to start our season.”
Loss to Peru
The Lady Squires traveled to Peru Municipal to take on the Lady Tigers and came away with their first loss of the season, 202-231.
Allison Mussey led the way with a 55, while Shafer was right behind her with a 56. Melton shot a 58, Clapp shot a 62, and Lauren Mussey shot a 63.
For the JV, Egner shot a 63, Erika Milam shot a 73, and Katherine Tate shot an 81.
“Peru Municipal is a tough course, particularly the front nine,” said head coach Dorey Bungitak. “I’m proud of the girls. This was only our second match, while Peru has already played in eight competitions, many of them being invitationals.”
Loss to Wawasee
The Lady Squires shot a better score, but still fell short to Wawasee 175-220.
Allison Mussey continued to improve, leading Manchester with a 52. Clapp shot a 55, Shafer shot a 56, Lauren Mussey shot a 57, and Melton shot a 62.
The JV team lost to Wawasee 220-271.
Milam led Manchester with a 57, while McKenzie Logan and Shelby Rager both shot 68. Tate turned in a 78.
“Wawasee is a tough team, and has participated in more matches than we have this season,” Bungitak said. “We still have room for improvement before sectional, but overall, I am very happy with these girls.”
by Eric Christiansen
The boys’ soccer team got their season off with a bang after a 4-1 win over Bishop Dwenger last week.
Despite controlling the ball for much of the first half, Manchester fell behind 1-0 at halftime.
The second half was a different story, however, and the Squires exploded for four goals.
Five minutes into the second half, Andrew Chinworth scored on an unassisted goal.
Jacob Brumbaugh-Smith scored the go-ahead goal on a pass from Matt Winterrowd, while Wilfred Lohitai scored on a pass from Josh Watson, and Winterrowd scored the final goal of the day.
“We started slow, but stayed tough and finished strong,” head coach Dave McKee said. “Our defense played hard, led by D.J. Brown, Devon Knecht, Derek Jones, and Eddie Black. All of the young men stepped it up.”
Manchester got 12 shots on goal, while keeper Austin Metzger had five saves.
Win over Peru
The soccer team kept things going in their second game, dominating Peru 6-1 to improve to 2-0 on the young season.
Watson and Winterrowd each scored two goals, while Ian Pattison and Andrew Chinworth both scored one each. Pattison had two assists, while Watson, Winterrowd, and Chinworth all had one assist.
“The defense played tough again, and only allowed Peru to get three shots off,” McKee said. “They all stayed focused and played our game.”
The Manchester High School boys’ tennis team has one ultimate goal this season: To make history.
The Squires finished the 2006 campaign with a 15-3 record, swept through the Three Rivers Conference with a perfect 4-0 record, won its first sectional title in 12 seasons, and advanced to the regional championship match before falling to state ranked Kokomo. All of that was accomplished with just one senior on the varsity roster.
The boys’ tennis team has its sights set on achieving something no Wabash County or Three Rivers Conference tennis team, boys or girls, has ever done - win a regional championship.
“We’re excited for the season to begin,” said 11-year head coach Eric Christiansen. “The guys have worked really hard in the offseason, and we hope it pays off.”
The Squires return their top two singles players, Bryant Wiley and Nate Cain, and all four members of last year’s doubles teams, David Cable, Andrew Gnagy, Steven Camp and Gavin McNeeley. Wiley, Cain, and Cable are all starting their fourth varsity season, while Gnagy is entering his third year on the varsity. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
It will be a new look for the girls' golf team this season, but new head coach Dory Bungitak is looking forward to see the improvements her team can make in the short season.
Gone is former coach Kyle Wieland, who started his new job of athletic director over a month ago.
Also gone are seniors Audrey Siebrase, Taylor Leonhard, and Samantha Budnik. Siebrase was an individual qualifier for the regional last season.
The Lady Squires do return some experience, however, as seniors Scarlett Melton, Kylee Clapp, and Lauren Mussey, as well as juniors Hayley Shafer and Allison Mussey all took shots on the varsity team last season from time to time.
Those five, along with junior McKenna Egner will make up the varsity squad.
Five other girls round out the squad, and Bungitak is exicted to see the growth in their games.
Sophomores Shelby Rager and Katherine Tate, along with freshmen McKenzie Logan, Ericka Milan, and Katie Underwood are all learning the game from Bungitak and assisant coach Michelle Bucher. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Every high school athletic program wants to improve, and with the help of a new strength and conditioning program, Manchester High School has a plan that will help each athlete and team get better.
Eighty-two athletes and 23 coaches from MHS participated in a Bigger Faster Stronger clinic last Friday, and both athletes and coaches left the 6 1/2 hour program impressed and enthused.
“I thought it was really good because it’s hard for a three sport athlete,” said junior Ryan Binkley, who plays football, basketball and baseball. “I have been lifting for football, but it’s hard trying to interact with different sports. Using this for all of the sports will be really good and easy for all of us.”
“It was a great clinic, and the kids seemed to enjoy it,” MHS football coach Brandon Baker said. “Hopefully, we can continue with that. I think it’s going to be a great thing.”
Ray Cosenza, athletic director and football coach at Fitchburg High School in Massachusetts, presented the two-day clinic to MHS coaches and athletes. Twenty-three coaches attended a four-hour session on Thursday, followed by a 6 1/2 hour session on Friday with student-athletes and coaches. Cosenza left impressed. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Ryan Good has been named the new head wrestling coach at Manchester High School, and is excited about the upcoming year.
Good, a 1994 Manchester High School graduate, and a 1998 Franklin College graduate is looking forward to getting back on the mat.
The current MHS math teacher wrestled at Manchester Junior High School, and at Manchester High School for four years, then was an assistant coach at New Castle Junior High School for one year, and New Castle High School for two years.
Good has been with MHS for six years, spending one year as a junior high football coach, and five years as an assistant coach with the varsity football team as an offensive and defensive line coach.
“My two biggest goals as the wrestling coach is to have consistency in the program, and to get kids excited about wrestling,” Good said. “I have an advantage being in the school, and being a football coach. I'll be able to pull more guys in from the football team and get them to be involved in more sports. And, with our new lifting program, it's going to follow through the same way.”
Good finished up his first year as Manchester Junior High wrestling coach, and hopes to be able to build a program that starts with the younger groups, and feeds into the high school.
“We have some good kids coming back who have been in the (youth) wrestling club, and at the junior high,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get everybody all on the same track. I just want to keep them progressing up into high school. Numbers are important.”
Good knows that wrestling is a different sport that is not for every kid.
“It takes a different breed of kid to walk out on the mat by themselves and take somebody on,” he said. “Mental toughness is so important in this sport. The two toughest sports to participate in are swimming and wrestling. When you are wrestling, it's only a few minutes, but for those few minutes, it's non-stop. You have to be focused mentally, and have the physical aspect to go with the mental.”
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ golf team will have a new look at the top this season.
MHS graduate Dorey Bungitak will take over the head coaching duties for the Lady Squires, as former coach Kyle Wieland resigned when he got the job as athletic director.
Bungitak brings an impressive playing and instructing resume to the table as she begins her coaching career.
She was a four year varsity letter winner at Manchester, advancing to regionals three times, and advancing with her team her senior year.
She continued her playing career at Division I Birmingham Southern College in Alabama for two years, before choosing to transfer to Manchester College to be closer to her friends and family.
While at Manchester, Bungitak’s team won its first ever HCAC championship, and has won it for the past five years.
Over the last two summers, she worked at a junior golf academy as an instructor under former MC coach Roger Lundy.
“I learned a lot about the swing and different ways of coaching,” Bungitak said.
Bungitak has always had an interest in golf as far back as she can remember.
“I enjoy working with people and with kids in particular,” she said. “I always wanted to coach. It’s really nice to coach at my old school, and I’m lucky enough to be teaching in the school system.”
Bungitak joined the staff at Laketon Elementary last December as the 5th and 6th grade special education teacher.
Bungitak is excited to get the season started next week.
“We have a lot of new girls, and I’ve already been on the course with them,” she said. “I have very high hopes for the team.”
Bungitak will be joined by new assistant coach Michelle Bucher, which also excites Bungitak.
“With her knowledge and mine, I think we can create some good things,” she said. “I see MHS girls’ golf becoming very successful. We have a great group of girls. I can’t wait for the season to start. I’m even looking forward to driving the mini-bus, if I can pass the test,” she said.
As a way to improve the quality of athletics, Manchester High School is hosting a 2-day strength and conditioning clinic through Bigger Faster Stronger Inc. This clinic is directed toward teaching and motivating student-athletes as well as educating the coaching staff on how to implement the program. “Considering the number of two and three-sport athletes we have, creating a unified program is in the best interest of all of our teams,” explains athletic director Kyle Wieland. “This is something that we have been considering for a while, and BFS has proven to be one of the best high school and college programs for the past 30 years.”
During the clinic, the Bigger Faster Stronger trainers will focus on strength, year-round training, record keeping, sprinting, agility, endurance, flexibility, plyometric training, rest and nutrition, skill training, goal setting, and team building. BFS conducts over 300 clinics a year all across the country. Statistics show that their program not only boasts a 20 percent increase in wins per athletic team, but also cuts the injury rate in half.
“One of the biggest selling points of BFS is their ability to decrease the number of injuries. In a school our size, every injury that we can prevent through strength and conditioning makes us that much more competitive with the larger schools,” Wieland says.
Although Bigger Faster Stronger might sound like it is directed toward football players, this program is actually designed to increase the performance of all student-athletes. At the collegiate level, BFS has been used by a NAIA National Champion Volleyball teams, as well as several Final Four Basketball teams. “The fact that everyone, regardless of gender or sport will be doing the same program means that any coach can supervise a workout. Also, a student won’t have to take a season off to condition for another sport since the core lifts will be the same for every team.”
The Bigger Faster Stronger Clinic is for all Manchester High School athletes and will be held on July 27th from 9:00-4:00 in the high school gymnasium. The clinic is free of charge and lunch will be provided.
Student-athletes should come dressed in athletic attire and ready to learn. Wieland adds, “This is a great opportunity to move our athletic program in a positive direction. We have over 200 athletes a year and I would hope that every one of them would take advantage of this great opportunity.”
For more information on Bigger, Faster, Stronger, go to www.bigger fasterstronger.com.
Questions should be directed toward Athletic Director Kyle Wieland at 982-2196 ext 306.
by Eric Christiansen
Two weeks ago, I offended the majority of the town of North Manchester with my complaints and grievances. To those I offended, I want to offer a heartfelt apology... but I won’t. To those I didn’t offend, keep reading, I might strike a nerve. Here are a few more random thoughts.
*My title is sports editor. I coach three high school teams. However, my life is not sports. I like to think I am a well-rounded, thoughtful, insightful human being who has interests other than sports. I need to read more books, read more of the front section of daily newspapers, and probably have a stronger political stance, but my life isn’t just sports. That being said, if you read my columns in hopes that I am going to break down the pennant races, offer my opinions on the recent NBA draft, or give my predictions for the upcoming NFL season, find another sports section. There is nothing wrong with breaking down and analyzing sports, from the local level on up. However, when it comes to breaking down sports, I am kind of a jack of all trades and a master of none. I will report on what is important in North Manchester, but rarely will you find me talking about the Yankees’ bullpen.
*I have written about professional wrestling, and thrown many pro wrestling references in my columns in the past. Currently, professional wrestling has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. With the Chris Benoit murder-murder-suicide, pro wrestling’s black eye is just a little bigger than normal. I have opinions on the matter, and not one of them have anything to do with excusing or defending what Benoit did. It’s hard to put your finger around learning about someone you have watched and admired for over a decade killing his wife and son. That is all I will write about this topic.
*Which is better ESPN television, the Scripps National Spelling Bee or Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest? ....Read More
The 11-12 Manchester All-Star team went 1-2 in the Town and Country District tournament last weekend.
Manchester lost their opener to North Miami 10-3. Jurgin Cripe and Jacob Semler both had a double and a run scored, Dallas Fields had one hit and one run, Cordell Christman had one walk and one run, and Evan Olinger had one walk.
Manchester rebounded in the first game of the loser’s bracket, beating South Whitley 7-5.
Semler went 2-2 with four RBI and one run, Grant Schuler went 2-3 with two RBI, Christman went 1-3 with one RBI and one run. Cody Harlan was 2-4 with one run, Jeff Henson was 1-1 with two runs scored, while Cripe and Jim Sainsbury both had one run each.
Manchester was eliminated from the tournament with an 11-0 loss to Caston. Manchester got no-hit, with only Henson reaching base on a walk. Henson also stole second and third, but was unable to score.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of time to work together as a team,” said coach Jerry Semler. “The kids did a good job, worked hard, and had real good attitudes. They are a good group of kids.”
Also on the team were Shane Pingleton, Justin Lewis, and Cody Hann.
The 9-10 Manchester All-Stars went 1-2 in the Town and Country District Tournament, falling in the second round of the consolation bracket.
Manchester lost to Northwestern 20-11 in the opening game of the tournament, then beat Greentown 18-7 in their second game. Manchester was eliminated in a 12-2 loss to South Whitley in their third game.
Conner Eichenauer, Gary Spratt, Thad Miller, Chase Fierstos and Luke Helton all saw action on the mound.
In the three games, Eichenauer led the team with a .778 batting average, going 7-9 with eight RBI and five runs scored. Noah Cain hit .714, going 5-7 with two RBI and four runs scored. Collin Garcia hit .556, going 5-9 with three RBI and eight runs scored.
Helton hit .500, going 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Lucas Schilling hit .444, going 4-9 with three RBI and one run scored. Rainer Borgmann hit .375, going 3-8 with two RBI and a run scored. Miller hit .333, going 3-9 with three RBI and two runs scored. Cody Egner hit .250, going 2-8 with one RBI and four runs scored. Fierstos hit .200, going 1-5. Spratt scored three runs, Zach Hill scored one run, and Dane Schuler walked once.
The team was coached by Joel Eichenauer.
by Eric Christiansen
The second annual County Senior Classic between basketball players from Miami and Wabash Counties was held at Peru High School Saturday night.
Proceeds from the event go to the United Way.
Four seniors from Manchester High School competed in the girls’ game, Libby Pattison, Christa Peden, Holly Vogel, and Audrey Siebrase. The girls’ team was coached by Manchester coaches Mark Underwood and Todd Volk.
Also on the Wabash County team were Allison Mast, Audrey Mast, Kristen Kline, and Christy Penner from Northfield, and Chelsea Traver and Lindsay Harness from Wabash.
Wabash County won for the second straight year, posting a 75-61 win.
Wabash led Miami 41-38 at halftime, but controlled the second half, outscoring the host county 34-23.
Wabash County had a balanced scoring attack with Traver leading the way with 12 points. Vogel had 10 points, Allison Mast and Siebrase had nine points, Peden and Penner each had eight points, Pattison had six points, and Kline added three.
The Wabash County boys’ team consisted of three Manchester High School seniors, Lucas Renz, Brandon Shepherd, and Zach Sievers.
Manchester head coach Gary Goshert and former Southwood head coach Steve McClure co-coached the teams.
Also on the Wabash County team were Aaron Grizzle, Evan Bowman, and Josh Finch from Southwood, Bryce Shafer and Tory Sears from Northfield, and Ryan Denney and Chad Smith from Wabash.
After an even game for the first 15 minutes, Miami County jumped out to a 47-43 halftime lead and never trailed in the second half to take a 102-89 win.
Miami County only fielded five players, so Manchester juniors Dan Bourne and Ian Pattison, and Wabash juniors Nico Macaluso and ***** joined the Miami County team.
For Wabash County, Smith led the way with 29 points, while Finch tallied 17. Grizzle scored nine, Shafer, Bowman, and Sears all had eight points, Shepherd had five, Sievers and Denney both had two points, and Renz had one point.
Bourne added 10 points for Miami County.
Holly Vogel won the three point contest for the girls, while Peru’s Jacob Briscoe won for the boys.
by Eric Christiansen
I’ve mentioned being addicted to ESPN Radio recently, and particularly Collin Cowherd’s show. Cowherd isn’t afraid to voice his opinion, and always responds to callers’ complaints with the following line, “I’m not telling you how to think, I’m just telling you how I think.”
It’s a great way to get off the hook. With that in mind, I have a few complaints, grievances, and just all around comments on sports, people, entertainment, and society in general.
In our politically correct society, I am sure to offend someone, but in the spirit of Cowherd, these are just my thoughts, and I might be guilty of some of the same things I complain about.
*I am sick and tired of seeing people wearing sunglasses on top of their heads. I think the rule should be that if you are not going to be out in the sun longer than one minute, leave the sunglasses in the car. Don’t put them on your head, on your hat, hanging from your ear to chin, and please, please please, don’t put your sunglasses on the back of your head. A walk from the car to the store does not warrant the wearing of sunglasses. Do not wear them indoors. Do not wear them at night. Anyone over 25 years old is now hearing that stupid Corey Hart song in their head.
*People need to learn how to use the turn lanes.
*Does it drive anyone else nuts when people don’t return their carts to their proper places at grocery stores? How lazy can we get? After getting the cart, spending an average of 30 minutes in the store, an average of 5-8 minutes in line, then taking the cart to your car, you all of a sudden decide, “I’m done. Let someone else return my cart.” That takes arrogance and laziness.
*These new shoes called “Crocs” may be comfortable, but to me, they are the ugliest things I have ever seen. Go to a hospital. Everyone is wearing them. I guess if someone is saving my life, and if it takes wearing these hideous shoes to make them do their job better, go ahead and wear them. If it is for a fashion statement, stop, now.
*As someone who used to work in customer service at a bank, restaurants, and a video store, nothing is worse than that last car pulling in one minute before closing time, then taking 10 minutes to take care of business.
*On the other hand, as a customer, nothing is worse than a business closing five minutes early because “It’s been dead tonight.” If your hours are until 10:00 p.m., and I want a sandwich at 9:58, I better be able to get my food.
*Why do people honk in traffic jams?
*Why is the darn train moving so slowly through North Manchester?
*Texting. Maybe I am showing my age here. I used to always say that I would never stop listening to popular music or stop watching MTV. Well, here I am in my mid-30s and will occasionally listen to some hip hop, but MTV is dead to me, and I just don’t understand texting. Nothing is worse than being around someone who is constantly sending and receiving text messages. I have been with people who have had arguments over text message. I have heard of phone bills that are upwards of $400 because of texting. I have a rule, that if someone sends me a text message, after two messages, you better call me because I am done. If we all had a two-text limit, the world would be a better place.
*I can’t make up my mind on this whole Barry Bonds situation. Commissioner Bud Selig says he won’t be there when Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s home run record. Fans boo him. He has obviously done steroids, and anyone who thinks there is a chance he didn’t needs to get their heads out of the sand, you ostrich, you. But, it does take talent to hit home runs. It does take athletic ability and hand eye coordination to have the stats that Bonds has. It isn’t just steroids that make that ball go 400 feet. I just don’t know.
*I want to root against Tiger Woods, and I do think he carries himself like a jerk on the golf course. Then, I watch him on Oprah or Ellen (don’t judge me), and he is personable, funny, and just seems like a nice guy.
*Selfish people really crank my gears.
*Last but not least, I am really in a good mood today. Honestly.
by Eric Christiansen
For the first time in over 20 years, the Manchester High School boys’ golf team advanced to regional competition.
The Squires not only advanced, but they finished second in the always tough Warsaw Sectional, held at Stonehenge Golf Course.
The host Tigers finished in first place with a 317, eight strokes ahead of the Squires, who turned in a 325. Wawasee was the last team to advance to the regional with a 330.
Manchester was in the second to last group, and had to wait for the top three seeds, Warsaw, Wawasee, and Triton, to finish up to find out their fate.
“We had tremendous excitement when we were waiting for the last three teams to come in,” head coach Gary Goshert said. “As we were waiting, I told the guys that I was proud of how they played, and they knew they played the best they could. It’s a special thing to be able to advance to the regional as a team. There were a lot of smiles from ear to ear when we found out we were able to advance.”
Manchester wasn’t flashy in its execution, but was deep enough and consistent enough to claim the runner-up spot.
Sophomore Josh Troyer, playing in the number four spot, led the Squires with a 41-38-79, shooting his lowest score ever in tournament play.
“To do that on this course is impressive,” Goshert said of Troyer. “Josh is a little professor out there. He is very meticulous on the course, and it has paid off.”
Manchester’s number one player, Doug Hayden, was right behind Troyer with a 39-41-80.
“Doug has been ‘Steady Eddie’,” Goshert said. “He’s been our top golfer for the past two seasons, and is just so consistent.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Down Goes Patel! Down Goes Patel!
It wasn’t quite “Down Goes Frazier!”, but it seemed awfully close.
Samir Patel, the most popular, most recognizable, and possibly the cockiest contestant in the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee, went down with a loud thud. Patel, who in the previous four years had a second and third place finish, was knocked out on his first word of the semi-final round. The word that got our hero? Clevis. Clevis!!!!
I’ve seen our boy scoff, roll his eyes, give a little “what’s up” nod to the cute 11 year old girl from Thousand Oaks, California sitting two rows behind him, then knock off the word “onomasiologic” without a beat.
Last Thursday, Clevis!??!!!! My man spells it C-L-E-V-I-C-E.
