The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 40, Milford, Kosciusko County, 17 October 1984 — Page 9

Sports

Sectional and regional

Ox Bow is harriers' next destination

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor One of the secrets to a successful cross-country season is to peak at the right time. Judging from last week’s performances, the Wawasee harriers have managed to do just that. The team will run at Ox Bow Park Saturday in the boys’ regional and girls’ sectional meets. The girls get underway at 11:00 a m. and the boys will follow at 11:45 a.m. Ox Bow Park is located off US 33 between Elkhart and Goshen. The boys advanced to the regional by virtue of their second place in the East Noble regional on Saturday. In what was perhaps their best overall performance of the year, the Warriors had a slim 40-second gap between their first and fifth runners. "We ran one of our better races all year," said coach Jerry Minton. “We have been working to get our bottom (fifth) time down and when you get down to 40 seconds that’s pretty good In fact, we had a sixth runner that was less than a minute off our first time.’’ Mike Ballinger was the top Wawasee finisher, covering the course in 17:01 to finish sixth overall. Carl Rouch was seventh in 17:06 and Brian Popenfoose was ninth in 17:10 “Rouch and Popenfoose ran well," Minton said. 1 “Ballinger might have been able to run a bit faster and that would have placed him in the top five." Rounding out the top five for Wawasee were Jeremy Corson (15th) and Troy Minton (23rd). Other Warriors in the meet were Steve Hapner. who finished 32nd. and Troy Boyer <4oth). The overall winner was DeKalb’s Brett Pontoni in 15:57. Girls The girls looked impressive in their final meet before the sectional as they placed fourth in the Goshen Cross-Country Invitational on ThursdaySouth Bend St Joseph's, ranked 10th in the state, won the meet with 71 points New Prairie, ranked 17th. had 138; Mishawaka.

Strong ground game — Culver trips Warriors, 14-7

(Continued from page 8) the Eagles had a long drive snuffed out when Brad Traviolia picked off an Augustein aerial and returned it to the Culver 30. However, the Eagles returned the favor two plays later when Rick Clement grabbed a tipped pass to end the Wawasee threat. “It was just crazy how (Kevin) Tracey tipped that pass and they intercepted it,” Dickerson said in reference to Clement's interception. “That's the second week in a row the ball has taken a crazybounce off Tracey and has gone into someone else’s hands.” Warrior Score The Warriors got on the board first, much to the delight of a good-sized homecoming crowd. After failing to move the ball for most of the first period. Wawasee finally got on track at the beginning of the second stanza and marched 62 yards in 13 plays. The big play on the drive was a 37-yard pass from Traviolia to Tracey which gave the Warriors

Sports shorts Diet Pepsi Challenge set for Sunday at New Paris The Diet Pepsi Challenge will be held at the New Paris Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 21. Rain forced cancellation of the event last weekend. More than 70 cars are expected to compete in the three feature which make up this event. Top contenders include late model drivers Denny Nyari, Doug Hanna and Bob Blount; road runner drivers Sonny Thompson, Joe Smith and Moose Miller; and coyote drivers Jim Brown, Chuck Goss and Scott Binkley. A powder puff race and a mechanic’s race are also scheduled for Saturday. Gates open at noon, time trials start at 1:30 p.m. and racing gets underway at 2:30 p.m. Local runners challenge marathon distance Several area runners have been active in recent weeks, competing in raod races around the Midwest. Four area runners traveled to Milwaukee, Wis., over the weekend to compete in the Milwaukee Lake Front Marathon. Betty Hite Nelson of Columbia City led he pack with a time of 2:51. That clocking netted her the women’s title. Tony Clouse, Syracuse, finished 160th overall with a time of 3:05 — good enough to qualify him for the Boston Marathon. Tim Miller, Wilmette, finished in 2:59 and Joe Dervin, Goshen, completed the course in 3:27. Nearly 1,200 runners participated in the event which was marked by heavy fog. .. John Longenbaugh, Syracuse, competed in a marathon in Detroit on Sunday. He turned in a personal best time of 3:15 for the 24-mile, 385-yard course.

