Indiana University Women’s Golf Finishes Third at the Florida State Match Up The Indiana women’s golf team shot an 887 (305-293-289; +23) to finish third at the Florida State Match Up. The three day, 54-hole event was played at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club from March 21-23. The 73rd-ranked Hoosiers finished ahead of Houston (No. 25), Alabama (No. 46), Kent State (No. 59), and four other programs ranked inside the top 100 of the most recent Division I Scoreboard rankings powered by Clippd. Redshirt senior Caroline Smith finished fourth overall, tied for her best individual finish of her Indiana career, with a scorecard of 215 (75-71-69; -1). She was one of just four players to shoot under par for the weekend. The Wake Forest transfer have been under par in seven tournaments during her two-year run with the Cream and Crimson. She made 12 birdies and one eagle across her weekend rounds.
Freshman Cara Heisterkamp posted a career outing over the weekend. She set new lows for single round (70), 54-hole score (220), to-par finish (+4), and individual finish (t-7). The Westlake, Ohio, native tied for seventh, her first career top 10 finish, with a score of 220 (79-71-70; +4). Heisterkamp made a team-high 13 birdies and knocked down seven in the final round. Junior Madison Dabagia earned her fifth top 20 finish of the season after a three-round scorecard of 225 (74-72-79; +9). She tied for 19th and converted eight birdie tries. Redshirt junior Maddie May tied for 26th at 227 (77-79-71; +11) with eight birdies. Indiana will close the regular season at the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational from April 12-13 at the OSU Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio.
Indiana University Men’s Golf Finishes 10th at the 45th-annual Schenkel Invitational The Indiana men’s golf team shot an 882 (298-294-290; +18) to finish 10th at the 45th-annual Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro Georgia. Redshirt junior Clay Merchent tied for 13th to pace the Hoosier attack with a scorecard of 214 (76-70-68; -2). He converted 10 birdies and the lone Hoosier eagle on the seventh green in the second round. The Noblesville, Ind., native posted his fourth tournament result under par this season. He tied for the lowest score among Big Ten Conference competitors in the field.
Sophomore Nick Piesen, playing as an individual, earned a top 25 finish at 216 (75-70-71; E). He made a team-best 11 birdies. Freshman Bradley Chill Jr. knocked down nine birdies on his way to a 54-hole scorecard of 220 (72-73-75; +4). Sophomore Alec Cesare was one of three Hoosiers to make double-digit birdie conversions (10). He played to a score of 222 (72-75-75; +6). Sophomore Cole Starnes shot a 229 (78-76-75; +13) with eight birdies.
Sophomore Neri Checcucci, who made his first collegiate appearance in the team lineup, made eight birdies and turned in a scorecard of 231 (81-78-72; +15). The Hoosiers will send a group of individuals to the Butler Spring Invitational from March 31-April 1 before returning to team competition as the hosts of the Hoosier Collegiate from April 5-6 at The Pfau Course.
Indiana University Wrestling Ties for 24th at the NCAA Championships Indiana Wrestling concluded its time at the 2025 NCAA Championships Saturday night with its first top 25 finish since 2015. The Hoosiers finished tied for 24th place with 18.5 points. Oregon State and Maryland also finished with the same total. Indiana’s 18.5 points since scoring 23.5 in the 2011 Championships. Donnell Washington took 8th place at 184 lbs. to finish as Indiana’s first All-American since 2017 when Nate Jackson also took 8th at the same weight class. He dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 12 Silas Allred (Nebraska) in the seventh-place match on Saturday afternoon. Washington lost his opening match on Thursday to No. 11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) in a 4-1 decision and won four straight matches on the backside of the bracket, including a Blood Round win over No. 10 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) to claim All-American status. Angelo Rini (133) and Gabe Sollars (197) also reached the Blood Round before being eliminate from the tournament. Each of Indiana’s six qualifiers won at least one match with the other five winning at least two.
#3 Seed Notre Dame takes care of #6 Michigan in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Second Round Hannah Hidalgo scored 21 points and No. 3 seed Notre Dame routed No. 6 seed Michigan 76-55 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Notre Dame advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season. The Irish will have a rematch in Birmingham against TCU. The Horned Frogs defeated Notre Dame in the Cayman Islands in November. Olivia Miles, who suffered an ankle injury in Notre Dame’s 106-54 victory against Stephen F. Austin in the first round, started for the Fighting Irish. She had eight points, five assists and four rebounds. Miles said that she didn’t decide to play until 15 minutes before tip-off. “I was leaning towards no, and then I started to feel pretty good leading up to the game,” said Miles, who admitted that it was tough playing through the pain. “I was just like, ‘You know what? Let me play, because it’s my last home game, and I wanted to share it with these girls.” Liatu King turned in a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Sonia Citron scored 16 points for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame (28-5) opened up with an 11-2 run and stormed to a 32-12 lead after the first quarter. The Fighting Irish looked like the team that dispatched Texas, Southern California, UConn and Duke in the regular-season rather than the team that dropped three of its last five regular-season games, hitting 12 of their first 16 shots. Michigan (23-11) started out 1-of-7 from the field. “I think we have the fight because we want to win,” Hidalgo said of the relentless start that rocked Michigan. “We are competitors, and we want to win, and we want to get all the way to the National Championship, and that’s really where our fight comes from.”
