Girls golf

Culver Academy finished 31 strokes ahead of second place Rochester to capture the Rochester Invitational.

The 12-team field:

1.  Culver Academy - 333

2.  Rochester - 364

3.  Maconaquah - 366

4.  South Bend St. Joe - 370

5.  Logansport - 390

6.  Western - 411

7.  Peru - 413

8.  Northwestern - 437

9.  John Glenn - 438

10.  Mishawaka Marian - 451

11.  North Miami - 475

12.  Kokomo - 499

Top 5 individuals:

1.  Piercy Dyer (Peru) - 69 (tied tournament record)

2.  Elizabeth Mercer (Western) - 71

3.  Kari Teglia (Culver Acad)- 72

4.  Lynne Zhang (Culver Acad)- 73

T5.  Miranda Stoll (Maconaquah)- 76

T5.  Olivia Bailey (Rochester)- 76

Cross Country

Caston boys and girls each finished fourth in  the Cass County meet.

Three of the Lady Comets placed in the top 20 overall. Camila Hernandez-Rios and Alexa Lowe finished 10th & 11th, with Comets frontrunner Myli Rude a couple places ahead in 8th.

The Caston boys team was led by senior Edison Byrum with his 8th place county finish. Also scoring top 20 honors in the meet were freshman Reed Sommers (17th) and sophomore Kane Finke (19th).

Volleyball

Caston posted a 3-1 mark in weekend volleyball at the Tri-County Invitational.

Tri-County def Caston, 25-15, 27-29, 15-9

Caston def North White, 25-22, 25-13

Caston def Crosspointe, 25-13, 25-8

Caston def South Newton, 25-16, 16-25, 15-13

Caston cumulative individual stats for the invitational

Isabel Scales 25 kills 10 blocks

Alexa Finke 21 kills 6 blocks

Macee Hinderlider 38 kills

Addison Zimpleman 13 kills 23 digs

Annie Harsh 62 assists

Girls soccer

#17 (1A) Culver 5, South Bend Riley 0

Giselle Villegas scored three goals for Culver

Two of the three teams that tied last season for the TRC football title meet tonight in a key Week 2 game.

But it’s the rivalry that gives the game between Tippecanoe Valley and #12 (2A) Rochester its added significance.  No longer conference foes with Tippecanoe Valley’s decision to leave the TRC for another to-be-formed athletic conference starting next season, the Battle for the Bell is the lead story.

Along with the heat and humidity.

Even with a break in the sultry conditions coming in this weekend a temperature near 84 degrees is expected near kickoff with humidity well into the 90% range. Though not unexpected in the August portion of the high school football schedule it will be an uncomfortable night for players in full gear.

Last season, Tippecanoe Valley won its fourth straight game in the series, 26-17. Rochester’s last win over the Vikings was in 2017. The two rivals didn’t get to play in the Covid-shortened 2021 season.

Zebras head coach Ron Shafer is excited for tonight’s opportunity.

Shafer says he’s heard people say the Vikings may not be as big as in the past.  He’s not so sure about that.

GIANT fm Sports on WROI has coverage at 6:40 p.m. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

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Indiana high school athletics has more than its share of well-known traditions, though the pursuit of game officials tends to settle quietly into the background.

However, it, too, remains a most vital component in order for every one of the 22 sports sanctioned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) to complete its season as seamlessly as possible.

The IHSAA in an effort to not only expand its pool of officials, but broaden each individual’s knowledge, is working with RefReps, which offers comprehensive online officiating education courses that include an interactive training video, instructor guides, assessments and more.

RefReps’ mission is to educate the next generation of high school sports officials so that he or she is best equipped with the skills necessary before confidently setting foot on the football field, wrestling mat, softball diamond, etc.

“What is unique about Indiana is it was the first state to pilot this in the high schools,” said Kyle Armstrong, founder and CEO of RefReps, which is now in its third year. “In the spring of 2022, we had seven high schools pilot this, and, if you fast-forward to today, we’ll be in around 500 schools in 33 different states.”