Talk about whiffing at a softball. It was almost as if the folks at ESPN and ABC told the Scripps people, “Look, we need ratings. We need people watching this freak-fest. We don’t care if the words are picked ‘randomly’, we want Samir Patel on prime time, and you make sure he gets there!”
Looks like someone forgot to tell Patel.
I guarantee that if Vince McMahon were running this thing, Patel would be in the final two.
Instead, we see a cocky 13 year old kid, who went from a cute nine year old, full of personality and wit, to a thoughtful, media savvy quasi-adult. He is the Theo Huxtable of the spelling bee.
Remember when Theo was going to live off monopoly money and eat bologna sandwiches? Remember when Theo had a best friend named Cockroach and tried to get on “Dance Mania”, then nearly beat up Rudy when he didn’t get on the show? That was Samir Patel, the early years.
Then, from season 3 to season 4, Theo starts squinting his eyes when he spoke, almost to make us believe he was actually in deep thought when he spit out lines like, “I’ll have mustard on my bacon burger dog,” and “Jammin’ on the One.” Then, by the final two seasons, Theo was friends with the geek club, and making appearances on “Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam”. That is the Samir Patel, the now years.
When Patel went out, we heard the dreaded “ding” of the missed-word bell, then a gasp from the audience. Then, in what I think is a first in competitive history, a standing ovation was started by a group of 11 year olds, Samir’s competitors, followed by the adults in the audience.
Patel walked off the stage, stunned. ....Read More
The girls’ tennis team ended its season with a 3-2 loss to eventual sectional champion Northfield in the opening round of the Peru Sectional.
Manchester senior Kristen Lahman advanced to the individual sectional as a result of her 6-4, 6-1 win over Amelia Roser.
“Kristen started to figure things out late in the match, and really did what she had to do to win the match,” coach Eric Christiansen said.
Lahman faced Mississinewa’s Cassie Fleming Tuesday night. (See www.nmpaper.com for results.)
Manchester’s other win against Northfield came from freshman Tara Gnagy, who defeated Erin Shannon 6-3, 6-2 at two singles. Gnagy finished the season with an 8-8 record, winning her last five matches of the year.
“Tara really came into her own in the second half of the season,” Christiansen said. “She is really going to have a bright future.”
Northfield dominated the other three matches, giving up just one game.
Alexa Trump beat Amy Callicoat 6-1, 6-0, while the doubles team of Christy Penner and Kassi Dyson beat Katherine Tate and Jenna Alexander 6-0, 6-0, and the team of Megan LaConfora and Jessica Dyson beat Julie Seifert and Kyla Zile 6-0, 6-0.
Loss to Mississinewa
The Lady Squires traveled to Mississinewa to close out the regular season to face a team that sported a 12-1 record. For about an hour, it looked like the winless Manchester team might pull off the upset, but in the end, the Lady Indians came through with a 4-1 win.
Gnagy won her match 6-4, 7-5 at two singles, while Callicoat won her first set 6-2, and Lahman led an undefeated Fleming 4-1 in the first set, and had a set point at 5-4.
Callicoat lost the last two sets 6-4, 6-1, while Lahman lost a close match 7-5, 6-3.
“We put a scare into them,” Christiansen said. “We came out with nothing to lose, and almost got them.”
Alexander and Tate lost 6-1, 6-0, while Seifert and Zile also lost 6-1, 6-0.
The Lady Squires finished the season 0-13, but Christiansen is enthused about next season.
“We have so many new players on the team, but they got better every match, and that’s all I can ask as a coach,” Christiansen said. “We don’t have any seniors, so I hope that is some motivation for the girls to really work at their games.”
Audrey Johnson won the 800m run, while eight other runners joined Johnson at the Bremen Regional held this past Tuesday. (For results, see www.nmpaper.com)
Manchester finished fourth as a team with 57 points. Plymouth won with 168, Culver Academy was second with 141, while Northfield was third with 65. Triton was fifth with 46.5, Culver Community was sixth with 42.50, Rochester was seventh with 37, Tippecanoe Valley was eighth with 37, Caston and North Miami both tied with 13 points.
Johnson won the 800m run with a time of 2:27.59, winning the event by over two seconds.
“Audrey was just awesome,” head coach Julie Cassel said. “She has been so great all season. She deserves this.”
Mackenzie Coulter-Kern was second in the 400m dash with a time of 1:01.33.
The 4x400m relay team of Evette Lengel, Jessica Bedke, Coulter-Kern, and Johnson finished second with a time of 4:18.27, while the 4x800m relay team of Alana DeWitt, Johnson, Elaina Johns, and Jordian Wade finished third with a time of 10:44.95, and the 4x100m relay team of Lengel, Bedke, Coulter-Kern, and Polly Poe finished fourth with a time of 53.4.
Also advancing to regional action was Poe in the long jump, finishing third with a jump of 16’11 1/4”.
Brittany Sievers just missed advancing in the discus, finishing fifth with a throw of 104’ 5”.
Alana DeWitt finished sixth in the 1600m run with a time of 5:49.52.
Finishing seventh was Poe in the 100m dash (13.63), Evette Lengel in the 100m hurdles (18.12), and Jessica Bedke in the 300m hurdles (51.83).
Coulter-Kern was eighth in the 100m dash (13.93).
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ track team will be sending five athletes to the Kokomo Regional in five events, including three individual events.
The Squires finished seventh at the Plymouth Sectional with 34 points.
Plymouth won with 201 points, Triton was second with 97 points, Rochester was third with 86, Culver Academies was fourth with 70, North Miami was fifth with 39, Northfield was sixth with 35, Culver Community was eighth with 29, Tippecanoe Valley was ninth with 25, and Caston was 10th with six points.
Gavin McNeeley advanced in three events, including a third place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 23.63. He was part of the 4x400m relay team that finished third (3:40.52), along with Steven Camp, Kyle Henderson, and Aaron Medley, and was part of the third place 4x100m relay team (46.14), along with Henderson, Travis Lightle, and Enrico Montanari.
Montanari also advanced in the 100m dash, finishing fourth with a time of 11.60.
Aaron Medley advanced in the 400m dash, finishing fourth with a time of 54.84.
Rick Morgan had a tough night, just missing out on advancing in the high jump, finishing fifth with a jump of 5’8”. In the 110m hurdles, Morgan was sixth in the preliminaries, but had a false start in the finals. He also finished eighth in the 300m hurdles (45.95).
The 4x800m relay team of Eddie Black, Michael Bowen, Brandon Wiley, and Aaron Snover finished eighth with a time of 9:41.92.
In other events, Camp was 11th in the 100m dash (12.10), J.J. Conley was 12th in the 400m dash (58.74), Michael Bowen was 11th in the 800m run (2:18.54), Lightle was 13th in the long jump (17’ 8 3/4”), Justin O’Brien was 10th in the shot put (39’ 1/2”), while in the discus, Matt Bowman was 13th (114’6”), and Justin O’Brien was 14th (114.5”).
“This was a big jump from last year, after not sending anyone to regional,” head coach Julie Cassel said. “The guys have worked really hard and it is showing.”
The Kokomo Regional begins at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
The Manchester High School girls’ track team finished second at the Wabash County Meet last Thursday.
Northfield won with 133 points, while Manchester was second with 126 points. Southwood was third with 102, Wabash was fourth with 92, and Whites was fifth with 16 points.
Manchester won six events on the night to help them to their second place finish.
The 3200m relay team of Alana DeWitt, Audrey Johnson, Elaina Johns, and Jordian Wade won with a time of 10:46.10, while the 1600m relay team of Jessica Bedke, Kari Miller, Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, and Johnson won with a time of 4:23.60.
In individual events, Brittany Sievers won the discus with a PR throw of 102’06”, Polly Poe won the long jump (15’10”), Coulter-Kern won the 400m dash (1:02.10-PR), and Johnson won the 800m run (2:28.90).
Finishing in second place was the 400m relay team of Bedke, Evette Lengel, Coulter-Kern, and Poe (53.80), Lengel in the 100m hurdles (17.30), DeWitt in the 3200m run (13:16.50), and Poe in the 200m dash (29.10).
Coming in third place was Bedke in the 300m low hurdles (51.90-PR), and Caroline Andersen in the high jump (4’6”-PR).
Fourth place results were Coulter-Kern in the 100m dash (14.40), Josi Cripe in the 1600m run (6:19.10), Sievers in the shot put (27’10 1/2”), and Miller in the 400m dash (1:07.70-PR).
Sixth place finishes were Bedke in the 100m hurdles (18.90), Andersen in the 1600m run (6:20.30), Sydni Terrill in the 3200m run (13:47), Morgan Ozenbaugh in the discus (74’05”), Sara Gable in the shot put (24’11 1/2”), Morgan Meinert in the high jump (4’2”), and Wade in the 800m run (2:53.10).
The girls’ track team will be at the TRC meet at Tippecanoe Valley on Thursday.
The Manchester High School boys’ track team finished second at the Wabash County Meet, held at Wabash High School last Thursday.
Manchester finished with 111 points, 15 points behind Southwood, who won the event with 126 points. Northfield was third with 108 points, Wabash was fourth with 99 points, and Whites had 28 points for fifth place.
Manchester won four events on the day.
The 400m relay team of Gavin McNeeley, Kyle Henderson, Travis Lightle, and Enrico Montanari won with a time of 46.40. In individual events, Rick Morgan won the high jump (5’8”), McNeeley won the 200m dash (23.80), and Aaron Medley won the 400m dash with a PR time of 53.30.
Coming in second place was Enrico Montanari in the 100m dash (11.80), Morgan in the 110m hurdles (17.10) and the 300m hurdles (45.30), Travis Lightle in the long jump (18’8”), and the 1600m relay team of McNeeley, Medley, Steven Camp, and Henderson (3:41.40).
Finishing in third place was Broc Skaar in the 300m hurdles (46.30), the 3200m relay team of Eddie Black, Michael Bowen, Aaron Snover, and Brandon Wiley (9:16.30-PR), and Montanari in the 200m dash (24.30).
Fourth place results were Skaar in the 100m hurdles (18.60), while fifth place results were Tom Trinh in the shot put (35’09”), Medley in the high jump (5’6”), and J.J. Conley in the 400m dash (59.30).
Coming in sixth place was Justin O’Brien in the discus (121’11”-PR).
The track team will be at the TRC Meet on Thursday at Tippecanoe Valley.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School baseball team started its conference season going 2-1.
Loss to Northfield
Manchester stayed close for four innings with Northfield, but couldn’t figure out pitcher Bryce Shafer in a 9-0 loss to the Norse.
The Northfield senior struck out 15 Squires, striking out nine of the last 10 batters he faced.
“Bryce Shafer did a real nice job on the mound for them,” Manchester coach Jack Rupley said.
Northfield scored one run in the first and one in the second before scoring three in the fifth and four in the sixth.
Matt Mathias took the loss from the mound, going 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking one. Cody Semler came on in relief, throwing 1 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on four hits, striking out one and walking two.
Mathias went 2-2 from the plate, while Corey Thomas got Manchester’s other hit.
Win over Whitko ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
On paper, it was a mismatch.
Peru entered its game with the Manchester Squires 9-3 and ranked ninth in the latest 3A polls.
The Squires were 1-6 and had been struggling to produce runs.
In the end, it was a mismatch, with the Squires pulling off a dominating upset, topping the Tigers 14-7.
Blaine Miller got the win on the mound, going the distance, striking out eight, while giving up just seven hits.
Peru, meanwhile, used five pitchers and committed six errors.
“These kids came ready to play tonight,” Manchester coach Jack Rupley said. “Blaine battled through some tough situations, but hung in there against a very good team.”
Manchester exploded for six runs in the top of the first inning and never stopped.
Matt Mathias drove in two runs in the inning, while Miller, Corey Thomas, Cody Semler, and Matt Carver all drove in a run each in the inning.
Peru cut into the lead with two runs in the second, but Manchester responded with three runs in the top of the third, capped off by a 2 RBI single from Semler.
Peru scored a run in the third inning, but the Squires answered with one more in the fourth as Derrek Freshour singled, reached second on a passed ball, and scored on an RBI single from Mathias.
Peru made it 10-6 with three runs in the fifth inning, but the Squires put it away in the seventh inning with four more runs.
Mathias drove in two more runs in the inning to finish the day 3-4 at the plate.
“Matt had a great day at the plate and everyone played good defense,” Rupley said. “Matt Carver made some nice plays at second base. Even though we are young, we have the tools to get things done.”
Thomas and Carver both went 2-4, each driving in a run, while Semler was 1-4 with three RBI. Miller was 1-4 with an RBI. ....Read More
The girls’ track team defeated both Northfield and Whitko in a three way meet last week.
Manchester won the meet with 68 points. Northfield was second and Whitko was third.
Manchester won all three relays, with the 3200m relay team winning in 11:02, the 400m relay team winning in 53.50, and the 1600m relay team winning in 4:31.
In individual events, Brit Sievers and Morgan Ozenbaugh finished first and second in the discus, both earning PRs.
Sievers won with a throw of 99’ 11”, while Ozenbaugh was second with a throw of 91’.
Also finishing 1-2 with PRs were Mackenzie Coulter-Kern in the 400m dash (1:02) and Kari Miller (1:08).
Audrey Johnson won the 800m run (2:28 -PR), while Sydni Terrill won the 3200m run (13.50).
Finishing second for Manchester was Morgan Meinert in the high jump (4’8”-PR), Polly Poe in the 200m dash (28.10-PR), and Alana DeWitt in the 3200m run (14:07).
Coming in third place was Jessica Bedke in the high jump (4’2”-PR) and the 300m hurdles (53.54), Evette Lengel in the 100m hurdles (18.06) and the 200m dash (29.00-PR), Poe in the 100m dash (13.40), and Caroline Andersen in the 1600m run (6:17).
Fourth place results were Poe in the long jump (12’9), Sievers in the shot put (28’8”), Bedke in the 100m hurdles (18.72), Coulter-Kern in the 100m dash (13.60), Josi Cripe in the 1600m run (6:18), Leah McNeeley in the 300m hurdles (56.65), and Katelin Wade in the 800m run (2:52).
In the 3200m run, Cripe finished third, and Andersen was fourth, but only the top two times from each team were recorded.
“This was an excellent meet for us,” coach Julie Cassel said. “Although the scorebook doesn’t reflect it, our 3200m girls came in 1-4, but they only scored the first two. We’ve never scored like that in distance before that I can remember.”
Saturday, the Lady Squires had seven second place finishes at the Ebrite Relays in Delphi, finishing in fourth place.
Finishing in second place was Meinert in the high jump, Poe in the long jump, Sievers in the discus, and Lengel in the 100m hurdles.
The girls’ track team will be at the Wabash County Meet in Wabash on Thursday.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ golf team continued its impressive start to the season, improving to 4-0, and finishing second at the Whitko Invitational.
The Squires had no trouble with West Noble, pulling out a 165-193 win.
Doug Hayden was medalist with a 38. Andrew Chinworth, Brecken Kennedy, and Matt Budnik all shot 42, while Josh Troyer added a 44.
For the second match in a row, the JV team outscored the opposition’s varsity score. The JV team beat West Noble 185-235.
David Cable and Kyle Lahman both shot 45, Scott Spaulding shot a 46, Derek Jones shot a 49, while Aaron Olinger and Ethan Altimus both shot 57.
“This was a new course for several of the guys, and the greens were a little tricky, but the guys did a nice job of adjusting and played some good rounds tonight,” head coach Gary Goshert said.
Two nights later, the golf team hosted Churubusco and Lakewood Park, pulling out two more wins.
Manchester improved with a score of 164, while Churubusco shot a 205 and Lakewood Park shot a 216.
Hayden was medalist again, shooting a 39.
Once again, the Squires were boosted by consistent scores from the rest of the team.
Chinworth shot a 41, while Kennedy, Troyer, and Budnik all shot 42.
“We had some really consistent golf,” Goshert said. “This has been a good start to the season so far.”
The JV team shot a 194, beating Churubusco, who shot a 250.
Jones led the way with a 44, Spaulding shot a 45, Altimus shot a 52, Cable shot a 53, and Olinger added a 59.
The Squires finished second at the Whitko Invitational Saturday at Sycamore Golf Club.
Manchester ended the day with a 325, 20 strokes behind Wawasee. Tippecanoe Valley was third with a 327, Triton was fourth with a 328, and Wabash was fifth with a 356.
Whitko was sixth (361), Fairfield was seventh (368), Central Noble was eighth (370), Marion was ninth (373), New Prairie was 10th (405), Northfield was 11th (420), and LaVille was 12th (420).
Hayden finished sixth overall with a 38-40-78. Budnik finished with a 40-41-81, Chinworth shot a 41-41-82, Kennedy shot a 42-42-84, and Troyer shot a 47-44-91.
“Just a month into the season, we are still working hard on the physical side of the game,” Goshert said. “But, our attitude on the course is helping us finish with solid scores. These guys do a great job of staying focused and battling back after difficult starts. "
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School softball team got their season underway in impressive fashion, beating Fremont in a doubleheader, 12-0 and 10-3.
In game one, Manchester scored in each inning, including a six run fifth inning to put the game away.
Jarra Renz pitched a one hitter, striking out 10 of 18 batters, walking just one.
Shanna Helvey was 3-4 with four RBI, Amber Hunter was 2-3 with three runs, Katie Bowers was 2-4 with three RBI, and Samantha Budnik was 2-3 with two runs scored. Also getting a hit were Tammy Egolf, Allison Mussey, and Brittany Watson.
“In the first game, our players were told to relax and be aggressive,” coach Jim Troyer said. “Budnik hit the first pitch off the centerfield fence, and we continued from there. Our defense played well and our pitching was great. We are looking to be aggressive and hit hard to make other people make mistakes. It was so nice to be on a diamond instead of a hardwood floor.”
In game two, Fremont made more of a game of it early on, but a three run third inning and a five run fourth inning gave the Lady Squires a 10-3 win.
Brittany Watson picked up the win, giving up three runs on eight hits, striking out two and not walking a batter.
Bowers almost hit for the cycle, hitting a home run, a double and a single, going 3-4 with four RBI and four runs scored. Budnik was 2-4 with two runs, Hunter was 1-2 with a run scored, while Lauren Mussey had two runs and one hit. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ golf team got its season off to a nice start, beating Wabash Friday night, and finishing third at the Northrop Invitational.
Friday night, the Squires toppled Wabash 167-181. Doug Hayden was medalist for the match, shooting a 37 on the front nine of Sycamore Golf Club.
Andrew Chinworth had Manchester’s second best score with a 42. Brecken Kennedy and Josh Troyer both shot 44, and Derek Jones had a 47.
The JV team also had a nice outing, beating Wabash 175-200.
Matt Budnik led the way with a 38, while David Cable was right behind him with a 39. Scott Spaulding and Kyle Lahman both shot 49, Ethan Altimus shot a 56, and Aaron Olinger added a 66.
“This was a great way to start the season,” coach Gary Goshert said. “We had very solid outings by both the varsity and JV.”
Northrop Invitational
Twelve hours after beating Wabash, the golf team traveled to Colonial Oaks for the Northrop Invitational and finished third behind Wawasee and Northrop.
The Squires shot a 334, while Wawasee won with a 325, and Northrop was second with a 327.
Hayden was the second medalist on the day, shooting a 37-40-77. Chinworth was the eighth medalist with a 36-44-80. Troyer shot a 43-43-86, Budnik shot a 45-46-91, and Kennedy added a 47-46-93.
The third place finish is the best in the last 11 years for the Squires.
“I couldn’t ask for a better way to start the season,” Goshert said. “The boys have been working hard on different aspects of their games, and it has paid off in the early part of the season.”
The golf team will be at West Noble on Wednesday.
by Eric Christiansen
When a team goes 23-2 in a season, it’s pretty hard to top or even match that. Manchester High School softball coach Jim Troyer said his team isn’t even trying.
“We had a remarkable season last year,” Troyer said. “Whether we’ll end up as good as last year, I don’t know. A lot of those games were one run games. Sometimes you win those and sometimes you lose those, it just depends on your luck that day. We could have been a .500 team.
“But, that team had a lot of heart and a lot of desire, and I think this team will too,” he continued.
Troyer lost four valuable seniors from last year’s squad, Jade Kennedy, Casey Thomas, Angela Hernandez, and Stephani King.
“We lost three good hitters and a catcher that helped the pitching staff out,” Troyer said.
Pitching is the key word in high school softball, and Manchester returns two good ones in Jarra Renz and Brittany Watson.
Renz was the ace on the staff, going 16-1 with one save. In 106 innings pitched, she gave up 49 hits, struck out 116, while walking 49, with an earned run average of 1.39.
Watson contributed with six wins, coming on strong late in the season.
“Jarra has picked up a couple of pitches, including a change up, which will help her a little bit more,” Troyer said. “Watson's biggest pitch was a change up, but she has picked up some speed. She still has the off speed stuff, so that will help her too.”
