CHARLOTTESVILLE — It was a record-breaking winter in Indiana, and not just of the frigid temperature variety.
It was record-cold at the end of January, but the records set at Eastern Hancock High School during the winter sports season were pretty cool, too.
Career records, season marks and a first-time state championship competitor made for an outstanding season for the Royals.
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With a pin during the Perry Meridian Regional, senior wrestler Alexander Burton recorded his 26th of the season, besting the old mark of 25 set by Brian Borgman in 2005.
Burton was excited to get the record when he pinned Perry Meridian’s Jeff McClure to finish third in the tournament, but he would be fine if it didn’t last long.
“I’m hoping Connor Knudson, my practice partner, beats it next year,” Burton said last month in Indianapolis. “It will give him something to shoot for.”
Seniors Jenna Smith and Haley Best, and junior Jocelyn Duncan, made for a number of record updates in girls basketball. Smith became the program’s all-time leader in career rebounds (604), career blocks (88) and career charges taken (10). Best became the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers with 188, but her single-season record of 53 was erased by Duncan, who had 61 this year.
Smith’s 604 boards made her the all-time leader among all Eastern Hancock basketball players. She not only surpassed Cheryl Vail, who grabbed 543 caroms from 1981 to 85, but also bested the boys mark of 588 set last season by Addison True.
“A lot of hard work goes into it,” Smith said. “I feel it’s a huge accomplishment for me and my teammates. They were always pushing me.
“My grandpa always told me there were two constants in basketball — defense and rebounding. To be a good rebounder, you have to have good inside position. It helps that I was taller (Smith was listed at 5-foot-9) and bigger, but you have to have the right mindset, too.”
Along with her club’s individual records, coach Shari Doud’s team set a new mark for least amount of turnovers per game at 11.8.
“We had a very unselfish group of kids and I think that’s why you see more than one set records,” Doud said.
It wasn’t just the veteran athletes getting into the record-setting act. Boys’ basketball freshman Landon O’Neal hit a school-record nine 3-pointers in a 101-28 victory against Union (Modoc) on Senior Night, Feb. 15. Daniel Hubert, in the 1998-99 season, and Ryan Speas, 2015-16, each hit eight.
The team collected a record 21 treys and 25 assists in the victory.
“As a former point guard, I have a special appreciation (for the assist record),” Eastern Hancock boys basketball coach and athletic director Aaron Spaulding said. “People weren’t shot hunting and, as a coach, you always like to see that.
“It is always good to see kids achieve things, but I think the coolest thing was having a girl go to the state finals in swimming,” Spaulding added. “That was the first one in school history.”
While all those records may end up being broken sometime in the future, Martina Romano will always be the first Royal to qualify for the IHSAA Swimming State Finals. Romano, a junior foreign exchange student from Italy, was the sectional champion in the 200 Yard IM and finished 31st in the state meet. She set school records, too, in the 200 IM (2:20.50) and 100 Breaststroke (1:14.44).
“I don’t remember much of (the sectional) race,” swim coach Derek McCormick said. “I was running up and down the pool, I was so excited.
“(Romano) is super-talented, but when she started the season she was nowhere near the times she had at the sectional. She worked really hard.”
The 2018-19 season was the 19th for Royals swimming. The first team competed in 1977, but Eastern Hancock did not field a team from 1981 to 2004.
“I’m proud of all of our teams and accomplishments,” Spaulding added. “All of our winter teams were competitive and improved. Coaches, athletes and our parents collectively working together made that all happen.”
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Eastern Hancock student-athletes and teams broke more than a dozen school records this winter.
Wrestling:
Alexander Burton – Pins in a season, 26
Girls Basketball:
Jenna Smith – Career rebounds (604), career blocks (88), career charges taken (10)
Haley Best – Career 3-pointers, 188
Jocelyn Duncan – Single-season 3-pointers, 61
Team – Fewest turnovers per game, 11.8
Boys basketball:
Landon O’Neal – Single-game 3-pointers, 9
Team – Single-game 3-pointers (21), single-game assists (25)
Girls swimming:
Martina Romano – First state qualifier, 200 IM school record (2:20.50), 100 Breastroke school record (1:14.44)
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