ranked 18th, had 139; and Wawasee scored 146. NLC rival Goshen was fifth with 154. “The girls are coming along real well," Minton noted. "This .was their best meet to date. They showed real signs of coming around.” Amy Clouse was the top Wawasee runner in a closelybunched pack. She finished 26th with a time of 16:40 — her best this season. Following Clouse were Sheila Kleinrichert. 27th in 16:44“Marcie Coy, 29th in 16:48; Becca Stiver. 30th in 16:50; and Sherrie Mock, 44th in 17:10. “Amy ran a very good race for us. It was one of her better races this year," Minton said. “We also have tw’o or three other runners who are capable of running that fast.” Although several other sectional teams finished behind Wawasee at the meet. Minton is not ready to pin the favorites role on his runners. “I would say that we are one of the favorites, but not the favorite." he commented. “I was impressed with the way that Goshen ran and I don’t know too much about some of the other teams. But if we can close the gap a little bit, we should have a good shot at winning.” Ox Bow The Ox Bow course is long, has some gradual hills and generally produces slow times. The course record for girls is 15:23 set by Penn’s Rhonda Yoder in 1984. DeKalb’s Ron Pepple set the boys' record of 15:53 in 1982. Last year, the boys were hampered by the flu heading into the regional and finished a disappointing 10th However, Minton is expecting better results in 1984 "We are running better than we were at this time last year,” he said. “Aside from a few minor shin splints, we don't have any health problems." "Plymouth and DeKalb are running very well right now," he added. “Memorial and Central could cause some problems if they run super well. I think we should advanoe-dl we run well. But if we don’t have a good day, we won’t make it."

a first-and-10 at the Culver 33. The rest of the drive was sustained on the ground with Steve Yoder. Brad Mitchell and Traviolia alternating carries on the next eight plays.''Traviolia carried the final five yards for the touchdown. Mitchell tacked on the extra point and Wawasee had its only lead of the night with 7:27 left before the intermission. However, the Eagles scored on the ensuing possession and from then on the Warriors had their backs against the wall. "We are the only team to hold Culver under two touchdowns this season,” Dickerson said. "Our defense is rated second in the NLC, but we just gave them one touchdown in the first half that we shouldn't have given them. We could have easily won that game — it was within our grasp to win.” Traviolia was 5-of-18 for 78 yards and one interception. Once again, he was forced to throwunder pressure on several plays. Tracey had two receptions, while

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STRIDING TOWARDS SECTIONAL — Sheila Kleinrichert, left, and Becca Stiver ran well in last week’s Goshen Cross-Country Invitational on Thursday and are now busy preparing for Saturday’s sectional meet. The Lady Warriors finished fourth overall at Goshen. (Photo by Tom Charles)

Warrior swimmers breeze to easy win over Culver Girls Academy

By MARK WEINSTEIN Sports Writer Wawasee’s girls swim team didn't swim particularly well against Culver Girls Academy, but the Tuesday, Oct. 16 performance was good enough to defeat the Eagles 110-55 in a nonconference meet at Culver. "This is getting ridiculous,” said Caldwell, referring to the fact that Wawasee either hammers its opponents, or it gets

Mitchell and Nate Rhodes each had one. Ron Gerber, who was back in action after missing a pair of contests due to a bruised shoulder, sprained his ankle in the first period and is listed as doubtful for. Friday’s contest against Warsaw. "It’s hard to tell how much of a difference that made in the game,” Dickerson said. “I thought that Mitchell filled in well and ran hard out in Gerber’s place.”

Sports comment —

Calling the shots

FORGET THE CUBS. The real choke artists in Chicago this year were the White Sox, not the Northsiders. Considering the fact that the Sox ran away with their division last year and could only manage an anemic 77-85 record this year, the White Sox have to rank as baseball’s best riches-to-rags story in 1984. Three of the four M-J forecasters who speculated on the baseball races at the beginning of the season tabbed the Sox to win the World Series. However, none of our panelists counted on such sub-par performances from the Southsiders. Consider the following facts: • No defending champion has taken such a big tumble in one year since the American League began divisional play in 1969. The Sox won 25 fewer games this year than in 1983. • The Sox were last in the AL in team batting with a composite average of .247. Harold Baines (.304) was the only team member over .300 and only two other Sox regulars had averages over .255. • The pitching staff, regarded as one of the best in baseball prior to the season, finished with a 4.13 team ERA. The staffs six shutouts ranked next to last in the league. Floyd Bannister (14-11), Tom Seaver (15-11) and Juan Augusto (2-1) were the only three hurlers with winning records. 1983 Cy Young winner LaMarr Hoyt was 13-18 with a 4.47 ERA. If such a plunge had happened in New York wholesale firings would be a certainty. But Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf appears, for the moment at least, to be content with the personnel he has. Chicago winters can be long and cold, however, without the warm glow of success to keep an owner happy and it remains to be seen if we’ll be seeing the same Sox in 1985. . PIGSKIN PREDICTIONS The NLC championship is up for grabs this week in Nappanee where the North Wood Panthers entertain the Concord Minutemen. The Minutemen posted a 64) NLC record in 1983 and are the defending conference champions. Last week's results were Rochester 21, Tippe

