A look back at Jackson County sports in 2011 [The Tribune, Seymour, Ind.]

Dec. 31--2011 featured several Jackson County high school teams or individuals making appearances in state finals events.In February, Seymour's girls 200-yard medley relay team qualified for the state meet, and Seymour bowler Stephanie Misamore qualified for the state tournament at Anderson.

In March, Brownstown Central's girls basketball team played in the Class 2A title game against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, and Seymour gymnasts Kelly Deppen and Leah Benefiel competed in the state meet.

In June, Brownstown, Seymour and Trinity Lutheran track and field athletes competed in the state meets at Indiana University.

And in the fall, Seymour'sPaxton DeHaven played on both days of the girls golf state tournament, Trinity capped off a great year of volleyball in the county by playing in the Class A championship match against Wes-Del and Seymour's boys cross country team qualified for the state meet.

Following is a recap of those events and other county sports headlines in 2011.

Basketball

The Brownstown girls downed Clarksville and Paoli before holding off Austin to capture the school's fifth girls sectional title and first since 2004. During the title game, senior Sammie Bane eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career, becoming the fifth Lady Brave to do so.

The Lady Braves then defeated Forest Park 59-54 and Covenant Christian 54-47 at regional for a trip to Southport for semistate action. There, they defeated Winchester 69-58 to earn the school's first trip to the state finals in girls basketball.

The 11th-ranked Braves led 30-27 at halftime, but No. 2 Bishop Luers made a run to pull ahead in the third quarter and maintained for a 59-46 victory, ending the Braves' season at 23-6. Bane was the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award winner for Class 2A.

The Brownstown boys team also had postseason success, defeating Paoli, Providence and Clarksville for the Braves' third straight Sectional 47 title. They took a 22-2 mark and No. 8 ranking into the regional semifinal game against No. 10 Eastern Greene, but they lost 52-50 in overtime.

The Braves' 69-54 win over Silver Creek on Jan. 14 gave coach Dave Benter his 200th career victory, and in the final game of the regular season at home against Orleans, senior Spencer Allman topped the 1,000-point plateau. He was the 13th Brave to reach that milestone.

Trinity also had an exciting year under first-year head coach Brian Stuckwisch. After starting the year 2-3, the Cougars won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games before edging Crothersville 49-48 in the first round of sectional and then beating Medora in the semifinals and Orleans in the title game for the school's first boys basketball sectional crown.

The Cougars moved on to the Loogootee Regional, beating Wood Memorial 54-44 in the semifinals before falling to North Daviess 52-42. They finished the season with a 20-5 mark, which was a school record for wins.

At Crothersville, the boys team finished with a 10-11 record, while the girls finished with three wins.

Justin Gilbert led the Medora boys to two wins in his first year as head coach, and the girls team had five wins.

The Trinity girls finished with a 10-13 record, but coach Renee Scoville announced her resignation at the end of the season and Mike Lang later was hired to lead the Lady Cougars.

In June, Seymour's Amanda Moore played for the Indiana Junior All-Star team, while Brownstown girls coach Karla Rieckers served as one of the coaches of the squad.

On Dec. 6, Seymour girls coach Beth DeVinney reached 200 career wins following a victory at Jennings County, and on Dec. 20, boys coach Scott Miller recorded his 200th career win after the Owls defeated Scottsburg.

In the final week of the year, four county teams won holiday tournaments. The Seymour girls repeated at Twin Lakes, the Brownstown girls won at Eastern Greene and the boys won at North Daviess and Crothersville's boys won the four-team McKee Munk Invitational.

Swimming

The Seymour girls swim team tied for second place in a close Hoosier Hills Conference meet on Jan. 15. A few weeks later, the Lady Owls returned to Floyds Knobs for sectional and it came down to the last event again, with Seymour tying with Floyd Central and New Albany for the title.

It was Seymour's first swimming sectional title, and the 200-yard medley relay team qualified for state.

The Lady Owls finished the season with a 10-2 record, while the boys went 8-4.

The second S Invitational was held in December at the Seymour Aquatic Center, and the Seymour boys and girls teams claimed the titles again.

Wrestling

Clark Thompson and Michael Camp both placed third in the HHC Tournament, and those were the highest finishes by an individual Seymour wrestler since 2008-09.

Clark later became the school's first sectional finalist since 2007-08, making it to the championship match in the 160-pound division. He ended up placing second.

The Owls had five regional qualifiers and two alternates, and that was the most since the 2005-06 season.

Seymour went 8-9 in dual matches and 3-4 in the HHC duals for fifth place, and the Owls placed seventh in the HHC and fifth at sectional.

To begin the 2011-12 season, the Owls are 9-7, including going 2-5 in the HHC duals, winning a match and losing a match on criteria and going 4-1 at the Floyd Central 5-way.

