1. Crown Point wins wrestling team state title; five Region wrestlers claim crowns
Loud sirens aren't usually involved in a positive story, but when the Crown Point wrestling team used a police escort to take a victory lap around its town's famous square the night of Feb. 28, the Bulldogs were overjoyed.
Hours earlier, C.P. prevailed against Perry Meridian, Indianapolis Cathedral and Roncalli to win the Team State Finals at Center Grove High School. The Bulldogs became the first wrestling team from the Region to win a state team championship since Chesterton in 1989 and the first Crown Point boys team to capture an IHSAA state title since the school won a boys tennis state championship in 1972.
There was no way they weren't going to celebrate.
"Wow, it's crazy," said then-senior Jim Bakalik, who went 2-1 in the 215-pound weight class at the team finals. "We worked so hard our senior year, and it finally paid off. After the last couple years when we fell short, it feels great."
A week earlier, three of C.P.'s most prolific wrestlers -- Anthony Hawkins (112), Jason Tsirtsis (125) and Marcus Shrewsbury (189) -- won individual state titles. Hobart's Frankie Porras (130) and Portage's Sean McMurray (152) also won state crowns, giving the Region five individual state champions in 2009.
And apparently, Big Ten coaches were paying close attention to this story and its major players. Shrewsbury is a freshman wrestler at Northwestern, and Porras and McMurray have committed to continue their athletic careers at Purdue and Michigan State, respectively.
-- Nate Ulrich
2. Chesterton boys, led by Kyle Whitaker, dominate state swimming meet en route to another title
Kyle Whitaker and Chesterton flexed their muscles once again at the IHSAA boys state swimming meet, taking their second straight team crown. The Trojans won the crown with 222 points. Whitaker led the way, setting a national record en route to the 200-yard individual medley crown (1:45.25). He also repeated his victory in the 100 fly, barely edging Munster's Kevin Behrens, 48.00 to 48.18.
"It was a good time and all," Whitaker said. "Now that that's done and over with, I've just got to stay hungry, come back next year and hopefully go faster."
Whitaker's seven career state titles now rank him third in Indiana history behind Carmel's Jason Lancaster (12) and Grant Wieczorek (11).
Teammate Bill Bass repeated in the 500 free and also won the 200 free. Tyler Fozkos won the 50 free. Whitaker, Bass and Fozkos teamed with Matt Rosiecki to reset their record mark in the 200 medley relay (1:32.01).
-- Jim Hunsley
3. Munster's Mary Hill becomes first Region girls singles player to win state championship
Munster graduate Mary Hill sure knew how to stage a grand finale.
In her final prep tennis match, Hill avenged her only high school loss and became the first female singles player from Northwest Indiana to win an individual state title.
By defeating Columbus North junior Caroline Hedrick 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the championship match of the individual state tournament June 13 at North Central High School, Hill finished her prep career with a record of 104-1. She is the winningest girls singles player in IHSAA history, a fact that influenced her selection as The Times Female Athlete of the Year for 2009.
Hedrick was the defending state champion, and she had beaten Hill the year before in a state semifinal. Hill's ability to prevail against the only opponent who had put a blemish on her prep record only added more prestige to the her triumphant moment.
"This isn't even real. It doesn't even feel real," said Hill, who's now a freshman tennis player at Coastal Carolina University, after she defeated Hedrick. "(I wanted this) more than I've wanted pretty much anything in this world."
-- Nate Ulrich
4. Boys hoops season creates fiascoes at Triton and Plymouth, while Munster makes semistate run
Last March's regional round of the boys basketball tournament was quite strange. In the Class A Triton Regional, Bowman Academy beat Caston 55-28, but the Eagles lost standout freshman DeJuan Marrero when he received two technical fouls, one for hanging on the rim and one for striking the backboard on a blocked-shot attempt. The double technical meant that Marrero could not play in the championship game, where Bowman lost to Triton 60-58.
