Bloomington South Boys Golf Finishes 8th at the IHSAA State Finals
The Bloomington South Panthers finished the two IHSAA Boys Golf State Finals with an 8th place finish at the Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. The Panthers finished 10 strokes better on day 2 with a score of 307 after day 1 score of 317 to finish with a two-round score of 624 which was 48 over par. Zionsville won the State Championship with a score of 600 which was five strokes better than second place Westfield. Hamilton Southeastern finished one stroke behind Westfield, followed by Noblesville and Center Grove. Evansville North and Guerin Catholic tied for sixth 8 strokes ahead of the Panthers as Homestead and Leo tied for 9th place one stroke behind Bloomington South.
Fairfield Junior Brayden Miller won the Individual State Title with a two-round score of 139 which was 5 under par. Westfield Junior Jake Cesare along with Leo Senior Justin Hicks and Valparaiso Senior Aidan Gutierrez tied for second four strokes back of Miller at 1 under par. Bloomington South Senior Happy Gilmore shot a 79 on Day 2 and tied for 11th at 5 over par. Senior Conor Byon tied for 32nd at 12 over par. Senior Carson Watson tied for 39th at 13 over par. Senior Luke Garrett tied for 64th at 18 over par and Sophomore Carson Gady finished 92 at 32 over par.
Indiana University Volleyball announces 2024 Season Schedule
Aligning with the release of the Big Ten Volleyball schedule, head coach Steve Aird announced the program’s 2024 slate on Wednesday afternoon. This will be the first season that the conference fields 18 schools after the addition of four west coast programs. “Our program is excited about the 2024 season as we enter a new era of Big Ten competition,” Aird said. “We have built a very difficult pre-conference schedule and fully understand the challenge this season presents. I am grateful that IU continues to support our program at the highest level. The support from the administration and our fans has been incredible. The team is training hard, recruiting is exceptional, and we are all very proud of where Indiana Volleyball is headed.”
The Hoosiers’ volleyball schedule will feature 30 total games, 15 home matches, 10 matches against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year and three contests against Final Four teams. IU’s marquee non-conference weekend will see the team head to Austin, Texas for a match against the two-time defending national champions, Texas, and a rematch against Miami (Fla.). A revamped Big Ten Conference will see each team play three permanent opponents twice while taking on the remaining 14 teams just one time (seven home, seven away). IU’s double play contests in Big Ten action will be against Purdue, Ohio State and Illinois.
The league will maintain the traditional 20-game conference schedule which begins the week of Sept. 23. IU opens Big Ten play on the west coast for a rematch against Washington (Sept. 27) and the program’s first-ever meeting with Oregon. “I think it is fantastic to add the four west coast programs,” Aird said. “They are excellent teams with great staffs and a lot of history across the board. All four institutions care deeply about women’s volleyball, and I am sure it will lead to fantastic matches this season and beyond.”
Wilkinson Hall will host 15 matches in 2024, beginning with the home opener on Labor Day (Sept. 2) against UC-Davis. Ball State, Southern Indiana and Chicago State come to Bloomington for the Indiana Invitational (Sept. 13-14). The Hoosiers will open their home conference slate with matches against Michigan State (Oct. 4) and Ohio State (Oct. 6) on the first weekend of October. In addition to a weekend in Austin and the four early home matches, IU will head to Kennesaw State to play the host, Owls, and Wichita State, the winners of the 2023 NIVC Tournament. The preseason slate closes with a home-and-home series against Notre Dame on Sept. 20 (A) and Sept. 22 (H). “This is a very difficult non-conference schedule that will certainly prepare us for the grind of the Big Ten slate,” Aird said. “There are no off nights in the conference, and we feel that this early-season schedule will help prepare us for elite competition.”
The rest of IU’s conference schedule includes contests against Purdue on Oct. 19 (A) and Nov. 8 (H). Wisconsin, a national semifinalist in 2023, comes to town on Oct. 24. USC and UCLA make their first trips to Bloomington for volleyball in program history in November. The Hoosiers will spend Thanksgiving at home with contests against Michigan (Nov. 27) and Illinois (Nov. 29) sandwiched around the Thursday holiday. A familiar core of athletes will feature for IU this season including All-American setter Camryn Haworth and All-Big Ten libero Ramsey Gary. Veterans Morgan Geddes, Mady Saris, Candela Alonso-Corcelles and Avry Tatum all come into the season as upperclassmen. Single game and season ticket information will be available at a later date.
2024 Indiana Volleyball Schedule:
Aug. 23 – Cream and Crimson Scrimmage (Exh.)
Aug. 30 – at Kennesaw State
Aug. 31 – vs. Wichita State (Kennesaw, Ga.)
