Bloomington North’s Hadley Lucas sets State Records and wins the Mental Attitude Award
The Bloomington North Cougars Girls Track and Field team had their best showing at the IHSAA Girls Track and Field State Finals on Friday at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the Indiana University Campus in Bloomington. The Cougars finished second with 41 points as Warren Central won its sixth state championship and first since 2017 with 57.5 points. Warren Central is second all-time in Girls Track and Field State championship as Fort Wayne Northrop has won Ten total. Warren Central lost by point in 2021 and 2023 but the Warriors left no doubt in 2024. Bloomington South tied for 32nd with 8 points and Edgewood tied for 44th with 6 points.
Bloomington North’s Hadley Lucas set state records in the Shot Put and Discus to close out her high school career with five individual state championships which is the most by any girls track and field athlete from Monroe County. Lucas who is headed to the University of Wisconsin to double major in Construction Management and Kinesiology took home the Mental Attitude Award becoming the fourth Monroe County Girls Track and Field Athlete and second from Bloomington North.
Lucas who threw a state record 51-11 in Shot Put became just the second three-time state championship from Monroe County in Girls Track and Field joined fellow Cougar Rachel Deloney who wo the Discus in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Lucas threw a state record 169-06 to give Monroe County its 8th individual state title in the discus. Sara (Fields) Hamidovic who coaches Lucas in both events won the State Title in Discus and the Mental Attitude Award in 2000 for Bloomington North. Senior Dede Eberle won the 110 Meter Hurdles with a time of 14:25 giving Bloomington North its 13th individual state title in school history by seven different athletes. Nola Somers-Glen finished 3rd in the 800 Meters, Dede Eberle finished 9th in the 300 Meter Hurdles. The Cougars finished 10th in the 4 X 100 Meter Relay, 13th in the 4 X 400 Meter Relay and 25th in the 4 X 800 Meter Relay.
Bloomington South Sophomore Ellie Barada finished second in the 800 Meters, Senior Eden Bailey Finished 16th in the 200 Meters, Freshman Lexi Kollbaum finished 16th in the 1600 Meters and Junior Anna Barnes fouled and did not finish in the discus. The Panthers finished 17th in the 4 X 400 Meter Relay and 19th in the 4 X 800 Meter Relay. Edgewood’s Emma Edwards finished 4th in the 400 Meters, Ashley Abram finished 18th in the Pole Vault and the Mustangs finished 20th in the 4 X 400 Meter Relay.
Bloomington South Duo takes home the IHSAA Unified Track and Field Mental Attitude Award
Bloomington South’s Gavin Adams and Peyton Shute won the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award on Saturday afternoon at the IHSAA Unified Track and Field State Finals at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the Indiana University Campus in Bloomington. It’s the second year in a row that a Bloomington School has taken home the award after Bloomington North’s Andrew Cockerham and Justin Lovell won the award last year. The Panthers tied for 5th place with Pendelton Heights and Noblesville with 88 points and Bloomington North finished 11th with 71 points. Elkhart won the state title with 124 points and Fishers was second with 121 points. Elkhart was consolidated into one High School in 2021 after Elkhart Central and Elkhart Memorial merged. Elkhart Head Coach Todd Sheely coached Elkhart Memorial to the 2018 State Championship. It’s the First State Championship in any sport for the four-year-old school.
Bloomington North’s Jaydin Johnson is the State’s Fastest Runner
Bloomington North Senior and University of Louisville Commit Jaydin Johnson won the 100 and 200 meters at the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the Indiana University Campus in Bloomington on Saturday. Johnson becomes the first to win both the 100 and 200 in the same state finals since Noah McBride of Evansville Harrison in 2017. Johnson becomes the first Monroe County male athlete to win the 100 meters and second to win the 200 meters joining Thomas Brashear in 1997. Bloomington North’s 4X 800 Meter Relay team repeated as State Champion as Seniors Dominic D’Onofrio and Reid Pierce along with Sophomores Caleb Winders and Newcomer Calean D’Onofrio who replaced now University of Illinois Freshman Kyle Clark on the relay team.
The Cougars finished third in the team standings with 40 points and Bloomington South tied for 21st with Indianapolis Bishop Chatard with 11 points. Fishers won the State Title with 60 points followed by its County Rival Hamilton Southeastern with 54 points. Due to the rain on Saturday the field events were moved indoors to Gladstein Fieldhouse. Bloomington North Senior Caleb Winders finished second in the 800 Meters, Sophomore Calean D’Onofrio finished 10th and Junior Jack Holden finished 11th in the 1600 Meters. Senior Amare Draughn finished 12th in the High Jump Senior Max Wynalda finished 12th in Shot Put Senior Stephon Opoku finished 12th in the 100 Meters, Sophomore Jacob Mitchell finished 15th in the 3200 Meters. Sophomore Evan Cheng finished 17th in the Long Jump. Sophomore Will Steiner tie for 18th in the Pole Vault, Sophomore Alan Hays finished 23rd and Junior Ben Boland finished 25th in the 110 Meter Hurdles. The Cougars finished 8th in the 4 X 400 Meter Relay.
Bloomington South Senior D’Andre Black finished 5th in the 300-meter Hurdles and 6th in the 110 Meter Hurdles. Seniors Ryan Reham finished 8th and Joe Zinkan finished 16th in the 1600 Meters. Senior Josh Tait finished 12th in the 400 Meters, Senior Alex Shaevitz finished 15th in the Long Jump Noah Liell-Beyene finished 24th 300 Meter Hurdles Sophomore Gabe Taylor finished 27th in the 200 Meters the Panthers finished 11th in the 4 X 400 Meter Relay, 18th in the 4 X 100 Meter Relay and 27th in the 4 X 800 Meter Relay.
