SPORTS

March 22, 2011

GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO South Ripley Raider award winners pictured above from left include: sophomore Levi Yocum - JV Mental Attitude Award, senior Jonathan Grossman - Varsity Defense Award, senior Sam Stratton - Sr. Academic and Varsity Mental Attitude Award, senior Jerad Walters - Varsity Assists Award and sophomore Trey Sparks - Varsity Free Throw Award. Not pictured: sophomore Cody Federmann - Varsity Rebounding Award and freshman Austin Grider - Freshman Mental Attitude Award.

GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO South Ripley Lady Raider award winners pictured above from left include: junior Whitney Walker - Varsity Assists Award, senior Rebecca Bodenberg - Varsity Defense Award, senior Meredith Knollman - Sr. Academic @ 4.0755 and Varsity Mental Attitude Award, junior Jessica Foster - Varsity Rebounding Award, sophomore Rachel Hensley - Varsity Most Improved Award, freshman Emily Cumberworth - JV Mental Attitude Award and junior Kasey King - Varsity Free Throw Award.

 

South Ripley honors Raider winter sports athletes, cheerleaders and team managers

Gary Franklin, Sports Editor

Coaches, athletes cheerleaders, managers, their parents and well wishers of South Ripley MS and HS winter sports activities gathered to recognize and honor students for their winter athletic endeavors on Thursday evening, March 10, at the SRHS cafeteria.
SRMS Program
SR athletic director Deb Jett opened the middle school recognition program with a welcome to those attending at 6 p.m.
Seventh Grade Girls
Seventh grade girls basketball coach Shannon Schmaltz began his review of the team's season stating, "I wondered if I knew what I was doing and I think the kids wondered if I knew what I was doing as well after we suffered a 45 point loss in our first game of the season. However, by the second game we cut the loss deficit in half. In summary we learned a lot and improved much, completing the season at 5-7."
Schmaltz introduced his Lady Raider seventh grade team who included: Kim Adkins, Kayla Adkinson, Ellie Ayers, Elizabeth Bodenberg, Mercedes Bowling, Lindsay Comer, Kayla King, Danielle Koger, Abigail Mathews, Kaitlyn Moore, Shelby Myers and Taylor Wrightsman.
Eighth Grade Girls
SR's eighth grade girls coach, Jessica McConnell followed. McConnell added, my emphasis was on helping prepare the girls for high school play as there is no freshman girls team to go to like the boys have, so their transition is a huge step from MS to HS action.
The eighth grade team members included: Brittany Ellison, Ashley Guthrie, Ashton Marksberry, Emily Mathes, Courtney McGuire, Hope Ross, Miranda Ryle, Haley Schmaltz, Hayley Schwarte, Allie Sexton, Sidney Steinhauer and Bridget Swinney.
The Lady Raider eighth grade team finished their season at 3-9 overall.
MS Cheerleaders
Kris Lafary led the seventh and eighth grade cheerleader squad for her sixth season. Lafary noted that this group of girls worked very hard and performed to earn "2010 Cheerfest Champions", a goal that Lafary and her SRMS cheer squads has aspired to reach over the years.
Seventh grade cheerleaders included: Ellie Ayers, Mercedes Bowling, Kayla King, Danielle Koger, Kaitlyn Moore and Taylor Wrightsman.
Eighth grade cheerleaders included: Alyssa Halcomb, Bailey Howard, Faith Lafary, Courtney McGuire, Haley Schmaltz and Allie Sexton.
Seventh Grade Boys
Curtis Stephen led the seventh grade boys basketball team this season. Coach Stephen introduced team members who included: Larry Pickett, Jonah Mersh, Braden Lengerich, Andrew Herbert, Elijah Roepke, Derek Ritchie, Joe Watson, Kaleb Riley, Ty Tucker, Zach Thompson, Wyatt Elston, Julian Carpenter and Caleb Cumberworth with Anthony Armstrong listed as the team manager.
Coach Stephen spoke of the team's summer endeavors during a five game tournament held at Milan where he and the boys were able to get to know one another a little before actual season and their reintroduction once the real school basketball season began. He relayed that he had found much pride in their efforts. The boys pulled together for an 11-4 overall season record. He added, "A special thank you to Brian McCombs as our student team manager who was a great help to the team over the season."
Eighth Grade Boys
Coach Brian Romans led the SR eighth grade boys team this season. The eighth grade boys team members included: Andrew Austin, Austin Bradley, Braden Browning, Alex Dagley, Tyler Gabbard, Garrett Gray, Devon Sexton and Justin Wilson.
Romans' team played to an overall 2-11 season record.
SRHS Program
At 7 p.m. AD Jett opened the South Ripley High School awards program with a welcome to those in attendance and a thank you to coaches, athletes and their parents for their productive hard work.
Raider freshman boys
Coach Kyle Jolly led the speaking of individual team endeavors, referring to his freshman boys basketball squad. As the freshman boys first go at the high school level of action, both coach and players meet with new and more demanding challenges, stated coach Jolly.
Proudly, Jolly stated, "The team secured a 3-3 conference record, 6-8 season record and captured the ORVC Freshman Tournament Championship." The freshman boys team included: Austin Allen, Stefan Anderson, Gus Berry, Jason Bodenberg, Cole Engel, Austin Grider, Caleb Huntington, Ryan Lengerich, Logan Linkmeyer and Joey Waldron.
Freshman Boys Award
Mental Attitude Award - Austin Grider
(Grider was not in attendance at the program).
Raider JV Boys squad