Down the road at Plymouth, Roosevelt fans were shocked when a police dog was brought into the Class 3A championship game, which the Panthers lost 57-52 to Rochester. The IHSAA apologized when news of the dog got out, and the organization recently moved that regional to Chesterton. Bowman coach and athletic director Marvin Rea appealed the Marrero suspension, hoping to get the Triton game replayed, but the appeal eventually was dropped.
And while drama played out in those classes, Munster dominated Class 4A locally and reached the semistate. The Mustangs went 24-2, won their first sectional since 2000 and earned the program's first regional title before losing to Fort Wayne Snider by three points in the round of four.
-- Steve Hanlon
5. Andrean wins Class 3A baseball state championship
In a high school baseball season that saw most of March, large portions of April and the sectional, regional and semistate rounds washed away by rain, the Andrean 59ers let it all run off their backs when they walked into Victory Field in Indianapolis in June.
Andrean set a state record with two homers in a Class 3A state finals game -- including Mike Pokers' inside-the-park home run -- in a 6-3 win over West Vigo for the school's second state baseball trophy.
Pokers, one of five Division I seniors on the team, hit the right field wall in the third inning and turned on the speed as he rounded third, coming in as the second run of the hit.
Utility infielder Ryan Dineen went 3-for-3, coming a home run away from hitting for the cycle.
"Somebody asked me how does this team stack up against the other Andrean teams; this is the best," said coach Dave Pishkur, whose team was ranked No. 1 in Class 3A to start the season. "It's tough being the favorite right from the beginning of the year and carry it all through the season."
-- Hillary Smith
6. Valpo defends gymnastics title to take all-time state lead; Kellie Kidd defends her all-around title
The Vikings staked their claim as the top gymnastics program in the state, winning the title for a seventh time and breaking a tie with Homestead for most championships in the process.
Valparaiso scored 113.575, easily outdistancing runner-up Indianapolis Roncalli (106.6).
Kellie Kidd won three individual events and defended her all-around title with a score of 38.85. She repeated as balance beam titlist with a 9.6 and also claimed top honors for floor exercise (9.75) and vault (9.8). Kidd was second on uneven bars (9.7). She is the fourth Viking gymnast to win state all-around twice, joining Gina Massuda, Rebekah Porter and current assistant coach Angie (Cook) Moon. Her six individual crowns also puts her in select company. Only sixth other gymnasts have captured that many titles.
Valpo also received strong performances in the victory from freshman Steffanie Long, who placed third on floor exercise, and senior Emily Holmen, who finished fifth on bars and seventh on beam.
"They do more than we ask of them and we ask a lot," said Valpo coach Lorie Cook, who has guided the Vikings to all seven championships. "Obviously, they are very talented kids. If they don't work hard, this doesn't happen. We had to put a lot of young kids in a highly competitive situation without a lot of experience, and they just kept going up and up and up, time after time. They were amazing."
-- Jim Peters
7. Lowell football team plays in third state championship game in five years
Kirk Kennedy and his Lowell football program advanced to the Class 4A state championship game for the third time in five years. On the legs of standout running back Brandon Grubbe, who became the Region's all-time leading rusher this year, Lowell went on a postseason run that was more than remarkable.
Lowell opened sectional play with a 14-6 win over Plymouth (9-1), then picked up a 24-7 win over South Bend Washington (8-3). The Red Devils won their seventh straight sectional crown with a 63-23 victory over Concord (8-4). That was followed by a 42-0 win over Morton (11-2) in the regional and a 24-21 conquest over Fort Wayne Dwenger (13-1) in the semistate.
A 23-9 loss to Evansville Reitz at Lucas Oil Stadium capped Lowell's season. The record of Lowell's postseason opponents before the kickoff of the game against the Red Devils was 63-6.
-- Steve Hanlon
8. Harangody flirts with NBA
It really came down to finishing his senior year at Notre Dame with teammates he thoroughly enjoyed and hopefully leading the Irish deep into the NCAA tournament.