Gymnastics

Seymour placed second at sectional and third at regional before sending Kelly Deppen and Leah Benefiel to the state finals on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie. There, Deppen tied for 12th in all-around and Benefiel finished in a four-way tie for 11th on vault. Deppen's all-around score of 36.775 was a school record.

During the regular season, the Lady Owls won their first six meets and finished with a 19-4 mark. That included setting the school record with a team score of 107.45 on Feb. 24 at Bloomington North. They finished the season ranked 15th.

Bowling

The Seymour girls squad captured its second straight Southeastern Conference sectional title in late January, and in the singles competition, Stephanie Misamore defeated teammate Amanda Creech to become the SIC sectional champion.

The girls then placed second at the regional in Bloomington, and Misamore and Creech placed in the top four of the singles bowling. Misamore finished fourth in the singles tournament at semistate and then advanced to the stepladder round and placed third. She placed fifth in singles bowling at state and later was one of five girls named to the all-state first team.

The Seymour boys had regional qualifiers in Cody Burke, Ethan Malone and Robbie Knoll, with Ian Hensen and Logan Moore serving as alternates. Trinity's Chaz Mathis also made it to regional, and he and Burke then advanced to semistate.

A girls team was formed at Trinity in the 2010-11 season, and Crothersville fielded its first boys team for 2011-12.

Baseball

Trinity won its second sectional title in three years, defeating Northeast Dubois 6-1 in the semifinals and Springs Valley 12-1 in the finals. The Cougars' season ended with a 10-8 loss to the host team in the Loogootee Regional, finishing the year 14-11-1.

Seymour pitcher Matthew Lucas tossed his first varsity no-hitter on April 7 in a 4-0 win at home against Columbus East. He pitched all seven innings and didn't allow any hits or runs and struck out five, and the Owls didn't commit any errors, but Lucas walked two. It was the school's 15th no-hitter.

Seymour had a solid run through the HHC Tournament, holding off Columbus East 2-1 in the opener before shutting out Jennings County 7-0 in the semifinals. In the finals, though, the Owls ran into New Albany pitcher Josh Rogers, who registered 18 strikeouts and only gave up two hits in an 8-1 victory. Seymour's second-place finish was its highest since joining the HHC.

Jennings County later got revenge in the first round of the sectional, beating Seymour 6-4, ending the Owls' season at 10-11.

In the first round of the sectional, Brownstown's Elijah Bean became the fourth Brave to record three home runs in one game in a 13-2 win over West Washington. The Braves then defeated Austin 15-2 to reach the championship game for the second time in three years, but once again fell victim to Providence, 12-2. They finished with a 12-11 mark.

Crothersville tallied a 5-7 record, including a pair of Southern Athletic Conference wins.

Softball

Two teams had new head coaches, with Brian Personett taking over at Seymour and Cindy Alexander leading the way at Trinity.

After beginning the year 0-7, Seymour turned things around and went 10-7, including a three-game winning streak.

Alexander's goal of doubling the win total from the previous year was achieved, as the Lady Cougars went 4-11. The highlight of the season was taking eventual champion Springs Valley to 10 innings in the sectional before falling 2-1.

Brownstown catcher Alli Nolan ended her four-year career with the school record for career home runs with 11, including two her senior season. The Lady Braves achieved one of their preseason goals, finishing with a winning record (15-9), but fell short of their other two, winning the Mid-Southern Conference (tied for third) and capturing a sectional title (lost to Clarksville in first round).

Crothersville's only win of the season was on a forfeit by South Central, which ended up dropping its softball program.

Tennis

Brownstown had another successful boys tennis season, trumping last year's school record with a 25-3 mark. It was the Braves' third straight year posting a winning record.

The Braves won the Brown County Invitational for the third straight year, brought home the trophy from the eight-team Scott County Invitational and capped off the year with the school's second sectional title after defeating Austin and Trinity.

Trinity also had an impressive year, going 10-5. It was only the school's second year playing in the sectional, and the Cougars beat Scottsburg 3-2 to reach the finals.

Seymour's boys team finished the year 5-13. In the HHC Tournament, the Owls went 1-2 for a sixth-place finish.

Trinity's girls team consisted of four players with some experience and five with little or no experience, but the Lady Cougars posted the most wins in school history, going 4-6. They were led by first-year coach Kim Overgaard.

Freshman Calan Blevins posted an impressive 12-4 mark mainly playing the No. 2 singles position, but the Brownstown girls finished with a 4-10 record.

Seymour also had a new girls coach, Tyler Pray, and the Lady Owls went 4-9. That included winning one match each in the HHC Tournament and sectional, but the Owls lost to Austin in the sectional semifinals.