Reserve Boys coach Brad Samples spoke of his JV team's season record that ended at 7-12 including a 3-3 ORVC tie for second place. The bitter season ending loss to the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles was the only thing that kept them from a multi-team tie for conference champion title.
Samples spoke of improvements, role adaptations and the inclusion of freshman players onto his team once the freshman season had ended.
The Raider JV team included: two juniors: Amos Taylor and Kyle Taylor, seven sophomores: Chad Anderson, Jason Dilk, David Mayes, Jacob Mullins, Tyler Rolf, Devon Tankersley and Levi Yocum and five freshmen: Gus Berry, Joe Dicken, Austin Grider, Austin Halcomb and Ryan Lengerich.
JV Raider Boys Award
Mental Attitude Award -
Levi Yocum
Raider Varsity Squad
Coach Travis Wrightsman spoke of his varsity team's season record that ended at 10-12, including a 4-2 ORVC tie for second place and a loss in sectional action to the eventual sectional #44 champion Hauser Jets where the Raiders fought diligently to claw themselves back into the game, losing by five at 66-71 at games end.
Coach thanked his assistant coaches for extra efforts and supportive roles to enhance his program with the South Ripley Raider basketball program.
The 2010-11 Raider varsity team included four seniors: Jonathan Grossman, Patrick Scott, Sam Stratton and Jerad Walters, three juniors: Blake Davis, Brandon Sizemore and Amos Taylor and three sophomores: Jason Dilk, Cody Federmann and Trey Sparks.
Varsity Raider Awards
Assists -
Jerad Walters
Rebounding -
Cody Federmann
Free Throws -
Trey Sparks
Best Defense -
Jonathan Grossman
Most Improved -
Brandon Sizemore
Mental Attitude -
Sam Stratton
Sr. Scholastic -
Sam Stratton
South Ripley Raider
All-Tournament honors
All-ORVC Team
Jerad Walters and
Brandon Sizemore
All-RCT Team
Jerad Walters, Brandon Sizemore and Blake Davis
All-Sectional #44 Team
Brandon Sizemore
and Jonathan Grossman
In closing, Coach Wrightsman presented each senior player a framed jersey with their # on it, including having a framed 30 jersey for the senior players to present to fallen teammate Tanner Tucker's parents on behalf of the team, in his memory.
SRHS Cheerleaders
Nancy Durham spoke of the dedication and hard work the high school cheerleaders had put into being their best over the years.
JV cheer squad members included: Kyanna Clippert, Suzanne Fiset, Stacey Koger, Lindsay McFann and Morgan Romans.
Varsity cheer squad members included: (seniors) Stephanie Broadus, Britney Browning, Ashley Buchanan, Hayley Demaree, (sophomore) Taiylor Howard, (seniors) Meredith Knollman, Miranda Wall and (freshman) Samantha Wilhoit.
A welcomed addition to the squad, the four senior boys assisting the cheerleaders included: Ethan Back, Justin Gullion, Matt Brooks and Austin Taylor.
In closing, Durham noted many had tried to duplicate but none could master the "roller coaster" like her squad. It definitely brought miles of smiles and enthusiasm to young and old alike during the games, both for Raiders and their opponents' fans alike.
Cheerleader Awards -
JV Mental Attitude Award - Lindsay McFann
Varsity Cheer Awards
Mental Attitude Award - Miranda Wall
Most Improved -
Samantha Wilhoit
Sr. Scholastic -
Meredith Knollman
@ 4.0755 GPA
JV Lady Raiders
Tammy Tankersley spoke of the Lady Raider JV team's endeavors this past season which included an 11-7 overall season record finish, a 3-2 third place finish in ORVC conference action and capturing the 2011 Ripley County JV Girls Tournament Championship Title.
JV team members included three sophomores: Rachel Hensley, Allie Linkmeyer and Kayla Mills, and six freshmen: Rachel Bush, Emily Cumberworth, Kelsey Cumberworth, Emily Forwalt, Kayla Peetz and Samantha Wilhoit.
Lady Raider JV Award
Mental Attitude Award -Emily Cumberworth
Varsity Lady Raiders
Lightheartedly South Ripley Lady Raider varsity team coach Brian Samples addressed several issues before getting to the endeavors of his Lady Raider team this past season which included an overall 18-5 season, a 6-0 ORVC Conference Championship Title and an IHSAA Class 2A Sectional #44 Championship Title before their season's ending at regional action.
The 2010-11 Lady Raider varsity team roster included four seniors: Shannon Adkins, Becca Bodenberg, Meredith Knollman and Rachel Mathes, four juniors: Jessica Foster, Kasey King, Whitney Walker and Kaitlyn Welch, along with sophomore members Rachel Hensley and Allie Linkmeyer.
Varsity Lady Raider Awards
Assists -
Whitney Walker
Rebounding -
Jessica Foster
Free Throws -
Kasey King
Defense -
Becca Bodenberg
Most Improved -
Rachel Hensley
Varsity Mental Attitude -
Meredith Knollman
Senior Academic -
Meredith Knollman
@ 4.0755 GPA
South Ripley Lady Raider
All-Tournament honors
All-ORVC Team
Jessica Foster, Kasey King and Whitney Walker
All-RCT Team
Jessica Foster, Kasey King, Meredith Knollman and Whitney Walker
All-Sectional #44 Team
Jessica Foster, Kasey King and Meredith Knollman
During coach Samples' time at the podium, he acknowledged his sincere appreciation for the super support that parents, Lady Raider fans and school staff had given the team. Samples extended his appreciation for his six member coaching staff which included varsity assistant Thom Conover, JV coach Tammy Tankersley and assistant Kevin Mack, MS coaches Jessica McConnell and Shannon Schmaltz along with Robin Welch for keeping the team's scorebook.
In closing, Coach Samples presented each senior a plaque, adding that he has basketballs ordered for presentation to each member of the sectional champion varsity squad.