hammered. “So far this season we have only been in two close meets. We have hammered a lot of people, and then have been hammered.” Fortunately for Wawasee, it did the hammering against CGA. For the most part, Wawasee seemed to be swimming against Culver’s Pam Wills. The swimmer from the Academy recorded a pair of first place finishes to lead her team. Still, that was not enough to offset Wawasee’s balance. Stacey Boles and Julie McDaniel were part of two first place finishes for Wawasee as the visitors breezed to the victory. Boles was the winner in the 200 individual medley with a 2:38.9 clocking while McDaniel was the winner in the 500 freestyle event. The junior finished with a 6:14.3 time. After the individual events were completed, the pair capped the evening by leading the freestyle relay team to victory. Boles and McDaniel started the relay and Kristi Rowe and Criss Baumgartner wrapped up the victory. Pam Foyle, Kris Neff and Jeanine Gunn concluded Wawasee’s reign on first place finishes against CGA. Foyle cap-

Valley 20; Goshen 27, Plymouth 15; Jimtown 14, Concord 6; Central 13, Memorial 7; Warsaw 34, BremeiL6; Culver Military 14, Wawasee 7; and North Wood 37, Whitko 12. week’s schedule of games confronting our forecasters includes Warsaw at Wawasee, Concord at North Wood, Rochester at Goshen, North Miami at Tippe Valley, Bremen at Plymouth, Purdue at Illinois and South Carolina at Notre Dame. Rich Rhodes, M-J darkroom technician, vaulted into the lead last week by correctly picking five of seven contests. His cousin, Brenda Rhodes, was a sorry 1-6 as a guest picker and plunged that average to a season low of .622 Kosciusko County Sheriff Al Rovenstine will attempt to arrest the guest picker decline this week as he puts his football expertise to the test. Rovenstine’s sporting background includes stints as a basketball and baseball player at Atwood High School. RHODES — (-711) Rhodes hopes to protect his lead with the following picks: Warsaw, North Wood, Rochester, North Miami, Plymouth, Purdue and Notre Dame. KUHN — (.667) The loyal Boilermaker fan saw his team take a whipping from lowa last week, but expects them to rebound against Illinois. His other picks are Warsaw, North Wood. Goshen, North Miami, Plymouth and S. Carolina. CHARLES —(-644) Look for the Irish to rebound from Saturday’s loss with a surprising win over S. Carolina. Other winners are Warsaw, North Wood, Goshen, North Miami, Plymouth and Illinois. GUEST — (.622) Rovenstine likes the Tigers, Panthers, Redskins, Vikings, Rockies, mini and Gamecocks. WEINSTEIN — (.622) Weinstein is also predicting an Irish upset of the 11 th-rated Gamecocks. Other winners are Warsaw, North Wood, Goshen, Tippe Valley, Plymouth and Illinois.

St

x REGIONAL BOUND — Brian Popenfoose, left, and Mike Ballinger have been two of the top runners for the Wawasee cross-country team this fall. The duo turned in fine times in leading the team to second place in the sectional on Saturday aiukwill be back in action at the regional this weekend. (Photo by Tom, Charles)

tured the 100-yard backstroke event in a time of 1:12.4 while Neff was the winner in the 100-yard breaststroke with a 1:18.6 clocking. Gunn won the diving competition with a 205.7 score. “Right now we are not as good of a team as I think we can be,” said Caldwell, depsite the impressive win. “And I think the girls will show others that they are better. If not, then I will be wrong.” Besides the lengthy list of champions for Wawasee, it also enjoyed several second and third places. Neff placed second in the 200 individual medley, while Baumgartner was right behind her. Steph Berkey swam well in the 50-yard freestyle event, only to finish second and Julie Schmahl was on Gunn’s heals in diving. Other swimmers with good performances were Steph Eldridge and Chris Eldridge, Jennifer Mishler and Kari Huey. Incidentally, Mishler was the most outstanding swimmer for the Warriors. Although she finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke, she shaved 21 seconds from her personal best time. “It was really encouraging to