Golf

The highlight of the girls season was Paxton DeHaven, a sophomore at Seymour, marching her way to the state tournament. She won sectional by four strokes and regional by six, and she competed in both days of the state tournament at Franklin and finished tied for 18th.

<p>Brownstown had successful boys and girls seasons, each winning MSC titles, with the boys capturing their third straight. Lady Braves senior Allyson Hackman was medalist of the MSC Tournament.

The Braves set an 18-hole school record with a 300 at Westwood in Scottsburg, and they tied the school record for the lowest-nine hole round with a 147 at Western Hills in Salem. Also, they won the Edgewood Invitational for the second straight year, and at the end of the year, they earned the school's first state ranking in golf (26th).

The Lady Braves set a nine-hole school record with a 164 at Stone Crest in Bedford, and at the end of the year, they placed third at sectional and advanced to regional for the fourth straight season.

Seymour's boys team placed third at sectional to advance to regional for the first time in nearly four years. The Owls also placed third at the HHC Tournament.

The Trinity boys team won its own invitational for the second straight year and captured the Henryville Invitational trophy for the first time. After leading the boys program at Trinity for several years, Greg Personett was asked to take over the girls program as well in the fall.

Crothersville's boys squad placed second in the SAC. At sectional, sophomore Patrick Sweazy shot a 40 on the back nine and finished with an 87, and those were school records for nine holes and 18 holes, respectively.

Track and Field

Jackson County was well-represented at the boys and girls track and field state finals.

In the girls meet, Trinity's Taylor Royalty competed in the 1,600-meter run for the second straight year, Seymour's Maggie Royalty ran the 100-meter dash and was part of the 400-meter relay team and Brownstown's Maria Allen made her second appearance in three years in the long jump.

In the boys meet, Seymour had Jacob Carmichael compete in the 800-meter run and he was part of the 400-meter relay team.

Winning sectional titles were the Seymour boys and Brownstown girls teams, with the Owls winning their sixth straight and the Lady Braves winning their ninth straight.

In conference meets, Seymour's boys placed third and girls sixth, Brownstown's girls won their 10th straight title and the boys also won the MSC trophy and Crothersville's boys placed third and the girls were fourth.

Setting school records were Allen in the 100-meter dash, Sammie Bane in pole vault and the boys 3,200 relay team for Brownstown; Ashley Lambert in the 100 and 200 for Medora; and the Trinity girls in nine of the 15 events in which they competed.

Volleyball

Jackson County had one of the most successful years in volleyball, as Seymour, Brownstown and Trinity captured sectional and regional titles. Trinity went on to win semistate, becoming the first team in school history to do that and then advance to the state finals.

Trinity beat Orleans and Springs Valley in the sectional, rallied to beat Borden in five sets in the regional and knocked off Clay City and No. 4 Loogootee in the semistate.

The sixth-ranked Lady Cougars ended up falling to No. 3 Wes-Del in three sets in the Class A finals match at Ball State University in Muncie. The team was led by first-year head coach Chelsey Hackman, and the team finished 32-6, which was a school record for wins.

Seymour started the year by winning the Borden tournament for the fourth straight year, coach Angie Lucas captured her 500th career victory during the Brownstown Central Invitational and the Lady Owls won their first HHC title. They later won their first sectional title since 1999 and first regional title since 1998 before beating Shelbyville in the semistate semifinals and falling to top-ranked Avon in the finals. The Owls went 31-7.

Setting school records were Mackenzie Wieneke (career serve receive and season and career digs), Jessica Lucas (season assists) and Nicole Hoene (season and career assist blocks).

During the regular season, Brownstown went 9-0 in capturing its 13th straight MSC title, and in the MSC match against Clarksville, Momoe Teruya, a foreign exchange student from Japan, served all 25 points of a set. In the postseason, the Braves competed in Class 3A for the first year, defeating North Harrison, Silver Creek and Salem for the sectional title and Batesville for the regional crown before falling to Bishop Chatard in four sets in the semifinals of semistate. They finished 32-5.

Crothersville's squad faced some adversity late in the season when three players were injured in a match at Medora. They had to miss some matches before returning right before sectional. In the first round of the sectional, Crothersville met Springs Valley and battled through five sets before falling. The Lady Tigers finished with a 14-11 record.

Medora had a new head coach in Sara Carney, and the Lady Hornets collected three more wins than the previous year, going 5-19. Three of the losses were in four sets and two were in five.

The end of the season was capped off with Trinity's Sam Stuckwisch and Emma Franke and Brownstown's Hailey Brown playing for Senior All-Star teams; Trinity's Sarah Stuckwisch and Brownstown's Abbi Shade playing for the Junior All-Star team; and Hackman and Lucas coaching all-star teams. Hackman was named the Class A South Coach of the Year, while Lucas was the Class 4A South Coach of the Year.

