Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame inducts its 2023 Class Tonight
The Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame will induct its ten-member class of 2023 tonight with its annual banquet at the Monroe Convention Center this evening in downtown Bloomington. The event gets under way at 5 pm with a meet and greet that Is open to the public. After the meet and greet ends there will be a reception followed by a dinner at 6:45pm with a welcome at 7pm and the Program starts at 7:30pm.
The Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2011 and 12 years later it’s still going strong and will bring the total number of inductees to 137 after this class its inducted tonight. 16 Sports are represented, and the list includes Olympians, Professional Athletes, College MVP’s and State Champions. 18 Past Inductees will be in attendance tonight and they will be part of the ceremony escorting each inductee or representee to the stage to give their speech.
The ten member Class includes 6 athletes, 2 coaches and 2 contributors. The Athletes are Dan Burton, Rachel Deloney, Garrett Butcher, Ben Chappell along with JT and Paul Young. The Coaches are Dr. Jeanine Butler and Georgia Tidd along with contributors Bud Damon and Mick Renneisen. Dan Burton graduated from Bloomington South in 1985 and won the state champion as a senior along with 1990 Big Ten Title at IU and 1992 Olympic Trials Qualifier. Rachel Deloney graduated from Bloomington North in 2008 and was a 3-time state champion in discus along with a 2005 National Junior Olympics title and never lost a local meet. Deloney went on to Vincennes University and she passed away in April of 2021.
Ben Chappell graduated from Bloomington South in 2007 and was all state quarterback who passed for 2,359 yards and 27 touchdowns his senior season. He also played Basketball at Bloomington South for four seasons. He went on to Indiana University and threw for 7,251 yards and 45 touchdowns and signed with the Washington Redskins in 2011. Garrett Butcher is Monroe County’s All Time leading scorer in Boys Basketball with 1,820 points and 820 career rebounds which is second all time. He was a 2008 Indiana All-Star and Edgewood HS only Indiana All-Star. He played at Butler University and was back-to-back national runner up teams in 2010 and 2011.
JT and Paul Young who are brothers who wrestled for Bloomington South and graduated five years apart. JT was a 2-time state champion and went 84-0 his last two years and was the 2001 IHSAA Mental Attitude Award Winner. JT went 132-10 at Indiana University and is 2017 Indiana High School Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee. Paul went 97-1 in his last two years at South and won two state titles with a 49-0 record in 2006. He Wrestled at Indiana University for four years and was a two-time NCAA qualifier.
Dr Jeannine Butler Coached Volleyball, Basketball and Track at both University HS and Bloomington North. She finished with a 115-87 record as the Basketball coach and coached two all-state division 1 Basketball players as the Cougars were 1979 Sectional and Regional Champions. She graduated from Indiana State and got her Master’s and Doctorate Degrees from Indiana University. Dr Butler coached for 26 years in Indiana and Ohio and she passed away January 2, 2023. Georgia Tidd coached Volleyball, Track and Basketball at Bloomington High and her volleyball teams made 3 state finals along with 4 regional and 8 sectional titles. She won Sectional and Regional titles in Basketball and Track and her track teams made many state finals. These two ladies were pioneers and leaders when Girls Sports became part of the IHSAA Program and fitting they will be inducted together.
Bud Damon was a leader for Monroe County Youth Baseball for over 30 years and has a field at Winslow Sports Complex named after him along with a youth baseball festival called the “Bud Damon Jamboree”. He also donated 16 gallons of blood to the Red Cross blood bank through the years. Bud Damon passed away in 2004 at age 83. Mick Renneisen served the City of Bloomington for 40 years and brought State, Regional and National Softball Tournaments to Bloomington. He was the Bloomington Deputy Mayor for five years and is on the scorer’s table for IU Men’s and Women’s Basketball games and the internal press box announcer for Football games.
Southern Indiana Bobcats host the Kentuckiana Calvary Saturday Night
The Southern Indiana Bobcats Semi Pro Football Team will be in action Saturday Night at 7 pm at Edgewood HS in Ellettsville when they host the Kentuckiana Calvary. It is the Bobcats “Salute to Service Night” as the team will be honoring its own Head Coach, Players and Staff that have served or currently serve in the Armed Forces as well has Family, Friends and Fans that has served as well. Tickets are $ 10 for Adults and All Service Members past and present along with children under 17 are admitted free and can purchased at the gate.