The Lady Squires also return some quality fielders, including Katie Bowers, who hit .457 and knocked in 27 runs, including one home run. ....Read More
(Name-Teams remaining)
115
Jillian Bechtold 4
113
Brad Camp 4
111
Ben McLaughlin 3
109
Nathan Self 3
108
Kevin Clapp 3
Dan Binkley 3
Chris Walters 4
Tawn McLaughlin 3
107
Dave Wendel 3
Kathy Singpiel 4
105
Anne Myers 4
Janet Clevenger 4
Kim McKenzie 3
Derek Self 3
104
Jo Hays 3
Matt Webb 3
Jason Groninger 3
Kurt Stout 3
103
Dennis Frieden 3
Isa Dockter 3
Ned Bowman 2
Jeremy Johnson 3
102
Craig Haecker 3
101
Jerry Hoerdt 3
Jerry Pottenger 3
Adam Penrod 2
David Cable 4
100
Ryan Binkley 3
Jean Pottenger 3
Gary Goshert 3
Donna Rogers 3
Connor Eichenauer 3
99
Kylee Clapp 2
Chris Singpiel 3
Gary Zimmerman 3
98
Steve Priest 3
Andy Butterbaugh 3
Steven Gidley 3
97
Todd Speicher 3
Kari Speicher 2
Chris Rickelman 3
Kellyn Bechtold 3
Lisa Southworth 3
96
David Kline 2
Jeff Butterbaugh 3
Bill Hippensteel 2
95
Mark Donathan 3
Stan Singpiel 3
Tim McLaughlin 3
94
Zoe Dockter 2
Rex Holloway 3
Peg Workman 3
93
Evan Speicher 3
Pat Wake 3
Dorothy Coe 2
Bill McKenzie 2
92
Brett Tracy 1
Amy Dockter 2
90
Richele Binkley 2
89
Steve Olsen 3
Diane Binkerd 1
88
Joe Frantz 2
Larry Tracy 2
Kim Rickelman 2
Klay Bechtold 2
Olivia Dockter 2
87
Rocky Southworth 2
86
Debbie Brown 2
Jim Sainsbury 2
85
Janelle Walters 3
84
Miriel Speicher 1
Heidi Stout 2
83
Dave McIntyre 2
82
Mike Clark 2
Tina Clapp 1
Jim Troyer 3
81
Karen Bechtold 2
80
Sue Butterbaugh 1
Connor McLaughlin 2
Bertha Butterbaugh 2
Ryan Camp 2
Jack Rupley 2
79
Alan Binkerd 2
78
Jim Rogers 2
76
Greg Hicks 1
Nikki Donathan 2
75
Cary Walters 2
74
Kevin Bechtold 1
72
Steven Camp 1
71
Dick Norwood 1
67
Eric Christiansen 1
65
Alan Binkerd 1
62
Carrie Vineyard 0
53
Caleb Isaacs 1
The Manchester High School girls’ track team finished in a tie with Southwood Thursday night, 61-61 to open the season.
In the only home meet of the season for the Lady Squires, Manchester was able to win six events, including two of the three relays.
Winning individual events were Brittany Sievers in the discus (98’5), Mercedes Lockhart in the long jump (15’8), Alana DeWitt in the 1600m run (6:12.12), and Mackenzie Coulter-Kern in the 400m dash (1:02.75).
Also finishing in first place was the 3200m relay team of Sydni Terrill, DeWitt, Audrey Johnson, and Katelyn Wade (11:14), and the 1600m relay team of Coulter-Kern, Johnson, Kari Miller, and Jessica Bedke (4:34.87).
Coming in second place was Sievers in the shot put (25’ 3 1/2), Morgan Ozenbaugh in the discus (77’ 8 1/2), Morgan Meinert in the high jump (4’6), Polly Poe in the long jump (14’8), Bedke in the 300m hurdles (55.54), Johnson in the 800m run (2:43.56), Lockhart in the 200m dash (28.16), DeWitt in the 3200m run (13:26.62), and Coulter-Kern in the 100m dash (13.6).
Third place results were Ozenbaugh in the shot put (24’ 1 1/2), Bedke in the 100m hurdles (19.73), Josi Cripe in the 1600m run (6:50.00), and Johnson in the 400m dash (1:08.98).
Finishing in fourth place was the 400m relay team of Miller, Coulter-Kern, Polly Poe, and Mercedes Lockhart.
“I thought the relays looked super,” coach Julie Cassel said. “Freshmen Mackenzie Coulter-Kern and Jessica Bedke really stepped up. We had a few disappointments, but hopefully, we can work past our first meet jitters.”
57 Points
Nathan Self
Adam Penrod
Janelle Walters
56
Brett Tracy
Jason Groninger
Bill Hippensteel
55
Kylee Clapp
Dave Wendel
Ned Bowman
Jeremy Johnson
Ben McLaughlin
54
Craig Haecker
Richelle Binkley
Zoe Dockter
53
Diane Binkerd
Todd Speicher
Kari Speicher
Jerry Pottenger
Kim McKenzie
Bill McKenzie
Brad Camp
52
Chris Walters
Tawn McLaughlin
Kevin Clapp
David Kline
Miriel Speicher
Ryan Binkley
Sue Butterbaugh
Jo Hays
Matt Webb
Klay Bechtold
Dan Binkley
Kurt Stout
Connor Eichenauer ....Read More
The Manchester boys 8th grade AAU team won the Southwood Elite 8th Grade Boys Tournament last weekend at Wabash Middle School.
The warm-up game was lost to Western with a score of 47-40. Coltin Jenks led the way with three 3 point shots and 2 field goals. Austin Flack chipped in 12 points, Devan Knecht had seven, and Scott Baker, Devon Simmons and Caleb Thomas each had 2 points.
The first game of the tourney was against Tippy Valley with the win going to Manchester with a score of 48-46. Good ball movement and total team effort was attributed to the victory. A final shot made from half court by Austin Flack sealed the buzzer beater victory. Flack led the way with 15 points, Scott Baker worked the baseline hard and scored a total of 12 points. Devon Simmons sparked the first half jump with two 3 pointers ended up with 12 points. Devan Knecht ran the point and chipped in six points along with Aric Howard who ended up with three points. Aric Howard came off the bench and did a fine job rebounding and blocking out. ....Read More
The Spartan baseball team posted a 22-3 win over Grace last week.
Manchester scored five runs in the bottom of the first and second, then knocked in eight runs in the fourth to take an 18-0 lead over the Lancers.
Matty Miller hit a grandslam in the first and a two-run homer in the second and finished 2-4 with six RBI and three runs scored. Josh Buell was 3-4 with two RBI and three runs. Danner Partridge was 3-4 with a homer and three RBI. Chris Tabler also had a home run for MC.
Marcus Miller picked up the win, his first of the year, throwing five innings with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
Manchester fell to Otterbein in two games during their first games of their Port Charlotte trip.
Manchester fell in game one 3-1 in two extra innings of play. The Spartans scored in the bottom of the seventh as Danner Partridge led off with a double and Jordan Adams connected on an RBI single two batters later. Partridge ended the game 1-2 while Zac Bireley and Adams finished 1-3. Tyler Wolfe threw for eight innings, allowing one run on three hits and three strikeouts. Colin Denihan recorded the loss in one inning of relief.
In game two, Manchester fell 4-2 as Marcus Miller suffered his second loss of the year. He allowed eight hits in six innings of action with a strikeout. Adams went 2-3 with an RBI, Scott Tarnowski was 1-2 with a run scored, Shawn Baker was 1-1 and Adam Piotrowicz was 1-2.
Manchester fell to Wisconsin Stevens Point 22-13 in baseball action on Monday. WSP scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 9-9,and scored 13 more runs over the next four innings of play to take the 22-13 victory.
Scott Tarnowski led Manchester with a 5-5 performance, collecting six RBI and scoring four runs including a triple and two home runs. Matt Talarico was 3-5 while Zac Bireley and Jordan Adams each went 2-5 at bat.
Derek Hanson started for MC, throwing 3.2 innings with nine runs on seven hits. Shaun Carrico took the loss as he gave up for runs on five hits. Others working into the pitching rotation were Travis Eggeman, Doug Flowers and Jared Baker.
Manchester falls to 2-6 on the year.
by Eric Christiansen
Call me cynical. Call me difficult. Call me ridiculous.
In past columns, I have questioned many things. Why do we play the national anthem at sporting events, but not at movies, concerts, or other public gatherings? Why do athletes praise God when they win, but very rarely when the lose? Why do baseball managers wear uniforms when they aren’t playing? Why are sports fans selfish and follow winning teams, only to turn their backs when their team is losing?
My next question: Why do we get so excited about the men’s college basketball tournament and the brackets? We don’t know anyone from Holy Cross or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Can the average fan in Indiana name anyone else on Texas but Kevin Durant? But, inexplicably, someone will have Oral Roberts winning a game, and pencil in Tennessee in the Final Four. Did the Vols even have a nationally televised game this year before the conference tournaments?
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is my favorite sporting event of the year, even with Billy Packer. The drama, the upsets, the potential great match ups...nothing compares. Thank goodness there is no BCS in college basketball.
But, let’s talk about the brackets. Millions and millions of brackets are filled out this week. Some people fill in 10 different brackets with 10 different outcomes. It’s fun. It’s challenging. It’s stupid.
The same non-sports fans who fill out brackets are the same non-sports fans who watch the Super Bowl. ....Read More
Three members of the Manchester High School boys’ basketball team were named to the Three Rivers Conference all-conference team.
Dan Bourne was named to the first team. Bourne was fourth in the conference in scoring (17.3 ppg), and eighth in rebounds (5.9 rpg).
David Cable was named to the second team. Cable was eighth in scoring (11.8 ppg), fifth in rebounds (6.0 rpg) and was 10th in steals (1.7 spg).
Aaron Medley was named honorable mention. Medley was 20th in scoring (8.9 ppg).
1st Team
Dan Bourne-Manchester
Chad Smith-Wabash
Cory Overmyer-Rochester
Bruce Grimm-Rochester
Bryce Shafer-Northfield
Chad Hoffer-Tippecanoe Valley
Kevin Kindig-Tippecanoe Valley
Adam Miller-North Miami
2nd Team
David Cable-Manchester
Aaron Shaw-Southwood
Adam Nelson-Tippecanoe Valley
Kory Barnett-Rochester
Tory Sears-Northfield
Jon Keisling-North Miami
Greg-Miller-North Miami
Trent Rowland-Whitko
Honorable Mention
Aaron Medley-Manchester
Shane Salyer-Tippecanoe Valley
Joey Brown-Northfield
Adam Dubuque-Southwood
Aaron Grizzle-Southwood
Greg Lane-Wabash
Spencer Dawson-Southwood
Steve Tillman-Tippecanoe Valley
Ryan Musselman-North Miami
Nathan VanDuyne-Northfield
Travis Ritter-North Miami
Carter Walley-Rochester
Jerrod Paker-Tippecanoe Valley
by Eric Christiansen
For 18 minutes, things were going the way of the underdog Manchester Squires in the sectional championship game with 2A #10 Lewis Cass.
For the last 14 minutes, it was all Kings, who won their second sectional in a row and fourth in the last five years with a 51-33 win over the Squires.
From the opening play of the game, it looked like it was going to be Manchester’s night.
Spenser Penrod threw an alley-oop pass to David Cable just 10 seconds into the game. His pass was off the mark, and instead, went through the basket for a three pointer.
Four minutes into the game, Manchester held a 7-2 lead after four free throws from Aaron Medley.
Manchester used a triangle and two defense to stifle the Kings, who suffered through a 2-16 shooting performance in the first quarter.
“We were a little tight, but we worked awful hard to get into this position,” Lewis Cass coach Basil Mawbey said. “We were standing wide open with nobody guarding us, which we’re not used to seeing. We missed a few that we don’t miss, and all of a sudden, we are shooting 6-29 in the half.”
“We saw Cass take off on Wabash last night and were concerned they were going to shoot that way again tonight,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “We felt that if we could focus on trailing (Taylor) Bowser and (Cory) Silcox, that we could use our triangle defense to try to slow them down.”
Bowser was 1-10 from the field in the first half, while Silcox shot 0-3. ....Read More
The Manchester College women’s basketball season game to a close on Friday night following a 54-52 loss to #9 in the nation Washington University (St. Louis) in the opening round of the Division III NCAA women’s basketball tournament, hosted by Lake Forest College.
Manchester took a 2-0 lead following a Heather Terflinger lay-up as neither team were able to score in the first two and a half minutes. Washington caught fire over the next 11 minutes of play and went on a 27-3 run to hold a 27-5 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first half. Two three pointers by Manchester’s Sarah Conwell helped the Spartans to chip the Wash U. lead to a 29-11 advantage with two minutes remaining before entering the half down 33-17.
In the second half, Manchester trailed 45-27 with 14:27 remaining, but sophomore Stacey Wendel scored seven straight points for the Spartans to cut the Washington lead to 47-37 with 10:24 remaining. Kelley Meiklejohn’s three pointer and a jumper helped spark a 15-2 run by Manchester to take a one point lead with 5:56 remaining as Sarah Bose hit a three pointer. Stacey Wendel’s layup with 1:34 remaining gave Manchester a three point lead. Wash U. scored four straight points on a pair of free throws and a jumper to take one point lead, 53-52 with 32 seconds remaining. Sarah Bose missed a the tying layup with three seconds remaining in the game allowing Washington University the 54-52 win.
Stacey Wendel ended the game with 15 points, hitting 6-10 shots from the floor. Kelley Meiklejohn and Sarah Conwell each had 11 points apiece for Manchester with Meiklejohn added sevenrebounds.
Manchester ends the season 21-7, tying a school record for most wins in a year and setting a school record for best winning percentage in a season.
by Eric Christiansen
For the second year in a row, the Manchester Lady Spartans earned a birth in the NCAA Division III Tournament by winning the HCAC tournament.
Hosting the tournament this year, the Lady Spartans needed two free throws from junior Jessica Henn with 7.5 seconds left in the game to pull out the 70-69 win over Transylvania.
“It feels amazing to make them,” Henn said. “I was so nervous, but we practice them a lot and Coach (Josh Dzurick) emphasized them all season.”
“We didn’t give up, and the players went after it,” Dzurick said. “They’re winners. They want to win, and they handled that adversity in professional fashion.”
Dzurick talked about the ebb and flow of the game, which saw Manchester take 8-12 point leads on numerous occassions, only to see Transylvania make a run at the Lady Spartans.
The final run came in the last four minutes of the game.
Manchester took a 68-59 lead with 4:47 remaining on a basket from tournament MVP Sarah Bose and a three point play from Toni Hayward.
The Lady Pioneers, along with help from the Lady Spartans, came roaring back.
Julie Leach hit two free throws with 4:02 left to make it a 68-61 game, followed by a basket from Cindy Beavin with 2:54 remaining. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester Squires have seen better Senior Nights.
Manchester hosted the Churubusco Eagles Tuesday night for their home finale, but not even a 29 point performance from Dan Bourne could propel the Squires to a win, as the Eagles pulled off a 65-52 win.
“I don’t know if we overlooked them or what,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said, “but we just didn’t show that we were ready to play. We went over their scouting report and knew they had some good post players and good shooters, but we just didn’t respond. This is a very disappointing situation.”
Churubusco scored the first four points, but a free throw from Brandon Shepherd, and baskets from Bourne and Ian Pattison gave the Squires a 5-4 lead.
Manchester held onto a 7-5 lead with 4:35 left in the first quarter, but the Eagles went on a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to lead 19-9.
They extended the lead to 34-16 with 2:47 left in the half, and led 37-20 at halftime.
“In the locker room at halftime, I challenged them to start doing things right and be the aggressor,” Goshert said. “We needed to get some points on the board, but we also needed to get some stops on the defensive end of the floor.”
Bourne was up for the challenge, but not before Churubusco scored the first four points of the half.
After a Squire time out, Bourne went to work. The junior scored 15 points in the third quarter, going 7-7 from the field and 1-1 from the line to cut the lead to 45-37 with 1:14 left in the third quarter.
“Dan is really playing well right now,” Goshert said. “He is going inside more on offense, and is playing better defense.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
After two frustrating trips to the South Adams Regional in three years, Saturday night’s regional final might have been the most heartbreaking for the Manchester Lady Squires.
Manchester held a five point lead with 4:30 left, but didn’t score over the final 6:06, and eventually fell to the third ranked Oak Hill Golden Eagles 50-46.
“This was a tough game,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said after the game. “I told the girls that they could hold their heads up high, and there is no shame in getting beat by a team that is 24-1. I know they hurt right now, but I know they’ll pull together and make it through this.”
What hurts for the Lady Squires was holding an eight point lead in the first half, and taking a 46-41 lead in the fourth quarter, after an 11-0 run, only to see the game, and their season, slip away.
With seven seniors on the Manchester squad, it was Oak Hill’s senior leader, Kasy Thompson, who took over the game in the fourth quarter.
With the Golden Eagles trailing 46-41, Thompson hit a basket with 4:26 left to cut the lead to three, then followed with another bucket to make it a one point game with 3:56 left.
With 3:36 left, Manchester’s Libby Pattison missed inside, and freshman Courtney Moses followed with two free throws to give Oak Hill a 47-46 lead with 3:19 left in the game.
Pattison missed a jumper, but Mercedes Lockhart grabbed the rebound. However, Lockhart lost control of the ball, turning it over to Oak Hill.
Manchester’s 2-2-1 full court press caused a turnover, but 20 seconds later, Katie ....Read More
Sarah Bose’s 10-foot jumper with .6 seconds remaining in the game broke a 62-62 tie and gave Manchester (19-6, 15-1 HCAC) the 64-62 victory over Rose-Hulman (21-4, 13-3) in the final game of the regular season. A win by Rose would have tied Manchester for first in the conference standings, but the Spartans were able to hand Rose just their fourth loss of the year, with two of them coming from Manchester. The win by MC is the school’s 13th straight win.
Manchester held a 36-28 lead heading into halftime as the Spartans connected on 15-26 (57%) shots from the floor. MC opened the second half upping their lead to 11 with 15 minutes remaining, but Rose-Hulman bounced back and held a six point lead with 2:28 left in the game. A pair of layups by Stacey Wendel and a three pointer by Kelley Meiklejohn gave Manchester a one point lead with 1:20 remaining. The biggest shot of the night came with just .6 seconds remaining as Sarah Bose hit a 10 footer to break a 62-all tie to win the game.
Bose ended the game with 20 points, hitting 7-13 shots and added three rebounds, four steals and two assists. Meiklejohn added 15 points and seven rebounds with two assists and a steal, while Stacey Wendel was held to eight points.
Speaking on the crowd of over 1,950 Rose-Hulman fans, head coach Josh Dzurick said, “Being atop the conference is a great position to be in.” “We get to host the HCAC Tournament, and hopefully fans can top the atmosphere the fans at Rose-Hulman created.” He also added, “I’m proud of these women for the success they’ve had this season and they way handled adversity, especially in today’s win.”
Win Over Anderson
Manchester College’s women’s basketball team has won no less than a share of the HCAC Conference championship following their 63-55 win over Anderson on Manchester’s Senior Night. The win marks the 12th straight victory by the Spartans, and the first conference championship for Manchester’s women’s basketball program in over 20 years.
Senior Heather Terflinger scored a game high 17 points against Anderson, hitting 5-8 free throws along the way and grabbing four rebounds and two steals. Stacey Wendel added 14 points and three rebounds with two steals, while Kelley Meiklejohn chipped in 12 points on 4-9 shooting with five rebounds. Sarah Bose added eight points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals in the win.
Manchester will play host for the HCAC Conference tournament starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, with the second game starting at 8 p.m. The championship game will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Manchester plays Anderson at 6:00 p.m., followed by Rose-Hulman vs. Transylvania. There will be an admission for the games.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ swim team had three relay teams and individuals advance in seven events to the finals or consolation round of the Wawasee Sectional last week.
Gavin McNeeley finished second in the 100 breast stroke with a time of 1:04.75, just over a second behind Culver Academies’ Brandon Medlin, who turned in a 1:03.61.
In the relays, the 200 medley relay team of Josh Garber, McNeeley, D.J. Brown, and Nate Cain finished fourth with a time of 1:50.80, as did the 400 free relay team of Brandt Gheen, Brown, Justin Fletcher, and McNeeley, who finished with a time of 3:41.12.
The 200 free relay team of Andrew Baker, Kyle Hill, Travis Lightle, and Steven Camp finished eighth with a time of 1:50.15, and advanced to the consolation heat.
Advancing in to the consolation heats were Gheen in the 200 free, who finished 11th with a time of 1:59.41 and the 500 free, with a time of 5:50.70 for a 10th place finish, D.J. Brown in the 50 free, who finished seventh with a time of 23.84, and the 100 free with a time of 53.66, good for 11th place. McNeeley was eighth in the 100 free with a time of 51.97, and Garber, who finished in 13th place in the 100 backstroke, which made him an alternate. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Christa. Peden.
Those were the two words that were thrown out following Manchester’s 49-31 sectional championship win over Wabash Saturday night.
“Christa Peden,” senior Holly Vogel said. “Wow. What can you say, except, Christa Peden.”
“Boy, how about Christa Peden coming alive in the fourth quarter?” Manchester coach Mark Underwood asked.
The reason for the Peden talk? Only a 5-5 performance from the field, a 5-5 performance from the free throw line, four rebounds, countless hustle plays, and even a reverse lay up that helped her team turn a three point lead into an 18 point win and earn a berth in the South Adams Regional this Saturday.
Peden’s response?
“It takes more than what I did. Other people had to play defense and did a good job getting the ball to me,” she said unassumingly.
It looked like individual heroics weren’t going to be needed after the first quarter of play.
Manchester opened the game on fire on both ends of the floor, hitting 6-9 shots from the field, and getting offensive rebounds an all three missed shots, meanwhile holding Wabash to an 0-7 performance, and a 13-0 first quarter score.
