MALE
Blake Barker // Columbus North senior basketball player
Barker led the Bull Dogs with 21 points in a 61-51 loss at Carmel, 26 points in Friday’s 71-62 victory at Jennings County and 23 points in Saturday’s 68-34 win at Seymour.
His performance last week: “I felt it was a good start to the season, and I just think it’s going to get better as we keep moving forward.”
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Do you do anything special to prepare? “I really just try to relax a lot and don’t try to stress myself out with doing too much stressful stuff during the day. I just try to get relaxed and focused on the game.”
Favorite drink: “Body Armor”
Favorite food: “Kraft mac and cheese”
Favorite class: “Statistics”
Favorite sports team: “Army-West Point (where Barker will play next year)”
Favorite athlete: “Michael Jordan”
Role model: “My dad (Lance Barker)”
Best advice: “Probably the best advice with COVID and everything going on is to never take anything for granted. Just be thankful for everything and take advantage of the opportunities you have.”
Athletics goal: “I would really like to win sectional this year.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Probably Hawaii, because of the weather and the beaches.”
FEMALE
Sydney Jaynes // Trinity Lutheran senior basketball player
Jaynes led the Cougars with 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots in a 63-15 win over Providence and recorded 22 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in Saturday’s 56-51 win over Southwestern (Shelby).
Her performance last week: “I thought it was OK. I still have a ton to work on, but our team is starting to mend really well, and we’re starting to trust each other.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “I just go shoot and stretch and just get in the mindset and think about what I need to do in the game beforehand so that I actually do them.”
Favorite drink: “Chocolate milk”
Favorite food: “Pizza”
Favorite class: “I’m taking Calculus this year, and I really like that class.”
Favorite sports team: “Butler and Indiana Pacers”
Favorite athlete: “A couple years ago, Frank Kaminski played Wisconsin, and they called him ‘Frank the Tank.’ So for a couple years, my parents called me ‘Frank the Tank.’”
Role model: “My (assistant) coach, Donna Sullivan and my mom (Mary Jaynes). We’re just so similar, and she is what I aspire to be someday.”
Best advice: “’Always do the little things.’ I think I was just fortunate to have great coaches at (St. John) Sauers, and that’s something that stuck with me.”
Athletics goal: “We would like to win regional and see where we go from there. My personal goal would be whenever I’m at Butler to contribute my fair share. I just want to make everyone happy around me and do what others need me to do.”
If you could travel anywhere: “There’s this small town in Switzerland that is just my speed, and I would love to travel there in the winter because of the snow.”
