by Gary Andrews

The Northfield Lady Norse hosted their annual invite Saturday with Fairfield, Concord and Heritage Christian paying a visit. Northfield would face off against Fairfield in game one, shaking a slow start and hanging on for a 50-43 win. The Norse would then get to face 2A #1 Heritage Christian in the final, falling 70-33.

In the morning session, Northfield took a while to get awake and trailed 9-5 after the first quarter against Fairfield. With balanced scoring the Norse took off in the second quarter with six different players scoring to erase their deficit and led 20-14 at the half. Payton Thomson led the surge with 5 points.

by Gary Andrews

The Manchester girls’ varsity basketball team hung with Winamac for three quarters Saturday before falling 50-34 to the visitors.

Leading the Lady Squires was Sydney Snep with 9 points and 8 rebounds. Tabby DeWitt had 8 points and 11 rebounds. Cierra Carter had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Drew Thompson had 3 points. Kaitlyn Parrett, Brooklyn Howard and Ellie Milam each had 2 points.

The junior varsity fell as well in a 25-23 loss.

Bailey Sewell led with 9 points and 8 rebounds. Emily Haecker added 3 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Drew Thompson and Hanna Olk each had 3 points.

by Gary Andrews

The Apaches went on the road Friday to Gas City to open their 2013-14 season against Mississinewa and with a balanced offense cruised past the host Indians 52-28.

The Apaches would win every quarter, leading 10-9 after one and 27-17 at the half.

The Lady Apaches would go on to out score Mississinewa 25-11 in the second half for the 52-28 win.

Leading the way for Wabash was Claire Cromer with 16 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 4 assist. Kyleigh Hampton added 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 3 assist. Sarah Puckett had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 3 assists. Lyndsie Thomas had 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 2 assists. Jaclyn Lewis had 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Kristin Cromer had 1 point, 1 steal. Kristen Ford had 3 rebounds, 2 assists. Sarah Ritter had 1 steal.

by Gary Andrews

For three quarters Saturday the Northfield Lady Norse basketball team dominated Oak Hill, leading by 19 points after three quarters, before running into major foul trouble and having to hang on for a 63-59 win to open their season.

Payton Thomson got the scoring started with a free throw, followed by a Katie Stephan three and Northfield led 4-0. The Norse would build their lead to 9-4 with a bucket from Arie Kennedy and a Thomson three before the Eagles got it back to 10-8. Sidney Reed would then hit two free throws that were answered by an Oak Hill bucket to make it 12-11 before buckets from Kylie Echard and Stephan gave Northfield a 16-11 lead after one.

By Gary Andrews

Bolstered by four all-region efforts, Manchester University, ranked No. 4 on the current United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III Great Lakes regional poll, battled through a strong field at the 2013 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional meet Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Spartans finished with 109 points, good for third place in the 39-team field gathered at Calvin College’s Gainey Athletic Fields. Senior Curtis Nordmann, fresh off the individual Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship, placed fifth, while seniors Michael Stocker (Yorktown), Jon Cafarelli (Lansing, Ill.) and Chris LaFree (South Bend) joined the Black and Gold’s all-region list with 10th, 21st and 30th-place marks.

by Gary Andrews

The girls TRC basketball jamboree was held Thursday at Manchester with seven of the eight conference teams participating. Each team played two quarters with Northfield defeating Whitko in quarter one 9-7, Whitko topping North Miami 19-6 in quarter two, Northfield beating North Miami 15-7 in quarter three, Wabash defeating Manchester 23-0 in quarter four, Rochester nipping Wabash 14-13 in quarter five, Rochester topping Southwood 13-6 in quarter six and Manchester downing Southwood 12-9 in quarter seven.

The four county teams’ coaches got a chance to take a look at returning players and the youngsters coming in that could lend a hand.

Geoff Salmon is coaching Northfield in his first year at the school. Salmon comes in with a 104-107 career record, winning a state championship in 2005 with Lafayette Central Catholic. Last year, the Lady Norse were 16-6, falling to Wabash in the sectional. Northfield lost Sydney Eltzroth, who was the 6th leading scorer in the TRC at 11.6ppg. Eltzroth was second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage and 5th in free throw percentage. She was also second in steals. Northfield returns a slue of talent in seniors Sidney Reed 10.6ppg, Katie Stephan 7.8ppg and Kylie Echard 6.7ppg. Juniors Cherish Leming and Arie Kennedy had a major impact last year and will play a major roll this year. The Lady Norse have a solid sophomore class and a promising freshman class.

by Emily Armentrout

emily@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash High School senior Jordan Rauh, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. William Rauh, was recently named to the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association 2013 Academic All-State Honorable Mention list.

To be named to the IHSGCA’s Academic All-State first team and honorable mention, players need to be nominated by their coaches, be on a varsity athletic team, have at least a 3.6 GPA on a 4.0 scale and score at least a 1650 on a 2400 SAT test.

Rauh has been on the Wabash golf team since her sophomore year and has received a varsity letter for all four years of high school.

Manchester University will hire a coach to start a swim club in the fall of 2014, with an eye toward a NCAA Division III team competition the following school year, said Rick Espeset, athletic director at Manchester University. The team will practice and compete at Strauss Peabody Aquatic and Fitness Center. Both a men’s and women’s teams are planned.

A sizable gift from an anonymous donor is making the swim program possible, said Melanie Harmon, executive director of development. Use of North Manchester’s Aquatic Center by MU athletes and assistance in operation of the facility will strengthen the University’s connection with the community, Harmon said.