“We kind of got off to a bad start in the first quarter, and had a deer in the headlights look,” Wabash coach Scott Bumgardner said.
It took Wabash 8:20 to get on the scoreboard, but once they did, they found an offensive rhythm that helped them get back into the game. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester Squires shot over 50 percent from the field against the Whitko Wildcats, but they couldn’t overcome Whitko’s 15 offensive rebounds as they fell to 1-6 in the TRC with a 63-56 loss to the Wildcats.
Whitko scored 12 points on direct offensive rebound put backs to help pull out the win.
“We got outworked tonight,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “We didn’t respond on the boards, and we gave away some big shots at the end of quarters where we left someone wide open. We just weren’t mentally ready to play, and Whitko was.”
Manchester started the game with a 6-2 lead, taking advantage of the shorter Whitko team, with Aaron Medley scoring two baskets and Dan Bourne connecting for one.
Whitko went on an 8-0 run to take the lead.
It looked like the teams would head into the locker room tied at halftime 21-21, but Brenden Hart hit a three pointer on an inbound play at the buzzer to give the Wildcats the lead.
“We just lost our man on defense, simple as that,” Goshert said.
In the third quarter, the teams traded the lead six times, but Whitko ended the quarter with an 8-0 run to turn a 36-34 deficit into a 42-36 lead. The run ended with Nick Metzger hitting a three with two seconds left in the third quarter.
Manchester responded, however, with an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter.
Bourne, Spenser Penrod, Medley, and David Cable all scored baskets to give the Squires a 44-42 lead. ....Read More
Manchester’s women’s basketball team posted a 76-51 win over Bluffton for their 10th consecutive win, setting a new school record.
Manchester led 33-27 at the half and outscored Bluffton 43-24 in the second stanza to post the 76-51 win. Manchester still remains first in the conference standings despite Rose-Hulman’s 62-43 win versus Mount St. Joseph tonight. Manchester, along with Rose and Anderson have clinched a playoff spot in the HCAC Conference tournament, with one spot remaining.
Manchester’s Stacey Wendel led all scorers with 18 points, hitting 6-11 shots from the floor and 3-4 three pointers. She had four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Kelley Meiklejohn added 16 points on 6-7 shooting with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sarah Bose chipped in 11 points with three steals and two assists.
The women’s basketball team posted their 11th straight victory on Saturday with a 59-42 win over Hanover College. Manchester took a 31-15 lead at the half and outscored the Panthers 28-27 in the second half for the 17 point win.
Sarah Bose led Manchester with 12 points, hitting 5-8 shots from the field. She had three rebounds, three assists and five steals for MC. Stacey Wendel scored 10 points while Heather Terflinger and Rachel Wilkinson added eight points each.
Manchester, 17-6 overall, 13-1 in the HCAC, remains first in the conference standings with a half game lead over Rose-Hulman, and close out the regular season this week as they host Anderson on Wednesday and travel to Rose-Hulman on Saturday.
by Eric Christiansen
It was a night the Manchester Squires would like to forget.
The Squires were outgunned by the Northfield Norsemen 66-42 to drop to 1-5 in the Three Rivers Conference, and 4-10 overall.
Northfield raced out to a 20-7 lead and never let the Squires in the game.
“I’m very disappointed in our effort tonight,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “We just didn’t have any fire out there. I’m kind of speechless right now. This isn’t how we practice, and this isn’t how we like to play.”
Nothfield coach Moe Smedley felt his team’s defense was the difference in the game.
“I liked our defensive effort all night,” Smedley said. “We tried to keep the ball outside the pain, and we did a good job of that.”
Northfield’s defense forced the Squires to shoot outside jump shots, but the shots weren’t falling for Manchester, who shot 6-29 in the first half.
Northfield extended their lead to 28-10 and eventually led 38-15 at halftime.
The Squires came out firing in the second half, as Spenser Penrod hit his third three pointer of the game, followed by a steal and lay up from Dan Bourne to cut the lead to 38-20.
Northfield answered with a 6-0 run to keep the Squires at bay.
They followed that run with a 9-0 run just three minutes later, and led 55-29 at the end of three quarters. ....Read More
The Manchester High School girls’ swim team had eight girls advance to the finals or consolation round of the Warsaw Sectional.
Svea Thietje moved on in three events, while all three relay teams advanced.
Thietje advanced to the finals in the 200 freestyle with an eighth place finish with a time of 2:12.81 and the 100 backstroke with a prelim time of 1:09.00 for a 10th place finish.
Three relay teams also advanced to Saturday’s finals.
The 400 free relay team of Lauren Greer, Scarlett Melton, Alana DeWitt and Thietje finished sixth with a time of 4:13.60.
The 200 free relay team of Amelia Flora, DeWitt, Shelby Minnix, and Melton finished seventh with a time of 2:00.24.
The 200 medley relay team of Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, Elaina Johns, Greer, and Flora finished ninth with a time of 2:18.42.
Other results were as follows:
In the 200 free, Shure Parrish was 22nd (2:36.53) and Coulter-Kern was 23rd (2:36.69).
In the 200 IM, DeWitt was 17th (2:48.32), Greer was 18th (2:50.05), and Leah McNeeley was 19th (2:50.55).
In the 50 free, Melton was 17th (28.66), Flora was 23rd (30.44), and Minnix was 26th (31.57).
In the 100 free, Melton was 14th (1:03.32), DeWitt was 16th (1:05.14), and Minnix was 21st (1:07.59).
In the 500 free, Ashton Bradford was 18th (6:49.12), Parrish was 20th (6:56.59), and Kaleigh Patrick was 25th (7:47.74).
In the 100 breast, McNeeley was 17th (1:21.84), Bradford was 23rd (1:25.65), and Johns was 25th (1:27.60).
In the 100 back, Flora was 21st (1:22.35), and Coulter-Kern was 24th (1:23.57).
The girls swam very well,” coach Kyle Wieland said. “I knew that some of the swimmers were hoping for better times, but as a whole, we had a lot to be happy about."
In the finals, Thietje finished seventh in the 200 free with a time of 2:10.23, and was 10th in the 100 back with a time of 1:09.15.
The 400 free relay team finished sixth with a time of 4:12.58.
The 200 medley relay team finished eighth with a time of 2:18.65, and the 200 free relay team was 8th with a time of 1:58.32.
by Eric Christiansen
I could go the easy route and give my thoughts on the Super Bowl.
I could go the easy route and give my thoughts on the Super Bowl commercials.
I could go the easy route and give a running diary of my Super Bowl Sunday.
I could go the easy route, but I won’t.
I thought about what the toughest job on Super Bowl Sunday would be. QB, coach, kicker, Prince. Nope. That’s kids’ stuff.
The toughest job on Super Bowl Sunday? Programming director for every other network. Some would say a programming director for Animal Planet is in a no-lose situation. After seeing that Puppy Bowl III was on opposite Colts-Bears, I beg to differ. That dude is trying. Who else is trying to counter-program the Super Bowl?
I give you, the News-Journal reader, what else was on Sunday night.
The Networks
ABC: America’s Funniest Home Videos and Old School for the comedy fan.
NBC: A 4-hour block of repeats of Grease: You’re the One That I Want. I don’t think so.
FOX: X2: X-Men United. I believe there is a little bit of geek in all of us, but this is for those who don’t watch football.
The CW: Beauty and the Geek (to prove my point).
PBS: Nature and Masterpiece Theatre. No explanation needed.
Basic Cable
WGN: American Idol Rewind and Ultimate Blackjack Tour. Who doesn’t want to watch Justin Guarini again? ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The boys’ swim team never trailed in its meet with Columbia City, pulling out a 100-75 win last week.
Manchester won nine of the 12 events against the Eagles.
Winning events were the 200 medley relay team of Josh Garber, Gavin McNeeley, D.J. Brown, and Nate Cain (1:55.17), Brandt Gheen in the 200 free (2:04.85) and the 500 free (6:04.39), McNeeley in the 200 IM (2:17.34) and the 100 breast (1:07.04), Brown in the 50 free (25.24) and the 100 free (56.11), Garber in diving, and the 400 free relay team of Brown, Gheen, Cain, and McNeeley (3:53.16).
Coming in second place was the 200 free relay team of Garber, Andrew Blankenship, Cain, and Gheen (1:51.31), and Garber in the 100 back (1:09.95).
Finishing in third place was the 200 medley relay team of Justin Fletcher, Travis Lightle, Andrew Baker, and Kyle Hill (2:06.30), Michael Bowen in the 100 butterfly (1:17.65), Hill in the 100 free (1:24.51), the 200 free relay team of Cain, Max Mattern, Baker, and Hill (1:53.07), Fletcher in the 100 back (1:13.30), and the 400 free relay team of Collin Buzzard, Hill, Fletcher, and Ryan Henderson (4:18.22).
Fourth place results were Buzzard in the 200 free (2:27.36) and the 500 free (6:44.21), Jacob Vogel in the 200 IM (2:53.71), Fletcher in the 50 free (26.52), Cain in the 100 butterfly (1:18.99), Baker in the 100 free (1:06.36), and Lightle in the 100 breast stroke (1:21.27).
“It’s tough competing after a weekend off, but I was happy with our performance,” coach Kyle Wieland said. “The boys’ swam well and won what I knew would be a close meet.”
Win over Adams Central
The boys’ swim team evened their record to 5-5 with a 124-33 win over Adams Central Thursday night.
The Squires won 11 of the 12 events.
Winning were the 200 medley relay team of Cain, McNeeley, Baker, and Brown (1:54.86), Blankenship in the 200 free (2:25.77), Vogel in the 200 IM (2:48.24), Gheen in the 50 free (24.07) and the 500 free (5:51.04), Garber in diving (94.80), McNeeley in the 100 butterfly (1:00.99), Hill in the 100 freee (1:00.47), the 200 free relay team of McNeeley, Brown, Baker and Cain (1:44.89), Fletcher in the 100 back (1:12.28), and the 400 free relay team of Gheen, Hill, Garber, and Fletcher (3:59.02).
Coming in second place was the 200 medley relay team of Garber, Lightle, Gheen, and Hill (2:00.35), Cain in the 200 IM (2:59.34), Fletcher in the 50 free (26.49), Garber in the 100 butterfly (1:14.73), Buzzard in the 500 free (6:49.95), Cain in the 100 back (1:12.56), Lightle in the 100 breast (1:19.53), and the 400 free relay team of Brown, Blankenship, Steven Camp, and Vogel (4:22.91).
Third place results were Buzzard in the 200 free (2:27.23), Brown in the 100 butterfly (1:16.59), Baker in the 100 free (1:02.46), the 200 free relay team of Mattern, Buzzard, Bowen, and Vogel (1:57.88), and Mattern in the 100 breast (1:24.77).
Fourth place finishes were turned in by Lightle in the 50 free (27.99), Bowen in the 100 breast (1:28.86), and the 200 free relay team of Henderson, Hill, Dale Ruppert, and Blankenship (1:57.98).
The boys’ won’t be in action again until February 8 when they are at Wawasee.
by Eric Christiansen
The girls’ basketball team wasn’t as selfish as they had hoped to be.
The Lady Squires were forced to share the Three Rivers Conference title with Tippecanoe Valley after the Lady Vikings pulled out a 42-38 win Saturday night, leaving both teams at 6-1 in the conference.
Manchester took an early lead, but Valley never let the lead grow bigger than six points in the first half.
In the second half, Manchester extended the lead to 30-21, thanks to a 9-2 run with Holly Vogel scoring five points, and Christa Peden throwing in four.
Valley tied things up at 33-33 with a 12-3 run with 3:30 left in the game, and took the lead with 2:52 remaining.
After both teams traded 1-2 trips to the free throw line, Libby Pattison missed an inside basket to tie the game. Valley’s Hanna Krueger hit two free throws to put the Lady Vikes up 38-34.
Ten seconds later, a Manchester turnover gave Valley the ball with 36.9 seconds left. The Lady Vikings broke the Manchester press, but Karla Vogel’s shot was blocked by Pattison. Pattison found Audrey Siebrase, who scored on a fast break with 25 seconds left to make it a 38-36 game. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
It didn’t take long for the Manchester High School girls’ basketball team to recover from their loss to Wabash in the championship game of the Wabash County Tournament.
The Lady Squires used an aggressive offense to jump out to a 17-2 lead, then withheld two runs from North Miami to outlast the Lady Warriors 58-40 to improve to 4-0 in the TRC and 10-3 overall.
“We had an extremely tough week of practice, and the girls responded,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “They were huffing and puffing, but you could tell they wanted to be pushed, and as a result, they were ready to go.”
The Lady Squires scored the first nine points of the game in 2 1/2 minutes, and led 17-2 with 2:39 left in the first quarter.
North Miami showed some life, scoring six straight to end the quarter trailing 17-8.
Katie Bowers opened up the second quarter with a three pointer, followed by an inside basket from Libby Pattison for a 22-8 lead.
But, North Miami chipped away at the lead, cutting it down to four at 25-21 with 1:11 left in the half.
Christa Peden closed the half with a basket and a free throw to give Manchester a 28-21 lead.
In the third quarter, North Miami hung around, cutting a double digit lead down to four. The Lady Squires, however, went on a 16-3 run to take a 51-34 lead midway through the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Underwood took the blame for their earlier loss, but felt that his team learned from that game, and applied it to Saturday’s game with North Miami. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
North Miami had its way with the Manchester Squires Friday night in a 56-37 TRC win, leaving Manchester coach Gary Goshert confused.
“We used every defense we have, and we still didn’t stop them,” he said. “We weren’t able to find our scoring tonight, either, which makes for a long night.”
Once again, the Squires found themselves behind early in the game, thanks to two three pointers from Nick Black, giving the Warriors an 8-2 lead.
The Squires clawed back on a free throw from Dan Bourne, and five points from David Cable to end the first period down 10-8.
North Miami, however, took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Squires 18-13, extending the lead to 28-21.
“It’s hard to play from behind all the time,” Goshert said. “It takes more energy to come back.”
North Miami, on the other hand, was happy with their game plan, and their execution of it.
“We know to stop Manchester, you have to stop their big guys,” North Miami coach John Burrus said. “Bourne just had a nice holiday tournament where he scored 31 points in a game. We feel fortunate to have held him to just 12 points.”
North Miami took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Squires 13-5 to take a 41-26 lead, and increased that lead to 52-30 in the fourth. ....Read More
The boys’ swim team took an early lead by winning the 200 medley relay, and never trailed in a 94-80 win over DeKalb.
DeKalb kept it close throughout, but the Squires withstood the pressure, winning three of the last four events. Manchester won a total of nine events.
Finishing in first place was the 200 medley relay team of Josh Garber, Gavin McNeeley, D.J. Brown, and Andrew Baker (1:55.74), Brandt Gheen in the 200 free (2:02.45), McNeeley in the 200 IM (2:16.55) and the 100 back (1:04.60), Brown in the 50 free (24.79), Garber in diving (147.30) and the 100 butterfly (1:12.94), the 200 free relay team of Brown, Nate Cain, Garber and Gheen (1:45.18), and the 400 free relay team of Gheen, Cain, Baker, and McNeeley (3:54.78).
Coming in second place was Brown in the 100 free (57.53), and Gheen in the 500 free (5:54.32).
Finishing in third place was the 200 medley relay team of Justin Fletcher, Travis Lightle, Michael Bowen, and Steven Camp (2:08.11), Cain in the 50 free (25.71) and the 100 butterfly (1:15.06), the 200 free relay team of Collin Buzzard, Andrew Blankenship, Dale Ruppert and Camp (2:00.22), Lightle in the 100 breast (1:20.38), and the 400 free relay team of Max Mattern, Jacob Vogel, Ryan Henderson, and Kyle Hill (4:35.00).
The girls’ swim team kept it close for most of the meet, but DeKalb pulled away in the final four events, topping the Lady Squires 106-74. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
If the Manchester Squires have acquired a theme for December, it might be too little, too late.
The Squires went on an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter of the championship game of the Wabash County Tournament, but it only cut the Norse lead to 34-29.
Northfield held on down the stretch and pulled out a 49-37 win to win their first county tourney in 10 years.
“We didn’t score a lot of points, but we kept our opponents down, and you always have a chance to win if you play good defense,” Northfield coach Moe Smedley said.
Manchester coach Gary Goshert was feeling the exact opposite emotions after the game.
“It’s somewhat frustrating,” he said. “We had the effort coming down the stretch, and it isn’t like they aren’t trying. We just weren’t the same team we were last night against Wabash. We’re trying to get better at handling these situation. It’s assertiveness. It’s being aggressive verses not being tentative. Gosh darn, that’s a hard way to play.”
Northfield raced out to a 9-2 lead, six of those points coming from tourney MVP Bryce Shafer.
The Squires cut the lead to 13-10 in the second quarter after Aaron Medley hit two free throws, and David Cable stole the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a baseline jumper with 3:30 left. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
When a team doesn’t score a basket in the last 10:34, it usually isn’t a good sign. It wasn’t a good sign for the Manchester Lady Squires Saturday night in the championship game of the Wabash County Tournament.
Wabash held Manchester to just four free throws over the final 10:34, and went 8-9 from the line themselves to pull off the upset over the Lady Squires 45-37.
With 2:26 left in the third quarter, Manchester led 33-26, but a three pointer from freshman Brooklyn Short and a four point play from Jordan Fox tied it up heading into the fourth quarter.
Audrey Siebrase gave Manchester their final lead, going 1-2 from the free throw line, but another three from Short, followed by a steal by Chelsea Traver, and a basket from Traver a minute later, gave Wabash a 38-34 lead.
Down the stretch, Manchester missed six straight shots and went 1-4 from the line. Meanwhile, Wabash held on to the ball, and hit their free throws.
“We knew they only had one team foul, so we knew that for them to get to the one and one, they were going to have to foul us several times,” Wabash coach Scott Bumgardner said. “We wanted to hang on to that lead dearly, so we slowed things down a little bit.” ....Read More
The boys’ JV team played better than they did in their first game against Southwood, but it wasn’t enough in a 43-31 loss in the first round of the Wabash County Tournament Friday morning.
Two weeks ago, the Squires fell to the Knights 46-28. Friday morning, Manchester trailed by just one at halftime, but a 12-2 third quarter put some distance between the Knights and Squires.
“I think we played much better today than two weeks ago when we played them,” coach Anthony Sorg said. “I feel like we are getting better, but there are still things we need to do to get over the hump and turn these losses into wins.”
Stephan Taylor scored for Southwood for a 17-10 lead, but Corey Thomas hit two straight three pointers in the final minute to cut it to 17-16 at halftime.
“We hit some big three pointers in the second quarter, and I think that showed us that we can play with this team,” Sorg said.
Manchester, however, was only able to hit one basket in the third quarter, and Southwood increased their lead to 29-18 at the end of three. Both teams played even in the fourth, but Manchester couldn’t cut the lead under nine points in the fourth quarter.
Jody Griggs led the Squires with eight points, nine rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Corey Thomas had eight points and two rebounds, Gidley had six points, Binkley had five points and one rebound, Jon Walker had two points and seven rebounds, and Nathan Miller had two points and one rebound.
Consolation Game
The JV team finished third in the Wabash County Tournament after dominating Wabash 35-18.
Seven of the eight Squires scored, as Manchester never trailed in the game.
With the scored tied at 10-10 in the second quarter, Jon Walker nailed a three from the left corner, followed by a three point play from Corey Thomas to give the Squires a 16-10 halftime lead.
In the second half, it was all Manchester.
Broc Skaar scored early, followed by a lay up from Jody Griggs off a steal and assist from Thomas. Griggs scored on an offensive rebound put back, and Walker hit 1-2 free throws to increase the lead to 23-10.
Griggs led the Squires with eight points and eight rebounds, Skaar had six points and three rebounds, Thomas had five points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals, Gidley had five points and two rebounds, Walker had four points and two rebounds, Binkley had three points, three rebounds, and three assists, and Aaron Olinger had two points and six rebounds.
The Manchester JV girls’ basketball team fell behind early, but used a 10-0 second quarter and an 11-2 run to start the second half to cruise to a 34-19 win over Wabash in the first round of the Wabash County Tourney.
Manchester was 1-7 in the first quarter, but went 15-27 the rest of the way.
After falling behind 6-2, Jessica Bedke and Denae Pyle both scored to tie it up at 6-6,
Julie Seifert made it a 12-6 game with three straight baskets in the final two minutes of the half.
In the second half, Pyle and Kristen Lahman started the scoring for a 16-6 lead, and a basket from Seifert and a three point play from Bedke made it 21-8 with 2:00 left in the third quarter.
Seifert led the Lady Squires with 10 points and two rebounds, Pyle had seven points and two rebounds, Fratus had six points and two rebounds, Bedke had five points and three rebounds, and Kyla Zile and Lahman both had two points and three rebounds.
Championship Game
The JV team fell behind early, and couldn’t get closer than the final two point margin in a 32-30 loss to Northfield in the championship game of the county tourney.
Baskets from Lahman and Bedke gave Manchester a 4-2 lead, but Northfield went on a 7-0 run and never trailed.
In the second quarter, Amber Fratus got a steal and lay up to end an eight minute scoring drought, but Northfield ended the half with a basket and two free throws to take a 13-6 lead.