Representing Indiana on the ground floor of this effort were, in alphabetical order, Avon, Bedford North Lawrence, Brownsburg, Kokomo, Mitchell, Pioneer and South Bend Adams.

The number grew to 51 Indiana high schools incorporating RefReps during the 2022-2023 school year; in excess of 100 are expected to take part this school year.

“If you look at the trajectory of licensed officials in Indiana from the 2015-2016 school year to 2016-2017, it went up by 43 officials,” said Armstrong. “That was the last year the number went up, and every year up to 2021-2022, it had dropped by over 1,000 officials.

“It had gone down, down, down, down, down, and, boom, we do the pilot program, and it goes up by over 300 officials,” said Armstrong.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 eliminated all high school sports in Indiana during the 2020 spring season, decreasing the number of officials to 5,829 during the uncertain times surrounding the 2021-2022 school year.

A comeback of sorts took place in 2022-2023 with the number rising to 6,158.

Compare this to the 2016-2017 school year in which there were 6,907 officials. There was a time, according to IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Brian Lewis, where that total regularly exceeded 7,000 officials.

RefReps is helping push these numbers back up.

“The two years following COVID, we saw a big drop. Many officials paused during COVID and then never returned. We are beginning to see an increased number of officials, but we must continue to get the next generation of officials started,” said Lewis. “There is a myriad of reasons for the official shortage across the country.”

We have a shortage of officials because there are more contests being played, whether it’s travel ball or something else. The average age of officials is upwards of 54 years old, so as they retire, are we getting enough of the next generation involved?”

The uncertainty brought on by a pandemic played a role in the decrease in officials.

However, other factors trickled in. One being persons no longer wanting to subject themselves to hostile fan bases.

“I think part of it is we went through a two-year span of contests not being played or fans being limited,” said Lewis. “People were at home. They were sitting in their house. We come out of that, and sportsmanship, egregious behavior has just been off the charts. We are seeing it more in the travel world, and in the AAU world, but it’s starting to sneak into education-based athletics. Officials, prefer to officiate in an education-based system because we have administrators and staff who can control that atmosphere a little bit.”

Using RefReps in state high schools and colleges enables Indiana to cast a wider net than before in gauging the interest of young people interested in becoming a high school official.

According to Armstrong, the program is extremely flexible in that it can be taught.

“Most high schools will have an actual stand-alone sports officiating class,” he said. “The second option is to take our materials and use them in the pre-existing physical education classes.”

For more information, prospective high school officials can go to refreps.com.

“We want to increase the number of new officials, but I’ll get calls all the time saying you need to lower your expectations, or you need to lower your standards, and we’re not going to do that,” said Lewis. “We hold our officials to a very high standard, and we are not going to sacrifice those standards to increase numbers. We are in the business of education-based athletics and the business of kids.”

“We have different requirements when it comes to tournament eligibility, but we’re looking at ways to give younger officials the ability to advance in the officiating world to make that a little bit easier.”

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Caston had to go an extra set against Peru in high school volleyball but still posted the win, 25-15, 25-19, 17-25, 25-18.

For Caston:

Alexa Finke, Macee Hinderlider, and Isabel Scales - 9 kills each

Addison Zimpleman 6 kills          

Annie Harsh 20 assists          

Makena Middleton 1

Also in Monday volleyball

Triton def. Rochester, 25-12, 25-18, 25-10

For Rochester (1-6):

Audrey Bolinger 5 kills, 4 points, 2 aces, 7 digs

Brailyn Hunter 3 kills, 1 points, 2 digs

Ella Hake 1 kill, 2 digs

Darah Strasser 1 kill, 2 points, 6 digs

Aubrey Wilson 1 kill, 4 points, 1 ace, 4 digs, 7 assists

Logyn Honkomp 2 points, 5 digs, 22 serve receptions

Rylee Clevenger 1 point, 7 digs, 11 serve receptions

Keyton Doran 1 dig

Mia Howdeshell 1 dig

Girls golf

Rochester had three players in the low 40s at Round Barn in victories over North Miami and Southwood.

Rochester's 175 topped North Miami's 209. Southwood was third with 232.