Indiana University Football gets commitment from Georgia Cornerback Jaylen Bell for 2025
Indiana landed a commitment from class of 2025 cornerback Jaylen Bell on Saturday afternoon. The Loganville, Ga. product announced his commitment to the Hoosiers on his X account. Bell announced the decision while on an official visit in Bloomington. He unofficially visited IU earlier in the spring. According to the On3 Industry Average, Bell is a 3-star recruit, the No. 64 overall cornerback in the class, and the No. 643 overall player.
As a junior at Grayson H.S., Bell made 46 tackles and had one interception. Bell is a former LSU commit who had been a part of the Tigers’ class since November 2022 before decommitting on February 2. The 5-foot-11 and 170-pound Bell is the ninth prospect to commit to Indiana this cycle. The Hoosiers rank No. 40 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Bell had offers from numerous Power Four programs including Auburn, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Penn State, Georgia, Texas A&M, Florida State, Ole Miss, Missouri, Florida and many others
Indiana University Alum Matt Gorski named Indianapolis Indians Player of the Month for May
The Indianapolis Indians named outfielder Matt Gorski as their May Player of the Month after he led the team in triples, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, extra-base hits and runs in 23 games. Gorski, 26, put together a scorching month of May, ranking among International League leaders in RBI
(1st, 28), triples (1st, 3), home runs (T-1st, 9), slugging percentage (2nd, .720), extra-base hits (T-3rd, 15), total bases (T-3rd, 59), runs (T-4th, 21) and OPS (5th, 1.050). His nine home runs in the month of May is the third-best monthly mark by an Indians batter since 2005 and the most since Michael Ryan
launched 10 home runs in July 2007. Additionally, his 28 RBI in May is tied for the fourth-best monthly mark in that same time frame and the most since Starling Marte logged 28 ribbies in June 2012.
All nine of Gorski’s home runs in May came in a 16-game stretch from May 16-31, including a pair of career-high five RBI performances and a two-homer game on May 21. In that time, he leads all of professional baseball in RBI (25) and total bases (52) while tying for the lead in home runs (with Yankees
slugger Aaron Judge) and extra-base hits (14). Gorski has appeared in 42 total games with Indianapolis this season, hitting .268 (38-for-142) with a
league-leading five triples. He also ranks among full-season International League leaders in slugging percentage (4th, .599) and RBI (8th, 38). The Fishers, Ind. native was selected by Pittsburgh in the second round (57th overall) of the 2019 First Year Player Draft out of Indiana (Bloomington) University.
Indiana Fever get their first home win of the season Saturday Afternoon
The Indiana Fever (2-8) snapped a three-game losing streak and secured its first home win of the season, 71-70, in the opening Commissioner’s Cup game against the Chicago Sky on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All five of Indiana’s starters scored in double figures. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana in scoring and tied a season-high with 18 points, as well as posted two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Fever forward NaLyssa Smith followed with 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Rookie guard Caitlin Clark totaled 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and one steal to aid in Indiana’s win. Center Aliyah Boston and guard Kristy Wallace both tallied 10 points in the Fever win. Boston pulled down eight rebounds, tied a career-high four blocks, added two assists and one steal. Wallace also rallied three rebounds, two assists and one steal. The Fever outscored the Sky in paint points (38-34) and distributed 19 assists as a team compared to Chicago’s 15. Former Indiana University Standout Grace Berger did not score in seven minutes going 0-1 from the field and 0-3 from the free throw line.
On Chicago’s end, the Sky (3-4) were held to only 2-of-12 from 3-point range, which was a season-low makes for Fever opponents. Off the bench, Sky guard Chennedy Carter was Chicago’s top scorer with 19 points. Carter added four rebounds, six assists and one steal for the Sky. Sky guard Marina Mabrey followed with 15 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal. Guard Dana Evans a Gary, Indiana native was the only other Sky player who had a double-digit performance, scoring 12 points and tallying four rebounds and four assists. Indiana held rookie forward Angel Reese to only eight points, but added a career-best 13 rebounds. Sky rookie forward Kamilla Cardoso made her WNBA debut on Saturday with 11 points and six rebounds. Chicago and Indiana tied in fast break points (11-11).
In the second game of a three-game homestand, the Indiana Fever (1-8) dropped a high-scoring matchup against the Seattle Storm, 103-88, on Thursday evening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Fever forward NaLyssa Smith recorded her second double-double of the season and finished with a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Smith surpassed 1,000 career points in her 72nd career regular season game and posted two assists, two blocks and one steal as well. Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark tallied 20 points, a career-high nine assists, three rebounds and one blocked shot. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell totaled 14 points, eight of which came from the first quarter, and four assists. Fever center Aliyah Boston recorded an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double effort while adding five assists. Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson came off the bench for Indiana to record 12 points. She ended the night tying a career-high with four 3-point field goals made. Indiana shot 20-of-22 from the free throw line and distributed 21 assists on 29 made field goals. Indiana also outrebounded Seattle, 36-32. Former Indiana University Standout Grace Berger scored 6 points in 23 minutes going 1-4 from the field, 4-4 from the free throw line. Berger pulled down 2 rebounds along with an assist and a steal.
Seattle (5-3) outscored Indiana in bench points (26-18), paint points (56-34) and fast break points (17-12) with Storm guards Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith at the helm. Loyd led Seattle in scoring with 22 points and six assists, while Diggins-Smith followed with 18 points, nine assists, two rebounds and two blocks. Diggins-Smith passed Kristi Toliver for 20th all-time in assists with 1,302 distributions, eclipsing Toliver with 1,301 assists. Storm forwards Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor both aided in Seattle’s win with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Ogwumike recorded six rebounds, six assists and two steals and Magbegor tallied eight rebounds, three assists, four blocks and three steals.
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