After falling behind 15-6 in the early going of the third quarter, Fratus tried her best to get her team back into the game, scoring six straight points to cut the lead to 15-12, but Northfield ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to lead 21-13.
Fratus scored Manchester’s next two baskets, but Northfield answered with baskets of their own to keep the lead at eight points.
Manchester made one last push in the final minute of the game, as Bedke hit a free throw, but missed her second to cut the lead to 30-25.
Zile grabbed the rebound on Bedke’s miss and scored to cut the lead to three points.
Northfield’s Carly Mast hit one free throw to give the Lady Norse a 31-27 lead.
Bedke tried to cut the lead to one with a three pointer, but was off the mark.
Mast hit 1-2 from the line to give the Norse a 32-27 lead with 3.3 seconds left, and Bedke made it a 32-30 score with a three pointer at the buzzer.
Fratus led Manchester with 11 points, Bedke had six points, Zile had four points and four rebounds, Lahman had two points and four steals, and Pyle had one point and four rebounds
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ swim team defeated Rochester 109-77. The Lady Squires led 19-11 after the second event and never trailed.
Manchester won seven of the 12 events, and had nine second place finishes.
Winning events were Shure Parrish in the 200 free (2:33.90) and the 500 free (6:52. 76), Alana DeWitt in the 200 IM (2:50.19) and the 100 free (1:06.72), Svea Thietje in the 100 butterfly (1:15.25), the 200 free relay team of Thietje, Amelia Flora, Lauren Greer, and DeWitt (1:59.31), and the 400 free relay team of DeWitt, Scarlett Melton, Ashton Bradford, and Thietje (4:29.86).
Finishing in second place was the 200 medley relay team of Flora, Elaina Johns, Greer, and Melton (2:15.36), Kaleigh Patrick in the 200 free (2:46.23) and the 500 free (7:40.47), Greer in the 200 IM (2:52.44) and the 100 butterfly (1:23.22), Melton in the 50 free (28.75), Cindi Myers in diving (108.55), Thietje in the 100 back (1:10.05), and Leah McNeeley in the 100 breast (1:25.19).
Coming in third place was the 200 medley relay team of Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, McNeeley, Myers, and Shelby Minnix (2:29.13), Coulter-Kern in the 200 free (2:46), Flora in the 50 free (29.81) and the 100 back (1:22.32), Bradford in the 100 free (1:09.13), and the 400 free relay team of Parrish, Patrick, Minnix, and McNeeley (5:09.75).
Fourth place results were McNeeley in the 50 free (31.19), Minnix in the 100 free (1:13.75), the 200 free relay team of Katherine Tate, Shelby Rager, Marina Meinert, and Sara Gable (2:38.91), Melton in the 100 back (1:22.19), and Bradford in the 100 breast (1:29.39).
The boys’ team was beaten by Rochester 97-83. Rochester got a 10-0 advantage in diving, as the Squires didn’t have any divers competing.
Manchester was able to win seven events and finished second in five.
Winning events were the 200 medley relay team of Josh Garber, Gavin McNeeley, D.J. Brown and Nate Cain (1:53.53), McNeeley in the 200 IM (2:20.03) and the 100 breast (1:09.86), Brown in the 50 free (25.22), Garber in the 100 butterfly (1:11.56), and Brandt Gheen in the 500 free (6:09.39). ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
In recent games, the Manchester Lady Squires have had to rely on their defense when they have struggled offensively.
Friday night against Whitko, it looked like the offense was going to be no problem, for at least one quarter.
Whitko put the clamps on defensively, but so did Manchester, and it was the Lady Squires coming out on top, 50-35 in the TRC contest.
Whitko came into the game with five players averaging between 10.3 and 6.0 points per game, but they were held to just 13 first half points by the stingy Lady Squire defense.
“We are pleased with this win,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “Whitko is a very good basketball team. They are very talented, very athletic, and have some skilled players. They are kind of like us, very balanced.”
Manchester showed they were very balanced in the scoring column as well, led by Audrey Siebrase’s 14 points, while Holly Vogel and Katie Bowers each had 11 points.
Manchester had trouble scoring in the second quarter, however, after Whitko switched from a man to man defense to a 1-2-2 zone.
“Against their 1-2-2, I think we got pretty stale,” Underwood said.
Whitko kept Manchester scoreless until the 3:35 mark of the second quarter when Audrey Siebrase nailed a three pointer.
Those were the Lady Squires’ only points until the final minute of the half, but what a final minute it was for Manchester.
With 50 seconds left, Vogel stole a pass and hit Siebrase on a fast break. Fifteen seconds later, Bowers scored on a steal and lay up, then Vogel nailed a three pointer at the buzzer after a steal to make it a 25-13 lead.
Whitko was never able to put much of a dent into the lead the rest of the way, thanks in part to the play of Mercedes Lockhart. ....Read More
The freshman boys’ basketball team came back from a 13 point deficit in the third quarter, but couldn’t pull out the win, falling to Southwood 42-38.
Southwood led 26-13 in the third quarter, but a 13-0 Squire run tied it up.
“We showed a lot of heart coming back tonight, but lost to a good team,” coach Eric Christiansen said.
Austin Gidley led the Squires with 15 points, while Kyle Lahman, Austin Blankenship, and Austin Crockett all had five points each. Aaron Olinger had four points, Austin Bechtold had three, and Skyler Dingess had two points.
The freshman team improved to 1-2 on the year with an overtime win over Whitko 35-30.
Austin Bechtold scored on a pass from Skyler Dingess at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, then the Squires outscored the Wildcats 7-2 in the overtime period.
“These guys showed me a lot tonight,” Christiansen said. “Skyler made a great pass to find Austin, and then Austin showed a lot of poise to hit that shot.”
Austin Gidley led the Squires with 11 points, while Kyle Lahman had eight points, including two three pointers. Dingess had six points and six rebounds, Geovonney Flores scored four poitnts, while Olinger, Bechtold and Blankenship all had two points each.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester Lady Squires aren’t quite sure what to make of their 40-28 win over TRC rival Northfield Saturday night.
Head coach Mark Underwood said his team felt fortunate to get the win over Northfield.
Underwood talked about his team’s offensive struggles, and turning the ball over too much.
Anyone who saw the first half of the Manchester-Northfield game wouldn’t know what he was talking about.
The Lady Squires shot 5-11 from the field in the first quarter, including hitting two 3-pointers, to take a 14-2 lead.
The second quarter wasn’t much different, as Manchester led 23-7 at halftime.
However, in the second quarter, the Lady Squires scored their last basket with 5:50 remaining, and shot 0-7 from two point range.
Meanwhile, Northfield was having trouble against the Manchester defense, shooting just 2-13 from the field in the first half and committed eight turnovers.
Underwood praised his team’s hard work and defensive tenacity as they struggled offensively for the final 21 minutes of the game.
“Sometimes the offense is clicking, and sometimes it isn’t,” he said, “...and I’ve got to find a way to make it click all the time. Until then, we have to rely on our defense to shut the other team down when we are struggling offensively.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School boys’ and girls’ swim teams both started the seasons off at 1-1, picking up wins against Tippecanoe Valley and coming up short against Huntington North.
Tippecanoe Valley
The boys’ team beat Tippecanoe Valley 119-47. The Squires won 11 of the 12 events in the win.
All three relay teams came in first place. The team of Joel Garber, Gavin McNeeley, Nate Cain, and D.J. Brown won the 200 medley relay (1:56.25), the team of Garber, Cain, Kyle Hill, and Brandt Gheen won the 200 free relay (1:44.12), and the team of Gheen, Brown, Hill, and McNeeley won the 400 free relay (3:55.87).
Winning indiviudal events were Gheen in the 200 free (2:05.03) and the 500 free (5:59.09), McNeeley in the 200 IM (2:19.40) and the 100 breast (1:09.79), Brown in the 50 free (25.56) and the 100 free (57.09), Cain in the 100 butterfly (1:22.43), and Garber in the 100 back (1:12.05).
Coming in second place was the 200 medley relay team of Justin Fletcher, Travis Lightle, Jacob Vogel, and Max Mattern (2:16.91), Vogel in the 200 IM (3:02.89), Cain in the 50 free (25.98), Garber in diving (119.05) and Fletcher in the 100 back (1:16.34).
Finishing in third place was the 200 medley relay team of Ryan Henderson, Dale Ruppert, Michael Bowen, and Collin Buzzard (2:32.24), Andrew Baker in the 200 free (2:30.37), Vogel in the 100 butterfly (1:32.07), Hill in the 100 free (1:04.90), Bowen in the 500 free (8:01.75), Lightle in the 100 breast (1:23.91), the 200 free relay team of Buzzard, Ruppert, Steven Camp, and Mattern (2:12.59), and the 400 free relay team of Baker, Henderson, Vogel, and Fletcher (4:52.93).
Coming in fourth place was Camp in the 50 free (32.35), Andrew Blankenship in the 100 backstroke (1:34.12), and Henderson in the 100 breast (1:26.13). ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Do we start calling them the triplets?
Juniors David Cable, Aaron Medley, and Dan Bourne teamed up for 55 of the Manchester Squires 64 points to lead the Squires to a 64-55 win over Mississinewa Wednesday night.
Cable led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Medley had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Bourne recorded 17 points and nine rebounds.
“Obviously, those three are our big guns,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “They played very well, and we got some offensive punch that we haven’t seen in a couple of years.”
The trio combined for 22-38 shooting from the field with Cable going 8-11 including two 3-pointers, Medley shooting 7-12, and Bourne shooting 7-15, including three 3-pointers.
“We did a good job of getting the ball to the bigs, and they did a good job of putting the ball in the hoop,” Goshert said. “Our guards, Ian Pattison, Lucas Renz, and Nolan Holloway played well and were getting the ball inside very well.”
The story of the game very well could have been the outside shooting of Mississinewa, who nailed 12 3-pointers by six different players, including three each from Jordan Masters and Shane George.
Mississinewa lived and died by the three pointer against the bigger Squires, attempting 36 from behind the arc.
“I think our size gave them some trouble tonight,” Goshert said. “We did a good job with our high-low offense, and did a good job of finishing at the basket.” ....Read More
Manchester College posted its second win of the year Tuesday night following a 56-53 win over St. Mary’s (Ind.).
The Spartans outscored the Belles 36-30 at the first half, but in the second it was Manchester’s 8-10 free throw shooting that helped them hang on to the 56-53 lead, despite shooting just 5-22 in the second half from the field.
Manchester was led by Kelley Meiklejohn’s 11 points and six rebounds. She was 3-8 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. Brittany Rager added nine points on 4-7 shooting. She added four rebounds for the Spartans. Heather Terflinger and Lauren Kalis added eight points each, while Erica Hedges and Jessica Henn had six rebounds.
The women’s basketball team posted a 63-61 victory over visiting Muskingum on Sunday as Heather Terflinger connected on two free throws with under a second remaining in the game to give Manchester the two point win.
The Spartans trailed 35-27 at the half, but Sarah Conwell hit 6-7 shots from the floor in the second half, scoring all 14 of her points in the second period. The Spartans outscored Muskingum 36-26 in the second half and forced 11 turnovers while committing just three to pick up the 63-61 win.
Stacey Wendel ended the game with 15 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor. Conwell added 14 points on 6-9 shooting, and Sarah Bose added 12 points, six rebounds three assists and three steals. Terflinger added nine points and six rebounds for MC.
The women improve to 3-1 on the year, and host Defiance College on Wednesday to start HCAC play at 7:30.
Manchester’s men’s basketball team posted a 67-62 win over Tri-State, handing TSU their first loss of the season.
Manchester opened up with a 29-27 lead at the half thanks in part to balanced scoring by nine different Spartans. Wes Gardner scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half and teammate Kyle Plumlee chipped in 10 of his 13 total points in the second as Manchester held on to the 67-62 win.
Gardner ended the game with 17 points, six rebounds and a steal, and hit 6-6 free throw attempts. Plumlee was 4-8 from the field with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Derek Hammond added eight points and four assists.
Manchester College’s men’s basketball team is off to its best start since the 1998-99 season at 4-0 following a 72-56 win over Earlham on Sunday.
Manchester’s Wes Gardner scored 21 points, hitting 6-10 shots from the floor and 4-7 from behind the arc to lead Manchester. He added six rebounds and two steals in the win. Kyle Plumlee added 15 points on 5-7 shooting, hitting three of four three pointers, while Jamaal Wade scored 11 points and added seven rebounds for Manchester.
The Spartans held a 33-25 advantage at the half, shooting 52% from the floor on 12-23 shooting. They outscored Earlham 39-31 in the second half to pick up the 16 point win.
by Eric Christiansen
After enduring an unheard of 3-18 season a year ago, the Manchester Squires are looking to get back to winning, and hope a combination of size and quickness will lead them back.
Manchester coach Gary Goshert is excited about the upcoming season that opens Wednesday night at Mississinewa.
“I’ve been looking forward to the season, and I think the boys have also,” Goshert said. “A lot of them have put in some hard work in the summer, and even in the fall, to get ready, and I think it will pay off.”
The Squires lost five seniors from last year’s squad, but returns the bulk of their scoring in a front line of juniors, Dan Bourne, Aaron Medley, and David Cable.
Bourne was a TRC first team selection, scoring 14.6 points and grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. Medley made the second team with 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds. Cable saw plenty of action as a sophomore and is looking to make big contributions this season.
“We are going to look to those three a lot this year, but we aren’t looking to be one dimensional either,” Goshert said. “We have some inexperience at the guard position, but where we lack in experience, we are making up for it in quickness, athleticism and hard work.”
Juniors Nolan Holloway, Ian Pattison and Jody Griggs, a transfer student from White’s, will see most of the ball handling responsibilities, and seniors Lucas Renz and Brandon Shepherd will see time at the 2-guard position. Renz and Holloway were the starting guards at the Squires’ scrimmage with Caston. Junior Spenser Penrod will see action with both the varsity and junior varsity teams.
“Nolan and Jody are both quick and athletic, and Ian is a very capable, vocal guard out on the floor,” Goshert said. “Brandon saw some time at guard last year, and Lucas has done a good job of learning the position. They will all be a nice combination with our bigs.”
Goshert has been stressing aggressiveness in the preseason, and looks for his team to respond. ....Read More
Manchester College posted a 65-62 win over Eureka in the first game of the 2006 Manchester College Tip-Off Classic on Friday.
The Spartans trailed 28-23 at the half, but regrouped in the second half to outscore the Red Devils 39-27 to pick up the three-point win.
Sophomores Kyle Plumlee and Jeff Grabowski scored half of the Spartans total points, as Plumlee was 5-9 from behind the arc for a total of 20 points, while Grabowski was 6-12 for 13 points and five rebounds. David Allen added ten points for MC in the win.
For Eureka, Matt McComb scored 15 points, while Chris Tarpley added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
In the opening game of the men’s tournament, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire defeated Alma 69-61. Dan Beyer led the UWEC with 15 points, Matt Riley had 14 and 10 rebounds, while Jared Bardon chipped in 11 and Luke Meier added 10.
Alma was led by Isaac Smith’s 20 points and nine rebounds. Isaac Thaler added 14 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor.
Championship Game
Manchester College posted a 68-59 win over the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire in the championship game of the 2006 Manchester College Tip-Off Tournament.
The Spartans trailed by 13 at the half, 38-25, but outscored the Blugolds 43-21 in the second half to pick up the win. Manchester shot 53% from the field in the second half to aid in the victory.
Wes Gardner led Manchester with 17 points on 5-10 shooting. He added three steals for MC. Jamaal Wade made his first appearance for Manchester this year, scoring 14 points and also grabbing three steals. Kyle Plumlee had 10 points for MC.
In the consolation game, Eureka defeated Alma 73-62. Wes Gardner was named Tournament MVP, while teammate Jamaal Wade was named to the All-Tournament team. Representing the other schools were Chris Bardon, Matt Riley of UWEC, Ryan Dehann of Alma, and Chris Terpley of Eureka.
Manchester improves to 2-0 on the year.
by Eric Christiansen
With a bullseye on their backs, the Manchester Lady Squires, ranked second in the Class 2A preseason poll, took Bluffton’s best shot, but withstood a late charge to top the Lady Tigers 50-40 in the season opener.
Bluffton actually outscored Manchester over the final three quarters, but it was after the Lady Squires built an 18-2 lead early in the second quarter.
“Bluffton is a good team,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “They have some talented scorers and other girls on the team who know their roles. They are obviously playing with a lot of emotion with the loss of their coach, and they dedicated the season to him.”
Former Tiger coach and athletic director Ron DeWitt died in a tragic automobile accident this past summer, and was replaced with former Wabash coach Glenn Cunningham.
Cunningham brought a fast-paced in-your-face style to Bluffton, and it showed Friday night, at least in the last three quarters.
“Bluffton is physical, and I thought our girls did a good job handling the pressure,” Underwood said. “It would be easy to throw in a cheap shot, or retaliate, but the girls focused on the game, played hard, and weren’t taken out of their game.”
Manchester was completely in their game in the opening quarter, outscoring Bluffton 14-2, paced by six points each from Libby Pattison and Audrey Siebrase.
The Lady Squires’ pressure forced Bluffton into 10 first quarter turnovers. In all, Bluffton committed 33 turnovers in the game, while Manchester committed 21 turnovers.
Manchester maintained their lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Tigers 17-11, including 10 points from Katie Bowers, who hit two three pointers.
Bluffton was the aggressor in the second half, as they closed the gap to 32-19 with an 8-1 run.
Manchester answered with six straight points, four from Holly Vogel, and two from Bowers.
Bluffton responded with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 40-30 early in the fourth quarter, but could never get closer than 10 points.
“Bluffton had a bit of an advantage, as they already played a game, while this was our first,” Underwood said. “It was a bit sloppy at times, but I thought we did a good job of sticking to the task at hand.”
Bowers led Manchester with 14 points and nine steals, while Pattison joined her in double figure scoring with 12 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds, had four steals, and three assists. Siebrase had eight points, two assists, two steals, and two rebounds, Christa Peden had six points and five rebounds, Holly Vogel had four points, five assists, and four rebounds, Mercedes Lockhart had four points and two rebounds, and Caroline Andersen had two points, three rebounds, and three steals. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ basketball team will have a huge target on their backs this season, and coach Mark Underwood has no problem with that.
“We know every time we step on the floor, there are going to be people gunning for us, trying to knock us off,” Underwood said. “I think that’s a good thing. I think that brings out the best in our team if the opposing teams are giving them good competition. We welcome that.”
The reason for Manchester being favored in almost every game they play this season?
How about a team that returns six of their top eight players from a team that went 19-3, won the Wabash County Tournament, the Three Rivers Conference, and a sectional title?
The state raters also seem to see something in the Lady Squires, ranking them second in Class 2A in the preseason polls.
With high expectations of everyone around them, Underwood’s goal is to keep his team grounded and focused. ....Read More
Manchester wrapped up their home schedule on Saturday with a 34-3 loss to Rose-Hulman (6-4, 3-4 HCAC).
Rose-Hulman scored at the 11:29 mark of the first half as Adam Helmerich recovered a blocked punt into the endzone for a quick 7-0 lead. The Spartans scored on the ensuing drive as Kevin Phelps nailed a 21-yard field goal attempt to pull within four, 7-3.
Rose scored 28 unanswered points with touchdowns at the 4:23 mark of the first quarter as Tim Schrock capitalized on a one-yard scamper and two Jeremy Sharp 30-yard field goals in the second period gave the Engineers a 17-3 lead at the half.
Justin Meade scored on a 28-yard pass from Cameron Hummel with two minutes remaining in the third, and Thomas Reives broke open a 70-yard TD run to seal the 34-3 win to start the fourth quarter.
Statistically for Manchester, Joel Hawkins ended with 96 rushing yards on 16 carries. He was 10-31 passing for 73 yards and two interceptions. Jovan Joyner had four catches for 43 yards and 60 yards rushing on two carries.
Zack Smith ended the game with 13 tackles, and is six tackles shy of reaching the 100 mark. Mike DePoy added seven tackles and Tyler Smith chipped in five.
The Spartans fall to 1-8 on the year, 0-6 in the HCAC. They return to action next Saturday at Anderson for the sixth annual Bronze Ball Trophy game.
by Eric Christiansen
I don’t know how random these thoughts will be, and it could get ugly at times, so hang on and here we go.
*Are you excited for the basketball season? I am. Not only as a coach and a sports writer, but as a fan, as well. As a coach and writer, my excitement is different than it used to be before I took these jobs. Not more or less exciting, just different.
*I’m glad to hear the numbers are up in both basketball programs, from 7th to 12 grades, on the boys’ and girls’ sides.
*Speaking of basketball (and here is where it might get ugly), Manchester High School has the best boys’/men’s bathroom I have ever seen at a high school, and maybe ever. Whoever designed that potty break room in the commons is a genius. It has separate rooms for No. 1 business and No. 2 business. Brilliant.
*Is anybody watching Friday Night Lights? If not, get to watching. It is a great show, that is in the same spirit as the movie. From the action to the drama to the maddening parents causing headaches for the coach, it is a strong, realistic view of high school sports, especially football in Texas.
*We’re half way through the NFL season, and I still have trouble enjoying NBC’s Sunday Night Football. I don’t know what it is about the production value, but I just don’t enjoy it. By the way, is John Madden the only announcer to have been on all four major networks? He went from CBS to Fox to ABC to NBC. I can’t think of anyone else who has done that.
