Flat Gaddis is back, just in time for another Columbus East football state championship run.
Look where he has been spotted.
There’s even a photo of him popping up in front of the Westfield High School sign. East plays Westfield in the Class 5A championship game at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Check out Wednesday’s Republic for more about just how Flat Gaddis got it’s start and where you can get your very own Flat Gaddis.
A bridge on U.S. 31 between Columbus and Seymour will open to traffic Wednesday morning.
The Sand Creek Bridge, which is at the Bartholomew County/Jackson County line on U.S. 31, will reopen three weeks ahead of schedule, Indiana Department of Transportation officials said.
The $8.5 million project involved Milestone Contractors building a new 382-foot bridge, and raising approaches to the bridge by five feet. A culvert was replaced north of Sand Creek and an arch structure was built south of Sand Creek at Quade Ditch.
The U.S. 31 project began in mid-March when crews began the project by repairing and resurfacing 16 miles of the highway.
It also included constructing a single-lane roundabout at County Road 400S, about two miles south of State Road 7.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies arrested a driver who was found unconscious in his vehicle in a gas station parking lot.
Witnesses said Garrett Mack, 25, Greenwood, was passed out in a Ricker’s parking lot at 11940 N. U.S. 31 at about 5:48 a.m. Monday, deputies said.
Witnesses saw Mack in the maroon Trailblazer SUV, slumped over the wheel with the vehicle in drive mode, deputies said.
After numerous attempts to wake Mack, witnesses broke the back window to gain entry, deputies said. As Mack regained consciousness, the witness told police that Mack had a syringe in his left hand.
When Deputies Leah Burton and Brent Worman arrived, witnesses said Mack attempted to move the syringe, although deputies later found it on the ground by Mack’s foot.
After Mack was checked by medical personnel, he was arrested on a preliminary charge of possession or use of a legend drug injection device and taken to the Bartholomew County Jail, deputies said.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Hauser 50, Southwestern (Shelby) 47
Southwestern;8;8;14;17;—;47
Hauser;9;10;12;19;—;50
Southwestern (4-2, 2-1): Emmy Wendling 5 0-1 10, Emma Abel 3 0-0 8, Annie Coy 1 8-10 10, Logan DeArmitt 3 3-4 9, Megan Benson 2 2-4 7, Madison Van Gorden 1 1-2 3, A.J. Kessler 0 0-0 0, Madeleine Correll 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 14-21 47.
Hauser (5-0, 2-0): Tori Chandler 7 3-6 20, Sarah Tedder 2 2-4 6, Grace Hasler 3 5-9 11, Lauryn Starnes 0 1-4 1, Hailey Lange 1 3-6 5, Taylor Henderson 0 4-6 4, Ali Hoover 0 1-2 1, Jada Asher 0 2-2 2, Mykenzie Ault 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 21-39 50.
3-point goals: Southwestern 3 (Abel 2, Benson); Hauser 3 (Chandler 3).
BOYS SWIMMING
Columbus North 132, Jennings County 40
200 medley relay: 1. CN (Jared Carroll, Sam Russell, Nicholas Green, Thomas Goble) 1:45.07; 2. CN (Jackson Swain, Harrison Griffin, Solomon Gearheart, Ayush Panda) 1:57.64; 3. JC (Jesse Wallace, Cameron Mills, Jason Franks, Beau Harriman) 2:04.89.
200 freestyle: 1. Peyton Moore (JC) 1:51.25; 2. Evan Patterson (CN) 1:52.76; 3. Goble (CN) 1:55.23; 4. Panda (CN) 2:00.66; 5. Wallace (JC) 2:23.48.
200 individual medley: 1. Angel Torres Martinez (CN) 2:13.15; 2. Adam Zhuang (CN) 2:14.64; 3. Jackson Nagel (CN) 2:17.95; 4. Trey Hundley (JC) 2:19.02; 5. Evan Dubben (JC) 2:22.85.
50 freestyle: 1. Carroll (CN) 22.56; 2. Green (CN) 23.60; 3. Paco Cena Zavala (CN) 24.27; 4. Harriman (JC) 26.88; 5. Jason Gasper (JC) 32.46.
Diving: 1. Kaemon Jiles (CN) 244.10; 2. Austin Mills (JC) 215.25; 3. Cameron Mills (JC) 197.45; 4. Grant Fehribach (CN) 192.75; 5. Kenny Ventura (CN) 78.85.
