Daily Reporter staff reports
BOYS SOCCER
Dragons close to title
New Palestine’s boys soccer team earned a 2-1 win at Delta on Saturday, giving the Dragons a 5-1 record in Hoosier Heritage Conference play.
A win Thursday at home against Pendleton Heights would lock up at least a share of the conference title.
Levi Miller scored in the final minute against Delta to secure the win. Nick Martin also added a goal for New Palestine (10-3-1). In goal, Erik Silvey had eight saves.
Girls soccer
Dragons blank Tigers
New Palestine’s girls soccer team won again Saturday, 2-1 against Lawrence Central, to improve to 11-3.
The win gives the Dragons four straight victories with only two games remaining on the schedule.
Katie Villiger and Meaghan Matus each scored for New Palestine. Gabbie Pierson collected the shutout.
“There were many shots that were just wide and too many corner kicks that we failed to net,” Dragon coach Gina Fannin said. “We have a few things to clean up before sectional week. It’s always a work in progress.”
Mt. Vernon handles Delta
Delta made the road trip to Mt. Vernon on Saturday and went home empty-handed with a 10-0 loss.
Morgan Scruggs and Cleo Mills each registered hat tricks in the win as the Marauders scored six goals in the opening half.
“It was the first time we have had everyone back healthy,” head coach Steve Williams said. “We did a great job of connecting passes and looking for the open player. Delta was struggling, and we sub out the starters in both halves.”
Boys tennis
Royals finish 3rd
Eastern Hancock’s tennis team finished third behind Lapel and Shenandoah on Saturday at its own invitational.
At No. 2 singles, Garek Ferguson made it to the finals before losing 6-4, 6-3. Teammate Corbin Jennings also made it to the finals at No. 3 singles but lost a close match, 6-7, 6-4, 11-9.
The Royals are 9-6 and 4-4 in the Mid Hoosier Conference.
Cross-country
Dragons 2nd at Madison
New Palestine’s girls cross-country team followed up its Hancock County meet win with a second-place finish at the Madison Courier Invitational Saturday. Eleven teams were in the girls race.
The boys finished fifth out of a 13-team field.
Meade County (Kentucky) won the girls race with 41 points in front of the Dragons’ 100.
Sarah Schwartz led New Palestine with an eighth-place finish in 21:06.4. Mattie Waggoner was 11th in 21:20.4, while Julie Strange finished 29th (22:44.1). Emma Wiggington came in 32nd (22:51.5), and Bailey Wallace was 34th (22:58.6).
For the boys, Kyler Harrison placed 18th (17:10.6), and junior Chase Crowder was 19th (17:13.2). Drew Austin came in 30th (17:39.2), while Riley Wilson was 35th (17:49.4) and Drew Legan was 39th (17:54.8).
Both teams will compete at the Hoosier Conference meet Oct. 2.
Noble finishes second at New Haven
Mt. Vernon’s boys cross-country team finished fourth out of 20 teams Saturday at the New Haven Invitational.
Christian Noble led the Marauders with a second-place finish in 15:26. Homestead’s Brayden Law beat Noble for the first time this season in 15:18.
Teammate Aaron Rush finished second for Mt. Vernon with a fifth-place finish in 15:52.
On the girls side, Chelsea Foster led the Marauders with a 38th-place finish in 20:53, while Elena Rohrwasser was 47th in 21:37.
Cathedral edges Cougars at Delta
Greenfield-Central’s boys cross-country team finished second behind Cathedral on Saturday at the Delta Invitational.
Zach Bishop took the individual title for the Cougars in 16:06.
Tyler Morris was fourth in 16:22 for Greenfield-Central, while Jacob (Miguel) Hansen was eighth in 16:40.
The Cougars finished with 56 points to Cathedral’s 31. New Castle was third with 103.
Royal girls take second
Eastern Hancock’s girls cross-country team placed second Saturday out of the nine-team field at Delta Invitational.
Union City took the team title with 49 points to the Royals’ 62.
Freshman Taylor Stine was the individual champion in personal-record time (20:27). Karlee Gray was second with a 22:17 for 14th place, followed by Cara Johnson in 15th, and Hope Spaulding in 16th.
The boys team finished seventh with 168 points. Wapahani won with 44 points.
Junior Gabe Blake led Eastern Hancock in 17:23 for a third-place finish among 70 runners.
Tommaso Gelmetti was 25th in 19:10, while Zach Sickle came in 56th in 22:41. Kenny Bunnell was right behind Sickle in 57th at 22:49, and Kyle Moore completed the team’s scoring in 61st in 23:13.
Volleyball
Marauders take Cougar Challenge, Greenfield-Central finishes third
Mt. Vernon won its third Saturday tournament of the season at Greenfield-Central this past weekend.
The Marauders beat Danville, Homestead and Plainfield in straight sets, then lost to the Cougars 2-1.
Due to set percentage, Mt. Vernon won after a three-way tie at 1-1 in pool play.
For the Marauders, Mary Grace Ertel and Jaclyn Bulmahn led the team with 39 kills apiece throughout the tournament, while Julia Wayer led the way defensively with 65 digs.
The Cougars were 3-1 overall defeating Anderson 2-0 and Batesville 2-0 in addition to Mt. Vernon. They lost to Danville 0-2.
Their match with Mt. Vernon featured a 25-23 first-set win and a 15-10 decisive third game victory after falling 25-12 in the second.
Rachel Irbe led Greenfield-Central with 39 kills and nine aces. Courtney Marchello had 21 digs. Molly Broome provided 69 assists. Laura Banton stepped up with 13 kills in the Cougars win against the Marauders.
Eastern Hancock eases past Indianapolis Arlington
The Royals earned a 2-0 home win against visiting Indianapolis Arlington on Saturday.
Eastern Hancock won easily 25-14, 25-10.
Caitlin Richmond led the team with three kills, while Haley Best added four digs. Laurie Eells contributed six assists in the win.