The Zebras' Olivia Bailey and Ava Thomas tied for medalist honors with a 41. Teammate Payton Moore had a 43.

Girls soccer

Bremen 3, Culver 0

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Volleyball

Rochester played in the Tomahawk Invitational hosted by North Miami

Eastbrook def. Rochester, 25-12, 25-14

 For Rochester: Aubrey Wilson and Darah Strasser with two kills, Audrey Bolinger with a block, Rylee Clevenger with 4 digs, Aubrey Wilson had 5 assists

South Adams def. Rochester, 25-11, 25-14

For Rochester: Brailyn Hunter had three kills, Aubrey Wilson and Audrey Bolinger each had one kill, Audrey Bolinger had three blocks and Ella Hake and Darah Strasser each had one, Aubrey Wilson had five digs and Logyn Honkomp had four, Aubrey Wilson led in assists with three.

Rochester def. Delphi, 25-12, 25-15

For Rochester: Audrey Bolinger had 5 kills and Darah Strasser had 4. Rylee Clevenger had 9 points and Aubrey Wilson had 8 points. Audrey Bolinger had 2 blocks.  Logyn Honkomp had 8 digs and Darah Strasser and Audrey Bolinger each had 6 digs.  Aubrey Wilson had 10 assists.

Northwestern def. Rochester, 25-23, 25-20

For Rochester: Brailyn Hunter had 5 kills, Darah Strasser had 3 kills, Audrey Bolinger and Aubrey Wilson had 2 kills. Audrey Bolinger had 2 blocks and Keyton Doran and Darah Strasser had 1 block. Logyn Honkomp had 13 digs and Aubrey Wilson had 12 digs while Darah Strasser had 10. Aubrey Wilson had 7 assists.

Rochester stat leader totals for all games:

For Rochester:     

Kills: Aubrey Bolinger 11, Brailyn Hunter 11, Darah Strasser 10, Aubrey Wilson 5

Blocks:  Audrey Bolinger 7, Darah Strasser 2

Assists:  Aubrey Wilson 25 Mia Howdeshell 4

Digs: Logyn Honkomp 27, Aubrey Wilson 25, Darah Strasser 20

Aces: Mia Howdeshell, Aubrey Wilson and Audrey Bolinger 4

Caston played in the Tomahawk Invitational hosted by Winamac

Caston def Northwestern, 25-20 27-25

Wabash def Caston,  20-25, 25-14, 15-13

Caston def Peru, 25-18 25-18

Caston def North Miam, i 25-22 25-17

For Caston (total tournament stats)

Macee Hinderlider, 21 kills

Isabel Scales, 28 kills, 5 blocks

Alexa Finke, 22 kills, 6 blocks 

Shaylei Yadon, 7 kills

Girls golf

Warsaw Invitational

Rochester finished second in the event with a team score of 357.

Homestead (Blue) pulled away from the field to win the event with 306.

Olivia Bailey finished fourth overall with a 79. Ava Thomas carded an 85 for Rochester.

Cross Country

Rochester boys cross country finished seventh in the 20 team field at the Jacob Graf Memorial Invitational.

Wesley Steininger was 17^th overall in 18:13.8. Teammate Grant Bailey finished just behind in a time of 18:15.

Caston was 13^th as a team.  Edison Byrum topped the Caston runners with a 13^th place individual finish.

In the girls race, Rochester was 20^th in the 21-team field.  Caston finished in 16^th place.

Girls soccer

Culver 5, North Miami 0

Giselle Viellegas scored three times.  Maddie Hamilton and Kassidy Banks also scored goals for Culver.

Football

Rochester wasted no time getting into the win column for 2023.  The Zebras scored all 56 points in the first half including a 40-point outburst in the second quarter in Friday’s Week One win at Wabash, 56-7.

Sophomore Brant Beck rushed for 125 yards on just eight carries and scored three times. Alex Deming also cleared the century mark with 134 yards and a touchdown.

Colton Ferveda added two rushing TD on just five carries.

On defense, Beck delivered a sack and also topped the Rochester tackle chart with eight along with teammates Wesley Meadows and Gavin Young.  Deming had six tackles.

