Track Starts Season!

Typically we have rain, snow, and sub 40 degree temperatures for this Garrett/Dkalb Track Meet. It wasn't balmy by any means , but of the first week of April, we'll take it. It was sunny and cool for the opening of the OUTDOOR track season for the Railroaders. Our teams performed well and we had some good surprises.

Senior Ariel McCoy had a great race in the 3200 tonight. She looked very comfortable and won the race easily in a time of 11:50. Amanda Stump and Jordyn Knott also won an event tonight. Amanda won the 1600 and Jordyn won the 200.

We had some other great efforts turned in by Alaina Creager, CC Martinez, Brandi Dawson, and Kelsi Winebrenner. The final score was Dekalb 84 - Garrett 39

For the Boys. The score was a bit closer, DeKalb 71 - Garrett 52. Drake Landes led the way for the Rairoaders with 3 first place ribbons in 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and Long Jump. Todd Frickey was 1st in the 100m dash, Jaron Somers was 1st in the 800m run, and Chase Hall dominated the 200m dash. Our second place finishers were Jaron in the 1600 and 3200, Patrick Chester in High Jump, Todd Frickey in Long Jump, and Robert Deventer in Discus.

All in all a great meet. We had great workers and the Junior High Track Team members did an AWESOME JOB helping out with hurdles, field events and timing (Miranda Malcolm). The Junior HIgh Coaches also did a great job getting those kids organized and helping out with the meet as well. We have such a great group of workers to get these meets done. We couldn't do it without them! Thanks Everyone!

Soccer Record

The girls soccer team got another win tonight defeating West Noble 4-1. Heather House had 3 goals and Brittany Scalici had one goal in defeating the Lady Chargers.  Great end to the regular season!

Tomorrow night the Boys Soccer team faces a tough Lakewood Park Christian team at Garrett. This game is getting a lot of attention by the media as Austin Altimus is one goal away from breaking the State Boys Soccer scoring record. All of the area media will be covering this game. What a great way to get some exposure for our Boys team. We are also going for a record 7 wins in a season. That record might not be getting attention from the media, but it is getting a lot of attention in the area soccer coaches. I am so proud of this team this year. We are young. But, I have not seen a group of boys soccer players work as hard as this group.  If they continue to work hard at developing their skills and WORK HARD  IN THE WEIGHT ROOM, they will see some great results in years to come. It was funny, at the ACAC Championship game, when the parents said (Joking) that we need to pump some steroids into our boys. Well, seriously, this team needs to devote themselves to getting bigger, faster, stronger through the WEIGHT ROOM! If they can do that, we will have a great chance at winning some hardware!  Everything is in place. They need to take the next step.

Good Luck tomorrow and in the future!

ACAC Cross Country +

With two VERY,VERY young teams both Coach Minton and Coach Rhoades know they would have a tough time winning the ACAC meet. But, both teams ran smart races and arrived back at Garrett with 3 All-Conference Cross Country Runners. The Boys took home two of the honors. Kendall Slabaugh took fifth place to earn First Team All-Conference honors and Jaron Somers got 10th and earned 2nd team All-Conference honors.  For the Girls, Ariel McCoy earned 1st team All-Conference  by finishing 4th in the meet.
The Boys team, who have suffered all season with countless injuries, finished and impressive 3rd place behind two strong ACAC foes. (South Adams and Leo).
The girls team who has only 2 experienced Cross Country runners got 4th place. They have not beaten Southern Wells all year and finally were able to  defeat them.

I am a former Cross Country Coach and I appreciate the accomplishment of both these teams. Both teams are very young and inexperienced. Running at a fast pace is an endeavor that gets better only after years of training. To be able to accomplish this with mostly inexperienced runners is quite an accomplishment. Thanks Coaches and Runners for your hard work. Good Luck next week at the West Noble Sectional.

Plus.............
The Volleyball barely got past a feisty Bluffton Tiger Volleyball team tonight in the first round of the ACAC Volleyball tournament at Heritage.  The Lady Railroaders defeated Bluffton easily in the regular season but took 3 close games to win the best 2 out of 3 match. I'm not sure of the exact scores but the first game went to Garrett 26-18 (I think). The second game went to Bluffton 26-24 and the third and deciding game went to the Lady Railroaders 26-24.  The girls had to come back in the final game after being down by a 16-21 deficit. They will face the Leo Lady Lions in the Semi-Finals on Thursday at Heritage.

Also the Girls Soccer team ended their regular season by defeating the Central Noble Lady Cougar Soccer team by a score of 4-2.  Now all attention goes to defeating the Lady Barons next Tuesday Night at Dekalb. The game will start at approximately 7:15.  Good Luck Ladies!

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!