*Speaking of Sunday night, did the Colts win a big game, or just another regular season game? I guess they can go 16-0, but the naysayers won’t go away until Indianapolis wins the big one. Will they go 16-0? I doubt it. I was listening to the Colts-Denver game two weeks ago on the radio, and even their announcers had no faith in the Colts’ defense. We’ll see.
*I hate to even put his name in this newspaper, but is there even one Terrell Owens fan out there? Seriously. It’s worse than being a Barry Bonds fan. Does anyone in North Manchester have an Owens poster on their wall? What about a Barry Bonds poster? If so, why?
*Back to Owens, in his feeble little mind, why is it ok for him to scream and berate teammates and coaches, but when he misses an easy catch, he says, “I just missed it.” Why isn’t that excuse good enough for his teammates? Remember that, all you young athletes who are trying to be leaders on your respective teams.
*I guess the NBA started.
*If you haven't heard, the Manchester College women's basketball team has three former MHS players on their roster. Go check Heather Terflinger, Brit Rager, and Sarah Purdy out.
*Purdue fans are the best college sports fans in Indiana. Here’s why. How many people are fans of IU basketball AND Notre Dame football? I bet there aren’t too many IU football AND Notre Dame basketball fans, or straight IU basketball AND football fans, or Notre Dame football AND basketball fans. I mean true blue, die-hard, never quit fans. When you ask a Purdue basketball fan who their favorite college football team is, the answer is usually Purdue, whether their team is top 10, or 0 for the season. Why is that? I would love a 500 word essay from either side of the spectrum. It will run in the News-Journal,
by Denise Fisher
One of the newest members to the Wabash County community, the new youth pastor at the Congregational Christian Church, North Manchester, understands well the value of blessings which Americans often take for granted.
Yolomo Edward Robertson Jr. was born in Liberia, West Africa, in a mining city. His parents were Christians. He went to school and made friends and upon graduation, entered Arthur Barclay Business College in the capital city of Monrovia. (Barclay College is one of the most prestigious schools in Liberia.) He studied business/ accounting with the hopes of running his own business some day.
However, in his junior year, civil war broke out in Liberia. The capital city was under siege and was being shelled. The leaders of the school, missionaries from Great Britain and Ireland, announced that the school would have to be closed.
The war had erupted as various tribes determined to join forces, temporarily, to rid the country of other tribes. Once these tribes were destroyed, the allied tribes would begin to fight among themselves until ‘winner take all.’
Edward lived in Monrovia in war-like conditions until the rebels finally broke the siege and he was taken to a place of safe refuge just a little way outside of the city. He lived there for about a month. ....Read More
by Tim McLaughlin
The BCS, the “Bowl Championship Series” or the “Big Catastrophic Situation,” you be the judge.
After Saturday’s games where USC lost to Oregon State, and Texas, Auburn, and Tennessee survived upset scares against teams supposedly their inferior, the BCS, which was created to give a “true” national championship game, looks like it may be headed for another disastrous ending.
Granted, there remains the possibility that the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan game and the winner of this Thursday’s West Virginia-Louisville contest could and probably should run their respective tables and finish unbeaten, staging a championship game between two schools with unblemished records.
But what if Michigan, who is ranked #2 and holds a considerable advantage over the #3 team in all polls, loses a close game to Ohio State? Shouldn’t they remain #2 and not drop in the rankings? That would mean that a rematch of that game would be the national championship game. What happens then if Michigan wins a close game over Ohio State? They would have split two games, and finish the year as the nation’s top team?
A more likely scenario would be for West Virginia, who is currently ranked #4, to play for the title if they finish undefeated. But the argument will be this: Are the Mountaineers, who play in a watered-down Big East conference, a better team than one-loss programs such as USC, Texas, Auburn, Tennessee, and Notre Dame?
I personally think that West Virginia might be just as good as those one-loss teams, but their strength of schedule may ultimately be their undoing.
So what it all boils down to is this. The BCS is really the Big Catastrophic Situation. And while that may frustrate some, I’m glad the system is more than likely going to fail again this year.
I love college football. I would rather watch college football than any other sport at any other level. And not having a clear cut national championship game gets us one step closer to what we all deserve—a playoff system within college football.
Seriously, how exciting would it be to take the top 8-16 teams and start a playoff in early December? It would need to be a seeded tournament, so your season’s work was rewarded in the playoffs.
I know that the bowl games hand out a lot of money to many schools and conferences. But wouldn’t there be a ton of cash available if teams such as Notre Dame, Michigan or Florida made a deep run into the tournament and played 3-4 post-season games instead of just one? Can you imagine the ratings for these games and the advertising money that could be generated by the networks?
I know a playoff system is inevitable. At some point, enough people will be sickened by the current flawed system that changes will have to be made.
There simply has to be a way to give more teams a shot. The Boise State’s and Rutger’s of the world deserve a shot too. How frustrating must it be to go undefeated in Division I play and not even be considered one of the nation’s elite teams?
Something has to give. Pretty soon BCS will stand for noBodyCareS.
Manchester fell to Franklin 31-15 in football action on Saturday as part of Hall of Fame Day for Spartan athletics.
Franklin scored early in the first quarter but Manchester responded with two seconds remaining following a Joel Hawkins five-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 following the Kevin Phelps PAT attempt. Franklin Scored twice in the second period, once on a 21-yard touchdown run and a 28 yard field goal attempt.
Hawkins found Jared Yoder for an 11-yard pass in the endzone as Manchester closed the scoring margin 16-13 with 9:26 remaining in the third. Franklin scored twice in the fourth to go ahead 31-13, but the Spartans picked up a safety following Jordan Cork’s blocked punt in the back of the endzone.
Hawkins ended the game with 121 yards rushing on 20 carries and a TD. He threw for 102 yards and a touchdown, connecting on 13 of 29 passes with four interceptions.
Zack Smith ended the game with nine tackles, while Mike DePoy added eight and Beau Bradtmiller had seven.
Manchester falls to 1-8 on the year, 0-5 in the HCAC. They host Rose-Hulman starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Manchester Jr-Sr High School will begin selling girls basketball season tickets on November 8 and boys basketball season tickets on November 22 during school hours in the athletic office.
Season tickets will also be available at the first home varsity contest.
Boys basketball stadium seat ($40) and section “C” ($35) ticket holders should receive a renewal notice by mail. Boys basketball stadium seats and section “C” are reserved seating.
Ticket orders can be mailed by sending a sef-addressed stamped envelope to: Manchester Athletics, One Squire Drive, North Manchester, IN 46962.
Ticket prices-A boys basketball season pass costs $35, which will save $15. There are 10 home games, and individual gate admission is $5 per game.
Boys basketball stadium seat and section “C” reserved seats are available. Call 982-1192 if interested.
The girls basketball team also has 10 home games and a season pass costs $35, a $15 savings from the individual $5 gate fee.
Please call the athletic department at Manchester High School with questions at 260-982-1192.
by Eric Christiansen
None of the players on the Manchester High School volleyball team had ever won a sectional game. Neither had their coach. This year, the Lady Squires experienced two wins, and a hard-fought battle in the sectional finals to finish the year with a 20-16 record.
Round 1
The Lady Squires had the task of taking on five time defending sectional champion Southwood in the first round. Southwood has been down this season compared to previous years, but was still a dangerous team, as evidenced by their comeback from two games down to Manchester two weeks earlier.
Thursday night, it looked like Southwood was going to run away with it, but it was Manchester who was celebrating the five game win, 8-25, 25-21, 19-25, 29-27, 15-13.
The first game was all Southwood, who jumped out to a 9-2 lead and eventually pulled out a 25-8 thumping.
“We had a lot of jitters in the first game,” Manchester coach Sarah Dillon said. “We were totally out of synch. Once we got that out of the way, I was proud of them for the way they didn’t give up and didn’t quit.”
In the second game, Southwood continued on their roll, taking an 8-4 lead before Manchester tied it up at 10-10 as Mercedes Lockhart scored on three kills and a block during that stretch.
“Mercedes is the kind of girl that can turn around a match,” Dillon said. “She had her ups and downs, and struggled clearing the net. But, if you keep giving her the ball, she’s going to do something, and she had some big hits when we needed her to. Defensively, she was all over the place.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
It took just two plays for Heritage to set the tone against Manchester in the opening round of sectional play, as the 2A No. 2 Patriots cruised to a 49-19 win.
Heritage scored on the first play from scrimmage on a Devron Robinson 65 yard touchdown run just 19 seconds into the game.
After a three and out from the Squires, Patriot quarterback Zebediah Moriarity connected with Kyle Klingenberg on a 45 yard touchdown strike with 10:14 left in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
“We knew that we were going to have to take some chances defensively,” Manchester coach Brandon Baker said. “We weren’t going to be able to sit back and wait. We were going to gamble, and they caught us early on some big plays.
“That first play was just a simple belly play, something we have run in practice 50 times this week,” he continued. “We just sat back and didn’t fill the hole. We just got out of position. On that pass play, we got caught looking in the backfield. We knew we couldn’t sit back, so we tried to put ourselves in the best position we could, and they caught us on it.”
Baker warned his team about that very kind of start that Heritage had.
“We had a walk-through earlier, and I told them that they were going to get ahead by 14 very early,” he said. “They were going to have a big run because we miss an assignment, and they will make a big play on a pass and will score. I asked them how they were going to respond. I thought they responded as well as we could, but physically, they won the game during the summer. Physically, we’re not there yet.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
When the underdog falls behind 1-0 in the first minute of a soccer game, that usually spells doom.
For the Manchester High School girls’ soccer team, all it meant was a door opened for an exciting come from behind win in the last eight minutes.
The Lady Squires used goals from Jessica Nearing and Alana DeWitt to pull off the upset over Northwestern, 2-1, to advance to the Kokomo Sectional semi-finals on Thursday.
“That’s how our whole season has been,” Manchester coach Carrie Clothier said after the game. “The girls just know how to work hard, and they never give up. That’s one of their best attributes.”
Manchester fell behind 1-0 just 68 seconds into the game, but they prevented Northwestern from scoring again, due to what Clothier feels is one of the best defenses in the area. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Despite heading into its sectional match up against Plymouth with an 11-3-1 record, compared to a 6-8-3 Plymouth record, the Manchester Squires were shut out in the first round 2-0.
“Plymouth has a pretty good team,” Manchester coach Dave McKee said. “I felt all season that we had a chance to beat any of the teams in the sectional.”
Manchester played right with Plymouth for much of the game, but wasn’t able to get the ball in the back of the net.
With both teams scoreless in the first half, Plymouth senior Nick Rice scored on a corner kick that was untouched after it curved into the net.
“That was kind of a fluke goal, and (Manchester keeper) Brian Hays felt that it was his fault,” McKee said. “He shouldn’t feel that way at all. It was just one of those things. We win as a team and lose as a team”
Both teams went scoreless until Plymouth added an insurance goal when Eliseo Martinez scored with 6:44 left in the game.
Manchester only got four shots on goal, two from Sean Richardson, one from Enrico Montanari, and one from Chance Shockey.
Brian Hays had seven saves in goal.
“We had a great season and, have nothing to be ashamed of,” McKee said. “We played a close game with Plymouth, a school much bigger than us.
“We have some players that we are going to miss, who were a big part of our success,” he continued. “We have some seniors and an exchange student who we will miss a lot.”
Manchester will lose the services of seniors Nick Rhudy, Sean Richardson,Chance Shockey, Tom Trinh, Kyle Leffel, Will Myers, Brian Hays, Jacob Heaston, Kyle Hill, Zach Sievers, Rick Morgan, and exchange student Enrico Montanari.
by Eric Christiansen
It wasn’t the perfect game, but it was good enough for the Manchester Squires.
Over the past few weeks, mistakes had been destroying any chance of a Squire win. Friday night, it was the Wabash Apaches who had the mental breakdowns in a 41-0 Manchester win.
“We missed a few blocks and had some mistakes, but I think some of it was that we were so fired up,” Manchester coach Brandon Baker said.
While the Squires came out with intensity, Wabash struggled offensively.
Manchester outgained the Apaches in total yards 386-103, including a 376-22 advantage in rushing yards.
“Our backs ran hard,” Baker said. “We have been talking to them about getting their pads lower than the tackler, and tonight, they did that.”
After Wabash punted on their first possession, Manchester used six runs and a fourth down conversion to get the ball to the one yard line, where Aaron Snover ran untouched into the end zone for a 6-0 lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter.
On Wabash’s next possession, the Apaches fumbled on their first play, and Manchester’s Corey Thomas jumped on the loose ball.
Two plays later, it was 13-0 on a four yard touchdown run from Blaine Miller with 3:46 left in the quarter. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Back in August, Manchester and Peru battled to a 2-2 tie, with the final match at 2 doubles in the third set, when rain washed away the completion of the match.
In late September, Manchester and Peru faced off again, this time with much bigger implications, a sectional title on the line. In the war to settle the score, it was Manchester’s smallest varsity player who put the rest of his team on his back and ensured a sectional championship.
With the team match once again tied at 2-2, all eyes turned to the number three singles match up between Manchester senior Brandon Wiley and Peru sophomore Dan Mulloy.
“If there is any player on our team we want in that situation, all of the guys agree it is Brandon,” Manchester coach Eric Christiansen said. “He is our only senior and our only undefeated player. I liked our odds.”
Wiley pulled out a grueling first set 6-4, but fell behind in the second set.
“I wasn’t playing how I normally play in the second set,” Wiley said. “Once I got more aggressive, I played better.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Two big opponents.
Two leads.
Two five game losses.
The Manchester High School volleyball team had the TRC title in their sights, but losses to Northfield and Southwood dropped the Lady Squires to 4-2 in the TRC, and essentially fell out of contention for the conference bragging rights.
“In the last two matches, we just didn’t come out mentally ready to play in the fifth games,” Manchester coach Sarah Dillon said.
In the loss to Northfield, Manchester led 2-1 before the big hitting Norse took the last two games, with Northfield pulling out the 24-26, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 15-6 win.
“Wow,” Northfield coach Lance Christiansen said. “This was a great match between two good teams.”
Northfield looked like they were going to take the first game, holding a 24-22 lead, before Dillon called a time out. Whatever was said in the time out seemed to work, as Manchester reeled off four straight points to take the first game.
Northfield took the second game without much trouble, 25-18.
In the third game, Manchester stayed close, then ended the game winning three of the last four points for a 25-23 win.
In the fourth game, Northfield went back to what has helped them achieve a 17-5 record, their hitting, and pulled out a 25-19 win.
“I think that was a big part of the difference,” Christiansen said. “We are a taller team and hits the ball well.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
What a difference a year makes in the TRC.
Last season, Manchester defeated Rochester 3-2 to pull into a last place tie with the Zebras, while watching Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley share the conference title.
Monday night, it was Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley in the last two slots, while 3-0 Manchester traveled to 3-0 Rochester for a championship showdown.
In the end, it was the Squires who were holding the trophy after a 5-0 win.
“I’m happy for the guys,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “They have worked hard, and reached one of their goals.”
The Squires had no trouble in doubles action, and Brandon Wiley remained undefeated to clinch the needed three points.
David Cable and Andrew Gnagy won 6-3, 6-2, while Gavin McNeeley and Steven Camp won 6-1, 6-3. Brandon Wiley also won 6-1, 6-3 to clinch the win.
Meanwhile, at the top two singles spots, Bryant Wiley and Nate Cain ran into some trouble in the beginning, both dropping their respective first sets. Both battled back for hard fought second sets, then cruised in the third sets for the sweep.
Wiley won 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, while Cain won 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
“Things weren’t clicking in the beginning,” said Wiley.
“It just didn’t feel right in the first set,” Cain added.
“Both of them showed so much to themselves with how they played the second and third sets,” Christiansen said. “I might have been overcoaching both of them. As soon as I left them alone, and let them figure things out for themselves, they both started rolling. I’m really proud of how they finished.”
The title ends a two year drought for the Squires in the TRC. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester boys’ soccer team improved to 10-3 with a 6-1 drubbing of North Miami last week.
“Everybody played well,” coach Dave McKee said.
Five minutes into the game, Manchester took the lead and never let go.
Chance Shockey scored the first of his two goals on a breakaway at the 35:54 mark.
Two minutes later, Andrew Chinworth took the ball on the left side and scored from 20 yards out.
At the 13:05 mark, Sean Richardson scored on a pass from Derek Jones.
The Squires made it 4-0 just 1 1/2 minutes into the second half as Enrico Montanari scored on an unassisted goal.
Four minutes later, Shockey scored his second goal of the night when he intercepted a North Miami attempt to clear the ball and broke free for the goal.
Josh Watson added the last Squire goal on an assist from Montanari.
Kyle Mock scored for North Miami on a penalty kick with 10:20 left in the game.
Manchester outshot North Miami 11-1 on the game.
Loss to Lakeland Christian
“It could have been better,” McKee said about his team’s performance against Lakeland Christian.
Lakeland shut out the Squires 4-0, which was the first time Manchester has been shut out in 13 games.
Brian Hays had eight saves in goal, while Manchester had six shots on goal.
Chinworth had three shots, while Shockey had two and Richardson had one.
The boys’ soccer team will host Maconaquah on Monday at 5:00 p.m.
The Squires drew Plymouth in the first round of the Argos Sectional, which begins next October 5.
by Eric Christiansen
Mistakes continue to haunt the Manchester Squires.
Rochester converted four Squire turnovers into points on their way to a 38-22 TRC win Friday night at Manchester’s Homecoming.
“We played well, and with the most desire and intensity I have seen in three years,” Squire coach Brandon Baker said. “We just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The first shot came in the first quarter.
After holding the Zebras to a three and out, Blaine Miller’s pass was picked off by Brandon Stuart, who ran it back for a 35 yard touchdown with 5:55 left in the quarter.
Manchester had success offensively all night, moving the ball with a mixture of running and passing. In the first quarter, Manchester ran 21 plays to Rochester’s six, but Miller’s second interception of the quarter led to Rochester taking a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on a nine yard touchdown reception from Carter Walley.
Things looked bleak for only seconds for the Squires. On Manchester’s next play from scrimmage, Aaron Snover made it a 14-6 game with an 80 yard touchdown run up the right side of the field with 9:38 left in the half.
Rochester added a 30 yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the half to take a 17-6 lead, but Manchester didn’t fold.
On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Travis Lightle forced a fumble from Stuart. Miller, who was looking to make up for the first half turnovers, scooped up the loose ball and scampered 32 yards for a touchdown . Miller found Yezan Al-Khateeb for a dump pass for the two point conversion, and the Squires were back in the game.
“That was a huge play for us,” Baker said. “The intensity and desire was there, and it showed on the field. We made some mistakes, but we also made some big plays.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Manchester passed the test.
Word had been going around of a test that Manchester coach Brandon Baker gave to his team.
“We tested the players on their knowledge of our plays and the routes,” Baker explained. “Those who did well, started, and those who didn’t do well, didn’t start, regardless of skill level.”
It must have paid off, as the Squires picked up their first win of the season with a 21-6 victory over North Miami Friday night.
“This was a big win for us,” Baker said. “All of the pieces came together, and we stopped making all of the dumb mistakes we had been making in our last few games. We had a lot of kids step up and play well for us.”
One player who stepped up early in the game was Blaine Miller.
Miller was instrumental on the first drive of the game in giving the Squires the lead. The first play from scrimmage was an eight yard reception from Miller to Brecken Kennedy. Miller followed that with a 40 yard scamper to the four yard line. After a two yard run from Miller, Travis Lightle scored the first of his three touchdowns on a two yard run just 1:41 into the game. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Manchester ended its girls’ golf season Saturday at the Huntington Sectional at LaFontaine Golf Course.
The Lady Squires finished sixth overall out of 11 teams with a team score of 430.
Huntington North won the team sectional with a 341, Marion was second with a 346, Maconaquah was third with a 364, Canterbury was fourth with a 374, Peru was fifth with a 399, Mississinewa was seventh with a 449, Blackford was eighth with a 475, and North Miami was ninth with a 558. Wabash and Northfield competed, but couldn’t field a full team for a team score.
Audrey Siebrase led Manchester with a 98, while Taylor Leonhard shot a 104, and Samantha Budnik shot a 106. Kylee Clapp shot a 122, and Hayley Shafer added a 136.
With the season ending, coach Kyle Wieland was proud of the way his team played all year.
“This was a positive end to a great season,” he said. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with this group of girls. We’ve come a long way since the first day of practice, and I’m proud of the progress they’ve made. Considering we lost four of the top six players from last year, this was a very successful season.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
All Manchester needed was one win from a Wiley, and they got it.
With the Squires leading Columbia City 2-1, both Brandon Wiley and Bryant Wiley were heading into the third sets of their respective matches. In the end, it was Brandon Wiley who pulled out the clinching win at three singles to help the Squires to a 3-2 win, improving their record to 7-2 and dropping the Eagles to 11-2.
Brandon Wiley dropped the first set 6-1, but regrouped to pull out the last two sets 6-4, 6-1.
“Brandon made some great adjustments tonight,” Christiansen said. “He started to be more aggressive in those last two sets, and that made the difference.”
Bryant Wiley started his match on fire, winning the first set 6-3, and was three points away from the win, tied 4-4 in the second set tiebreak. Wiley lost the second set tiebreak 7-4, then dropped the third set 6-3.