100 butterfly: 1. Russell (CN) 55.58; 2. Green (CN) 57.15; 3. Patterson (CN) 59.93; 4. Dubben 1:02.17; 5. Jason Franks (JC) 1:13.64.
100 freestyle: 1. Torres Martinez (CN) 52.03; 2. Nagel (CN) 52.89; 3. Goble (CN) 53.30; 4. Harriman (JC) 1:01.73. 5. Jason Gasper (JC) 1:26.52.
500 freestyle: 1. Moore (JC) 5:08.90; 2. Harrison Griffin (CN) 5:23.33; 3. Torres Martinez (CN) 5:43.25; 4. Charlie Allen (CN) 6:01.41.
200 freestyle relay: 1. JC (Harriman, Dubben, Hundley, Moore) 1:41.33; 2. CN (Nagel, Griffin, Green, Lizhi Qin) 1:42.56; 3. CN (Panda, Torres, Allen, Paxton Rush) 1:42.58.
100 backstroke: 1. Carroll (CN) 57.48; 2. Cena Zavala (CN) 1:03.82; 3. Jackson Swain (CN) 1:05.40. 4. Wallace (JC) 1:16.46; 5. Franks (JC) 1:27.30.
100 breaststroke: 1. Russell (CN) 1:04.83; 2. Griffin (CN) 1:12.97; 3. Hundley (JC) 1:14.19; 4. Albert Zhang (CN) 1:15.17.
400 freestyle relay: 1. CN (Patterson, Russell, Nagel, Zhuang) 3:27.81; 2. JC (Wallace, Dubben, Hundley, Moore) 3:51.52; 3. CN (Cena Zavala, Torres Martinez, Rush, Zhang) 3:53.06.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Columbus North 122, Jennings County 64
200 medley relay: 1. CN (Madison Sandlin, Alex Nusawardhana, Karlie Brown, Erica Samuel) 2:04.57; 2. CN (Darby Coles, Ana Guerra-Zavala, Betsy King, Olivia Morlok) 2:05.86; 3. JC (Breanna Herald, Gabby Genda, Brooklyn Ernstes, Kyelina Hembree) 2:36.22.
200 freestyle: 1. Morlok (CN) 2:04.99; 2. Ashton Koons (JC) 2:10.32; 3. Samuel (CN) 2:15.54; 4. Lauren Mackey (CN) 2:26.21; 5. Fizzie Kirchner (JC) 2:28.39.
200 individual medley: 1. Nusawardhana (CN) 2:16.05; 2. Sierra Bott (JC) 2:37.98; 3. Abbey Landini (CN) 2:43.66; 4. Pavitha Venkataraman (CN) 2:55.11; 5. Herald (JC) 3:12.02.
50 freestyle: 1. King (CN) 25.76; 2. Sarah Webster (JC) 27.58. 3. Jalea Millon (JC) 28.24; 4. Sandlin (CN) 28.72; 5. Grace Schuette (CN) 33.85.
Diving: 1. Hailey Brown (JC) 188.00; 2. Emma Wilson (CN) 146.25; 3. Madison Grimes 94.55; 4. Ashley Mull (JC) 89.15; 5. Abigal Burnside (JC) 79.40.
100 butterfly: 1. Coles (CN) 1:04.03; 2. Brown (CN) 1:05.95; 3. Webster (JC) 1:15.51; 4. Venkataraman (CN) 1:21.17; 5. Ernstes (JC) 1:35.22.
100 freestyle: 1. King (CN) 55.50; 2. Millon (JC) 1:01.36; 3. Guerra-Zavala (CN) 1:05.44; 4. Chloe Fields (JC) 1:10.07; 5. Jackie Fry (CN) 1:16.21.
500 freestyle: 1. K. Brown (CN) 5:56.55; 2. Abbey Landini (CN) 6:21.76; 3. Kirchner (JC) 6:49.37; 4. Madison Malcomb (JC) 7:12.40; 5. Genda (JC) 7:36.37.
200 freestyle relay: 1. JC (Fields, Millon, Koons, Kirchner) 1:43.05; 2. CN (Mackey, Sandlin, Guerra-Zavala, Landini) 1:58.35; 3. CN (Fry, Schuette, Sarah Baimukhametova, Rachel Brougher) 2:28.78.
100 backstroke: 1. Coles (CN) 1:03.36; 2. Bott (JC) 1:10.53; 3. Morlok (CN) 1:13.00; 4. Sandlin (CN) 1:13.90; 5. Ernstes (JC) 1:25.30.
