December 30, 2017 at 3:55 a.m.
Freeman leads 2017's sports stories
Freeman leads 2017's sports stories
Historic performances.
Career milestones.
Another national title.
Medals, oh so many medals.
And one lifetime achievement most Hoosiers can only dream about.
The past year has been peppered with incredible athletic accomplishments. Some were four years in the making. Others were signs of things to come. But the top story of 2017 was about someone who played more than three decades ago.
Shannon Freeman, a 1986 Jay County High School graduate, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month, and her achievement tops a strong field as The Commercial Review’s top 10 sports stories of 2017.
The rest of the top 10 are as follows:
2. Fort Recovery senior Will Homan etches name in county record book.
3. Jay County graduate Eric Hemmelgarn wins back-to-back national championships.
4. Cole Stigleman sets Jay County career rushing record.
5. Mason Winner becomes first freshman wrestling state medalist at Jay County.
6. Alex Bader finishes junior swim season with a state medal.
7. A total of six athletes earn track state medals.
8. Three basketball players reach 1,000-point milestone for their careers.
9. Kirk Comer earns his 300th coaching win.
10. Portland Rockets reach world series.
1. Hall of Famer
Shannon Freeman will forever be enshrined in the state’s history as the was selected to be part of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2018 class.
The school’s record holder for points in a game (40), points in a season (602), points in a career (1,458), season rebounds (280), career rebounds (831) and consecutive made free throws (21) becomes the first JCHS player — but third from the county — to be enshrined in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
She later played at Kentucky and Ball State before injuries cut her career short.
Freeman will be honored during a ceremony in April.
2. Runnin’ wild
Perhaps it would be easier to list the records Fort Recovery senior Will Homan doesn’t have.
A year after setting the school records for yards in a season and in a career, he demolished the former and simply added to the latter during his senior campaign.
In the process, he became the most prolific runner in the history of Mercer County as he set county records for yards in a game (405), season (2,400) and career (5,384).
All his accolades as a senior came as the Indians weren’t much of a threat to pass with a freshman quarterback for most of the season. Homan was just that unstoppable.
3. Two titles
Eric Hemmelgarn almost gave up college football as a freshman.
It’s a good thing he didn’t, as the 2014 Jay County graduate was a catalyst for the University of Saint Francis football team winning back-to-back NAIA national championships.
After a standout junior season, Hemmelgarn’s statistics during his senior year went down, but that was because opposing offenses had to scheme to stop him. He helped the Cougars to a perfect 14-0 season that culminated with a 24-13 win over second-ranked Reinhardt in the national title game.
4. Rushing leader
Cole Stigleman didn’t necessarily have performances that jumped out on paper, but he was consistent enough throughout the course of his four years in the red, white, and blue.
Stigleman, a JCHS senior, surpassed 2014 graduate J.D. Mangas as the school’s all-time leading rusher with 3,319 yards. After not registering a carry through the first four games because of an injury, he slowly worked his way into action and posted 100 or more yards in the final six games of the season, including a career-high 218 in week nine against Heritage.
The following week he totaled 163 yards to pass Mangas, and added 128 in the sectional semifinal to cap his career.
5. Medal Winner
Prior to entering high school, Mason Winner made it known his goal was to become the first four-time wrestling state medalist at Jay County.
Four is impossible without the first, and Winner completed the first step by finishing seventh at 145 pounds as a freshman.
The phenom didn’t lose until regional and then went on a tear en route to the semi-state championship, becoming the first Patriot since Eric Hemmelgarn in 2014 to do so.
After securing medal at the state finals, Winner lost twice, but rebounded in his seventh-place match to end on a winning note.
6. Bader’s best
Alex Bader often swam in the shadow of her sister, Sophie, but as a junior at Jay County Alex made a name for herself by finishing seventh in the state in the 100-yard breaststroke.
She joined Sophie, a 2016 medalist, and their cousin Anne Vormohr as the school’s only state medalist. Alex Bader was seeded eighth after the preliminaries, and improved one spot to put her name in Patriot lore.
Bader parlayed that performance into a scholarship to Ball State, where she’ll join Sophie and Vormohr upon graduation in the spring.
7. Terrific on the track
The South Adams Starfires and Fort Recovery Indians had a solid performances at their respective state meets.