“Bryant is playing so well, and has gone three sets against some players I didn’t think he would get a set against,” Christiansen said. “He’s going to pull out a big three setter at some point.”
Manchester got the other two points from its doubles teams as David Cable and Andrew Gnagy won 6-3, 6-1, and the team of Gavin McNeeley and Steven Camp won 6-4, 6-1.
Nate Cain lost his singles match 6-2, 6-2.
“This was a big win for our team,” Christiansen said. “Columbia City came in on a high after beating Carroll, one of the teams that beat us. Our kids came in confident, and it showed tonight.”
The JV tied with Columbia City 3-3. Winning singles matches were Kyle Lahman, Andy Bushong, and Scott Spaulding. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School volleyball team stayed in the hunt for the Three Rivers Conference title with a four game win over Tippecanoe Valley last week.
Manchester out lasted the Lady Vikings 25-16, 21-25, 25-15, 25-19 to improve to 14-9 overall and 3-0 in the TRC.
“We really started to play like the team we should be tonight,” coach Sarah Dillon said. “Our attacking was finally making an impact and the girls had a great chemistry going. You could really tell they were having a great time together, and putting things together.”
Mercedes Lockhart led Manchester with 17 kills and 17 digs.
“Mercedes had an amazing match, and our defense was working well,” Dillon said. “Not to take anything away from our sophomore setter Becka Guthrie, but having Amber Hunter back in the line up made a huge difference for us. Her serving was fantastic tonight, and she really took a leadership role. Katie Bowers and Kobie Marks provided good defense and great serving to take our game up a notch.”
Christa Peden added 13 kills, three blocks, and two aces, while Bowers had six kills, two aces, and 13 digs, Brittany Sievers had six kills and eight blocks, Marks had three digs and three aces, Shanna Helvey had 16 digs, and Hunter had 37 assists, eight digs, and four aces. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School tennis team had a successful day at the Three Rivers Conference Individual Tournament last Saturday, walking away with three of the five championships.
Brandon Wiley remained undefeated at three singles with wins over Wabash (6-1, 6-2) and Whitko (6-3, 6-2). Wiley has not lost a set on his way to a 10-0 record.
The doubles team of David Cable and Andrew Gnagy improved to 9-2 on the season with wins over Wabash (7-6, 6-4) and Tippecanoe Valley (6-4, 6-4) at one doubles.
At two doubles, Gavin McNeeley and Steven Camp had no trouble on the day, beating Whitko (6-1, 6-0) and Tippecanoe Valley (6-0, 6-1).
“We had a pretty good showing today,” coach Eric Christiansen said. “I thought we had a chance to win at least three, if not four of the five brackets, so we’ll take three. Brandon is playing very well, and the doubles teams are starting to get a feel of what good doubles play is.
“We might have been a little overconfident coming into the tournament,” he continued. “We were brought back down to earth, and realized that it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. Hopefully this will help us when it comes to the TRC matches.”
Bryant Wiley finished in fourth place at number one singles, losing to Whitko in the first round (6-0, 6-1) and beating Tippecanoe Valley in the consolation round (8-1).
Nate Cain fought hard, but lost to Wabash 7-6, 6-4 in the first round. Freshman Kyle Lahman was substituted in for Cain in the consolation rounds and pulled out two wins, 8-1, and 8-0.
"Our conference has gotten a lot better over the last four years," Christiansen said. "With Wabash in the TRC now, it really makes it more competitive, which is good."
Until five years ago, the Three Rivers Conference title was determined at this tournament, and Manchester had won 13 of the first 15 titles. A team score is not kept anymore, but this was the Squires' best showing in the past three years. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Mistakes are costly for any football team. They have proven to be even more costly for the Manchester Squires this season as they fell to 0-4 with a 20-3 loss to TRC rival Whitko Friday night.
“We just keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” Manchester coach Brandon Baker said. “We turned the ball over too many times, and had way too many penalties, especially on offense.”
If Baker’s tone is that of frustration, the Squires started the game frustrating the Wildcats in the first quarter.
Whitko took the opening drive in a negative direction, as a holding penalty put the ball on their own 28 yard line. After Kyle Henderson broke up a pass to make it fourth down, Blaine Miller blocked the Wildcat punt. Yezan Al-Khateeb recovered the loose ball, giving the Squires the ball on the Whitko 20 yard line.
After failing to move the ball, Manchester lined up for a field goal. Sophomore kicker Broc Skaar’s 40 yard attempt was good, giving the Squires their first lead of the season, 3-0.
“That kick was huge for us,” Baker said. “It gave us some early momentum. It was a very good kick.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Audrey Siebrase earned all-conference with her eighth place performance at the Three Rivers Conference Golf Tournament at Raccoon Run in Warsaw.
Siebrase shot a 102 to earn all-conference.
Manchester as a team finished third with a score of 431. Rochester won with a 369, while Whitko was second with a 408. Tippecanoe Valley was fourth with a 514.
Wabash, Northfield, and North Miami all competed, but didn’t have enough golfers to qualify for a team score.
Samantha Budnik was 10th overall with a 105, while Taylor Leonhard was 11th with a 108. Kylee Clapp was 14th with a 116, and Allison Mussey was 16th with a 126.
“Rochester has proven all year that they were the team to beat in the conference, and they played very well today,” coach Kyle Wieland said. “I thought if all of our girls were at the top of their game, we might be able to beat Whitko and possibly make a run at Rochester. I’m happy with the third place finish, and thrilled with how solid our scores were.
“I felt that Taylor, Audrey and Samantha were all capable of earning all-TRC honors, but on this day, Audrey was the only one who finished in the top eight,” he continued. “Taylor played very well for being sick, and Samantha had her best 18 hole score of the year. Audrey struggled on the last few holes or else she probably would have finished fourth. Kylee had her best 18 hole round ever, and Allison had a rough front nine, but bounced back to play well on the back nine. I feel like we can score better than this at sectional, but this was a good solid team round. I’m really looking forward to see what we can do this Saturday at sectional.”
Win Over Mississinewa
It all came together for the golf team last week, as they were just two strokes off of their season low, beating Mississinewa 205-214.
Taylor Leonhard earned medalist honors with a 45, shooting par on numbers 13 and 16 at Sycamore.
Audrey Siebrase was second on the day with a 46, parring 12 and 13.
Samantha Budnik shot a 52, and Allison Mussey and Lauren Mussey both shot 62.
“With an inexperienced team, it’s common to have a couple girls play well in one match, and then a couple more in the next,” Wieland said. “Because they haven’t played as much, their scores tend to be inconsistent. I just hoped that at some point during the season, we would all play well on the same night. This was by far as close as we have been all season. Audrey had her best round of the year, and the JV improved their best score by 20 strokes.”
The JV team beat Mississinewa 231-271. Scarlett Melton shot a 54, Kylee Clapp shot a 56, Laci Welches shot a 60, Hayley Shafer shot a 61, and McKenna Egner shot a 77.
Manchester picked up a 26-22 win over Tri-State on Saturday to start off the 2006 season, marking the first game ever between Tri-State and Manchester.
The Spartans opened up with a quick 7-0 lead to open the game as Jovan Joyner scored on a 24-yard pass from Joel Hawkins on MC’s first possession of the game thanks to runningback Brandon Wells, who had runs of 21, five and seven yards to put MC in scoring position.
Tri-State bounced back to score at the end of the first quarter off a Levi Knach to Luke Hickock 63-yard pass to tie the game at 7-7. The Thunder returned at the close of the second period to connect on a 32-yard field goal by Justin Hoover to take a 10-7 lead into the half.
Manchester bounced back with three straight touchdowns to start the third quarter. Hawkins scored on runs of seven and three yards, and hooked up with Joyner for his second TD of the afternoon on a 60-yard touchdown pass. Tri-State responded with a Nick Garvie five-yard run and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Knack to Adam Kurtz as time expired to give Manchester the 26-22 win.
Wells ended the game with 63 yards rushing to lead MC. Hawkins had 24 yards and two TD on the ground, and went 13-18 passing for 187 yards and two more TDs, caught by Joyner, who ended the game with two catches for 84 yards total.
Defensively, Beau Bradtmiller ended the game with 14 tackles. Jared Markham and Josh Kapla added eight tackles each. DeRon Jenkins had seven tackles.
Manchester returns to action next Saturday as they host Earlham for a 1:30 p.m. contest. As part of MC’s Community Day activities, free admission to the game with a sundae bar and prizes for fans.
by Eric Christiansen
“The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn’t say is what it is I have found. And over the last 21 years, I have found loyalty. You have pulled for me on court and also in life. I’ve found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I’ve found generosity. You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could never have reached without you. Over the last 21 years, I have found you and I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life. Thank you.”-Andre Agassi, September 3, 2006.
In one of the most memorable moments in not just tennis, but in sports, Andre Agassi bid farewell to the sports world with that brief, yet eloquent speech after his four set loss to Benjamin Becker.
It’s hard to imagine the young, brash, 16 year old, 22 year old, even 30 year old Agassi giving that speech. From the 36 year old Agassi, it’s hard to imagine anything different.
We have watched Agassi grow up in front of our eyes. I first heard about him during my sophomore year in high school while reading Tennis magazine during study hall. What stood out was his hair and his name. Back in 1986, nobody knew how to pronounce his last name.
During my senior season on the tennis team in 1988, I wanted to be Agassi. I worked to copy his forehand, and I wore longer denim shorts. I couldn’t quite get the mullet down because my hair would split in the back the longer it got, as if I had crooked pigtails. Oh, to have that problem now. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
In their TRC opener, the Manchester Squires welcomed Wabash to the conference with a 3-0 drubbing, 25-20, 25-11, 25-23.
Despite the three game sweep, it wasn’t that easy, especially in the third.
After a tough first game, Manchester led the entire way in the second on the way to a 25-11 win.
In the third, Wabash jumped out to a 16-4 lead after coach Sarah Dillon experimented with a different line up.
Manchester went back to its original line up and got it back to 19-9, until a serving spree from Kobie Marks, Amber Hunter, and Polly Poe helped the Lady Squires pull to within two points at 21-19.
Using a strong defense, and aggressive hitting, Manchester was able to complete the third game comeback to win 25-23.
“Once again, we started off shaky, but we warmed up, and were ready to play in the second game,” Dillon said. “We need to find a way to do that from the beginning. I told the girls that the beginning of the third game was ridiculous, and that if they wanted to win, they would need to play smart and clean. From that point on, they served and passed well, but mostly, they communicated well.”
Christa Peden had 16 kills, three solo blocks, and three block assists. Amber Hunter had 29 assists, 12 digs, and four aces, Polly Poe had seven kills, two block assists, and 13 digs, Katie Bowers had seven kills, three aces, and 10 digs, while Shanna Helvey had 13 digs.
The volleyball team will be at Whitko on Thursday, and will be at Canterbury on Tuesday.
by Eric Christiansen
It’s safe to say that the Manchester High School boys’ soccer team has found its offense.
In a four game stretch, the Squires have outscored their opponents 31-2 to improve to 6-1 on the year.
Win Over Caston
The Squires had no trouble with Caston last week, topping the Comets 7-0.
Brian Hays and Nick Rhudy combined for a shut out in goal.
Goals were scored by Matt Winterrowd, Sean Richardson, Josh Watson, Andrew Chinworth, Ian Pattison, and two by Enrico Matanari.
Chinworth had two assists, while Watson, Winterrowd, Matanari, and Kyle Leffel all had assists.
The defense held Caston to two shots on goal, while attempting 28 shots on goal.
“We had great team work,” coach Dave McKee said. “This is the third time in four games we haven’t given up a goal. That is great defense and great play in goal.”
Win Over Rochester
The Squires kept rolling against Rochester, pulling out an 8-0 win.
Richardson, Nick Allison, Winterrowd, Watson, Chinworth, Pattison, and Matanari all scored goals, with Matanari finding the net twice.
Assists were by Richardson, Chance Shockey, Winterrowd, Matanari, Rick Morgan, and two by Josh Watson.
Hays and Austin Metzger combined for the shut out, but the Squires outshot the Zebras 32-1. ....Read More
The Manchester High School volleyball team won its home opener with ease, topping Whitko 25-14, 25-15, 25-17 to improve to 4-1 on the young season.
“The girls played well tonight, given the circumstances we have death with this week (the death of a friend and father of the program),” coach Sarah Dillon said. “Our focus and communication still need work, as does our execution of skills.”
Manchester was also playing without Christa Peden, who was injured in practice earlier in the week.
“Playing without Christa was a cause for concern, but the remaining seniors and captains kept the girls together, and were able to come out with the win,” Dillon said. “Shanna Helvey passed very well for us tonight, and Mercedes Lockhart did a good job, considering I just made her a middle a week ago. We are happy with the win, but know there is much work to be done, and a lot of room for improvement.”
Lockhart had nine kills, three solo blocks, and three block assists. Amber Hunter had 15 assists and seven digs, while Helvey had 10 digs. Kobie Marks had four aces and five digs, and Polly Poe had five kills and seven digs.”
The volleyball team will host Wabash on Thursday, will be at the Logansport Tournament on Saturday at 9:00 a.m., and will be at Columbia City on Tuesday with JV starting at 6:00 p.m.
by Eric Christiansen
The girls’ golf team split a three way match with Southern Wells and Caston to move to 3-5 on the year.
Caston shot the low score of the day with a 218, while Manchester shot a 222, and Southern Wells shot a 243.
Despite the close loss, Taylor Leonhard was medalist with a career best 45.
“It’s always disappointing to lose a close one, but to not play up to our ability, and only lose by four makes it even more frustrating,” coach Kyle Wieland said. “I told the girls it was going to be a tough stretch of matches, but I was really hoping we could make it through without having any set backs.
“We played great on Saturday and Monday, but I think we may have lost a little focus, and to some degree, just wore out from playing that much competitive golf without the opportunity for some practice in between,” he added.
Hayley Shafer was Manchester’s second golfer with a 57, while Audrey Siebrase shot a 58. Kylee Clapp shot a 62, Samantha Budnik shot a 64, and Allison Mussey shot a 66.
The JV team shot a 292. Scarlett Melton shot a 66, Lauren Mussey shot a 74, Laci Welches shot a 76, and McKenna Egner shot an 80.
4-Way TRC Match
The golf team responded in their next match with two wins and a loss in a four way match with Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley, and North Miami.
Whitko shot a 197, Manchester shot 203, dropping 19 strokes from two days prior, Tippecanoe Valley shot a 242, and North Miami shot a 291.
Leonhard also bested her career low score with a 44 to take medalist honors.
Siebrase bounced back with a 48, Budnik shot a 54, and Allison Mussey shot a 57.
“This was by far our best score of the year,” Wieland said. “I am very pleased with how well the girls played. Whitko has been scoring a little better than us this season, but I knew we had a chance to beat them.
“The girls showed a lot of character by bouncing back from a 222 on Tuesday to shoot a 203 today,” he continued. “I think we’re starting to become more comfortable and confident with our play, and I think we’re headed in the right direction for the second half of the season.”
The JV lost to Whitko 231-259. Shafer shot a 59, Melton shot a 66, Lauren Mussey shota 69, and Egner shot a 75.
“A lot of schools don’t have enough girls to field a JV team, so we don’t get as much opportunity to compete as what I would like,” Wieland said. “However, the girls played well tonight, and we had our best score of the year by 10 strokes.”
The golf team will be at Maconaquah on Thursday, and at Huntington North on Tuesday.
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester boys’ tennis team improved to 4-1 with wins over Maconaquah and Bishop Dwenger.
Win Over Maconaquah
The boys’ tennis team improved to 2-0 with an impressive 4-1 win over Maconaquah last week.
Manchester swept the doubles action, both matches in straight sets. The number one team of David Cable and Andrew Gnagy won 6-2, 6-4, while the number two team of Gavin McNeeley and Steven Camp won 7-5, 6-2.
In singles, Nate Cain had no trouble at number two singles, winning 6-0, 6-0, and Brandon Wiley won at number three singles 6-1, 6-1.
Manchester’s only loss came at number one singles, but it may have been Manchester’s best effort.
Bryant Wiley lost to Cody Shafer 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, but coach EricChristiansen saw a different player in Wiley than he has in the past.
“We knew Shafer was one of the stronger players we will face all year,” he said. “I told Bryant he had nothing to lose, and to just go out and be as aggressive as he wanted to be. He played better than I thought he could, which is a very good thing.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The boys’ soccer team started the season 2-1 with wins over Bishop Dwenger and Peru, and a loss to Huntington North.
Win Over Dwenger
The Squires opened the season with an impressive 3-0 win over Bishop Dwenger last week.
Sean Richardson scored on an an assist from Enrico Matanare, while Matt Winterrowd scored an unassisted goal in the second half, followed by a goal from Matanare on an assist from Josh Watson.
The Squire defense held Dwenger to three shots on goal, while Manchester had 12.
“This was a great game by all of our guys,” coach Dave McKee said. “The midfield took control of the game. It was the best ball movement I’ve seen out of the Squires.”
Win Over Peru
Every goal is important in soccer, especially when the final score is 1-0. The Squires held on to top Peru 1-0, as Andrew Chinworth scored on an assist from Watson in the 36th minute of play.
Once again, the Squires outshot their opponent, this time, 19-6.
“We controlled most of the game, but the offense couldn’t finish,” McKee said. “The defense had its second shut out, and the midfield play was strong again.”
Loss To Huntington North
The Squires suffered their first loss, falling to Huntington North 3-0 Saturday.
Huntington scored all three of their goals in the first 36 minutes, then held off the Squire scoring attempts.
Manchester got seven shots on goal to Huntington North’s six.
“This game showed that we can play with the big schools,” McKee said.
The boys’ soccer team will host Rochester on Thursday, and will host Blackford on Saturday.
The Manchester High School volleyball team had a strong showing at the Elwood Invitational last Saturday, finishing third with a 3-1 record.
The Lady Squires lost its first match to Pioneer 25-22, 25-18, but rallied to beat Southern Wells 25-16, 25-14.
Manchester faced off with host Elwood and came away with a 25-23, 25-22 win, then ended the day with a 25-17, 25-13 win over Mississinewa.
Christa Peden had 19 kills and 13 blocks, while Amber Hunter had 56 assists and 13 digs. Mercedes Lockhart had 15 kills, six digs and five aces, while Polly Poe had 13 kills and seven digs.
“We played pretty well today,” coach Sarah Dillon said. “We would have liked to go 4-0, but it was still a pretty good day. We hit the ball well, and found our spots.”
The volleyball team will host Whitko on Thursday.
by Eric Christiansen
Manchester High School High School volleyball coach Sarah Dillon hopes that a second year in her system will help her team understand more of what she is wanting, on and off the floor.
After a 14-15 season last year, and a fourth place finish in the Three Rivers Conference, Dillon hopes to improve on both of those results.
“We haven’t gotten into a lot of team goals yet, but we’ve talked about things we wanted to do,” Dillon said. “We’ll see how the next week goes as we develop. We’re getting into the meat of what we want our season to be like.”
One thing she knows for sure is that she will have a strong front line in the offensive attack.
Led by seniors Christa Peden, who was first team all conference and all county last year, Polly Poe, Mercedes Lockhart, and setter Amber Hunter, along with fellow senior lobero Shanna Helvey, Dillon thinks the Lady Squires will be tough to handle.
“We have five good seniors, and I’m excited for them,” Dillon said. “They are all hard workers, and one thing I like about this team is that they are all good friends, and work well together. The mesh well together, and we want to see them turn into a team. This year, we have a good opportunity to do that.”
Dillon feels that the offseason work her team put in will also make a difference in the success of the program.
“We came into the season in much better shape that we did last year,” she said. “A lot of kids were involved in the summer program. (IPFW coach) Arnie Ball came in and ran a summer camp and got us ready to go. We also conditioned, so these girls are ready to go.”
Dillon would like to see her team grow in each match they play.
“We have to look at every game we go into as a tough game,” she said. “Certainly our first tourney. We will see some good competition, and I want to approach each match like it is going to be our toughest.” ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The boys’ tennis team has a problem this year...but it’s a good problem.
“We have too many varsity players,” 10th year head coach Eric Christiansen said. “We have 10 legitimate varsity caliber players, which isn’t a bad thing, but it is making it tough to figure out who is going to play certain spots.”
After going 13-6 last year, and losing just two seniors, Matthew Cable and David Immel, the Squires return five players from last year’s team, plus three others who are ready for varsity play, one transfer student, and one freshman.
Leading the pack are seniors Brandon Wiley and Andy Bushong. Wiley is in his third year of varsity play.
Manchester has a strong core of juniors, including four returning players from last year’s team, Nate Cain, Bryant Wiley, David Cable, and Andrew Gnagy. Cain, Wiley, and Cable all played varsity as freshmen and sophomores, while Gnagy played doubles last year as a sophomore.
Also looking to get into the mix on the varsity are juniors Gavin McNeeley and Steven Camp, sophomore Scott Spaulding, a transfer from Mount Vernon High School, and freshman Kyle Lahman. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Carrie Clothier is taking her soccer knowledge from the college field to the high school as she begins her first year as the head coach of the Manchester High School girls’ soccer team.
Clothier, who lives in Warsaw with her husband, Tim, grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and has been playing soccer since fourth grade.
“I grew up in a town that didn’t have girls’ soccer, so I played on the boys’ team,” she said. “Our school got girls’ soccer, so I had a chance to play with everyone. It was a good challenge.”
