Three Columbus North senior cross-country runners have been selected to this year’s Indiana All-Star teams.
Austin Pulkowski and Andy Stohr, who helped lead the Bull Dog boys to the state championship, are on the 12-member boys squad. Pulkowski finished 16th individually in the state meet, while Pulkowski was 22nd.
Mackenzie Barnett, who led the North girls to a third-place state finish, is on the 12-member girls team. Barnett finished seventh individually at state.
The All-Star teams are open to the top seniors in Indiana. They usually compete against seniors from Illinois, Ohio and Michigan in the Mideast Meet of Champions in November, but that meet was canceled this year because of COVID-19.
Pulkowski and Stohr are the 14th and 15th Bull Dog boys, and Barnett is the 13th North girl to be selected to the Indiana All-Star team for cross-country.
Locals named All-State
Hauser senior Hannah Johnson has been named the the Class A first-team All-State for the third time, and Trinity Lutheran seniors Kennedy Hoffman and Bailey Reynolds were named Class A All-State for the second time by the Indiana High School Volleyball Coaches Association.
Trinity senior Sydney Jaynes and junior Kamzi Gross made the Class A second team.
Earlier this week, nine area players were named to All-District teams and two area coaches were named District Coach of the Year.
Jeff Case, who led Hauser to a regional title, is the Class 1A Central Coach of the Year. Johnson and Jets senior Aunaka Wasil and junior Andie Clark made the All-District team.
Faith Wilder-Newland, who led Trinity to a No. 1 ranking and sectional title, is the 1A South Coach of the Year. Jaynes, Hoffman, Reynolds, Gross and junior Stella Kleffman made the All-District squad.
Columbus East senior Reece Whitehead made the Class 4A South All-District team.
Senior nets acdemic honor
Columbus North senior Luke Enneking has been named Academic All-State by the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association.
IHSTeCA All-State selections must be seniors with at least a 3.8 GPA on a non-weighted 4.0 scale, have at least a 27 on the ACT or a combined math/verbal score of 1,280 on the SAT and play in at least 50 percent of their team’s matches. Stavnheim went 17-2 at No. 2 doubles and was an IHSTeCA honorable mention All-State doubles selection.
Ex-North coach wins title
Tom Pollert, a Columbus North graduate who spent the past two years coaching the North boys soccer team, has found success again after moving back to Massachusetts.
Pollert led the Nauset Regional High School girls to its first-ever Cape & Islands Atlantic Division title last week, thanks to a 1-0 victory against visiting Sandwich. Nauset (7-1-2) and Sandwich had played to a 0-0 draw earlier in the season and could meet again in this week’s Cape & Islands Tournament.
Pollert had two stints as a boys assistant coach at North and was head men’s coach at Franklin College from 1992-96. He also spent one year as assistant women’s coach at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, two years as Barnstable (Massachusetts) High School and two years as Southern Maryland men’s coach before returning to coach the North boys in 2018 and 2019.
Jet signs with Purdue-NW
Hauser senior Aaron Rork signed Wednesday to play baseball at Purdue-Northwest.
Rork, who transferred from Columbus North last year, will join 2020 Hauser graduate Trey Johnson on the Purdue-Northwest squad.
Panther commits to SWMC
Jennings County senior Tori Lee has committed to play softball at St. Mary of the Woods College.
Lee batted .354 with eight doubles, one home run and 15 RBIs as a sophomore to help the Panthers to a 21-9 record. Her junior year was canceled because of COVID-19.
Jets, CC games postponed
Hauser’s first four girls basketball games, including tonight’s season opener at Milan, have been postponed or canceled.
The Trinity Lutheran at Hauser game scheduled for Saturday has been canceled, and the Columbus Christian at Hauser game scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed to Jan. 5. The Jets’ Nov. 20 game against Waldron has been moved to Jan. 13.
Also, Columbus Christian’s girls-boys basketball home doubleheader against Dugger Union scheduled for Nov. 27 has been canceled.
Ted Schultz is sports editor for The Republic. He can be reached at tschultz@therepublic.com or 812-379-5628.