Soccer

A pair of soccer teams had new coaches this year, with Matt Dennis leading the Seymour boys and Justin Vorthmann taking over the Trinity program.

Seymour went 8-8-1, including 2-4-1 in the HHC for sixth place. Four losses were by one goal, including the sectional match against Columbus East. Andrew Bailiff led with 18 goals and had four assists, and he was selected to play in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Showcase Games.

Trinity worked with a young team, and the Cougars finished 5-9-2. The highlight was repeating as Cougar Cup champions, and that included Trinity and Silver Creek going scoreless through regulation in a first-round match and ending in a shootout, in which both teams had 13 players kick and the Cougars won 9-8.

The Seymour girls team finished with a winning record of 8-6-3, including going 3-2-1 in the HHC and placing third. Heather Jones set a school record with 25 goals, and she finished her four-year career with 95 goals, which also is a school record. She played in the ISCA Showcase Games for the second straight year.

Cross Country

The Seymour boys cross country team advanced to the state meet for the first time since 2007 after filling the sixth and final qualifying spot at semistate.

Joe Trueblood won the regional race and then led the team by placing 10th at semistate, recording a 15:50, which is the second-best 5K time in school history.

The boys opened the season by winning the Seymour Invitational and later won the Batesville Invitational. Trueblood and Zoey Johnson of the girls team each had fifth-place finishes in the HHC meet, in which the Owls placed second and the Lady Owls placed fourth. The girls team later won the Pre-State Meet at Brown County before working their way to semistate for the first time since 2007.

The Trinity girls placed third at sectional and regional before advancing to semistate for the second straight year. Taylor Royalty set the course record and had her season-best time of 18:51 in winning sectional, and she also won regional. The Lady Cougars won five invitationals.

Both Brownstown teams qualified for regional, and then Hope Lockman advanced to semistate for the fourth straight year. The Lady Braves won the Jac-Cen-Del Invitational. In the MSC, the girls placed third and the boys placed sixth.

Crothersville had 14 boys and only two girls run, while Medora only had three boys and three girls. Crothersville's boys team placed fifth in the SAC. Medora was led by first-year coach Matt Myers.

Football

Once again, the Jackson Bowl game between Seymour and Brownstown was a thriller.

Brownstown had a late go-ahead touchdown before Seymour had a missed extra point, resulting in the Braves winning 21-20.

That set the Braves' record at 6-0, and they went on to finish the regular season with a 9-0 mark, including going 7-0 in the MSC. A week after beating Corydon Central 33-26 at home for the MSC crown, the Braves went flat in a first-round sectional game at Corydon and lost 35-13.

Setting school records were Jake Brown (most passes attempted in a game and most completed in a game) and Wade Toppe (career reception yards), while Nick Stahl tied the record for the longest field goal.

Steffen Lewis was the kicker for the South team in the Grange Insurance North-South All-Star Classic. Lewis made two PATs and a 29-yard field goal for a game-leading seven points in the 13-7 win. He was the 12th Brave selected to play in the game, and he was the first kicker chosen and the first to score.

The Braves junior varsity team also went undefeated (8-0), and a freshman team was fielded for the first time in nearly 15 years.

Seymour's loss in the Jackson Bowl game set the Owls' record at 0-6, and they finished with a 2-8 mark.

Setting school marks were Wade Fox (longest pass reception, longest touchdown pass reception, most yards by reception, pass receptions for a season and yards by reception for a season), Bryce Werskey (tackles for a season and tackles for a career) and Grant Hubbard (pass receptions in a game). Also, Fox tied school records for kick returns in a game and touchdowns by reception for a game.

Cheerleading

In January at Indianapolis, the Seymour cheerleaders finished as runners-up in the Advanced Large Varsity Division at the JAMfest SuperNationals. The first JAMMY Awards were held, and Seymour won the Best School Spirit Award for having the best school spirit in the nation, and coach Carol Lambring was a finalist in the Best Coach of the Year category.

In February, the squad placed second in the Level 4 Large Varsity Division at the CHEERSPORT National Cheerleading Competition at Atlanta, Ga.

Seymour went back to Indianapolis in November for the JAMfest Regional Cheerleading Competition, and the junior varsity and varsity squads competed together and won the Advanced Large Varsity Division title as well as the overall grand champion award. Seymour also captured the Spirit Award.

In late October, Brownstown's squad placed second out of 10 teams in the coed varsity division at the Indiana Association of School Principals State Championship Preliminary Competition.

A few weeks later, the squad competed in the Indiana Cheerleading State Championships at New Castle and placed third.

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