I really enjoy writing this Blog for one reason. This Blog is a great testament to the quality student-athletes, coaches, and community we have at Garrett. I've had a little time over the past week to review some of posts on this Blog. I am thrilled this Blog is getting your attention. We've had over 10,000 page views in 2011. WOW! I can't believe it. Here's a review of our year:
2011 started with a bang or should I say with a "Shot heard round the area". The Lady Railroaders won another ACAC Championship at the Coliseum. But, this was one of the most exciting games I have ever witnessed. Here's a part of the post after the tournament:
What an amazing ACAC Championship game today at the Memorial Coliseum! Jordyn Knott gets an offensive rebound and buries a shot to take away another ACAC Championship from the Leo Lady Lions. The Lions came back from being down by 10 points to go ahead at the end of the ball game. Garrett brought down the ball and with 4.6 seconds left called a time out. Coach Dan Feagler tried to get the Ball to Megan Getts (tournament MVP) who had dominated the inside all day. She made a great shot but missed. Jordyn got the board and put it in with no time left on the clock. 5 hours later, my heart has finally started again.
The Railroaders took home all the hardware from the tournament. Megan Getts took home the MVP award with a very impressive performance. The Railroader Fans took home the Sportsmanship Award.
That was so much fun!
Brayden Moreau qulaified for the State Wrestling tournament and the Lady Railroaders won another Sectional Title in February.
The IHSAA presented the NEW Sectional alignments and GHS was moved up to Class 3A in Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, and Baseball. The challenge will be great but our athletes and coaches have already proved up to the task.
The Spring was great for our teams. The Garrett Community hosted both the ACAC MIddle School and High School Track meets and had a great showing. The Boys won the championship and the Girls placed 2nd. It was a great night. Here is an excerpt from the Blog post:
WOW! What a great night for Garrett Track and the community of Garrett. The Boys Track team took 1st place in the ACAC track meet hosted at Memorial Field in Garrett. Coach Clifford, Coach Cutler, Coach Rhoades, and Coach Lapadot, can be exceptionally proud of this accomplishment. No one expected us to beat perennial powerhouse Leo. But, with Todd Frickey, Jaron Sommers, Drake Landes, Jamarius Mitchell, Robert Deventer, Matt Schultz and a host of others, scoring in nearly every event to defeat the Lions and the rest of the ACAC.
Coach Clifford has done a wonderful job in his first year as head boys track coach. He has stepped up the training and certainly has raised the bar of expectations. The team of Coaches work together so well and that family type atmosphere has yielded great results.
The girls took 2nd behind a dominate Leo Girls team. Jordyn Knott won the Long Jump by destroying and ACAC record of 17' 3.75" that stood since 1979. Jordyn jumped 17'8" and didn't even need her final 3 jumps to win the meet. Heather House won both hurdle races. Jordyn also won the High Jump. Laura Moynahan won the shot put and also placed in the discus.
The Boys track team was not the only ACAC championship won by the Railroaders. The Boys Golf team won the ACAC Golf Tournament:
After being away from my computer last evening, I have to share in the Golf excitement at GHS. The Railroader golf team had lost twice previously to Woodlan, but not on Saturday.............when it counted. After 9 holes on Saturday, the railroaders trailed Woodlan by 4 strokes and led Heritage by 2, Leo by 6. Coach Kleeman told Jacob Stafford to "Keep playing, it was going to be close. Don't think your score is not important." While it didn't come down to a tie, it was very close and when Number 4 golfer, Noah Getts turned in his card, everyone knew he was going to have to shoot under 95 to beat the Warriors. NO PROBLEM! After shooting a 165 on the front nine. The Railroaders stepped it up and shot 158 on the back 9 and won their first ever ACAC Golf Championship.
Bennett Rieke shot a great 70 for the day to take medalist honors. Cam Stockdale shot 79 to earn 4th place. Karsten Cooper shot 84 to earn 2nd team all-conference honors and Noah shot 90. The good news is, none of these great golfers are seniors, so everyone is back next season.
Golf season is just around the corner and our group of seniors are ready for another championship! For the 3rd year in a row Bennett Rieke Qualified for the Regional Golf Tournament.
Todd Frickey and Jordyn Knott placed at their respective track meets:
The new school year brought some big changes at GHS while the construction began on our NEW HIGH SCHOOL. Even though alll GHS staff and students were looking forward to the future with a brand new building, the football team stepped back in time. The Dekalb vs Garrett Football rivalry was renewed on August 26th.
Rivalries can be ugly. Before our game last night I was talking the officiating crew about their experience with rivalries. They had some horror stories about fights and ugly games. NOT IN OUR HOUSE! Last night was a perfect example for the rest of the world how a rivalry can be positive.
