Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame Celebrates its 2023 Class
The Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame celebrated its ten-member class of 2023 Friday night with its annual banquet at the Monroe Convention Center in downtown Bloomington. The event got underway with a meet and greet followed by a reception and a dinner along with the ceremony itself. The ten member Class included 6 athletes, 2 coaches and 2 contributors. The Athletes were Dan Burton, Rachel Deloney, Garrett Butcher, Ben Chappell along with JT and Paul Young. The Coaches Dr. Jeanine Butler and Georgia Tidd along with contributors Bud Damon and Mick Renneisen. Each inductee or representee was very emotional in their speech but all were humbled and honored to be there and be recognized for their achievements.
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 was escorted to the stage by his HS teammate 2011 Monroe County Sports Hall of Famer Dave Volz. “We all have a sports hero like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods” Burton said, “I was walked up here by my Michael Jordan”. Volz who was Olympian in 1992 and graduated from Bloomington South in 1980 had always had Burton looking up to him Burton himself had its own goals. “I spent half the time wanting to be Dave Volz and the other half wanting to beat Dave Volz and I did with the pictures to prove it” Burton said. Rachel Deloney graduated from Bloomington North in 2008 and passed away in April of 2021 was represented by her sister Frances. “I am not a public speaker but I am doing this for my sister, we missed you everyday Rachel” Deloney Said. Deloney was a 3-time state champion in discus along with a 2005 National Junior Olympics title and never lost a local meet and went on to Vincennes University.
Ben Chappell who lives in Denver Colorado came back with his wife and three daughters and is proud of Bloomington and made sure they got the grand tour of city and the campus that he called home. “Bloomington will always be home, and I am thankful that I can show my wife and three daughters around my hometown” Chappell Said. 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 had a lot of family, friends, coaches and former teammates in attendance including Butler teammate Matt Howard who played with Butcher on the 2010 and 2011 National Runner up Teams at Butler. 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 and had his framed Butler and Indiana All Star jerseys on display during the meet and greet.
JT and Paul Young who are brothers who wrestled for Bloomington South and graduated five years apart were not able to be in attendance as they live on opposite ends of the country with one in Georgia and the other in Washington State. There HS coach and 2019 Monroe County Sports Hall of Famer Royce Deckard spoke on their behalf. 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 who passed away on January 2, 2023, was represented by her longtime friend Sandi Cole who before anything else wanted to honor the lady who was going with Dr Butler as coach in Georgia Tidd. “Jeannine would be thrilled to know that she would be going into the Hall of Fame with you Georgia” Cole Said. “You were rivals on the floor, but she had the utmost respect for you off of it’”. 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. Georgia Tidd who is 88 years old and lives in Amarillo, Texas coached Volleyball, Track and Basketball at Bloomington High and Bloomington South 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. She said after the banquet was over that while she and Dr Butler were warriors against each other on the floor they were warriors together off of it helping each other out giving scouting reports when playing common opponents.
Bud Damon who was represented by his daughter Carole 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 who was the last speaker of the evening reminded the crowd of that to give them a good laugh. Renneisen served the City of Bloomington for 40 years and brought State, Regional and National Softball Tournaments to Bloomington. “I am not a politician I am a Public Servant” he said. “Without elected officials you don’t get facilities built and things accomplished and we were able to do that.” 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. He and Master of Ceremonies Joe Smith worked and done interviews of the years so he wanted Smith ask him a couple questions instead of a full speech which the crowd enjoyed. At the end Renneisen said “None of us would be here if we did not love sports and none of us would be here with out the love and support of our families”.
The Monroe County Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2011 and 12 years later it’s still going strong with the total number of inductees to 137. 16 Sports are represented, and the list includes Olympians, Professional Athletes, College MVP’s and State Champions. 18 Past Inductees were ln attendance. The Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame gives out a one-thousand-dollar scholarship one female and one male athlete from each of the three Monroe County High Schools brought its total to $66,000.
Southern Indiana Bobcats drop close game to the Kentuckiana Calvary
The Southern Indiana Bobcats Semi Pro Football Team fell to the Kentuckiana Calvary 18-13 Saturday night at Edgewood HS in Ellettsville. The loss put the Bobcats at 3-4 with three regular season games left while the Calvary improve 4-1 on the season. The Bobcats found the endzone first with an 8-yard Touchdown run by Marquise Holt but missed extra point but the Bobcats on top 6-0 with 7:58 left in the first quarter. On the next series the Calvary marched down the field in 5 plays with a 31-touchdown pass with a failed two-point conversion to tie the game 6-6 with 5:23 left in the opening quarter.
The Calvary scored with 2:23 before halftime on a 1-yard touchdown run to make 12-6 going into the locker room. The Calvary had 115 yards of offense in the first half with 95 of those through the air. The Bobcats who have struggled on offense throughout the season had 39 yards of offense with 26 of those yards on the ground. The Calvary had two fumbles and the Bobcats had one in the first half.