Clothier’s church is affiliated with Grace College in Warsaw, which is what brought her to Indiana. She played soccer for Grace College for three years, then stayed on to help the team as she began her student teaching, as well as coaching an elementary school.
“That was a hard decision (to not play a fourth year), but (teaching) was a priority at the time,” Clothier said.
“We plan on living here until whenever,” she said. “We’ll live like we’ll be here forever, but who knows where God will lead us.”
Clothier said she is happy to be at Manchester.
“It so happened, with my little coaching background, and this job opening up, I have an awesome opportunity to use what God has given me—the skills, talents, and the mind to coach the girls.”
by Eric Christiansen
Maybe the News-Journal should start a Living and Entertainment section.
Normally, I get comments here and there after I editorialize (if that wasn’t a verb, it is now). But, I usually write about sports.
Last week, I began writing about sports, but it turned into a rant on a topic that I have wanted to write about for some time, movie theater etiquette. The response was enormous...ok, not enormous, but a lot of people mentioned the “movie theater stuff”.
Here’s hoping I don’t go the well once too often.
Last week, Jabin Burnworth and I went to see “Clerks II” in Fort Wayne. We were seeing the 10:20 showing on a Thursday night. We thought there might be a chance that we would be the only people in the theater. When we walked in, there were already 6-8 people spread out around the theater.
We observed the buffer zone rules, and sat in the middle, towards the right, a row back of a lady, and a row in front of a couple, but with at least six seats separating us. Jabin and I observed the optional buffer zone between friends rule. (When we saw “Superman Returns”, we didn’t buffer.)
For the next 10 minutes, we kept panicking as four different groups of people walked in. The odds were stacked against us, but, surprisingly, each group, including a group of six people, displayed perfect movie theater etiquette, and buffered themselves from everybody else.
Jabin leaned over and said, “They must have all read The News-Journal this week.”
It was a perfect movie watching experience.
In response to my last column, a friend of mine mentioned movie theaters encouraging people to get up during movies with the free or 25 cent refills. Good point. Here’s the rule: if you plan on refilling, sit in the back, or the front, if you are at Rave or Coldwater Crossing. It’s kind of like sitting in the back of church if you have little kids.
If you do plan on refilling, at least get the large popcorn and soda. Getting a small and refilling it three times, even for a quarter a shot, not only is a waste of time, but just plain stupid, annoying, and to be frank...ok, it's just stupid and annoying.
How loud should we talk during the slide show before the movie? That’s a tough one. If it’s a slide show, I think it’s a free for all, until the first commercial or coming attraction. If it’s a constant commercial/video/coming attraction, then keep it to a whisper. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
The Manchester High School girls’ golf team will have a mix of veterans and youth this season, and first year coach Kyle Wieland hopes that combination will result in some conference and post season success.
Wieland, who has been an assistant coach with the boys’ team for five seasons, takes over the helm from Greg Carter.
So far, after two practices, Wieland is excited about his team’s prospects.
“The girls have done well after two practices,” he said. “We are working on some things we definitely need to work on.”
He talked about the importance of having a good short game.
“High school age kids want to hit it far,” he said. “They haven’t spent a lot of time on the chipping and putting, so it costs them a lot of strokes. If you get to the green in two, but take five shots to get it in the hole, it’s not doing you any good.
“We’re also trying to get the club distances figured out, so they know what club to use in certain situations,” he continued.
Manchester will be led by three seniors who are relatively new to the sport, but have come a long way in a short period of time.
Audrey Siebrase returns after taking a trip to the regional last season, as well as Taylor Leonhard and Samantha Budnik. Budnik didn’t see much action last season due to an injury.
“Taylor and Audrey contributed a lot last year, so we’re very fortunate to have them back,” Wieland said. “And, we’re glad Samantha’s playing this year. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Sometimes I have so many things running through my head, that I don’t know what to write about.
Other times, my mind is blank.
Right now, it is a little bit of both, which means this column could go a thousand different ways, or it could be a complete dud.
Here now, are thoughts from the sports editor’s desk...and mind.
*This has got to be the slowest time of the year in professional sports. Baseball is it right now, except for the weekend tennis and golf tournaments. I guess racing is going on.
*Are you as tired of these sports columnist shows as I am? PTI, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters, etc. A bunch of middle aged, non athletic blow hards, yelling and screaming at each other trying to get a point across. Drives me nuts. I enjoy PTI, but merely for the entertainment value. There are more of these shows than there are actual sports shown on ESPN. ESPN needs to be careful before they become MTV.
*Speaking of MTV, the music video station (that’s what MTV was intended to mean, Music Television) turns 25 this week. August 1, 1981, our lives changed. Mark Goodman welcomed the American public to the new era of video. People complain about MTV not showing videos and being completely reality show based, but I will come to the defense of the video juggernaut. At least music is being played while you watch Real World/Road Rules Challenge-Fresh Meat, The Hills, and Pimp My Ride. Ok, I hate the new MTV. I want my (old) MTV.
*Can you believe it is time for high school sports again...in July!! The girls’ golf team started practice on July 28. Everyone else began on July 31. That’s right, July. If a baseball team or golfer makes a deep run into the tournament in the spring, that lasts until late June, that leaves 4-5 weeks of summer. Am I wrong in remembering school starting around Labor Day?
*I have a new best friend and a new worst enemy all rolled into one. YouTube.com. If you have 18 hours to waste someday, head over to YouTube.com. It is a video website where people upload, sometimes obscure, video clips. On YouTube.com, you can find sports clips galore, music clips aplenty, movie clips all over the place, and television show clips at your command. Where else can you watch the opening of Diff’rent Strokes in spanish? Want to see the autistic kid hit all those three pointers? Want to see an SNL clip from the past or from last week? Want to see Shawn Michaels throw Marty Jannety through the Barber Shop window? Want to see “We Are The World”? Want to see a clip from the Neverending Story? It is all there. Enjoy, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. ....Read More
This is a continuation of last’s weeks column. To read Part I, go to www.nmpaper.com.
...after I was so rudely interrupted, it’s time, one week later, to get back to the ESPYs. It aired Saturday night at 3:00 a.m. Yes, a.m. But I am here for you, the News-Journal reader. It doesn’t matter how late, early, long or short a show is, I got your back.
4:24 a.m., we left off with Lance Armstrong winning Best Male Athlete and Will Ferrell cutting him off. Actually, it is Ricky Bobby doing a “This is Your Life”, and he brings up Lance Armstrong’s father, astronaut Neil Armstrong. Ferrell really is good and seems to show up at every awards show, a la Jim Carrey in the 90’s.
Ferrell has a line about Paris Hilton in a song to Armstrong and the camera immediately pans to an uneasy Matt Leinart. Classic.
4:28 a.m., I got my Latina divas mixed up last week. The voice over isn’t Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez, formerly of “Lost”), but Tia Texada, formerly of “Third Watch”. So then, why is Sgt. Cruz doing the voice over at an awards show?
4:29 a.m., Ludacris and Danika Patrick are doing that award show banter, which includes Patrick shaking her money maker for Luda. Luda has the best talking voice.
They are presenting the best game. One of the nominees is Texas vs. USC. If that game wins, who accepts? Is it kind of like when ER would win Best Drama at the Emmys and the entire cast and crew goes up to the stage? We’ll see.
Ok, it’s Texas vs. USC. Leinart and Vince Young going up together. I guess that’s right.
Leinart with the best line that sums up how I feel about the awkwardness of the ESPYs. “I didn’t know you get awards for losing.”
4:39 a.m., an unnamed new Dallas Cowboy is on the screen. I will never mention his name in the News-Journal, or his initials. Jimmy Kimmel is good, though. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
After two and a half years, Jim Shull’s vision has come to fruition.
Shull, who coaches tennis at Homestead High School, and has also taught lessons in North Manchester, has invented a tennis drill system that helps tennis players with depth on their shots, called the Lifter Target System.
“It is an idea that a tennis player should be aiming at targets along and above the net, rather than aim at ground targets,” Shull explained. “When aiming at ground targets, gravity pulls the ball short, and when the ball lands short, the opponent dictates play.”
Shull has taught this strategy for years, and has used other tools to demonstrate the task of hitting higher and deeper.
Ten years ago, he said he used PVC pipes, drilled holes, and pulled a string through the holes to allow his players to hit over the string.
“It was a pain to do that,” he said. “It took 20 minutes to set up. With this new system, you can leave it for 20 years. It is a permanent fixture.”
In developing the Lifter Target System, Shull took telescoping posts, and bolted them to the tennis posts. It can be raised in two inch increments, and can increase the center of the net by 30 inches.
Four different barriers can be added to the apparatus, including a second conventional net, or an opaque net, which is made of windscreen material that looks like a wall.
Shull then took a headband with no net, and when raised, a window to hit below the head band, but above the net, is formed. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
After cruising through their first three games, putting themselves in the championship game, the Manchester 11-12 Town and Country baseball team had a strange night Monday evening.
Needing to win just one of two games against District champion New Paris, Manchester came back in the first game from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game at 4-4, only to see the game fall away in the top of the sixth inning.
New Paris scored four runs in the first inning, but Manchester responded with four in the bottom of the second inning.
Jac Andrade led off with a single, followed by a single from Jimmy Sainsbury, and a 2-RBI triple from Levi Benton. Preston Penrod then drove in two runs with a home run to tie the game at 4-4.
After scoreless third, fourth and fifth innings, New Paris lead off the fifth with Kyle Wenger reaching on an error. After moving to third on one passed ball and one wild pitch, Wenger scored on an infield single from Brad Newcomer.
Manchester, who had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth without scoring, went down in order in the sixth to end the game, and to force a deciding championship game in the double elimination tournament.
Connor McLaughlin, who came on in relief, took the loss, despite striking out five batters in three innings.
In the final game, everything worked for Manchester, who came away with a 10-0 win in five innings.
Jac Andrade got the complete game shut out win from the mound, giving up one hit, striking out five and walking seven.
The Manchester offense was highlighted by a six run fourth inning, including home runs from Caleb Thomas and McLaughlin, marking the seventh home run in the Town and Country tournament.
Thomas and McLaughlin both went 2-3, while Penrod, Payton Sorg, Colin Nicodemus and Benton all had one hit.
Manchester advanced to the finals with a 10-0 win over Winamac as Penrod pitched a one hit shut out, striking out seven.
Offensively, Sorg and McLaughlin each hit home runs, with McLaughlin going 2-3, and Penrod, Thomas, Mazric Shambarger, and Derek Self all getting one hit.
In the second game, Manchester jumped out to a 6-1 lead and cruised to a 12-4 win over Webster.
Thomas and Nicodemus both had two hits, while Penrod, Sorg, McLaughlin, Shambarger, Andrade, Jared Monce, Sainsbury, and Benton all had one hit each.
In the semi-finals of the winners bracket, it was McLaughlin getting the shut out against New Paris 2-0.
Manchester’s two runs came in the bottom of the first inning, as Penrod singled and stole second, followed by an RBI single from Sorg, who later scored on an RBI single from McLaughlin.
After that, it became a pitcher’s duel, with Manchester only picking up three more hits, but McLaughlin shutting down New Paris.
McLaughlin gave up three hits, striking out 13 and walking six, never allowing New Paris to get past second base.
The win moved Manchester into the championship game of the winners bracket, which led to the double header with New Paris Monday night.
Manchester will play its first game of the state tournament at Galveston at 6:00 p.m. against Frankton.
by Eric Christiansen
I love awards shows. I love sports. Why don’t I love the ESPYs? Maybe it’s the same as liking ice cream and broccoli. Good separately. Terrible combined.
It has always been kind of a strange, awkward awards show to me. After Dwayne Wade got the NBA championship ring and the Finals MVP trophy, an ESPY just seems anticlimactic. Maybe it’s just me.
So, I’m going to give this year’s ESPYs a chance, and, I’m going to keep a running diary while I do it. If this show is terrible, I don’t want to suffer alone.
9:45, the show starts late, due to the Mets and Cubs going long. From the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, it’s the 14th annual ESPY awards, celebrating sports greatest achievements over the last 12 months.
We open with a montage of great moments from the past 12 months, followed by a montage of athletes or sports personalities who have passed away. It’s always a little strange when the crowd claps for the recently passed, especially when the claps get bigger for the more famous people.
Coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Nothing more to say there.
9:51, Lance Armstrong is introduced as our host. I don’t get it. Does he have a personality? He could be the worst host of an awards show since Jessica Alba hosted the MTV Movie Awards in June. Nice testicle joke, though the delivery was a little weak. Good pee joke too. All right, Lance is doing ok. ....Read More
by Eric Christiansen
Are you a person who likes rules, or ignores the rules?
Why do we have certain rules? Should there be more rules? Who makes the rules?
In sports, at times, there are more rules than strategies. Break a rule, get penalized.
Hockey has the penalty box. Soccer, as we have seen over the past few weeks, has colored cards they hand out. In football, they throw a flag. In basketball, they blow a whistle. In baseball, they yell and make hand motions. In tennis, same thing.
Even the fans have rules. Stay off the field, court, ice, etc. Don’t throw things. You have to sit in an assigned seat. Pay $25 for a drink, popcorn, and walking taco. Not really a rule, but an example of unfair trade.
Of all the rules that exist in sports, there are some that just don’t make sense. Some are not just rules, but the way some rules are handled.
1. Basketball, Alternating possession after a jump ball. If two basketball players are tangled up, fighting for the ball, what does the referee call? Jump ball. Then why doesn’t a jump ball ensue? There needs to be either a new name of the rule, or start jumping the ball up every time.
2. Baseball, the baseball fight. Baseball is called the purest game ever invented. Whether that is true or not is debatable. The baseball fight, however, is just plain stupid. After a second brushback, or a batter getting hit, what happens? Players from both dugouts stand up, and slowly walk onto the field. Sometimes chaos follows. Other times, just a bunch of jawing. The funny part is watching the guys in the bull pen, especially when it is behind the outfield wall, who are jogging towards the faux battle, usually in the infield. I bet there would be less of this if baseball suspended players who left the dugout, just like the NBA does.
3. Hockey, the hockey fight. The refs let them fight!!! ....Read More
The Manchester 11-12 Town and Country team finished 2nd in the District Tournament to advance to the Semi-State Tournament this weekend, to be held at Manchester.
In the first game, Manchester defeated Akron 6-1. Preston Penrod got the win on the mound, throwing four innings, giving up three hits, and striking out 10. Derek self and Colin Nicodemus both pitched one inning each, with neither pitcher giving up a hit.
Penrod went 3-3 from the plate, scoring three runs, while Payton Sorg was 1-3 with two runs scored. Connor McLaughlin, Caleb Thomas, and Jared Monce all had one hit each.
Manchester didn’t get the scoring punch in their second game, but behind a one hit shut out from McLaughlin and a solo home run from Caleb Thomas, gutted out a 1-0 win. McLaughlin also struck out 14.
Thomas led off the second inning with a home run for the only score of the game. Penrod and Mazric Shambarger both got one hit.
Manchester gave up one tough inning to New Paris, but it was enough for New Paris to pull out a 4-2 win in Sunday’s first game.
Manchester tried to make a game of it, scoring two runs in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough.
Penrod and Sorg each scored a run, while Penrod, Sorg, McLaughlin, Nicodemus, Jac Andrade, and Levi Benton all got hits.
Manchester rebounded with a 9-1 win over Mentone in Sunday’s second game.
Penrod, Sorg, Thomas, McLaughlin, and Nicodemus all scored in the first inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Sorg and Penrod both scored again, while Jimmy Sainsbury and Levi Benton both added a run.
Monday night, Manchester fell once again to New Paris, this time 5-1.
Manchester’s only run came in the third inning, as Penrod scored on a double from Sorg.
Manchester moves on to the semi-state starting this Thursday at the Ruppel Complex at 8:00 p.m.
by Eric Christiansen
What was it that finally made you feel old?
For me, it might have finally happened.
No, it wasn’t the bald spot.
No, it wasn’t running out of gas in a tennis match.
No, it wasn’t tearing my Achilles’ tendon last year.
No, it wasn’t the gray hairs fighting their way into my, what used to be, full scalp, or the gray hair on my chin.
No, it wasn’t even realizing that kids who were born during my senior year of high school will be starting college this fall.
It happened Saturday afternoon while watching Wimbledon.
Andre Agassi played his last match at The Championships. This fall will be his final U.S. Open, then he will be retiring.
My last childhood sports hero will be gone. Too old to continue. His body has grown weary.
I have a hard time worshiping any new college or professional athletes. Your sports heroes are supposed to be grown ups you look up to, admire, and want to be.
I worshipped Magic Johnson, Jimmy Connors, Steve Garvey, Tony Dorsett, Wayne Gretzky, and Mary Lou Retton (ok, I had 52 pictures of her on my wall, including a Wheaties box when I was 14). ....Read More
Walnut Street Family Healthcare continued their winning ways by claiming the 9 & 10 year old American League Title. Facing Frances Slocum Bank in the first game, Walnut Street won 11-0 in four innings behind another great team effort. Connor Eichenauer pitched 3 scoreless innings and Dellynn Benton closed out the 4th inning.
In the finals, Walnut Street Family Healthcare squared off against Premier for the championship game of the American League. Walnut Street jumped out to a four run first and lead 5-0 after three innings behind Connor Eichenauer’s strong pitching. He struck out seve,n giving up just one hit. After Dellynn Benton pitched a scoreless 4th, Premier started an exciting rally. After loading the bases, Lucas Schilling hit a hard single to left and later came around to score the tying run. The top of the fourth ended with Premier ahead 7-5. Walnut Street, having come from behind three times this year in their last at bats, was ready for the challenge. Already with three RBI’s in the game, Noah Johnson started the comeback off with a hard double. Brandon Stayer singled home Johnson and Rainer Borgmann followed with a single of his own. Brayton Spann’s hit scored Stayer to tie the game at 7-7. After loading the bases with a walk, Premier got the next two out. Mitch Day stepped up to the plate already with three hits in the game. Mitch hit a hard ball to 3rd and Rainer Borgmann raced to the plate just ahead of the of the throw home to win the game 8-7.
by Eric Christiansen
During warm-ups of the inaugural County Senior Classic basketball game between players from Wabash and Miami counties, Wabash County player Audrey Siebrase said, “This is weird.”
By the end of the night, Siebrase not only led her team to a 67-62 win over Miami County, thanks to seven assists, six rebounds, and three points from the point guard position, but also won the three point contest, topping not only the girls’ competition, but all of the boys’ players as well.
“It was a lot of fun to play with girls from other schools,” Siebrase said. “I didn’t really know any of them, but they are actually really nice.”
As for her three point performance, Siebrase said, “Did you see me shoot in the game?”, referring to her 1-7 shooting performance.
But it was her ball handling and passing, finding Northfield sisters Audrey and Allison Mast, that made Siebrase a stand out in the game.
Allison Mast led all scorers with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Audrey Mast tallied 14 points and 17 rebounds.
Five of Siebrase’s assists went to Audrey Mast.
“She’s tall and can jump, and I just kept seeing her open,” Siebrase said.
Wabash overcame a 10-6 deficit to take a 17-11 lead and never trailed the rest of the way.
Miami County tried to mount several comebacks, but each time they would get within striking distance, a Mast girl would usually respond.
All nine Wabash County players scored, including all four Manchester players. Sarah Purdy scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds, Tassy Winterrowd had two points and three rebounds, and Whitney Carver added two points and two rebounds.
Wabash’s Chelsea Traver scored nine points and grabbed 17 rebounds, while Wabash’s Heather Fox had five points and four rebounds.
While the County Senior Classic was originally planned as an all-senior game, Wabash County was forced to use four juniors in the game.
Northfield’s Courtney Reed was playing in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star game that night, and Manchester’s Casey Thomas was not available.
In all, the Manchester players felt it was a positive night.
“I had a lot of fun,” Carver said. “I got a couple of little injuries, but I’m fine. It was a little awkward at first, because we are used to so much rivalry, but we got along fine.”
“It was different,” Purdy said. “I wish we could have done this a long time ago. It was a little awkward, but in the end, the way we played, it all kind of flowed nicely.”
Next year’s game will be held at Peru’s Tig-Arena, with the Manchester coaching staffs taking their turn at coaching each team.
by Eric Christiansen
In what had a feel of an NBA All-Star game, at least as far as Miami County was concerned, a free for all turned into a competitive last few minutes. In the end, Miami County used an 8-0 run in the final 1:50 to pull out a 74-68 win in the inaugural County Senior Classic between Miami and Wabash Counties.
The game, boasting seniors from each of the county schools, was fast paced, and, at times, chaotic, but in the end, competitiveness took over.
“Until the end, we had it,” Manchester graduate Andrew Evans said. “I thought we played well. They were coming down and making just one pass and shooting it, but I liked how we played.”
Miami County used a run and gun offense for most of the game, which saw Wabash County take a 10-5 lead, only to watch Miami use a 15-2 run to make it a 20-12 score.
Wabash responded with an 11-0 run, led by seven points from Wabash grad Robbie Hambright.
Miami ended the first half with a 36-35 lead, but neither team could take control of the game.
Midway through the second half, Hambright and former Wabash teammate Nick Hentgen combined for a 9-0 run to give Wabash County a 57-51 lead, but Miami County countered with a 7-2 run to take a 59-58 lead.
The teams traded baskets and leads until a three point play