Young added an interception.

Rochester (1-0, 1-0 TRC) will host Tippecanoe Valley in the Battle for the Bell on Friday.

Caston rallied from a six-point halftime deficit with 12 third quarter points but West Central held on for a Week 1 football win, 24-12.Jabez Yarber led the Comets offense with 12 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Roudebush added 10 carries and 49 rushing yards.

Quarterback Gavin Mollenkopf was 8-for-15 passing with 104 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Levi Martin recorded seven tackles with teammates Pete DuVall and Roudebush six each.Grant Yadon caused a West Central fumble and Jabez Yarber had a fumble recovery.

Caston (0-1) will be at North Judson Friday. #4 (1A) North Judson shut out  Culver Friday, 47-0.

Tippecanoe Valley shutout Wawasee through three quarters and posted a 23-12 road win Friday.

Nathan Parker topped the Vikings offense with 66 yards rushing. Brock Derf had 48 yards on the ground with just five carries to go with a touchdown.

Asher McGriff added an interception return for a touchdown.

Gage Overby connected on 3-of-4 field goal attempts including a long of 46 yards. He made both extra point tries.

The Vikings (1-0) travel to Rochester Friday.

Rochester picked up a Tuesday golf win at Round Barn.

The Zebras had four players in the 40s led by a 41 from medalist Olivia Bailey to post a win over Western, 176-209.

For Rochester, Payton Moore - 42, Ava Thomas 45, and Lexi Haughs 48.

Also in area golf

Plymouth 194, Bremen 232, Tippecanoe Valley 252

Maddie Thompson led Valley with a 56.

Volleyball

Pioneer def. Rochester, 25-11, 25-17, 25-12

Caston def. Carroll (Flora), 25-12, 25-12, 25-11

Macee Hinderlider 7 kills. Alexa Finke 5 kills, 1 block.  

Tippecanoe Valley def. Wawasee, 25-18, 13-25, 25-14, 16-25, 15-10

Culver def. Oregon-Davis, 25-23, 25-16, 25-14

Boys soccer

North White 5, Rochester 0

Warsaw 7, Argos 0

Girls soccer

Trinity Greenlawn 7, Argos 1

Boys tennis

Robert Bozzo (No. 2 singles) and Ashton Musselman (No. 3 singles) won for Rochester. Jonas Kiser - Jack Reffett won at No. 2 doubles.

Cameron Manuel won at No. 1 singles for Valley. Ian Cooksey - Will Mellott won at No. 1 doubles.

Giselle Villegas scored in the opening minute of play off of an assist from Bre Hamilton that propelled Culver in the start of a 9-1 girls soccer win over Tippecanoe Valley.

Villegas would score three more times. Teammate Kassidy Banks scored three times for the Cavaliers.

Co-ed soccer

Maconaquah 8, Caston 0

Boys soccer

Winamac 11, Delphi 2

Conner Burton broke his own school record of six goals in a match by scoring seven times.

Beginning August 20, hunters can apply for a variety of reserved hunts by visiting on.IN.gov/reservedhunt.
The online method is the only way to apply for the hunts listed below. No late entries will be accepted. Applicants must possess a hunting license that is valid for the hunt for which they are applying.
Applications for the following reserved hunting opportunities open Aug. 20. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 24:

• Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA) waterfowl hunts: Waterfowl hunts at participating FWAs, including LaSalle, Kingsbury, Hovey Lake, Goose Pond, and Kankakee. Province Pond Wetland Conservation Area, managed by J.E. Roush Lake FWA, will also participate.
   
• Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA) deer hunts: Firearms season deer hunts at Deer Creek and Fairbanks Landing FWAs.  
   
• State Park property deer hunts: Deer hunts at participating state park properties, including Chain O’Lakes, Clifty Falls, Fort Harrison, Harmonie, Indiana Dunes, Lincoln, O’Bannon Woods, Ouabache, Prophetstown, Shades, Shakamak, Spring Mill, Tippecanoe River, Turkey Run, Versailles, and Whitewater Memorial state parks and Raccoon Lake. Cave River Valley Natural Area, which is managed by Spring Mill State Park, will also participate.
   