In the second half the Calvary opened with a 12-play drive that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown pass with 8:10 left in the third quarter leading 18-6. The Calvary went 0-3 on two-point conversions. After the Bobcats fumbled the ball away the Bobcats Defense made a big play that shifted momentum as Cantrell Harris picked off a Calvary pass and took it back for a touchdown and an Andre Adkins extra point made it 18-13 with 6:00 minutes left in the third quarter. The Bobcats ended up punting on third down because the box marker showed Fourth Down even though there was a Bobcats penalty on the second play of the drive that should have kept it a first down but attempts to have the box marker change were unsuccessful. The Bobcats were driving late in the game when Tavaras Rochell looked for Luke Elgar in the end zone and it was picked off with just over a minute remaining in the game. The Calvary ran the ball on first down for no yards and took a knee on second and third downs. The Bobcats thought they had one timeout remaining, but the officials said they did not on the last play of the game the Calvary took a nine-yard loss to run out the clock. The Bobcats said there were two seconds left on the clock, but the officials said time and ran out and ended the game.
The Bobcats finished the game with 97 yards of total offense. Marquise Holt had 8 carries for 45 yards and 1 touchdown. Tavaras Rochell was 5-15 passing for 38 yards and interception while Parker Osborn caught 2 passes for 15 yards. The Bobcats ran 44 plays with 9 first downs, 4-10 on third down conversions and 0-1 on fourth down conversions. The Bobcats had 2 offensive fumbles and one on special teams. But the defense had 3 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries and a pick six.
The Calvary finished the game with 219 yards of total offense on 60 plays. The Calvary were 11-23 passing for 181 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. They ran the ball 37 times for 38 yards and one touchdown as the Bobcats defense held them for zero or negative yardage 18 times. The Calvary went 5-15 on third down conversions and 4-8 on fourth down conversions. The teams combined for 22 penalties and 224 yards in a game that took over three hours to play. The Bobcats travel to the Northern Kentucky Wolfpack this Saturday while the Calvary host the Kentucky Spartans in Jeffersonville.
Indiana University Football lands two more commitments for the class of 2024
Indiana Coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers received a commitment from three-star offensive tackle Austin Leibfried on Friday, making him Indiana’s 16th overall commit in the class of 2024, and its 15th three-star in the class. On Saturday the Hoosiers landed their 17th overall commit in the class of 2024. Kameron Courtney, a three-star athlete out of Virginia.
Leibfried is a 6-foot-6, 265-pound lineman out of Mount Horeb, Wisc. He picked Indiana over eight FBS schools, including Syracuse, Air Force, Coastal Carolina, Wyoming, Western Michigan, Akron, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois, according to 247 Sports. Leibfried also tagged new Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad in his announcement post, as the position coach was his primary recruiter at IU. The commitment of Leibfried gives Allen’s team four offensive linemen in the class of 2024, including Evan Lawrence, Mitch Verstegen and Adedamola Ajani, all three-star prospects as well. Leibfried is rated as the 84th best offensive tackle in the country in the class of 2024, according to 247, as well as the 11th best overall player out of Wisconsin in the class. For a team that rosters four senior offensive lineman – Zach Carpenter, Mike Katic, Max Longman and Matthew Bedford the commitment of Leibfried is another step in building the depth and security of the Indiana offensive line for years to come.
Courtney is 6-foot and weighs 190 pounds. He played both wide receiver and safety at Freedom High School in Woodbridge, Va. Since Courtney was recruited by Indiana defensive coordinator Chad Wilt and co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri, according to 247 Sports, it’s reasonable to assume that Indiana plans to play Courtney at safety in Bloomington. Guerrieri is also the team’s safeties coach. Indiana beat out four ACC schools Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and North Carolina for Courtney’s services. They were all in his top-five along with the Hoosiers. Courtney is rated as the 22nd-best overall prospect in the state of Virginia in the class of 2024, and his commitment gives Indiana 16 total three-star commits in its ’24 class, according to 247 Sports.
Indiana’s 2024 recruiting class currently ranks 55th overall nationally and is 14th overall in the Big Ten — the league expands to 16 teams with USC and UCLA next season ahead of only Northwestern and UCLA, according to 247 Sports. 247Sports has not yet updated their overall recruiting class rankings following the commitment of Courtney, so expect to see Indiana make a small jump in the coming days. Prior to Courtney’s announcement, the only safety commit to Indiana so far in 2024 is Keion Dunlap, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound three-star out of Alabama, who committed to the Hoosiers in June, choosing them over four different SEC schools and over two Big Ten rivals in Penn State and Maryland
Four Indiana University students participated in the B1G Life Series: Selma to Montgomery
An unparalleled educational journey awaited four Indiana University student-athletes over the weekend as the Big Ten Conference will host its “B1G Life Series: Selma to Montgomery” initiative began last Friday. The group of Kahlil Benson (football), Emily Herndon (track & field), Antonio Laidler (track & field) and Kennedy Reardon (field hockey) attended.