By TOM CHARLES

see her swim and knock off so much time,” said Caldwell. “Twenty-one seconds is a lot of time.” With the win, Wawasee improved its record to 7-4, but it won’t be able to savor the win for a very long time. The Warriors will host Huntington North Thursday, Oct. 18. The Vikings, according to Caldwell, are a very good team. “This will be a very good meet for us,” said Caldwell. “Huntington has a very good team, and it will be a good challenge for us. After the clash with the Vikings, Wawasee will continue to face stiff competition as Warsaw invades the high school on Monday, Oct. 22. Winning Results 200 medley relay: CGA; W; W 200 IM: Boles, W, 2:38.9; Neff, W: Baumgartner, W 50freestyle: Ostermeyer, CGA, 28.9; Berkey. W; Santo, CGA Diving: Gunn, W, 205.7; Schmahl, W; Sem, CGA 100 butterfly: Wills, CGA, 1:06.7; Rowe, W, Boles, W 100 freestyle: Elfner, CGA, 1:03.1; Berkey, W, S. Eldridge, W 200 freestyle: Wills, CGA, 2:08.5; Foyle. W, McDaniel, W 500 freetyle: McDaniel, W, 6:14.3; Baumgartner, W, Mishler, W 100 backstroke: Foyle, W, 1:12.4; Banguis, CGA; C. Eldridge, W 100 backstroke: Neff, W, 1:18.6; Ward, CGA; Huey, W free relay: WAWASEE (Boles, McDaniel, Rowe, Baumgartner), 4:24.6; CGA; W - One minute sports quiz 1. Who won the LaJet Golf Classic? 2. Dan Fouts quarterbacks what pro football team? 3. Who pitched the first perfect game in the major leagues in three years? 4. Name the team that defeated Nebraska this year in college football. 5. Don Mattingly plays for what baseball team? ANSWERS saajueA a»N S • 6 Z.I ‘XjisjaAiun asnoejXs fr spguv enuojiieo *WM ®X!W £ sja&reqo ogaiQ ues Z agußiis styno I

» US tfining KS7USSI HALLOWEEN PARTY WV/ [Sunday, Oct. 28.6 Till Midnight I • Free Mexican Buffet • Door Prizes • Party Favors ~ Z ZZ, Costume Prizes / Grand Prize*Bill Er Sandy Ist-950 I Color Tv 7-t 1 2nd - 930,3rd-915 i

Wed., October 17,1984 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

Sports Calendar Week Os October 17 To October 24 THURSDAY Milford Volleyball 4:15 p.m., at home vs North Webster A* Thi w Wawasee Volleyball T-IWr 6:00 p.m., sectional at Northridge s Wawasee Girls’ Swimming 6:30 p.m., at home vs Huntington North ,;•/ Wawasee Freshman Football 6:30 p.m., at home vs Concord * FRIDAY Wawasee Varsity Football * 7:30 p.m., at home vs Warsaw SATURDAY Wawasee Cross-Country 11:00 am, regional at Elkhart Wawasee Volleyball 'wßOp 6 p.m., sectional at Northridge W MONDAY cy ■' Wawasee Girls’ Swimming 6:30 p.m., at home vs Warsaw

Spikers whip Valley in season finale

By MARK WEINSTEIN Sports Writer Wawasee’s Lady Warrior volleyball team improved its record to 13-3 on the season with an impressive 15-0,15-4 trouncing of Tippecanoe Valley Tuesday, Oct. 16. As the scores indicate, the Lady Warriors had no problems with the Vikings. But in the last two Wawasee matches, the Warriors have had all they wanted from their opponents. North Wood Upset On Thursday, Oct. 11, the Warriors apparently had the match well under control with North Wood. Winning the first game 15-7, it did not look as though North Wood would provide much of a contest against Barb Brouwer’s team. But they did. The Panthers breezed past the Warriors in game three of the match, winning 15-7, to claim the Northern Lakes Conference match. In game two, both teams were relatively even throughout the contest. Still, North Wood came out on top, 15-13. played fairly well againstthe Panthers. But when the game was on the line, Wawasee seemed to fold. Sandy Payne was the serving star for the Warriors with a 11-for-ll evening. She also was 15-of-19 in spikes with seven kills. Christy Speicher continued to be the most overpowering hitter

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OFF THE ARMS — Michelle Harter uses both arms to pass the ball to a teammate during Wawasee’s volleyball match against North Wood on Thursday. Pictured in the background is Shelly Harris. North Wood won the match in three games. (Photo by Mark Weinstein)

for Wawasee as she connected on 35-of-36 hits with 11 kills. Shelly Harris was 18-of-24 with nine kills. In passing, Michelle Harter was 31-of-32 and Speicher was perfect, 30-of-30. Anita Swope was 80-of-87 in sets. Lions Tamed In the other match during the week, Wawasee seemed to resemble Dr. Jeckyl and- Mr. Hyde. Against Bremen, Wawasee played aggressive volleyball and easily defeated the Lions 15-3 in the opening game. The second and final game was a different story. Bremen jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the game, but Wawasee never quit. The Warriors scratched and clawed their way back into the contest before nipping the Lions 16-14. Greta Hilker and Speicher were the serving stars for Wawasee. Hilker finished with a 12-of-13 performance while Speicher was 12-of-12. Speicher also was the leader in hits ana passes. She was 26-of-26 in the passing department while nailing 220 f her 23 hits for nine winners. Harris chipped in with a 19-of-20 performance and Payne went 11-of-14. Swope closed the evening with 56-of-59 sets for 30 winners. F • The Warriors now enter postseason action at Northridge beginning Thursday night. Wawasee faces Northridge, 5-11, in a 6 p.m. match.

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