Saturday -- CC Reg. / VB / BSO Regional Drama!

Today the Cross Country Season for GHS came to a close. Ariel McCoy and Jaron Somers ran at a very tough Cross Country Regional Race today. Ariel finished 38th and Jaron finished 29th. Only the top fifteen and the top five teams move on the Semi-state. Carroll's Boys and Girls teams advanced by winning the meet.

I can't say enough good things about Ariel McCoy and Jaron Somers. I challenge any other sport to claim they train harder than CC Runners. They must run 6-7 days a week all year long, compete in track, summer road races, and CC season meets at least twice a week. No one trains harder or longer than they do. So, when you are a Senior it is likely you have trained for somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 miles in your career. Both Jaron and Ariel have been committed runners for all four years in high school and achieved regional status throughout their career.  Congrats to both of you on a very successful career and good luck at the collegiate level

The Volleyball team finished the 2011 regular season with another couple of wins out of state. The team traveled to Napolean, Michigan to take on Coach Richardson's old High School. The team finished 5-0 and now they can concentrate on Sectional foe Bishop Dwenger.

Finally, the Boys Soccer Regional concluded tonight here in Garrett. Two private schools faced each other for the second time this season. Bishop Luers and Canterbury played each other the first game of the year to a 0-0 tie. So we were braced for a very intense game. It was intense but the score wasn't even close. The final score was 5-0 in favor of the number one team in the State Canterbury. BUT, the game was exciting because of all the action and rough play on the field. That play carried over to the fans in the stands. I'm not sure either team knows Character Counts Week is coming up this week.  I know people are passionate about their kids. But, I wish they could view these games as their intended. They are High School Sports events trying to promote education through athletics. It's not professional sports or even collegiate sports. Maybe I'm naive to believe that's possible.
It was fun hosting and I hope we are chosen again next year. Good Luck Canterbury at Semi-State.

Seniors make Statement at CC Sectional!

Harley and I made the beautiful trip up Highway 33 to West Noble High School for the IHSAA Cross Country Sectional. I love Cross Country and the Sectional at West Noble is a tradition like no other. For Seniors, it's do or die. Potentially the last race of their career. This challenging 5k course has ended the Cross Country Careers of many a great runner. Tonight, 2 Railroader Harriers took the challenge and came out on top again!

Ariel McCoy and Jaron Somers ran fantastic races to place 13th and 9th to qualify for Saturday's Cross Country Regional back at West Noble. Jaron knew what he was doing. When the rounded the pond he was in 34th place but looked great. By the time the race was half over he was in the top 15 to stay. He just moved up from there and finished 9th.  Ariel McCoy ran her race with a little more drama. After about half the race she had dropped back to 17th place and a LARGE gap had grown between her and 15th place. !5th place is the cutoff for a regional qualifier. If you finish 16th your season is over. 15th or Higher and your season continues. I have to admit, I had given up. When Ariel ran behind the Football field, I thought she was done. When she came around the middle school Stephanie and I counted the runners and were shocked to find she was in 13th place. We had to count several times because Ariel had made up a HUGE deficit to put herself solidly in the top 15.

Both Jaron and Ariel have had wonderful running careers at GHS and they have been leaders all 4 years. We are so proud of them and the rest of the senior runners, Caitlyn Przemielewski, (Manager ) Kahla Snyder, Kendall Slabaugh, and Jordan Lantz,  We will be honoring all of them at halftime of the Football game on Friday. Thanks runners for the great season and Good Luck to Ariel and Jaron Saturday!

Ups and Downs! Scoreboard!

The Boys and Girls Cross Country teams did a great job at the ACAC meet tonight. The Boys Team finished 2nd avenging a loss to Leo and only loosing to South Adams. Jaron Somers and Kendall Slabaugh BOTH were first team all-conference. Jaron finished 4th and Kendall finished 6th. The Girls Team finished 5th behind Leo, South Adams, Southern Wells, and Adams Central. Both Ariel McCoy and Amanda Stump were on the All-Conference 2nd team. With the 10th place finish Ariel McCoy was All-Conference all four years of her high school career. WOW! Congrats! Also Freshman Amanda Stump also earned All-Conference 2nd team honors by finishing in 9th place.  Great Job Runners, now get ready for Sectionals!

The Volleyball team suffered 2 tough losses tonight against LEO, again. After leading in both games by 5 points we lost 26-24 and 25-23. Leo just has too many weapons! We might get another shot at them in Sectional. Maybe 3rd times a charm!

NOW FOR THE HEADLINE OF THE NIGHT!

The Garrett Girls Soccer team battled Central Noble tonight to end the regulation game tied 2-2. Then came two more halves of Overtime. The Score was still 2-2. Then the shoot out began and Garrett came out on top winning the first round sectional game. What an exciting night. That is only GHS's second win in the IHSAA Sectional tournament. Now the girls will face West Noble on Thursday Night at 5pm. Great work Coach Yarde and Lady Railroaders!

Tomorrow everyone needs to head to Hamilton to Support our Boys Soccer team as they challenge the tough Lakewood Park Soccer Team. I've got a great feeling about this team. Go Railroaders!

Another Good Night!

The Boys and Girls Cross Country traveled all the way to Poneto to Southern Wells High School to run against Southern Wells and Woodlan in an ACAC meet. The Boys dominated the race placing Jaron Somers, Kendall Slabaugh, and Jordan Lantz going 1-2-3. The Boys defeated both SW and Woodlan.

The girls are fighting through some injuries but still ended up defeating Woodlan. Ariel McCoy had a great race and finished 3rd in the race. Amanda Stump also had a good race. They lost to Southern Wells but when they get healthy they can defeat them at the ACAC meet in a couple of weeks.

The Volleyball team also won tonight defeating the Starfires at South Adams in 4 games. The Scores were 25-10. 23-25, 25-17, 25-12.  Coach Richardson wasn't happy with the performance, but was happy with the outcome.

The Boys Soccer game at Eastside was postponed to tomorrow due to poor field conditions. The Boys are working at breaking the school record for wins. Go Railroaders!

Saturday Results

The Volleyball team traveled to Wawasee for a tournament this morning. They started off slow and were defeated by Elkhart Christian. Then, after waking up, they defeated Columbia City and Wabash. We ended up defeating the host Warriors to take third place. Jordyn Knott was placed on the All- Tourney team.

The Boys and Girls Cross Country team competed at West Noble today. With more than 30 teams competing, the boys and girls finished 15th and 17th respectively. The top runners for Garrett were Amanda Stump (38th) and Jaron Somers (29th). Kendal Slabaugh and Ariel McCoy also placed high. A lot of really good teams compete at West Noble and we will be back there in a few weeks for sectionals and regionals.

Good Luck Railroaders in the upcoming week!

Awards Nights!

Since several sports have concluded their seasons, coaches are busy scheduling awards nights for their teams.  Here is what I have so far:

Boys Soccer Awards -- Tuesday, October 19th @ 6pm -- High School Cafeteria

Girls Cross Country Awards -- Sunday, October 24th, @6pm -- In Room 17A/B, use door #2.

Boys Cross Country Awards -- Tuesday, October 26th, @5:30pm -- High School Cafeteria

I will let you know when we get Football, Girls Soccer, and Volleyball scheduled.

Coach Minton

Coach Minton sent this to me.  We are proud of the Boys CC team.  Good Luck in the ACAC meet and the sectional meet next week!