Bailey McIntire, a Starfire senior, capped a record-setting career in Berne with a fourth-place finish in the 1,600-meter run in the IHSAA state finals. Addie Wanner, a SAHS junior, qualified for state in three events and was fifth in the high jump.
Fort Recovery sophomore Robby LeFevre made it two-for-two with his second medal in the 200-yard dash. After finishing tied for seventh as a freshman, LeFevre was fifth as a sophomore.
The Indians’ 4x100 relay team of Riley Pearson, Jared Timmerman, Brayden Schoen and LeFevre stood on the podium in eighth place.
8. Milestone men
Prior to the 2016-17 season there were only 24 players in The Commercial Review’s coverage area to reach the 1,000-point milestone for a career.
There were three in the first two months of this year.
Jay County’s Jay Houck, who finished third on the Patriots’ career scoring list, reached 1,000 points on a free throw against Southern Wells in January. Fort Recovery’s Micaiah Cox hit a charity toss at home on Feb. 18 for his 1,000th point, and Jared Grabau banked a jumper Feb. 20 on the road for his milestone bucket.
While each of them accomplished the feat in different ways, one thing was the same: they all credited the countless hours they spent in the gym for helping them get there.
9. Mister 300
In a season-opening rout of Guerin Catholic, Jay County coach Kirk Comer earned his 300th career victory.
He became the 40th coach in the history of the state to reach the milestone, and is currently 20th among active coaches.
Comer, who is in his 23rd year, won regional titles at Union City (2001) and Winchester (2010 and ’11). He also guided Monroe Central to a sectional title in 2015.
He is in the third year of his second stint at Jay County after leading the Patriots from 2004 to 2009, which included winning sectional in 2006.
10. Portland proud
For just the second time in its 50-plus year history, the Portland Rockets reached the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series in August.
Portland, which finished the year 35-12, won its first two pool play games to guarantee a spot in the world series tournament. They dropped the finale of pool play and suffered a season-ending loss in the quarterfinal.
With a veteran core of position players — part of Portland’s 2012 world series team — and a youthful pitching staff, Portland was able to win 17 straight games during the regular season and record 32 hits while facing elimination in the regional tournament.
Career milestones.
Another national title.
Medals, oh so many medals.
And one lifetime achievement most Hoosiers can only dream about.
The past year has been peppered with incredible athletic accomplishments. Some were four years in the making. Others were signs of things to come. But the top story of 2017 was about someone who played more than three decades ago.
Shannon Freeman, a 1986 Jay County High School graduate, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month, and her achievement tops a strong field as The Commercial Review’s top 10 sports stories of 2017.
The rest of the top 10 are as follows:
2. Fort Recovery senior Will Homan etches name in county record book.
3. Jay County graduate Eric Hemmelgarn wins back-to-back national championships.
4. Cole Stigleman sets Jay County career rushing record.
5. Mason Winner becomes first freshman wrestling state medalist at Jay County.
6. Alex Bader finishes junior swim season with a state medal.
7. A total of six athletes earn track state medals.
8. Three basketball players reach 1,000-point milestone for their careers.
9. Kirk Comer earns his 300th coaching win.
10. Portland Rockets reach world series.
1. Hall of Famer
Shannon Freeman will forever be enshrined in the state’s history as the was selected to be part of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2018 class.
The school’s record holder for points in a game (40), points in a season (602), points in a career (1,458), season rebounds (280), career rebounds (831) and consecutive made free throws (21) becomes the first JCHS player — but third from the county — to be enshrined in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
She later played at Kentucky and Ball State before injuries cut her career short.
Freeman will be honored during a ceremony in April.
2. Runnin’ wild
Perhaps it would be easier to list the records Fort Recovery senior Will Homan doesn’t have.
A year after setting the school records for yards in a season and in a career, he demolished the former and simply added to the latter during his senior campaign.
In the process, he became the most prolific runner in the history of Mercer County as he set county records for yards in a game (405), season (2,400) and career (5,384).
All his accolades as a senior came as the Indians weren’t much of a threat to pass with a freshman quarterback for most of the season. Homan was just that unstoppable.
3. Two titles
Eric Hemmelgarn almost gave up college football as a freshman.