Senior Night Soccer and More!

Tonight was Senior Night for Girls Soccer.  We are so proud of the Lady Railroader Senior Soccer players and appreciate all the hard work and dedication over the past 4 years. The Lady Railroaders defeated a hard charging Elkhart Christian team by a  final score of 5-4.  Great Job Ladies!

Both Boys and Girls Cross Country teams split with Adams Central and South Adams in the final regular season dual meet of the year.  Both teams defeated Adams Central and were defeated by South Adams.  Great times were set by the runners on a perfect night for running!

The Volleyball team got another ACAC victory by defeating the Lady Raiders of Southern Wells in 3 straight games. The JV team also got another win in two straight games.

The IHSAA Soccer Sectional Draws were tonight. The Boys begin play at home next week and drew a tough Lakewood Park team in the first game of the tournament. The Railroaders will take on the Panthers next Thursday night at 5pm. The second game of the night will see the Noble County teams compete for a chance to make it to the Championship game.

In the girls sectional draw, the Lady Railroaders will take on the County rival Lady Barons of Dekalb High School. I do not have the specific game times for the girls tournament. The tournament will be held at Dekalb starting October 11th. When I get the schedule, i will publish it here first!

Is Cross Country a TEAM sport?

The Boys and Girls Cross Country teams ran their only home meet of the year tonight vs New Haven and Columbia City. The boys team were defeated by both teams. The Girls team led by  Ariel McCoy were defeated by Columbia City.  However, the Lady Railroader Harriers defeated New Haven by a tie breaker.

Ok, most of you don't know how a Cross Country meet is scored any way.  Let me bring you up to speed.  A team consists of 7 runners. In a dual meet, like tonight, you have a total of 14 places.  Each place is worth points based on what place it is. 1st place is one point, 2nd place is two points, 3rd place is three points, etc.  The first five finishers on each team score points for your team.  The sixth and seventh runners are called "pushers". Even though their places don't count in the score, they are to push the top five of the other team as far back as they can.  The only time the sixth runner on a team is counted in the scoring is when there is a tie.  Below is the scoring of tonight's meet:

Garrett                                                         New Haven

2nd place - Ariel McCoy         - 2pts.         1st place - Brenda Diaz          - 1pt.

4th place  - Rachel Hood         - 4pts.         3rd place - Mikala Hiatt         - 3pts.

5th place  - Katlin Hinkle        - 5pts.         6th place - Angela Lahr          - 6pts.

8th place  - Shelby Hartman    - 8pts.        7th place - J. Lothamer            - 7pts.

9th place  - Siboney Martinez - 9pts.      11th place - Amanda Fendel      - 11 pts.

Total                                28 pts.                                                       28 pts.

10th place - Caitlyn Prem    - 10 pts.     13th place - Kayla Fendel - 13 pts.

12th place - Zujey Collins      - 12 pts.        

As you can see, after the scoring runners, the score was tied 28 - 28. Garrett's "pusher" Caitlyn Prem pushed the 5th place runner further back in the scoring.  If Prem doesn't do her job Garrett would lose 27 - 28.  Instead, she forces the tie and since she and Zujey Collins beat the 6th New Haven runner, GARRETT WINS!

Everyone thinks this is a sport of individuals, but it truly is a team sport where everyone on the team can have an impact on the scoring.  Congrats to Coach Rhoades and her team on a great meet!

Scores!

Lakeland defeated the Railroader Boys Soccer team tonight at home 5-3.  Tonight Nathan Sliger scored all 3 goals for the Railroaders.  The Girls Lost at Columbia City to Columbia City.  Maybe the Director of Soccer Operations knows the final score. I do know that Heather House scored the  lone goal for the Railroaders with an assist from Chelsea Zahner.  Heather reported that we played well and improved on our score from last year against a very good Columbia City team.

The Railroader Volleyball team dominated the Churubusco Eagles  in 3 straight games.  The first two games were not even close 25-13, 25-12.  We lost a little focus early in the 3rd game but came back from a large deficit to win 25-22.  The girls are really on a roll now with a 2-1 record.

The Football team faces cross county rival Eastside Blazers tomorrow night with a kickoff the kickoff at 7pm.  The cross country teams run a team relay event called a "Hokem Karem".  Come out to the cross country course to witness a preseason showcase of some top area cross country teams.

Great Night!

The Boys Soccer team defeated the Wayne Generals tonight at home by a score of 4-3. Trent Leverenz scored all 4 goals! How amazing is that.  A Hat trick plus one, or as the Director of Soccer Operations said "A Turkey!"  Great game Coach K and Boys Soccer team. The game was exciting from the first 15 seconds to the very end!