The cornerstone initiative of the “Big Life Series” is led by the Big Ten Equality Coalition and highlights the conference’s ongoing commitment to examine and search for answers to the racial, social, religious and cultural challenges faced by our country. This year’s event will also feature participants from a handful of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), including Florida A&M University, Howard University and North Carolina A&T University. The centerpiece of the Alabama experience will be a march across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack. The trip began Friday with visits to several local civil rights museums, including the Rosa Parks Museum, Freedom Riders Museum and Montgomery Interpretive Center, located on the campus of Alabama State University. Friday evening will include keynote speaker and civil rights activist Sheyann Webb-Christburg, known as the “smallest freedom fighter”. The evening will conclude with an empowering and educational panel featuring young civil rights leaders representing the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU.
The event continued on Saturday with a bus trip to Selma and a community service project. Attendees will pack back-to-school backpacks with school supplies and balls provided by Wilson Sporting Goods to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. This will be followed with a visit to the First Baptist Church, the site where the Dallas County Voters League mobilized hundreds of students to begin their landmark civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Attendees will hear from several local speakers including Mayor James Perkins Jr., Lynda Blackmon Lowery and Warren Billy Young. Participants in this year’s “Big Life Series” will then make their own walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge before the group returns to Montgomery. Community activist Doris Dozier Crenshaw will address the group at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The final event on Saturday will be a visit to the award-winning Legacy Museum, which provides an immersive experience from enslavement to mass incarceration. The 2023 “Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery” trip is sponsored in part by the Capital One Orange Bowl and the Tournament of Roses Association and Rose Bowl Game.
Indy Eleven Women’s Team headed to the United Soccer League Championship Game
A stoppage time goal from Alia Martin proved to be the match winner as Indy Eleven earned a 3-2 win over San Francisco Glens SC, giving the Girls in Blue their first trip to the USL W League National Final. The USL W League Valley Division Champion Indy Eleven traded goals with the Nor Cal Division Champion Glens, but it was a goal in the 91st-minute form Martin that sealed the victory.
The Girls in Blue got on the board first as Addie Chester picked up her fourth goal of the 2023 season. Maddy Williams found herself alone coming down the right side of the field and sent a cross into a crowded 18. Ella Rogers struck first, having her shot blocked, and Chester picked up the rebound to secure the early lead for the home side. Just before half, the Glens picked up the equalizer with a 40th-minute set piece goal from Nadia Gomes. The Eleven’s second go-ahead tally came via an assist from Indy’s leading goal scorer Sam Dewey, who picked up her first helper of the season on a through ball to Williams. The goal was Williams’ eighth of the season and came from a play that started with a Katie Soderstrom interception in San Francisco’s half. Again San Francisco was able to even the score, this time it was Gomes assisting Caryn Penn on a strike from outside the 18 in the 64th minute.
One more lead change would be all it took to send the Girls in Blue to the USL W League Final as center back Martin was pushed forward into the attack in stoppage time. Williams inserted herself into the play once again down the right flank and sent a ball in to Maisie Whitsett. Whitsett’s header back across the goal found Martin, who lifted a header of her own over the outstretched arms of the Glens’ goalkeeper. The goal was Martin’s first of the season and Whitsett’s third assist. Indy Eleven will host NC Courage U23 in the National Final as part of an Indy Eleven doubleheader on Saturday. NC Courage defeated Eagle FC, 4-1. The women will play at 2pm with the men to follow at 7pm against Tampa Bay. One ticket will get fans into both matchups at Carroll Stadium.
Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston play in the WNBA All Star Game
After setting the record for most points by a team, Team Stewart defeated Team Wilson, 143-127, at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Saturday in the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game. Both teams also set a new record for most combined points in an All-Star game with 270 points collectively. Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell recorded two points in the win for Team Stewart to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Rookie center Aliyah Boston scored the first basket of the game and recorded six points on 3-of-6 shooting in her first All-Star game and a team-high 11 rebounds on the night. She now shares second place in franchise history for most rebounds in an All-Star game with Natalie Williams’ 11 rebounds in 2003 and Tamika Catchings’ 11 rebounds in 2007. In addition, Boston also dished out two assists and recorded one steal. Seattle Storm guard and Team Stewart member Jewell Loyd was crowned the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game MVP after recording new All-Star Game records for most points with 31 and most three pointers with 10. The Fever return to action on Wednesday, July 19, at 11:30 am at the Washington Mystics and the game will be broadcast on the official Indiana Fever Facebook page.
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