Last night was one of the hardest hitting, well fought Football game, I have ever been to. We did have one unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Dekalb. Not to give an excuse, but it came at a time they were getting really frustrated. It was a battle in the trenches but it was a clean battle.
The best part of the night wasn't the awesome play of our line, the great catch and interception by Jamison Wisel, the 6 touchdowns and record for Todd Frickey, or the ending of a 35 year drought against the Barons. The best part of the night was the character displayed by our student section when they stormed the field. They actually waited for the traditional midfield handshake before the celebrated with our team. No one gave them instructions, not one set it up ahead of time. They did it on their own because they are awesome. Now I've committed to Sundaes for these senior girls on Tuesday. It's worth it!
Todd Frickey and the GHS Football team set all sorts of records this season and ended with a great tournament run. The Jimtown Jimmies came out on top in the sectional championship game, but the Railroaders fought all the way to the end. The football team wasn't the only highlight for the fall season. The Volleyball team and the Boys Soccer Team both won regular season ACAC championships. Here are the posts celebrating those two programs:
Tonight the Volleyball team finished the ACAC Regular Season 6-1 and were in a 3 way tie on top of the ACAC. So, they are Co-Champions in the ACAC. This is our first ACAC VB championship and our first conference championship since 1993. I guess we need another Banner!
Tonight they played a fantastic game, completely dominating a VERY good Heritage team, 25-17, 25-15, 25-12. We honored Jordyn Knott and Katie DePew before the game because of the records they have set this year. Katie DePew got her 1000th assist earlier in the season and Jordyn Knott got her 1000th kill last week. Both of these girls and senior Laura Moynahan have been major contributors to this program. Laura is close to breaking the single season record for digs (held by Katie Depew). Tonight all of these girls played with a lot of passion and never lost the momentum tonight!
We are so proud of these girls and wish them the best in the ACAC tournament next week. Roll Big Train!
Here is the Soccer Post. This post is the most viewed post on the Athletic Blog. That tells me, people were pretty excited about this piece of history:
The Railroader Boys Soccer Team won it's first EVER ACAC Championship in convincing style tonight defeating the Leo Lions 2-1. As a matter of fact, no other team has won an ACAC Boys Championship except the Lions. What a game!
The Railroaders finished the ACAC season undefeated 4-0. I didn't score a goal. I didn't have an assist or a save, but I felt like I played the entire game and I am worn out. I think all the fans and all the coaches could say the same thing.
We got down in the first half 1-0. But, before the end of the half the Lions had a hand ball in the box. Nathan Sliger drilled the penalty kick and we were even going into halftime. The second half was dominated by the swarming Railroaders. We had opportunity after opportunity and then it happened. On a corner kick Kaleb Hoover had another opportunity and he put it in to go up 2-1. For the next 3 + minutes my heart was beating a hundred miles per hour and I didn't dare take a breath. We had great defense and focus tonight and we held on to get the big win.
I have never seen the Soccer Coaches so focused and I couldn't be more proud of the staff Doug has put together. James Degitz and Matt Cordes have been through the trenches with this program. Austin Freels comes with a lot of experience and Joe Silva has worked hard with our middle school program. They all deserve a piece of the victory. I couldn't be more proud of our kids. They deserve this so much. I get chills when kids that work hard get rewarded for all their efforts. We keep telling them just to keep working hard. But, you always wonder when they are going to see the fruits of that work. Tonight was the night. I am thrilled to be there, to be part of history. GREAT WIN RAILROADERS!
The Boys and Girls Cross Country programs were represented by a great couple of senior athletes. Ariel McCoy and Jaron Somers both qualified again for the IHSAA regional meet. Both of these runners have been very important to the success of our Cross Country teams during the past 4 years.
The Winter Season began early in November with some new faces. Legendary Coach Dan Feagler retired from the Girls Head Basketball Coaching position after 16 years and a very successful career. Bob Lapadot, the long time assistant, took over the helm and the quality girls basketball program continued. Bob and his team have an 8-4 record with one more game to play before the break. All four losses have come to very good programs and we have nothing to be ashamed of.
The Boys Basketball team has a great start to their season with only 2 losses. John Bodey and his staff are well on their way to a great season. They are a fun team to watch and the coaching staff has really come together to improve this program.
The wrestling team has struggled early in the 2011-2012 season. But, the coaching staff continues to make improvements and we are looking forward to the season tournaments. One of those tournaments is the First Ever Railroader Invite. This tournament will take place after the first of the year and will feature 10 schools with great wrestling programs.
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I am so proud of our Athletic Programs at GHS. We continue to be a leader in the ACAC and our area. We have great student-athletes, coaches, parents, and community support. I can't wait to see what successes we have in 2012.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
