Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 126, Number 50, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 11 December 2003 — Page 7

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Freshmen Football By Jim Hess, Head Coach Football for incoming freshmen is a learning experience. Although our Middle School coaches (Steve Shively 7th grade and Todd Wegmiller Bth grade) and their assistants do a great job preparing the players, there is a lot of new-terminology on both offense and defense during their freshmen season. At the freshmen level, the coaching staff emphasized and prepares the players to play at the varsity level by teaching them to understand the philosophy of North Wood football. This season the freshmen team was a very hard working and one of the most coachable groups that the freshmen staff has had. Although the team record was only 3-5, the team played some outstanding games. They were very competitive in every game and their five losses were only by an average margin of 8 points per game. This was a point that the freshmen coaches made to the players at the end of the season. This helped the team realize that many times the difference between winning and losing is a fine line. Through hard work in the off season and being dedicated in the weight room, this group of fine men will have a great deal of success and continue the “tradition of excellence” for North Wood football. The season started with an overtime loss to Plymouth 21-14. This was a tough loss, since the team played very well. As Bth graders Plymouth had beaten North Wood by 4 touchdowns. As a result the players felt like they had worked hard to improve during the warm-up season. This game showed the freshmen they could win and they proceeded to win their next two games over Concord and Goshen. Their next games were against Wawasee and Northridge. Even though the team played with heart, they lost two very close games to Wawasee and Northridge. In game six the freshmen trailed with under 3:00 to go, but returned a punt 80 yard? to win at Elkhart Memorial 20-17. Game seven was a very difficult loss. The team played very well in the first half, scoring two touchdowns in the last four minutes of the second quarter, and had the lead at half, 20-6. Unfortunately, the second half was costly and the freshmen suffered a 27-20 loss to Warsaw. The season ended with a very hard fought game. New Prairie defeated the freshmen in a very close battle 26-18.

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Fall Sports Wrap-Up

Pictured, left to right— Row 1: Trent Klotz, Justin Anglemyer, Robert Kinney, Sam Montgomery, Kyle Newcomer, Shawn Yoder; Row 2: Phil Flickinger, Scott Helper, Nathan Carden, Chad Menzie, Nathan Hershberger, Ruben Salazar, Hugo Diaz-Barriga; Row 3: Brett Jacobs, Denver Martin, Assistant Coach Scott Mikel, Head Coach Jim Hess, Assistant Coach Adam Doyle, Kyle Kaufman, Dion Graber; Row 4: Brady Shively, Brant Ehret, Justin Brown, Jed Beer, Chris Hines, Mike Rowe; Row 5: Chase Estepp, Kent Schaffer, Nate Brown, Alexander BeMiller, Joe Wagner.

Sports

Advance News • Thursday. December 11, 2003 •

Boys Cross Country By Mark Mike), Hoad Coach The boys cross country team at North Wood finished the 2003 season with an 0-9 record. They were 0-7 in the Northern Lakes Conference this year. One of the highlights of the season was the superb front-running of Blaine McDowell. Blaine was the individual champion at North Wood Invitational held at Stauffer Park on August 30. Blaine also was selected first team allNLC and qualified for the IHSAA Regional meet for the second consecutive year. Blaine finished Bth at the NLC Championship meet and 7th at the IHSAA Sectional meet. For the third year in a row McDowell was named team MVP. Michael Couse, James Geleske, and McDowell were the captains for this year’s squad. Michael’s “never-say-die” spirit, James’ love for running and training, and Blaine’s competiveness brought unique gifts to the leadership of the team. Couse was named Mental Attitude Award winner for the second consecutive year. Trevor Hershberger was named Most Improved. The Panthers will return six runners next season with seven senior graduating. Four of the six returnees were letter winners this year including Hershberger, Matt Myers, Cody Yerger, and Andy Troxel. Pictured left to right back row: head coach Mark Mikel, Matt Cleveland, Trevor Hershberger, James Geleske, Blain McDowell, Andy Troxel, and Jason Schutz; front row: Chad Chaney, Matt Myers, Aaron Emerick, Mike Couse, James Moudy, Cody Yerger, and Seth Emerick

Girls Soccer By Missy Floor, Head Gxxh This year’s team was similar to last -year’s team in that we were very young and lacking in the area of off-season experience. Most of the teams we come up against play all year round and it is very hard to compete against teams with that kind of experience and dedication to their programs. Being a first year head coach, it is my desire along with the desire of the dedicated coaching staff, to help our girls turn this soccer program around. One of the main areas we focused on this year was our possession play. At the beginning of the season, we really struggled with this critical aspect of the game, and as we progressed into the season, our passing became much improved and the girls looked noticeably better as a team. Another area we worked on is our individual fundamental work. It doesn’t matter what kind of player you are, you can always improve on fundamentals. One of the main goals as a team is to work hard in the off season with high expectations to prepare us for next fall. One advantage we have from last year is the number of girls who tried out for the team. Last year, we had enough girls on the team to sit comfortably as a varsity team, whereas this year we had 37 girls willing to come out and work hard for both a junior varsity and varsity team. We are very fortunate to have been able to start our very first junior varsity team and hope this kind of growth continues to become a huge benefit to the fiiture success of girls’ soccer at North Wood High School. Players who deserve recognition: 1. Sherilyn Garcia Junior midfield player who dominated and was the control source of our center field. Sherilyn is a smart player who was always comfort able with the ball at her feet, which helped her distribute the ball well to her fellow players. 2. Kara Hershberger - Sophomore stopper who deserves recognition for her hard work and consistent play on the field. Kara is, a very defensive minded player who always came to give it her all in each game. 3. Sam Lewis Junior forward who finished the season with 16 goals and 6 assists. Sam is a crucial part of this team because of her knowledge of the game and her ability to take an opponent one-on-one. She has a great touch on the ball and has a great finish to her shot. Her goal scoring ability kept us alive that season. 4. Katie Sheets, Amanda Bechtel, and Allison Maust ’The stand out freshmen” Three starting freshmen.. .Katie Sheets and Amanda Bechtel both contributed to our midfield and Allison Maust was our starting goal keeper. All really stepped up their game this year and we are thankful to have them for three more years. TOP VARSITY (left to right): Row 1: Amanda Shorey, Bethany Etsinger, Lindsey Hill, Lana Hartman; Row 2: Shelly Potts, Hannah Brown, Kara Hershberger, Allison Maust, Camery Hess, Patty Salinas, Sam Lewis; Row 3: Assistant Coach Rob Shaw, Megqn Lengacher, Megan Holmes, Monica Mast, Amanda Bechtal, Head Coach Missy Floor; Row 4: Katie Sheets, Niki Hinton, Jessica Walter, Brittany Hommerding, Sherilyn Garcia BOTTOM —JV (left to right): Row 1: Laynie Nisley, Samantha Wignet, Alyssa Walter, April Yoder; Row 2: Hannah Whitmer, Victoria Dudeck, Lindsey Goodman, Jessie Walter, Rachel St. Germain, Kindra Stutzman, Nadia Messai; Row 3: Head Coach Missy Foor, Whitney Schmucker, Kelli Myers, Alicia Daub, Lundsey Hill, Assistant Coach Rob Shaw; Row 4: Monica Mast, Whitney Frantz, Brittany Hommerding, Brandi Andrews, Christy Prochno.

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