The girls lost 3-2 at Wayne. But, we out shot the Lady Generals 29-12.  I heard Heather House had one of the goals.  Don't know who had the other.  Good effort, just need to finish!

AND Head Coach Sallie Richardson got her first coaching win as Head Coach at GHS.  The Lady Railroaders got a big win in 5 games AT Prairie Heights.

As always, we can be proud of our kids and how hard they work.  The work in the weight room, in the summer, and out of season always pays off in the end.

ROLL BIG TRAIN!

This Week in Sports!

Garrett Boys Soccer start the week off at East Noble to take on the Knights.  They will get to try out the NEW artificial turf in Kendallville.  Game time is 5pm. Then they are home for the next two nights when they take on the Wayne Generals on Wednesday night at 5pm and the Lakeland Lakers on Thursday Night also at 5pm.

The Girls Soccer team begins their season with trips to Wayne High School on Wednesday and then Columbia City on Thursday.  Both games are 5pm starts.

The Volleyball begins their season at Dekalb on Tuesday night. THe JV start time is 6:15pm.  They travel to Prairie Heights on Wednesday.  That match begins at 6pm.  Finally, they return home on Thursday to take on Churubusco.  That night will begin at 6pm in the Paul Bateman Gymnasium.

Friday is the Home Opener for the Railroader Football team when they take on cross county rival Eastside Blazers for the train game.  This is also a big night at GHS when we honor the first 5 Academic Wall of Fame Inductees.  All home games will kick-off at 7pm.

The Railroaders "Harriers" will host 10 schools in the annual Hokum Karem Cross Country meet.  That race will be Saturday morning starting at 9am.  For those of you who do not know what a "Hokum Karem" is.  It is a special relay style cross country meet.  2 person teams will alternate running 1.5 mile loops.  Team scores are kept by keeping cummulative times for the two-person teams.  It is the cross country version of a scrimmage.  We have hosted this meet for many years.  It features a great combination of NECC, ACAC, and NHC teams.

Good Luck to all the Railroader athletes as they start the 2010-2011 Athletic Year!  ROLL BIG TRAIN!

Great Start!

Volleyball had a great Scrimmage verses  Eastside tonight.  Coach Richardson and Webb had done a great job preparing the team for the season.  I am excited for them to start the season.  We have  developed a great volleyball coaching staff from 6th grade on up.   The level of experience of this staff is great.  Sherri Parker is volunteering for 6th grade.  Julie DePew, recently hired to fill the PE/Health Position in the High School and former Garrett Graduate, will be coaching 7th grade.  She has great high school coaching experience and will be a great asset.  Tammy Smith is back to coach the 8th grade.  She also has great varsity and high school coaching experience. Jesse Webb doesn't have the volleyball experience but does have a great coaching background. Coach Richardson was a 3 sport athlete in college.  That is amazing! Not too many people could handle that.  She is a very talented teacher and coach. She comes from a Coaching Family and knows all of the positive and negative aspects about coaching.

Good Luck Coaches.  I can't wait to see the changes that will occur this year and in the future!  The teams face Dekalb next week.  Go Lady Railroader Volleyball Team!

Season is Underway!

Well it's here.  The 2010-2011 School year is underway.  All the Fall teams are preparing for their first contests.

Volleyball gets under way first with a scrimmage against Eastside in the Bateman Gym on Wednesday, August 11th at 6pm.  The cost is $4.

Next Football gets under way when GHS will host the Whitko Wildcats in a Preseason Scrimmage next Friday Night, August 13th at 7pm.  Cost is $5.  But, get a preview of what the team is doing this coming Monday night at the intersquad scrimmage. This will be held on the game field, weather permitting.

The Mandatory All Athlete / Parent Meeting is on Tuesday evening August 10th at 7pm in the Performing Arts Center.

Both the Boys and Girls Soccer teams will travel to Bellmont High School to play in the Bellmont Jamboree.  Both teams play at 9am!

Don't forget to get your Football Gold Card for $20.  It has some great deals!

Big Train Tickets are on sale in the Athletic Office.  Support your teams and come out to the games!

Preparing for the first day of Fall Practice

Below is a list of things each Garrett High School Athlete needs before he/she can practice on August 2nd (the first day of fall practice in the state of Indiana:

1) physical completed after May 1st, by a licensed physician. It must be completed on an official IHSAA form which can be found

2) Students must sign the following forms:
Random Drug Testing Form
Insurance Notification/Waiver
Student Informed Consent / Participation Agreement
3) Parents must sign the following:
Random Drug Testing Form
Insurance Notification/Waiver form
Parental Informed Consent / Participation Agreement
4) Parents and Athletes must attend a mandatory parent meeting (August 2nd 2010, 7pm in Performing Arts Center.