Local Sports Headlines: March 30, 2022

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Local-Sports.png

Indianapolis lands 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
The first time Indianapolis ever hosted the USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials was at a Broad Ripple pool in 1924 before the Games of the VIII Olympiad in Paris. One hundred years later, the best of American swimmers will once again splash down in Indianapolis as Lucas Oil Stadium will host the qualifying rounds of another Paris Olympics.

The 2024 Olympic trials will mark the second time Indianapolis has hosted a high-profile swimming competition in a non-traditional location. In 2004, two temporary swimming pools were constructed on the floor of then-Conseco Fieldhouse for the FINA short course world championships. The Lucas Oil plan will more than double the Conseco configuration. The 2024 trials will mark the first time the competition has ever been held in an NFL stadium with a record capacity of 35,000 seats.

The most recent Olympic trials were held in a Nebraska convention center.  USA Swimming and its partners also pledge to commit $400,000 to legacy projects to bring the sport to underserved communities in Indianapolis. Competitive suburban pools will be open for qualifiers to practice. Indianapolis beat out Omaha, Minneapolis and St Louis for the trials.

Indiana Softball hosts Kent State
Indiana Softball hosts Kent State this afternoon at 1 pm at Andy Mohr Field. The Hoosiers will be participating in the Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer program and will be wearing gold laces. The proceeds from the laces are going to families at the Riley Children’s hospital.

Indiana enters the game with 17-8 record. The Hoosiers went 1-2 against Ohio State in Columbus last weekend. The Hoosiers beat OSU 17-5 in the second game of a doubleheader on March 25. For the weekend Indiana hit .349 with eight home runs. Freshman Briana Copeland was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week when she hit two home runs and hit .500 for the weekend with six RBI against the Buckeyes.

The Hoosiers lead the all-time series against Kent State 6-2, but the Golden Flashes have won the last two games, both played in the 2006 season. Kent State comes in with an overall record of 7-13 going into their doubleheader with Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday. The Golden Flashes are hitting .192 as a team. They are led offensively by utility player Savannah Wing who is hitting at a .310 clip. Jessica LeBeau has pitched 47.1 inning for Kent State with a 2.51 era.

Indiana Baseball Pitcher Bradley Brehmer earns Big Ten Pitcher of The Week
After holding Evansville hitless through five innings of his start last weekend, senior Bradley Brehmer earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, announced the conference office on Tuesday.  
In his fourth start in the cream and crimson, Brehmer fired six scoreless frames to help IU even its series with Evansville in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader. He held the Purple Aces hitless through five frames and struck out five in the outing. Brehmer earned his team-best third victory of the season, as IU has won three of his four starts on the year.
 
It is the second weekly honor of Brehmer’s career, as he was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on May 18, 2021, after a two-hit, eight strikeout effort versus Oakland while at Wright State. The Hoosiers will have the week off in front of its Big Ten opening series with Northwestern at Bart Kaufman Field. Indiana and Northwestern will throw the first pitch in the series at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 1st.

Rod Carey joins Indiana Football Staff as Quality Control Coach
The Indiana football program is adding former Northern Illinois and Temple head coach Rod Carey as a quality control coach, IU head coach Tom Allen announced Monday in a press conference. Carey, a former offensive lineman at Indiana from 1989-93, joins the Hoosiers after spending the last 10 seasons as a head coach. He was hired in 2012 as Northern Illinois’ head coach and lasted six seasons in Dekalb before departing in 2018 to join Temple. With the Owls, Carey led the program for three seasons before being fired on Nov. 29, 2021.

Carey’s most successful head coaching stint came at Northern Illinois, where he put together a 52-30 record and led the Huskies to two Mid-American Conference championships and four MAC West Division titles. During that span, Carey took the Huskies to five bowl games and was also tabbed NIU’s interim head coach for the 2012 Orange Bowl against Florida State. After taking over the reins of the Huskies program ahead of the 2013 season, Carey led NIU to the Poinsettia Bowl and was named MAC Coach of the Year. While at NIU, Carey helped develop and produce several NFL players, including New York Giants receiver Kenny Golladay, San Francisco 49ers safety Jimmy Ward, and 2019 second-round pick Max Scharping.

For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here