• November Game Bird Area (GBA) hunts: Hunts on GBAs in northern Indiana (Benton, Jasper, Newton, Warren, and White counties). Hunters may choose from a variety of hunt dates. These are not put/take pheasant hunts.
   
• November youth-only Game Bird Area (GBA) hunts: Youth-only hunts on GBAs in northern Indiana (Benton, Jasper, Newton, Warren, and White counties). Hunters may choose from a variety of hunt dates and must have an adult at least 18 years of age present while hunting. These are not put/take pheasant hunts.
   
• Indiana Private Lands Access (IPLA) Hunts: The IPLA program has switched to online reserved hunts and are no longer available through self-service sign-in. IPLA will offer reserved hunts for game bird, squirrel, waterfowl, and firearms deer on private lands.

Applications for the following reserved hunting opportunities open Oct. 1. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 29:

• December Game Bird Area (GBA) hunts: Hunts on GBAs in northern Indiana (Benton, Jasper, Newton, Warren, and White counties). Hunters may choose from a variety of hunt dates. These are not put/take pheasant hunts.                                                                                                         
• Indiana Private Lands Access (IPLA) Hunts: IPLA will offer archery and muzzleloader deer, late season waterfowl, goose only, and small game hunts on private lands.

Hunters will be selected through a random computerized drawing. Applicants will be able to view draw results online within two weeks after the application period closes. An email will be sent to all applicants when draws have been completed.
Only one application per hunt is allowed. No changes can be made once an application is submitted.

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Caston claimed the Cass County volleyball championship for the first time with a pair of wins.

Caston defeated Lewis Cass, 25-15, 25-11. The Lady Comets then downed Pioneer, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9.

Logansport defeated Lewis Cass to claim the consolation trophy.

Photo  - Caston Athletics Twitter

Also in weekend volleyball

Plymouth was a winner in three sets over Rochester, 25-20, 27-25, 25-8

Audrey Bolinger and Sophia Kouskousakis each recorded three kills. Rylee Clevenger led the Zebras with 12 digs. Aubrey Wilson had 10 of the team’s 13 assists.

Tippecanoe Valley downed Argos, 25-12, 25-18, 25-12

Golf

Rochester’s team score of 366 was good enough for fifth in the 15-team field at the Western Invitational.

Olivia Bailey shot a team low 81 followed by teammate Ava Thomas with an 86.

Westfield (Green) won the event with a 287.  Penn, Noblesville and West Lafayette rounded out the top four.

Plymouth finished two strokes behind Rochester with a 368 to claim sixth.

Rochester girls golf came up five strokes short in a four-team match Wednesday at Round Barn.

Warsaw won the event with a team score of 176 led by Abbey Peterson's 42.

Rochester finished with a 181. Ava Thomas earned medalist honors with a 36. Teammate Olivia Bailey shot a 41.

Wabash was third with 237. Triton, with three golfers, had an incomplete score.

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It was just three seasons ago that Rochester football failed to even register a win.

Now, the Zebras are considered one of the top 2A teams in the state.

Rochester is ranked 11th in the preseason 2A IFCA poll. 

The Zebras have come far in a short amount of time.  Bouncing back from 2020's winless campaign to a 5-3 mark in 2021 that ended with a first round sectional loss to LaVille.  Last season, the Zebras surged to a 10-2 mark. The only losses were to rival Tippecanoe Valley (9-2 last season) and in the sectional championship game to Lafayette Central Catholic (9-4).

Rochester opens the 2023 season at Wabash on August 18 on GIANT fm Sports on WROI.

Rochester's top three golfers carded lower than Pioneer's best effort Thursday.

Rochester posted a team score of 170 led by Olivia Bailey's medalist score of 34.  Teammates Ava Thomas and Payton Moore shot a 42 and 43, respectively.

Pioneer finished with 232 topped by Mia McKaig with a 48.

Pictured: Rochester golf with former coach and Superintendent Jana Vance (Rochester Zebra AD Twitter)

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