July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Inspiring stories deserve 2nd look
Rays of Insight
I love sports.
That should come as no great revelation.
It would be borderline crazy to spend the amount of time I do watching, taking photos of and writing stories about sports if I didn’t love it.
I love the competitions. There is nothing quite like that moment of victory.
But I love sports for reasons beyond the games, meets and matches. I love them for the stories — not about the games themselves but about the people.
Over the last 12 months I’ve been lucky enough to get to tell some remarkable stories about local athletes, stories that I think are worth sharing a second time.
Unbelievable comeback
Lindsey was a basketball star, primed to lead what was expected to be a state-championship contender. But during the summer between her junior and senior seasons, she found out she was pregnant.
Her basketball career was over, or so she thought.
After three years away from the game, the topic of trying out of the Ball State University women’s basketball team came up during a conversation between Lindsey and her father.
She decided to go for it.
This wasn’t just some whim either. She spent months working out and working on her game, despite the knowledge that earning a spot on the team was a long shot.
And she made it.
Even so, she didn’t expect to play much, saying she just hoped to get on the court in half of the Cardinals’ games. Those plans have changed as well.
She saw 15 minutes of action in the team’s season opener Nov. 9 against Evansville, scoring her first collegiate points with 4:59 to play in the opening half.
“It feels awesome,” Wellman said Tuesday on her way to practice. “I feel very privileged to be on the team and be able to get as much playing time as I have. … I’m very blessed.
“Being able to play and being on that team again, there’s no words to describe it.”
Amazing match
Matt Shrack, I think it’s safe to say, is universally well liked. He was, after all, voted homecoming king for the 2011-12 school year at JCHS.
Matt, however, was not blessed with a ton of athletic talent. He was never the kind of athlete who was going to lead the boys tennis team from the No. 1 singles position or make a deep run in the state wrestling tournament.
But he has heart.
Shrack was not a regular starter for the Patriot wrestling team. But sophomore Eric Hemmelgarn, who later went on to place third in the state, told coach James Myers he wanted to give up his place in the lineup to allow Shrack to compete on senior night.
In that match, Oak Hill’s Ethan Bowland took a 2-0 lead and tried to ride it out. But Shrack refused to stop fighting, scoring an escape with 12 seconds left in the second period and then tying the match with 26 seconds left in the third.
And then, with just four seconds remaining and everyone one of his teammates and coaches on their feet cheering, Shrack threw Bowland to the mat for the winning takedown.
“He really deserves it,” said teammate Eric Beougher. “He’s the hardest-working kid on the team. He just has the most heart.”
Overcoming tragedy
Eme Miller had never competed at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, so she was understandably excited when she qualified for the 2011 IHSAA State Finals as part of a Jay County High School relay team.
She was sick early in the week before the state meet, but she was determined to swim. When she was hospitalized a few days later that dream had to be set aside.
Less than two months later, on the day she was to have her picture taken with the other members of the state-qualifying relay team, her father, Dave, was killed in a plane crash in Kentucky.
Dave had always been there for his daughter, timing her races both in high school and for the Jay County Summer Swim Team. So when she got her chance to qualify for the state finals again, she kept her father in her mind.
Eme won the 200-yard freestyle in February, outpacing the field by more than two seconds, and went on to finally compete at the IU Natatorium in the state finals.
“Just being able to say I did it, it makes me feel better inside. I know that he’s happy for me,” she said of her father. “It’s his dream as much as mine.”
••••••••••
All three stories inspire in different ways. I’m thankful to have been able to tell those tales and so many others I have had the privilege of writing over the course of the past 12 months. And I’m thankful for those I hope to share in years to come.[[In-content Ad]]
That should come as no great revelation.
It would be borderline crazy to spend the amount of time I do watching, taking photos of and writing stories about sports if I didn’t love it.
I love the competitions. There is nothing quite like that moment of victory.
But I love sports for reasons beyond the games, meets and matches. I love them for the stories — not about the games themselves but about the people.
Over the last 12 months I’ve been lucky enough to get to tell some remarkable stories about local athletes, stories that I think are worth sharing a second time.
Unbelievable comeback
Lindsey was a basketball star, primed to lead what was expected to be a state-championship contender. But during the summer between her junior and senior seasons, she found out she was pregnant.
Her basketball career was over, or so she thought.
After three years away from the game, the topic of trying out of the Ball State University women’s basketball team came up during a conversation between Lindsey and her father.
She decided to go for it.
This wasn’t just some whim either. She spent months working out and working on her game, despite the knowledge that earning a spot on the team was a long shot.
And she made it.
Even so, she didn’t expect to play much, saying she just hoped to get on the court in half of the Cardinals’ games. Those plans have changed as well.
She saw 15 minutes of action in the team’s season opener Nov. 9 against Evansville, scoring her first collegiate points with 4:59 to play in the opening half.
“It feels awesome,” Wellman said Tuesday on her way to practice. “I feel very privileged to be on the team and be able to get as much playing time as I have. … I’m very blessed.
“Being able to play and being on that team again, there’s no words to describe it.”
Amazing match
Matt Shrack, I think it’s safe to say, is universally well liked. He was, after all, voted homecoming king for the 2011-12 school year at JCHS.
Matt, however, was not blessed with a ton of athletic talent. He was never the kind of athlete who was going to lead the boys tennis team from the No. 1 singles position or make a deep run in the state wrestling tournament.
But he has heart.
Shrack was not a regular starter for the Patriot wrestling team. But sophomore Eric Hemmelgarn, who later went on to place third in the state, told coach James Myers he wanted to give up his place in the lineup to allow Shrack to compete on senior night.
In that match, Oak Hill’s Ethan Bowland took a 2-0 lead and tried to ride it out. But Shrack refused to stop fighting, scoring an escape with 12 seconds left in the second period and then tying the match with 26 seconds left in the third.
And then, with just four seconds remaining and everyone one of his teammates and coaches on their feet cheering, Shrack threw Bowland to the mat for the winning takedown.
“He really deserves it,” said teammate Eric Beougher. “He’s the hardest-working kid on the team. He just has the most heart.”
Overcoming tragedy
Eme Miller had never competed at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, so she was understandably excited when she qualified for the 2011 IHSAA State Finals as part of a Jay County High School relay team.
She was sick early in the week before the state meet, but she was determined to swim. When she was hospitalized a few days later that dream had to be set aside.
Less than two months later, on the day she was to have her picture taken with the other members of the state-qualifying relay team, her father, Dave, was killed in a plane crash in Kentucky.
Dave had always been there for his daughter, timing her races both in high school and for the Jay County Summer Swim Team. So when she got her chance to qualify for the state finals again, she kept her father in her mind.
Eme won the 200-yard freestyle in February, outpacing the field by more than two seconds, and went on to finally compete at the IU Natatorium in the state finals.
“Just being able to say I did it, it makes me feel better inside. I know that he’s happy for me,” she said of her father. “It’s his dream as much as mine.”
••••••••••
All three stories inspire in different ways. I’m thankful to have been able to tell those tales and so many others I have had the privilege of writing over the course of the past 12 months. And I’m thankful for those I hope to share in years to come.[[In-content Ad]]
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