100 breaststroke: 1. Nusawardhana (CN) 1:15.47; 2. Koons (JC) 1:18.15; 3. Samuel (CN) 1:23.42; 4. Fry (CN) 1:33.30; 5. Herald (JC) 1:44.47.
400 freestyle relay: 1. CN (Nusawardhana, Samuel, Morlok, King) 3:54.10; 2. CN (Coles, Brown, Landini, Guerra-Zavala) 4:06.52. 3. JC (Ernstes, Herald, Genda, Malcomb) 5:02.16.
HOPE — When Southwestern (Shelby) went on a big run early in the fourth quarter Monday night, it looked like Hauser would take its first loss of the season.
In the last four minutes, however, the Jets came roaring back. Hauser closed out the game on a 15-3 scoring run to remain unbeaten in a nail-biting 50-47 Mid-Hoosier Conference girls basketball thriller.
“It’s all them. I can’t take credit for it,” Hauser coach Brad Hamilton said. “They just found another level. We got a little momentum. You make a couple baskets and it builds some confidence. The defense has been our key all year. We gave up a little bit of a run, but we stopped them when we had to.”
The Class A No. 10 Jets (5-0, 2-0) are off to their best start under Hamilton, who is in his fourth year at the helm.
“It’s awesome and we have a great team,” said Hauser junior Grace Hasler, who finished with 11 points. “We all really like playing together, and there is a lot of energy with all of us being together.”
Tori Chandler, a junior exchange student from Australia, has been a huge factor in the Jets’ success so far. She finished with a game-high 20 points. Chandler kick-started the Jets’ fourth-quarter rally by draining a huge 3 to bring the tide back in their favor.
“When Tori made that shot, it brought all of our spirits up,” Hasler said. “We were able to hit our free throws late to win it.”
After letting the Spartans (4-2, 2-1) slip past them late in the game last season, Hauser did not want to experience déjà vu.
“We have worked very hard in preparing for this game,” senior co-captain Hailey Lange said. “We didn’t know what was coming at us because things change, but we stayed tough out there.”
Columbus North hosted its boys and girls season opener against Jennings County with six swimmers finishing first in two individual events.
The Bull Frogs had three boys finish first in multiple individual events on their way to a 132-49 win. The North girls had three girls finish first in multiple individual events, winning 122-64.
North’s Angel Torres Martinez won the boys 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 13.15 seconds) and 100 freestyle (52.03), Jared Carroll took the 50 freestyle (22.56) and 100 backstroke (57.48) and Sam Russell captured the 100 butterfly (55.58) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.83).
Kaemon Jiles scored 244.10 points to earn a first-place finish in diving. The Bull Frogs won the 200 medley (1:45.07) and the 400 freestyle (3:53.06) relays.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryFor the North girls, Alex Nusawardhana placed first in the 200 IM (2:16.05) and 100 breaststroke (1:15.47), Betsy King won the 50 freestyle (25.76) and 100 freestyle (55.50) and Darby Coles took the 100 butterfly (1:04.03) and 100 backstroke (1:03.36).
Olivia Morlok won the 200 freestyle (2:16.05), Karlie Brown took the 500 freestyle (5:56.55) and the Bull Frogs placed first in the 200 medley (2:04.57) and the 400 freestyle (3:54.10) relays.
“I was pretty pleased,” North coach Logan Schaefer said. “The kids were as excited to begin the meet as we were. It’s been about four weeks for the girls of just swimming and about two weeks for the boys. They were chomping at the bit to get a meet and ready to race.”
“It’s great to see the work that we’re doing as a team in the pool to come back and show at our meets,” Schaefer said.
Jennings County coach Chaz Wilson also was proud of how his team performed. Peyton Moore won the boys 500 freestyle (5:08.90) and 200 freestyle (1:51.25). Hailey Brown won the girls diving event with 188.00 points, and the Panthers took both the boys (141:33) and girls (1:43.05) 200 freestyle relay.
“Our first meet for the boys went well tonight,” Wilson said. “For the girls, I thought we performed very well for our second meet. I was impressed with Peyton Moore and everybody in general. There are some things we need to work on overall as a team, but I think we still need to build up some things. Other than that, I thought we did excellent.”
Saturday
12:20 p.m. — Theft reported in the area of South Gum Street.
12:46 p.m. — Property-damage accident in the 100 block of East Main Street.
Columbus police arrested an Edinburgh man after he walked into the backyard of a Columbus home in the 2900 block of McKinley Avenue saying he was a police officer.