Sept. 2 – vs. UC Davis
Sept. 5 – at Texas
Sept. 6 – vs. Miami (FL) (Austin, Texas)
Sept. 13 – Southern Indiana (Indiana Invitational)
Sept. 13 – Chicago State (Indiana Invitational)
Sept. 14 – Ball State (Indiana Invitational)
Sept. 20 – at Notre Dame
Sept. 22 – vs. Notre Dame Big Ten Conference Play
Sept. 27 – at Washington
Sept. 28 – at Oregon
Oct. 4 – vs. Michigan State
Oct. 6 – vs. Ohio State
Oct. 11 – at Minnesota
Oct. 13 – vs. Penn State
Oct. 16 – at Illinois
Oct. 19 – at Purdue
Oct. 24 – vs. Wisconsin
Oct. 27 – vs. Northwestern
Nov. 1 – at Rutgers
Nov. 2 – at Maryland
Nov. 8 – vs. Purdue
Nov. 9 – vs. USC
Nov. 14 – at Iowa
Nov. 16 – at Nebraska
Nov. 22 – vs. UCLA
Nov. 24 – at Ohio State
Nov. 27 – vs. Michigan
Nov. 29 – vs. Illinois
Big Ten Honors 135 Indiana University Student Athletes for Academic Success
The Big Ten Conference recognized a total of 2,271 students competing in spring sports who have been named to the Academic All-Big Ten team Wednesday. The list of honorees includes 174 baseball students, 80 men’s golf students, 72 women’s golf students, 181 men’s lacrosse students, 183 women’s lacrosse students, 310 women’s rowing students, 189 softball students, 56 men’s tennis students, 76 women’s tennis students, 291 men’s track and field students, 382 women’s track and field students, five bowling students, 74 fencing students, four pistol students, 17 rifle students, 18 women’s lightweight rowing students, 27 men’s rowing students, eight women’s synchronized swimming students, 18 men’s volleyball students, 57 women’s hockey students, 11 sand volleyball students, 31 women’s water polo students and seven women’s wrestling students. A total of 135 Hoosier student-athletes from 10 sports earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.
“It’s been a remarkable spring for IU Athletics on the field, and I’m equally excited that it was such a successful spring in the classroom as well,” said IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson. “I want to extend my congratulations and thanks to our 135-spring sport Academic All-Big Ten honorees who performed at an elite level academically while juggling the significant demands that go with being a Big Ten student-athlete. We take great pride in our student-athletes excelling academically, and we are excited that this group is getting the type of recognition that they deserve for this great achievement.” To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, have been enrolled full time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN Baseball-Austin Bode, Ty Bothwell, Tyler Cerny, Aydan Decker-Petty, Connor Foley, Grant Holderfield, Ryan Kraft, Carter Mathison, Sam Murrison, Ethan Phillips
Luke Sinnard, Brock Tibbits and Evan Whiteaker. Men’s Golf-Robert Bender III, Eric Berggren, Ethan Chelf, Noah Gillard and Thomas Hursey. Women’s Golf-Dominika Burdová and Beatriz Junqeira Women’s Rowing- Madeline Anderson, Abbey Armstrong, Delaney Bailey, Meredith Barber, Jessica Bastos, Emily Bowden, Sophie Bowden, Reagan Brown
Lydia Casiano, Maggie Cheever, Ara Cowper, Allie Beth Currier, Payton Dilger, Jania Hackett, Anya Hardwick, Lily Haupt, Abby Hawksworth, Clare Hunsberger,
Phoebe Inall, Yael Kiser, Chelsie Lindauer, Frances McCorkle, Mikayla Messinger, Niamh Monk, Kaylee Mulligan, Kat Nagler, Katherine Nelson, Paige Ohrvall, Caroline Schrieber, Jillian Skor, Sofia Sperduto, Summer Stogsdill, Avery Thorpe, Lili Toledano, Aspen Villas and Jessie Worrall. Softball-Aaliyah Andrews-Patterson, Cora Bassett, Brooke Benson, Brianna Copeland, Chloe Geijer, Cassidy Kettleman, Taylor Minnick, Kinsey Mitchell, Avery Parker and Sarah Stone. Men’s Tennis- Michael Andre, Nishanth Basavareddy, Luc Boulier, Carson Haskins, Jagger Saylor and Facundo Yunis. Women’s Tennis- Saby Nihalani, Lara Schneider and Nicole Teodosescu. Men’s Track & Field-Micah Camble, Tyler Carrel, Nico Colchio, Eli Crouch, Abe Eckman, Keelan Grant, Jaylen Grimes, Travis Hickner, Garrett Hicks, Antonio Laidler
Andrew Mangum, Camden Marshall, Sean Mockler, Gage Pratt, Parker Raymond, Tyler Reyna, Grayson Rolen, Tyler Sierks, Alex Smith, Hunter Smith, Keefer Soehngen, Skyler Stidam and Nathan Stone. Women’s Track & Field-Phoebe Bates, Shanna Esters, Paola Fernandez-Sola, Emily Herndon, Taylor Jarosinski, Mahogany Jenkins, Jessica Mercier, Kelly Moran
Claire Overfelt, Ryann Parrish, Kylee Poulton, Maddie Russin, Tori Schmidt, Taylor Schoonveld, Alyssa Shope, Kai Snell, Morgan Snow, Tripti Tiwari, Mariah Wehrle
and Katelyn Winton. Women’s Water Polo-Savannah Batchelor, Zoe Crouch, Louisa Downes, Grace Hathaway, Jasmine Higgs, Megan Holcomb, Haley Hunter, Skylar Kidd, Grace Klingler, Sarah Lolli, Kiki Mein, Sophia Sollie, Olivia Stark, Nicole Tyner, Sophie Wazzan, Kallie White and Claire Witting.
