Football players get their chances

Eleven years ago, Columbus East became the first high school in the state to invite college coaches and put on a showcase for its football players.

Now, several high schools around the state are holding “college days” for their players. Following East’s college day Monday afternoon, Columbus North had one across town for most of the same college coaches.

“The main thing is, you want the colleges to see them run around,” East coach Bob Gaddis said. “We hand them a sheet that has their contact information on it and their GPAs and stuff. It’s a really good thing for your players to be seen by the colleges.”

About 30 coaches from schools as big as Purdue and Wisconsin and also from lower levels saw juniors, sophomores and freshmen from East and North go through drills on a chilly and windy day.

Since coaches were allowed to coach only in agility-specific drills, the others were led by the juniors who will be seniors in the fall.

“It was a great opportunity to get our kids exposure to college football coaches,” North coach Tim Bless said. “Obviously, they’ve seen film from the previous year, but it gives them an opportunity to see size, strength and speed on the turf.”

Bull Dogs named state’s best

Two Columbus North girls were recognized as the top athletes in the state in their sport at the Indiana Sports Awards program April 28 in Indianapolis.

Junior Claire Thompson was named Gymnast of the Year for the second consecutive season. Thompson won the beam competition and finished second in the all-around in this year’s state meet, leading the Bull Dogs to a runner-up team finish.

Senior Holly Anderson was selected Girls Golfer of the Year. Anderson won medalist honors at the state tournament to lead North to a third-place team finish.

Crusader signs with Midway

Kyle Marsh didn’t play basketball his sophomore or junior years at Columbus East, but now, he’s on his way to play at Midway (Kentucky).

Marsh spent his senior year at Columbus Christian, helping lead the Crusaders to a National Association of Christian Athletes tournament championship. He signed his national letter-of-intent in a ceremony Monday at Columbus Christian.

Two of Marsh’s travel teammates with the Southern Indiana Shock, Alex Hofer of Seymour and Rich Hall of Eastern (Pekin), already had committed to Midway. Midway went 2-25 in its first season this winter.

“I went down there and really liked it, and felt like it was a place I could call home for four years,” Marsh said. “I liked that I could get in on the bottom floor of the program with the opportunity to get some minutes as a freshman, as well.”

Changes in golf, baseball contests

The Columbus North at Columbus East boys golf match, which was originally scheduled for today, has been moved to Friday at Otter Creek.

Also, North’s home baseball game against Cathedral, which was suspended in the second inning because of lightning and darkness Friday, will be finished May 11.

Conference pairings set

Pairings have been announced for Saturday’s Conference Indiana girls tennis tournament.

No. 12 Columbus North will open with No. 25 Bloomington North at 10 a.m. in the championship bracket at Franklin Central. No. 9 Terre Haute South will meet Franklin Central in the other semifinal, and the winners and losers will meet at around noon.

North’s baseball and softball teams will be in the fifth- through eighth-place brackets on May 13.

The Bull Dogs’ baseball team will play Bloomington North at 10:30 a.m. at Franklin Central. The winner and loser will play Bloomington South and Franklin Central for fifth and seventh place at 3 p.m.

North’s softball team will play Terre Haute South at 10 a.m. at the Miss Softball America Fields in Terre Haute. The winner and loser will play Perry Meridian and Bloomington South for fifth and seventh place at noon.

East ready for HHC tourneys

Pairings also have been announced for next week’s Hoosier Hills Conference baseball, softball and girls tennis tournaments.

Columbus East will visit Jennings County at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the opening round of HHC baseball tourney. The winner and loser will visit the winner and loser between Madison and Bedford North Lawrence on Wednesday. East and Jennings then will host placement-round games May 12.

In softball, East will visit Jeffersonville and Jennings will host New Albany on Monday. The winners and losers will meet at Jennings and New Albany on Wednesday. Both East and Jennings will be on the road for placement-round games May 12.

The East girls tennis team will host all three matches, beginning with Floyd Central on Monday and either Seymour or Bedford on Wednesday. Jennings will host Jeffersonville on Monday, then will visit New Albany or Madison and will play on the road in the placement-round match May 12.

The HHC girls and boys track meets also are next week. The girls will be Tuesday at Seymour, and the boys is May 11 at Madison.

Sectional times, dates set

Dates and times have been determined for the softball sectionals involving Columbus East, Columbus North and Hauser.

South Decatur will play Rising Sun at 5:30 p.m., and Hauser will meet Jac-Cen-Del at 7:30 p.m. May 22 in the opening round of the Rising Sun Sectional. The winners will play at 5:30 p.m. May 23, and the championship game will be at 6 p.m. May 26.

North will play Bloomington South in the Bloomington North Sectional opener at 6 p.m. May 23. The winner will meet Bloomington North or East Central at 6 p.m. May 25, followed by the second semifinal between East and Shelbyville. The final is set for 6 p.m. May 26.

North plans cross-country meeting

New Columbus North cross-country coaches Danny Fisher and Bethany Scruton will host a callout meeting at 6 p.m. May 17 in the LGI room for anyone interested in running for the Bull Dogs this fall and their parents.

Athletes will be given the summer training schedule and will be able to meet the new coaches.