That was Luke Harangody's reasoning for withdrawing his name from the 2010 NBA draft, though the 6-foot-8, 240-pound Andrean grad did test the waters early at the pre-draft camp in Chicago and later worked out for eight teams around the country.
Harangody averaged 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds his junior season, needing only 738 points to break Austin Carr's regular-season career scoring record at Notre Dame.
"I think there's a lot of unfinished business. He wants to spend another year just being a kid," said 1976 Whiting grad Dave Harangody, Luke's dad. "He really enjoys his teammates and coaches. The chance of getting back to the NCAA tournament was another factor.
"He's got the world lifted off his shoulders now."
On June 16, Luke Harangody announced he'd be returning to school during a news conference at the Joyce Center Auditorium.
"I told Luke the NBA will always be there and he can improve his stock. The NBA knows what he can do," Dave said. "A year from now, he'll be that much bigger, stronger and his game will have developed that much more."
-- Al Hamnik
9. Octavius James dies at 36; Tyree Ortiz takes over as CEO of One In A Million Boxing
Class. Caring. Generous.
Those three words best described local boxing promoter Octavius James, who died on July 24 at the age of 36.
The Gary native was CEO of One In A Million Boxing, which put on competitive Las Vegas-style cards throughout the Midwest and gave many Region fighters a chance to chase their dream.
A near-capacity crowd of 500 mourners turned out for James' funeral at Gary's New Hope Missionary Baptist church.
"Octavius always put people before him," said Hobart fighter Ed Ochoa, a 2001 T.F. North grad. "He's given a lot of people chances to take a step forward in life, and that's what we are gonna miss.
"It's gonna be tough without him, but we'll take the traits he instilled in us and take them as far as we can."
Tyree Ortiz, a promising young heavyweight, served as James' general manager before taking over as One In A Million's new CEO.
"Octavius basically raised me the last seven years," Ortiz said. "He was my big brother. He was my world."
-- Al Hamnik
10. Jeff Samardzija starts for Cubs and is routed by Phillies at Wrigley Field
Jeff Samardzija got to know the trip from Chicago to Des Moines all too well.
The Cubs pitcher and Valparaiso product spent the season shuttling between the big club in the Windy City and the Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, as the organization tried to find the role that suited him best.
He spent much of the year coming out of the bullpen before making his first major league start Aug. 12 against Philadelphia and Pedro Martinez. The world champion Phillies roughed him up for eight hits and seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. He fared better Sept. 23 at Milwaukee, lasting five innings over which he yielded five hits and three runs. Samardzija homered in the game. A third start was rained out in the fourth inning with Cubs trailing the Pirates 3-0.
Samardzija finished the season with a 1-3 record and an inauspicious 7.53 earned run average. Command of a second pitch remained to be an issue for the right-hander and will continue to be the concern going forward as Samardzija slowly begins to ebb from the label of promising prospect.
"He's on the right path," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He just needs to get more consistent and winter ball will give him that opportunity. It will get him ready for next spring."
Samardzija showed some progress in the Mexican Fall League, going 2-0 over 24 innings with a 2.25 ERA for Mexicali.
"We've made some adjustments in his delivery and we want him to go over there to continue," said Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild, a Homewood-Flossmoor grad. "He needs the starts and gets the sides in, in between, and gets in situations where he needs to use the breaking ball and repeat it. He can use the changeup, too. It just gives us a chance to watch him face hitters three or four times through the lineup and how he's repeating things."
-- Jim Peters
HONORABLE MENTIONS
John Boyd leaves West Side boys basketball team for Michigan City head coaching job
Four local softball teams make state finals
Gary pro boxer Charles "Duke" Tanner sentenced to life in prison for drug charges
East Chicago's Miguel Torres loses WEC bantamweight title with first loss in nearly six years
Homer Drew earns win No. 600 despite fielding one of his worst teams
RailCats reach unprecedented fifth straight Northern League Championship Series; Greg Tagert named NL Manager the Year
Three Region girls win state track titles, and Pirates star Rebecca Neville goes on to fare well nationally