Indiana University Baseball’s Devin Taylor named ABCA First Team All-Region
Sophomore Outfielder Devin Taylor, one of the nation’s most prolific players, was named a First Team ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) All-Midwest Region selection on Monday afternoon. Voted on by the league’s coaches, Taylor was one of three first team outfielders from a collection of 38 possible schools. Taylor, a two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection, tore up his sophomore campaign. He hit .357 with 86 hits and 54 RBIs. He led the conference with 20 home runs and 67 runs scored. He became the first IU player to hit 20 home runs in the BBCOR era (since 2011) after hitting a pair of long balls in the NCAA Regional.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native hit six home runs in his final 10 games and finished with 11 total home runs in 24 regular season conference games. After leading the Hoosiers with a .455 average (5-11) in the NCAA Tournament, he was named to the Knoxville All-Regional Team. On the season, Taylor had 30 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games. Since being inserted into the leadoff role ahead of the Rutgers series at the end of April, the sophomore finished the season hitting .373 with 12 home runs. IU made a run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and then earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
He is the first IU player to earn ABCA First Team All-Region honors since Andrew Saalfrank and Matt Lloyd in 2019. This is his second-straight year earning All-Region honors after being selected to the second team in 2023 among a quartet of Hoosiers. He’s the first IU outfielder to earn First Team All-Big Ten honors and ABCA First Team All-Region honors in the same season since Matt Gorski (2018). Taylor, as result of being a first team selection, will be eligible for All-American consideration from the organization. The ABCA All-America teams will be released later this week before the start of the Men’s College World Series. Gold Glove award winners will also be honored this week.
Indy Eleven Head Coach Sean McAuley named USL Championship Coach for the Month of May
Indy Eleven Head Coach Sean McAuley was named the USL Championship Coach of the Month for the month of May, as announced by league officials Wednesday. The Boys in Blue went 4-0-0 in USL Championship action, posting the most wins so far this season for a side in league play to take maximum points for the month. Indy outscored its opponents 10-3 over the four matches, including scoring three-plus on two occasions. During the month, Indy saw six players earn USL Championship Team of the Week honors or bench honors, while Aedan Stanley was named the Player of the Week for week 10 and Augi Williams was nominated to the league’s team of the month. McAuley earned the award with 76 percent of the ballot. The USL Championship’s Coach of the Month award is voted upon by the USL Championship National Media Panel and the USL Championship Technical Committee, with each group responsible for 50 percent of the overall vote.
Overall, the Boys in Blue are riding an 11-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, including a club-best seven straight wins in USL Championship matches. Indy is now only one of 11 teams in USL Championship history to make it seven straight wins. The Boys in Blue have outscored their opponents 22-6 in those matches, while posting five clean sheets and never conceding more than one goal. As part of the run, Indy advanced to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Quarterfinals for the first time in club history with victories over San Antonio FC and Detroit City FC.Indy has also scored in 14 straight USL Championship matches to open the 2024 season, bringing the total to 26 goals (3rd USL). The streak is the longest run for the club in a single season and sits at 17 straight regular season matches dating back to Sept. 30, 2023. Indy returns home to host San Antonio FC on Saturday. Kick is slated for 7pm and will air locally on WISH-TV and stream on ESPN+.
Indiana State University Announces Nathan Christensen as its New Athletic Director
Indiana State University announced on Wednesday that they selected Nathan Christensen as the new Director of Athletics. Christensen was previously at South Dakota State University as the Senior Associate Athletic Director of Development, where he was until 2021. He starts his tenue with the Sycamores on July 1, 2024. He will be officially introduced at a public event at a later date. “I knew when accepting the presidency that naming an athletic director would be a priority. In addition to Nathan’s extensive professional experience in intercollegiate athletics, I was impressed by his values and mission-based approach to support our student-athletes,” Indiana State President Mike Godard said in a press release. “His emphasis on community engagement aligns well with Indiana State’s mission. I am confident Nathan will help usher in a new era of Sycamore Athletics, engaging our students, alumni, community, fans, and donors.”
“I am honored and humbled to serve as the next Director of Athletics at Indiana State University. I am grateful to President Godard and the search committee for entrusting me with this opportunity to lead Sycamore Athletics,” Christensen said in a press release. “I look forward to working in alignment with university leadership, campus partners, and my colleagues as we strive for excellence across the board to create an incredible experience for our student-athletes! My family and I are thrilled to build meaningful relationships with our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and the entire community to elevate Indiana State University and Sycamore Athletics. We are looking forward to relocating to Terre Haute and deepening our connections in Vigo County and beyond.”
At South Dakota State, Christensen oversaw the annual fund, capital projects, endowed scholarships, special events, and the ticket office. Christensen graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato and also worked there from 2008-2016 as the Assistant Athletic Director for External Operations and Director of Marketing and Sales for Athletics. He was also at the University of Northern Iowa as Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs.
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