It’s a good thing he didn’t, as the 2014 Jay County graduate was a catalyst for the University of Saint Francis football team winning back-to-back NAIA national championships.
After a standout junior season, Hemmelgarn’s statistics during his senior year went down, but that was because opposing offenses had to scheme to stop him. He helped the Cougars to a perfect 14-0 season that culminated with a 24-13 win over second-ranked Reinhardt in the national title game.
4. Rushing leader
Cole Stigleman didn’t necessarily have performances that jumped out on paper, but he was consistent enough throughout the course of his four years in the red, white, and blue.
Stigleman, a JCHS senior, surpassed 2014 graduate J.D. Mangas as the school’s all-time leading rusher with 3,319 yards. After not registering a carry through the first four games because of an injury, he slowly worked his way into action and posted 100 or more yards in the final six games of the season, including a career-high 218 in week nine against Heritage.
The following week he totaled 163 yards to pass Mangas, and added 128 in the sectional semifinal to cap his career.
5. Medal Winner
Prior to entering high school, Mason Winner made it known his goal was to become the first four-time wrestling state medalist at Jay County.
Four is impossible without the first, and Winner completed the first step by finishing seventh at 145 pounds as a freshman.
The phenom didn’t lose until regional and then went on a tear en route to the semi-state championship, becoming the first Patriot since Eric Hemmelgarn in 2014 to do so.
After securing medal at the state finals, Winner lost twice, but rebounded in his seventh-place match to end on a winning note.
6. Bader’s best
Alex Bader often swam in the shadow of her sister, Sophie, but as a junior at Jay County Alex made a name for herself by finishing seventh in the state in the 100-yard breaststroke.
She joined Sophie, a 2016 medalist, and their cousin Anne Vormohr as the school’s only state medalist. Alex Bader was seeded eighth after the preliminaries, and improved one spot to put her name in Patriot lore.
Bader parlayed that performance into a scholarship to Ball State, where she’ll join Sophie and Vormohr upon graduation in the spring.
7. Terrific on the track
The South Adams Starfires and Fort Recovery Indians had a solid performances at their respective state meets.
Bailey McIntire, a Starfire senior, capped a record-setting career in Berne with a fourth-place finish in the 1,600-meter run in the IHSAA state finals. Addie Wanner, a SAHS junior, qualified for state in three events and was fifth in the high jump.
Fort Recovery sophomore Robby LeFevre made it two-for-two with his second medal in the 200-yard dash. After finishing tied for seventh as a freshman, LeFevre was fifth as a sophomore.
The Indians’ 4x100 relay team of Riley Pearson, Jared Timmerman, Brayden Schoen and LeFevre stood on the podium in eighth place.
8. Milestone men
Prior to the 2016-17 season there were only 24 players in The Commercial Review’s coverage area to reach the 1,000-point milestone for a career.
There were three in the first two months of this year.
Jay County’s Jay Houck, who finished third on the Patriots’ career scoring list, reached 1,000 points on a free throw against Southern Wells in January. Fort Recovery’s Micaiah Cox hit a charity toss at home on Feb. 18 for his 1,000th point, and Jared Grabau banked a jumper Feb. 20 on the road for his milestone bucket.
While each of them accomplished the feat in different ways, one thing was the same: they all credited the countless hours they spent in the gym for helping them get there.
9. Mister 300
In a season-opening rout of Guerin Catholic, Jay County coach Kirk Comer earned his 300th career victory.
He became the 40th coach in the history of the state to reach the milestone, and is currently 20th among active coaches.
Comer, who is in his 23rd year, won regional titles at Union City (2001) and Winchester (2010 and ’11). He also guided Monroe Central to a sectional title in 2015.
He is in the third year of his second stint at Jay County after leading the Patriots from 2004 to 2009, which included winning sectional in 2006.
10. Portland proud
For just the second time in its 50-plus year history, the Portland Rockets reached the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series in August.
Portland, which finished the year 35-12, won its first two pool play games to guarantee a spot in the world series tournament. They dropped the finale of pool play and suffered a season-ending loss in the quarterfinal.
With a veteran core of position players — part of Portland’s 2012 world series team — and a youthful pitching staff, Portland was able to win 17 straight games during the regular season and record 32 hits while facing elimination in the regional tournament.
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