The 2022 Jack Cramer Ideals of Athletic Competition Award winners are, from left, Harry Crider, Carrie Utterback, Sandy Freshour and Bob Arthur. They are pictured Wednesday at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Carrie Utterback, Harry Crider, Sandy Freshour and Bob Arthur all were described as great people of character by their presenters at Wednesday’s Cramer Awards ceremony.
The three coaches, along with Crider, a former local high school, college and pro football player, all talked about what an honor it was to be included in a group of Cramer Award winners that includes some of Columbus’ most famous sports personalities.
“When you give an award to a graduate of the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science, they automatically go into research mode,” Utterback said. “I went on the website, and I looked at the previous winners of this award, and I was just awestruck to be considered in this company and the company of the rest of the award recipients. Then, today, my friend Amy Jackson described Jack Cramer to me, and then we heard a lovely tribute to Jack Cramer. I’m speechless at this point to be even part of this.”
Utterback has been a youth track and swimming coach and has coached swimming at both Columbus East and Columbus North High Schools and was Donner Swim Club president in 2012.
Cramer Award recipient Carrie Utterback speaks at Wednesday’s Cramer Awards at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
But Michelle Genter, who nominated Utterback for the Cramer Award and gave her presentation speech on Wednesday, remembers her from when Utterback was in her decade-long stint in charge of the ToeToken running program at Parkside Elementary, and Genter signed up to volunteer.
“I’ve been friends with Carrie since that first Toe-Token volunteer day all those years ago,” Genter said. “Her sense of what is right guides her in everything she does. Her treatment of the athletes entrusted to her is above reproach, and she is the first to speak up when others cross the line. Her compassion and wisdom have made her the kind of coach that has impacted legions of young people and left a legacy that few coaches ever do. My boys and scores of other student-athletes have benefited from Carrie’s leadership, hard work, commitment and it has been a great pleasure to nominate her for this much-deserved award.”
Crider won the state’s Mr. Football award for offensive linemen and the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award for Class 5A football after leading East to a state runner-up finish in 2016. He also played basketball and baseball for the Olympians before going on to play four years of football at Indiana University.
“He really is an exceptional young man,” said former East football coach and athletics director Bob Gaddis in his presentation speech. “He was just different than all the guys I got to coach because he was the epitome of the student-athlete. He did it all. Harry was dependable, a great leader. Everything that you would want to write down and say, ‘I wish I could coach guys like this,’ is Harry.”
Cramer Award recipient Harry Crider speaks at Wednesday’s Cramer Awards at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
An honorable mention All-Big 10 center for the Hoosiers, Crider signed as a free agent last spring with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. He spent time in training camp with the Eagles and on the practice squad of the Eagles and Denver Broncos before stepping away from football because of a back injury.
Crider, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 10, raised $16,000 through his senior project at East, a fundraising event for the Riley Children’s Foundation. While in college, he continued to volunteer at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, read to local elementary school children and has bagged food for Blessings in a Backpack.
Cramer Award recipient Harry Crider, center, talks with Shayla Holtkamp, left, and Anna Andrews prior to Wednesday’s Cramer Awards program at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
As a senior at IU, Crider was named to the Rimington Trophy Watch list for the nation’s top center. He also was nominated for the Wuerffel Trophy and the Campbell Trophy, both of which recognize on- and off-the field accomplishments, and was a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. He also was selected for the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame’s 2021 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which includes players who maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers.
Crider has returned to Columbus and works for Federated Insurance, a business, life and disability insurance company. He fought back tears during his acceptance speech.
“Being amongst these legends in the community and getting to experience the generosity that this community has for people, so many great leaders that people learn from, and that’s where I owe everything to,” Crider said. “I just thank the town, thank my family. It just means a lot, and I wouldn’t be here without them. As coach Gaddis mentioned, I’m back here in town, so I look forward to continuing to grow these relationships and give back to the community that made me.”
This year’s other two recipients were honored as a tandem. Bob Arthur and Sandy Freshour have coached Columbus North gymnastics for most of the past four decades.
Cramer Award recipient Bob Arthur speaks at Wednesday’s Cramer Awards at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Arthur competed in boys gymnastics at North and has been a coach for the Bull Dog girls program in two stints since 1983. Those two stints sandwiched a venture to Singapore.
“Bob is a loyal, energetic, positive individual who cares about others,” said former Columbus High School and North gymnastics coach John Hinds in his presenting speech. “His enthusiasm as a coach to teach and motivate the gymnasts is a constant. He took his family early on to Singapore to coach there. He is a master of his work. I was grateful to have his leadership. He gives of himself to all for the good of all and the team.”
Among the numerous people Arthur thanked was Bob Welsch, who suggested he give gymnastics a try.
“I had a childhood ailment and missed out on some important times for sports,” Arthur said. “So I wasn’t very good at football, wasn’t very good at basketball. Bob was wonderful because when I washed out at football, Bob said, ‘Arthur, you have good physical strength, especially upper body. I recommend you either check out wrestling or gymnastics.’
“I went into wrestling and spent a couple days in there, and it was fun,” he added. “I enjoyed, but then when gymnastics season started, I walked into that gym, and I looked and saw these guys doing these crazy things — guys on trampoline, guys on still rings, parallel bars, floor and vault — and they were flipping and doing these things, and I thought, ‘Man, this is for me.”
Cramer Award recipient Bob Arthur, right, talks with John and Marianne Hinds prior to Wednesday’s Cramer Awards program at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Arthur and Freshour have led the Bull Dogs to 21 state finals appearances since 1988, including the past 16 years in a row, the state’s longest streak. That run of success included a state title in 2016, when they set the state team scoring record that still stands today.
“At Columbus North High School, we’ve been blessed to have two excellent individuals who have dedicated to keeping our school and our community as the gymnastics capitol of Indiana, and the criteria for the Cramer Award accurately describes both Sandy Freshour and Bob Arthur,” said former North athletics director Hedy George, who presented Freshour. “In my opinion, the most important criteria in being an outstanding coach are really caring about kids, connecting with them and having the passion and then the knowledge of the sport you are coaching, and Sandy fits that perfectly.”
Cramer Award recipient Sandy Freshour speaks at Wednesday’s Cramer Awards at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Freshour, a Brown County native, has been a coach at North since 1988. A track athlete and cheerleader in high school, she did not grow up taking gymnastics, but was friends with an Indiana University gymnast in college, took coaching classes and became a middle school coach in 1979. She coached at Perry Meridian for three years before coming to North.
Freshour is honored “to be in such company of champions, people who have spoken, people who are the next generation of athletes.”
“I love sports,” Freshour said. “I love the whole bag of everything that goes with it — the kids, the families, the athletes. It’s a great thing. We’re doing good for the whole world, I think. When you do this, you serve. You lead, but you serve to make it all a possibility and happen for the kids.”
Cramer Awards chairman Gordon Peters gives opening remarks at Wednesday’s Cramer Awards at Donner Center.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