Notre Dame held Michigan to a season-low 55 points. The Wolverines’ previous low was 58 points in losses to USC and Michigan State. Michigan entered the game averaging 78.2 points a game. “Something we’ve stressed and emphasized is our defense,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said. “They came out with the same mindset, same energy as kind of what I talked about, dominant. And again, it’s a will; a will to win, understanding what it means to get to the next round and get to the Sweet Sixteen.” A pair of freshmen led Michigan. Olivia Olson scored 20 points and Syla Swords scored 17 points. Michigan Coach Kim Barnes Arico said that Notre Dame’s intensity at the start and the experience factor played key roles in the rough first quarter. “You just hope, as we’re getting our feet wet, that they don’t extend that lead,” Barnes Arico said. “We weren’t able to stop it. We were a mess defensively. I’m not sure why. I think because they could, they could score like guards in every position, and then they sped us up.”
King turned in an exceptional showing in helping the Fighting Irish advance to the Sweet 16, scoring 18 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. She was 7-of-7 shooting and hit 4-of-4 free throws. “Credit to my teammates, first of all, they were able to find me,” King said. “We saw mismatches. We saw how they were defending ball screens, and they were just able to find me on the slips on the rolls and things like that. I really give credit to the point guards, and Sonia (Citron), as well, for just finding me in open areas.” Ivey said that Notre Dame trainer Anne Marquez was the MVP for the Fighting Irish. “I give her the credit,” Ivey said of Marquez working long hours to help Miles get ready to play. “They (the athletic training staff) have been working on Liv for the last 48 hours, 36 hours, however long it’s been. But (Anne) is my MVP.”
Barnes Arico said that her three freshmen starting guards – Olson, Swords and Mila Holloway grew up during their 23-win season, although they learned a tough lesson at Notre Dame against an All-American backcourt. “I think, you know, they’ve embraced it,” Barnes Arico said of the challenges her freshmen stars faced. “They’ve done extremely well with it. They have had have to have these experiences to learn from them, but they’re so competitive, and you saw that tonight from all three of them.”
Carmel named a Host Site for the Swimming World Cup 2025 World Aquatics unveiled its North American tour for its Swimming World Cup 2025, and one of the host cities is in Central Indiana. Carmel, Ind. was named a host site, along with Westmont, Ill. and Toronto, Ontario. The portion of the Swimming World Cup 2025 in Carmel will take place at the Carmel High School Natatorium Complex. Each site for the Swimming World Cup 2025 will host three days of short-course (25m) racing.
Here are the competition dates for each site:
- Oct. 10-12: Carmel, Ind.
- Oct. 17-19: Westmont, Ill.
- Oct. 23-25: Toronto, Ontario
Carmel, along with Central Indiana, has a rich swimming history. According to a news release from World Aquatics, “the region has hosted 11 previous World Aquatics events, including the Swimming World Cup 2022 final, the 2019 Champions Series, the 2017 World Junior Swimming Championships, and the 2004 World Swimming Championships (25m).” “Hosting the 2025 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup at Carmel High School’s new natatorium is a tremendous opportunity for Hamilton County,” Hamilton County Sports Authority Director Carl Daniels said in the news release. “This state-of-the-art facility showcases Carmel’s commitment to excellence in swimming and provides an outstanding venue for international competition. We’re proud to partner with Carmel Swim Club to bring this prestigious event to our community.”
One of Carmel’s swimmers who recently competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics is Aaron Shackell. He’s excited that his hometown gets to serve as a host site for the event. “I think it’s amazing,” Shackell said in the news release. “Swimming in Carmel – or Swim City, USA as we like to call it – is an amazing town to swimming. It’s super supportive of the sport. I’m sure there will be lots of fans and no town deserves it more.” Shackell’s sister Alex is also looking forward to her hometown being a host site. Like Aaron, she competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. “It’s so cool to have a World Cup event not just in the U.S., but right here in my hometown of Carmel!,” Alex Shackell said in the news release. “I grew up training at Carmel Swim Club, so seeing some of the world’s best swimmers compete in this Carmel High School pool is really exciting. I know the local swimming community will bring tremendous energy, and I can’t wait to see everyone experience what makes this place so special.” Alex Shackell earned a gold medal and a silver medal during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Former Indiana Pacer Scot Pollard named the Grand Marshal of the AES Indy 500 Festival Parade Former Indiana Pacers player Scot Pollard has been named the Grand Marshal of the 2025 AES 500 Festival Parade. Pollard will bring his signature energy and Hoosier pride to the race-weekend celebration. A long-time fan of the 500 Festival, Pollard said he is honored to accept such an important role. “I’m honored to be named Grand Marshal of the 500 Festival Parade,” Pollard said. “One person can save a lot of lives, and I’m excited to celebrate the month of May while raising awareness about the life-saving impact of organ donation.” The former Pacer and NBA champion has spent his post-basketball career raising awareness for organ donation. In February 2024, Pollard finally received a heart transplant after he acquired a virus that triggered a genetic heart condition.
“Scot’s iconic checkered flag-inspired fashion, coupled with his dynamic presence and vibrant personality, has made him an unforgettable figure at 500 Festival events,” said Bob Bryant, president and CEO of the 500 Festival. “His commitment to sharing his heart transplant journey to raise awareness about the life changing power of organ donation is truly inspiring. We are proud to provide a platform for his story and the vital message it carries.” This year’s 500 festival is set for noon on Saturday, May 24. Tickets can still be purchased by clicking here.