GREENFIELD — There is a lot to look out for this fall among Hancock County’s sports teams.
One state champion — the New Palestine football team — looks to defend its state crown. Eight different county teams across all sports won sectional championships a year ago, while three won regional titles and five were conference champions.
Records are likely to be broken in 2019. Sectionals are sure to be won, as are more conference championships.
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With a new school year comes new storylines. Here’s just some of what to watch as fall sports officially kick into high gear this week.
Spegal set to smash state record
New Palestine running back Charlie Spegal has had a prolific career thus far, leading the state in rushing in 2018 and leading the nation in scoring while earning numerous accolades in the process, including Hancock County Offensive Player of the Year. His huge rushing totals have left him within striking distance of Indiana’s all-time rushing yardage leader, Sammy Mireles of Elwood, who set the career mark in 2013.
Spegal, currently at 7,699 rush yards, will, health-permitting, likely pass Mireles’ total of 8,110 sometime in the first few games of the season. The Dragons’ standout is also quickly climbing several other all-time leaderboards, and could leave New Palestine will multiple state records. If he puts up comparable numbers to his incredible 2018, he could find himself among the finalists for Mr. Football at the end of his high school career.
Dragons look to defend title
Speaking of the New Palestine football team, the Dragons are the defending Class 5A champions and have yet to lose during the regular season in coach Kyle Ralph’s tenure. The regular-season opponents remain the same, with the big hurdle coming in Week 2 as they travel to Center Grove to try to repeat a statement victory from 2018, this time on the road.
The Dragons should enter the season ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and will be favorites to make it to Lucas Oil Stadium again. The sectional and regional roads have changed significantly, though, making the early stages of the tournament arguably tougher than it was in 2018. Anything less than another deep tournament run would be a surprise.
Kirschner, Armstrong enter Year 2
While Greenfield-Central is the only county football team boasting a new coach, Travis Nolting, both Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock look to make big strides this season in Year 2 for their coaches.
At Mt. Vernon, former state champion coach Mike Kirschner made a huge impact in his first year at the school, leading the Marauders to a 7-4 record and 5-2 run in the Hoosier Heritage Conference, good for second place. Three all-county players have graduated and the Marauders will have a new quarterback, receiving corps and several other new pieces, but Mt. Vernon could be poised to continue the momentum it built in the second half of next season.
At Eastern Hancock, county coaching veteran Doug Armstrong, who picked up a milestone 100th win last season, brings back a huge majority of his team from last year’s group that finished 3-7. The Royals are in a strong position to finish above .500 this year, with many key pieces entering just their sophomore seasons with the team and two all-county selections returning.
Can Cougars pull off sectional repeat?
The Greenfield-Central volleyball team made a big impression last fall, winning their first sectional title in 31 years and finishing with a 23-12 record. The Cougars have a new coach this year, Ron Heck, but return many important pieces. That includes all-county player Ava Antic, along with the state’s freshman leader in assists, Morgan Hornaday, among others.
The path to another sectional championship gets significantly harder, though, as the Cougars are now part of a sectional that includes powerhouses Yorktown and New Castle, which have combined to win four state titles in the past three years. And don’t forget Mt. Vernon, who returns Player of the Year Victoria Bulmahn, three all-county players and almost its entire lineup.
Marauders become road warriors
The Mt. Vernon boys tennis team, which challenged New Palestine last year but fell short of county and sectional supremacy, saw its path get more challenging early this summer with the approval of new tennis courts at the school.
Ongoing construction on the new courts means the Marauders will likely spend their entire season on the road. The Marauders are in a similar position to New Palestine and Greenfield-Central, having lost most of their varsity lineups to graduation, but they have the added challenge of possibly never playing on their home court as they look to finally topple the Dragons, who have won nine straight county titles and seven straight sectionals.
Can anyone stop the Cougars?
The Greenfield-Central boys soccer team enters 2019 as the defending HHC and sectional champions, having completed a perfect 7-0 conference run a year ago as part of a 14-4 season. The Cougars eventually fell in the regional to state runner-up Zionsville, but they are looking for a deeper tournament run this year.
Greenfield-Central returns the Boys Soccer Player of the Year, Zack Bell, along with five total all-county players. The Cougars will be tough to topple, and their biggest competitor from a year ago, Mt. Vernon, graduated the county’s leading scorer, Tylin Broaders, though they do return several all-county players themselves.
Who will emerge in girls soccer?
On the other side of the soccer spectrum, things look more wide open for the girls teams. New Palestine has moved into the same sectional as Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon, a year after the Dragons won a 2A sectional title.
All three teams will be significantly different this season. The Dragons have a new class, new sectional and new coach, former Greenfield-Central coach Erin Clark. All three teams graduated several key pieces, including the Marauders losing the county’s two leading scorers, Alexi Hardie and Cleo Mills, while the Cougars will be without Player of the Year Lucy Brand, who is now at Xavier. Six all-county players have graduated while five are back. The Marauders dominated the HHC a year ago, with the Dragons and Cougars tying with Pendleton Heights for second place in the conference.
Familiar faces fill golf course
Most of the notable names from last year’s girls golf season will be back on the course this fall, as all five golfers who earned all-county status at last year’s meet are back for another season. Annaliese Fox, the reigning Girls Golfer of the Year, will look to lead her Dragons teammates to the state tournament with her this year.
The Marauders return county runner-up Alaina Nugent, who also advanced to the regional as an individual, and the Cougars will have two all-county faces back themselves in Caroline Gibson and Haley Hoagland. New Palestine won the sectional last year and Greenfield-Central was runner-up.
Who can catch the Dragons?
When it comes to cross-country, the New Palestine Dragons are the class of Hancock County. Both the Dragons boys and girls team won the HHC meet and the county meet last year. The boys added sectional and regional titles, while the girls were second in the sectional and won the regional.
Every county team has several key faces back but lose several graduated athletes. Cross-country Athlete of the Year Brenna Shaw is back at New Palestine, but the Dragons boys will have to replace the top finisher at conference, county, sectional, regional and semistate, Drew Austin, as they look to continue their dominance.