The Bobcats are 3-3 on the season after a forfeit win over the Dayton Seminoles who ceased operations. The Seminoles were to travel to the Bobcats last Sunday, but the game was canceled, and the Bobcats had a Green vs Black scrimmage as the defense who wore Black beat the Offense who wore Green 8-6. The Defense has been forcing takeaways all season long and 12 Series the Defense had 3 Interceptions, 2 Sacks, 2 Fumble Recoveries and four pass breakups.
The Offense had 7 different players carry the ball 21 times for 100 yards with three fumbles and no touchdowns. Three Quarterbacks and Running Back Marquise Holt threw a combined 8-22 for 110 yards with 4 Touchdown Passes and Three interceptions. Five different receivers caught a pass with Luke Elgar Giovanni Muse, Marquise Holt and Jaden Evans catching touchdown passes. The Team ran 43 plays with six first downs, 4-8 on third down conversions, 0-2 on fourth down conversions and were 1-3 on two-point conversions. The Offense had 3 penalties for 15 yards while the defense had one penalty for 5 yards.
The Bobcats are hoping that they can find the endzone Saturday Night for the first time in three games. The Bobcats were shut out twice by the Indy Bison Red by a combined score of 44-0. The Bobcats put up 29 points in a win over the Kentucky Spartans and 6 points against the Indiana Tornados with a forfeit win over the Columbus Bredren Knights. The Bobcats have four games left in the regular season with the playoffs around the corner and every game is important Blue Collar League Western Conference with 6 teams blatting for 4 spots.
The Calvary who are located in Jeffersonville Indiana come in with a 3-1 record with two wins over the Lexington Bengals and a win over the Dayton Seminoles. The Calvary’s game with the Cincinnati Dukes last Saturday Night in Jeffersonville was called at halftime due to weather and no makeup date has been announced. The Calvary have put up 99 points and given up 34 points in four games. This team is veteran squad that is always a tough challenge on both sides of the ball and will bring a physical style of football into this matchup.
Indiana University Football gets a commitment from Georgia Wide Receiver Jeremy Bell Jr.
Jeremy Bell Jr. has committed to play for Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers in 2024. The three-star wide receiver from Homerville, Georgia, announced his commitment to Indiana Wednesday on Twitter and which it said the “University of Indiana” which he will be corrected by his future coaches in the immediate future. Indiana beat Vanderbilt, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Central Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Akron, Northern Iowa and Wofford for Bell Jr.’s commitment.
In his announcement, Bell Jr. tagged Indiana football head coach Tom Allen, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Walt Bell and co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Anthony Tucker, who’s entering his first season with the program. Bell Jr. stands at 6-feet tall and weighs 175 pounds. He’s ranked as the No. 168 overall wide receiver in the class of 2024, and the No. 146 overall 2024 recruit in the state of Georgia, according to 247 Sports.
Bell Jr. played at Clinch County High School in Georgia this past year and is the 15th commit for Indiana football in the class of 2024 and the second wide receiver commit for the Hoosiers in the class, according to 247 Sports. Charlie Becker from Nashville, Tennessee, is the other three-star wide receiver committed to Indiana in the class of 2024. Indiana’s 2024 class currently ranks 58th overall in 247 Sports’ team recruiting rankings, and that should only improve with the commitment of Bell Jr. The Hoosiers’ 2024 class is currently ranked 15th amongst the 16 Big Ten teams UCLA and USC will have joined by that season ahead of only Northwestern.
15 Indiana University Swimmers, Divers & Coaches are participating in the World Championships
Fifteen individuals with ties to the Indiana swimming and diving program will compete or coach at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships beginning today in Japan. Eleven athletes and four coaches will represent IU on the world stage this month in three different disciplines: pool swimming, open water swimming and diving. IU’s participants will also represent five countries, and 10 Hoosiers will compete or coach for Team USA; six with USA Swimming and four with USA Diving.
Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen will serve as the head coach for USA Diving as competition begins Today. Indiana diving alums and Olympians Andrew Capobianco and Jess Parratto as well as sophomore Maxwell Weinrich are slated to compete over the next week. Open water swimming also kicks off Friday. Junior Mariah Denigan will represent USA Swimming in the women’s 10K and 5K races. Indiana associate head coach Cory Chitwood will serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. open water swimmers. Pool swimming will begin next Saturday, July 22. Seven Hoosiers will compete in the pool, while Indiana head swimming coach Ray Looze will once again serve as an assistant coach for Team USA. IU assistant coach Luke Ryan will be a member of the Tunisian Swimming Federation’s coaching staff. Comprehensive coverage of the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships will stream on Peacock.
Here are the Indiana swimming and diving affiliated individuals participating at World Championships, with their discipline, country affiliation and event.
| Name | Discipline | Country | Event/Role |
| Drew Johansen* | Diving | United States | Head Coach |
| Andrew Capobianco | Diving | United States | 3m |
| Jess Parratto | Diving | United States | 10m Synchro |
| Maxwell Weinrich* | Diving | United States | Mixed 10m Synchro |
| Cory Chitwood* | Open Water Swimming | United States | Assistant Coach |
| Mariah Denigan* | Open Water Swimming | United States | 5k, 10k |
| Ray Looze* | Swimming | United States | Assistant Coach |
| Lilly King | Swimming | United States | 50m Breaststroke 100m Breaststroke 200m Breaststroke |
| Josh Matheny* | Swimming | United States | 100m Breaststroke 200m Breaststroke |
| Anna Peplowski* | Swimming | United States | 4x200m Freestyle Relay |
| Luke Ryan* | Swimming | Tunisia | Assistant Coach |
| Tomer Frankel* | Swimming | Israel | 50m Butterfly 100m Butterfly 100m Freestyle |
| Ching Hwee Gan | Swimming | Singapore | 200m Freestyle 400m Freestyle 800m Freestyle 1500m Freestyle |
| Ahmed Hafnaoui* | Swimming | Tunisia | 400m Freestyle 800m Freestyle 1500m Freestyle |
| Rafael Miroslaw* | Swimming | Germany | 200m Freestyle Relays |
* – On Indiana Swimming and Diving 2023-24 Roster
Indiana University Volleyball honored with 2023 USMC/AVCA team academic award
The Indiana volleyball program earned the 2023 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award as part of a record-setting year in the classroom for high school and college teams across the nation, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced on Thursday afternoon. The award, which began in 1992-93, honors high school and college programs for their consistent commitment to academics. Teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 or higher on a 4.0 scale are eligible to be honored.
17 athletes helped IU keep a 3.438 GPA across the fall and spring semesters in 2022-23 while playing a full volleyball schedule in the nation’s toughest conference. Kaley Rammelsberg and Haley Armstong both kept perfect 4.0 GPA’s while finishing up their undergraduate degrees. The Hoosiers had 12 athletes earn All-Big Ten Fall Academic honors while Rammelsberg, Morgan Geddes, Grae Gosnell and Isa Lopez were named to the 2022 Academic All-District Team by the College Sports Communicators. Ashley Zulauf, Emily Fitzner and Paula Cerame and also earned degrees from IU this spring after wrapping up their playing careers for the Hoosiers.
Indiana University Rower Laura Feinson repeats as an All-American
For the second consecutive season, Indiana rowing senior Laura Feinson was named a Pocock All-America honorable mention selection as announced by the College Rowing Coaches Association this week. Feinson, the 2022 Big Ten Rowing Athlete of the Year and a two-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree, became the 10th All-American in program history a year ago. Now, Feinson is the fourth Hoosier to earn the distinction twice and first since Antonia Frappell in 2018-19. Indiana has totaled 14 All-America honors.
Feinson helped Indiana to a historic performance at the Big Ten Championships this season, finishing third in the team standings for the first time in program history. Racing in the Varsity 8 crew, her boat’s program record silver-medal performance gave IU enough points to jump into third place, as a team, on the leaderboard. As a result, Indiana returned to the NCAA Rowing Championships for the seventh time in nine full seasons and for the first time since 2019. Feinson’s V8 crew finished No. 16 nationally, while the Hoosiers placed 17th as a team at the national regatta.
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