About 4:10 p.m. Friday, the Columbus Police Department sent officer Lucas Nibarger to the address after a woman who was in the backyard with her children called to say a man who wasn’t wearing a shirt was on her property claiming to be an officer, said Lt. Matt Harris, department spokesman.
The man, later identified as Gregory A. Simpson, 32, Edinburgh, told the woman he was a U.S. Marshal and did not have to leave her property, Harris said.
When police spoke with Simpson, he claimed he had been a U.S. marshal while in the military, Harris said.
Officers arrested Simpson on charges of impersonating a police officer and public intoxication and took him to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked before transporting him to the Bartholomew County Jail, Harris said.
Simpson was released from jail after posting $8,500 bond, jail officials said.
Columbus police arrested an irate customer on alcohol-related charges after he became upset about his fast-food order and was accused of honking his horn and beating on the restaurant’s glass doors.
Columbus police officer Josh McCrary was sent to the 600 block of Third Street about 2 a.m. Saturday after restaurant workers reported the disturbance, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department also responded and made contact with the driver of the vehicle, Luis C. Mata, 20, Indianapolis, Harris said. Deputies said they could smell the odor of alcohol on Mata’s breath and noted his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, Harris said.
After Mata failed several field sobriety tests, he was taken to the Columbus Police Department where he provided a breath sample of .208 percent, which is more than double the legal limit for drinking and driving, Harris said. Mata was arrested on charges of illegal consumption and operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of .15 percent or greater.
Mata is being held in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $7,500 bond, jail officials said.
Buying tickets and ordering T-shirts are on East High School football backers’ to-do list for today.
Tickets went on sale Monday, when 160 were purchased locally during a two-hour lunchtime to Saturday’s 5A championship game between the Columbus East Olympians and the Westfield Shamrocks, assistant athletic director Tyler Davis said.
Ticket-buying interest was high despite students being out of class for the week-long Thanksgiving break, Davis said.
Davis was parked just inside the main entrance of Columbus East, where walk-up customers came in between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday.
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Resident Tammy Claycamp walked away with 22 tickets after spending $330 for herself, friends and family.
Her son, senior offensive lineman Kobbe Claycamp, is making a second trip to Lucas Oil Stadium for the state championship. He was on the team three years ago as a freshman when East beat Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 28-27 to win the Class 4A title.
“This is very special for him,” Tammy Claycamp said. “He’s very excited for this.”
April Dougherty, school nurse at East, was also among first-day ticket buyers, purchasing 13 of them.
She was in the Lucas Oil Stadium three years ago for the state championship game and plans to go Saturday with friends and family.
“Everybody’s excited,” Dougherty said.
Columbus East has an allotment of 1,500 tickets available to sell in advance, and Davis said early interest is matching the level of excitement from 2013.
“There’s no better moment than having teams go to semistate and state,” Davis said. “It’s good to see the buzz for the game.”
Local businesses have already begun to display good-will wishes to the team on digital message boards.
Among the first was Putt-Putt Golf of Columbus, 1080 N. Marr Road, which had alternating messages: “Great Job Olympians” and “Go Win State.”
Another local business, meanwhile, quickly geared up for an anticipated rush on fan apparel.
Hoosier Sporting Goods, 611 Washington St., is taking orders through noon today for “Columbus East 2016 State Bound Olympians” shirts on behalf of the Columbus East Quarterback Club.
It also sold fan gear for the 2013 state title game.
The store had about 30 orders come in Monday morning, a figure that was expected to rise, said Wiley Umphress, a Hoosier Sporting Goods employee.
Orders must be placed on the store’s website.
By today’s deadline, “that website will be full of orders,” Umphress predicted.
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Buying advance tickets
Tickets to Saturday’s Class 5A state championship football game between Columbus East and Westfield can be purchased at the following times:
Cost: $15 for all students and adults (children who are not school-age are admitted free). Columb East gets to keep $1 of advance ticket sold.
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Hoosier Sporting Goods is taking orders through noon today for “Columbus East 2016 State Bound Olympians” shirts, selling them on behalf of the Columbus East Quarterback Club.
Place orders for T-shirts or sweatshirts store’s website. Visit hsg.tuosystems.com/stores/ceqbclub
Buyers can choose from cotton short-sleeve T-shirts, $15 to $18.75; long-sleeve cotton shirts, $19 to $22.75; cotton-poly fleece crewneck shirts, $24 to $27.75; or heavy-blend hooded sweatshirts, $30 to $33.75.
Orders can be picked up 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Hoosier Sporting Goods, , 611 Washington St.
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