Heitkamp helps Redhawks in first meet

In high school, Trevor Heitkamp often finished near the top of the boys race to provide the Fort Recovery High School team with its best score.

In his first collegiate meet, he didn’t top his team, but he did provide a valuable score to lift it to the top.

Heitkamp, a 2024 graduate of FRHS, provided the 13th score for the Roberts Wesleyan University men’s cross country team during the season opener on Sept.14 at the Daemen Alumni Invitational in Amherst, New York.

Heitkamp’s score helped contribute to a first-place finish for the Redhawks, which totaled 46 points. The runner-up, Daemen, finished with 58.

The freshman finished 14th overall with a time of 28 minutes, 26.5 seconds. He finished fourth on his team behind a pair of seniors and fellow freshman Jakob Zibbel.

Whitney Rammel

Fort Recovery — 2022

Had her strongest match of the season for the East Tennessee State University volleyball team as the Buccaneers took down the West Vriginia Mountaineers 25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19 on Sept. 13.

Rammel dominated for ETSU (5-4) at the net with a season-high 13 kills and seven blocks. She finished with a .571 hitting percentage as well.

Leading up to the win over WVU, Rammel had 25 kills over a four match stretch that included victories over Gardner-Webb and Kennesaw State and losses to Virginia and Liberty.

She had nine kills against Kennesaw State and seven blocks at Liberty.

Paige Fortkamp

Fort Recovery — 2021

Tallied 44 kills for the University of Saint Francis volleyball team as it got swept in its last four matches.

The losing streak began on Aug. 31, in which the Cougars (7-10) have lost six consecutive matches in three sets.

Fortkamp’s best match came against Goshen, in which she had 19 kills, six digs and an ace.

During the previous four losses, the senior recorded 24 digs, three aces and one block.

Jalyn Bruns

Fort Recovery — 2022

Put up the third-best score for the IU East women’s golf team on Sept. 7 at The Players Club as part of a third-place finish out of eight teams.

The Red Wolves’ score of 981 strokes fell short of host Taylor University (906) and Grace College (955) for the top two spots.

Bruns finished with 248 strokes through three rounds of golf, which was 32 strokes over par. The Fort Recovery graduate shot her best round on the second day as a 79 split up an 83 and 86.

Cali Wendel

Fort Recovery — 2024

Found success in the back row for the Edison State Community College volleyball team in a trio of matches.

Wendel set a career-high 30 digs in a 3-1 loss to Owens Community College on Sept. 7. She earned three aces in the match as well.

Following up her career-high in digs, she set a new career-best in aces as she found the floor four times as the Chargers (5-7) swept Lake Michigan College on Sept. 14. The freshman had earned 12 digs against the Red Hawks.

Later on Sept. 14, Wendel had 15 digs and two aces in a 3-1 win over Glen Oaks Community College.

Paige Fortkamp

Fort Recovery — 2024

Set a career-high in assists as the University of Saint Francis volleyball team fell to Goshen in three sets on Sept. 14.

Fortkamp previously had 24 assists in a win against Saint Mary, but broke that mark with 27 against Goshen. The FRHS graduate assisted hitters 83 times over the past four games.

The freshman also had 14 digs, 10 kills, six blocks and three aces over the stretch.

Lindy Wood

Jay County — 2022

Finished in 136th for the University of St. Francis women’s cross country team at the Twilight Invite hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University on Sept. 6.

Wood finished the race with a time of 26:46.5. Seven other Cougars finished in front of her, leading to a seventh-place finish in the 20-team field.