When Columbus North was disqualified in the opening 200-yard medley relay Saturday afternoon, the Bull Frogs’ chances of defending their Conference Indiana title took a major hit.

No. 28 North was already going to have a huge meet to have a chance to upset No. 16 Bloomington South, and now, the Bull Frogs were spotting the Panthers 40 points at the beginning.

But then North coach Jim Sheridan gave his team a history lesson. He told the Bull Frogs about his 1999 squad that won a state championship after losing its medley relay team in the sectional.

Just as it did 15 years ago, North regrouped Saturday. The Bull Frogs took the lead midway through the meet and went on to win convincingly with 441 points to Bloomington South’s 367.

“When we lost the medley relay, I went around and reminded the guys, back in ’99, we lost our medley relay at sectional and won state by over 40 points,” Sheridan said. “There was nobody in that group that was saying ‘Oh, we should have been good.’ I said ‘Don’t be griping. Let’s get ready for the next race and start bringing it back.’”

And that started with freshman Michael Brinegar, who swam a meet-record 1 minute, 42.23 seconds to win the 200 freestyle and send North on its way to the lead.

“At first, we were a little bit doubtful, but then we realized that we still had a chance, so we went for it,” Brinegar said.

Brinegar came back later and broke meet and school records with a 4:31.93 in the 500 freestyle, unofficially the fastest time in the state this season.

“I was hoping to break those records,” Brinegar said. “Everyone else did really well, so that helped us win.”

“He’s only going to continue to get better,” Sheridan said. “He has swimming passion. He can do the relays, and as a freshman, there’s some tough doubles out there, but he’s ready for it.”

The Bull Frogs’ also got a win and a school record from sophomore Kaemon Jiles in the diving competition. Jiles a 436.15, breaking the 22-year-old record of 433.85 by Ryan Brand.

“All these mental blocks feel cleared,” Jiles said. “I feel like I can perform a lot better at sectional going into it knowing that everything is kind of lifted off my shoulders. Now the only thing I have to worry about is making it past that sectional cut and making it to state.”

North’s Matt Freudenthaler, Chase McQueen, Kevin Zhang and Brinegar won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:28.66. Freudenthaler, McQueen, Jared Imlay and Brinegar also took the 400 freestyle relay in 3:15.58 after Bloomington South was disqualified in that event.

But by that time, the Bull Frogs already had wrapped up the title.

“They stood up and kept the trophy here at home,” Sheridan said. “They did the work.”

McQueen also finished second in both the 50 freestyle (22.11) and 100 freestyle (48.56). Freudenthaler took second in the 100 butterfly (52.59) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:47.82).

Angel Torres Martinez was third in the 200 individual medley (2:05.54), Kevin Zhang finished third in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.53) and Imlay (4:58.03) and Thomas Goble (5:04.34) took third and fourth in the 500 freestyle.

“These guys stood up and did some racing, and they know they have more in the tank,” Sheridan said. “I’m very proud of them for doing the racing and getting after it. The passion that was shown on the deck today was, if we continue to show, we can make some noise at the top level of the state championships.”

Columbus resident Devin Gilpin was honored for his third consecutive United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) National Modified Championship at the series’ banquet Jan. 10 in Springfield, Illinois.

“It’s a pretty humbling experience,” said Gilpin, who began his Modified career in 2005 and has leaned on the support and help of his grandfather and crew chief, retired racer Don Fleetwood. “It was a great thrill for me to be a 24-year-old guy racing and running up and down the road with my grandfather as crew chief.”

Gilpin’s third championship puts him in an elite category among current and former Modified competitors as he joins Mike Harrison of Highland, Illinois, and Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tennessee, as the division’s only three-time national champions and matches Owens, who has moved on from the Modified division to become one of the nation’s top dirt Late Model drivers, as the only drivers to win three consecutive titles.

“I’m proud to be one of only two drivers to three-peat a national championship,” said Gilpin, who plans to follow in the footsteps of Owens in making limited Late Model starts for Jim Beeman Motorsports of North Vernon in 2015. “To be at the same level as Jimmy Owens, that’s an accomplishment I’m extremely proud of.”

Since his streak of national titles in the Modified division began in 2012, the 2009 Columbus East High School graduate has racked up an impressive 100 feature victories over that time span.

Gilpin began his racing career in go-carts. In 2004 he ran the Rookie Class at Thunder Valley Raceway in Salem.

The next year he moved into the open-wheel modified division and, as they say, the rest is history.

Gilpin’s last three years of winning races harkens back to the early 1980s when National Dirt Late Model Hall-of-Famer Russ Petro of Columbus raced to 62 victories in a two-year span.

No one since then in the area has come close to what Gilpin has accomplished.

NASCAR driver and TV personality Kenny Wallace is a big fan of Gilpin’s.

“Devin Gilpin is a natural talent, he has dominated modified racing in the Midwest for the last three years,” Wallace said. “We both run the Impressive Race Car Chassis, and I get a lot of input from Devin when it comes to tracks we are both racing at. If he goes full-time Late Model racing in the future, I am sure it won’t be a matter of if but when he starts winning consistently with them.”

Gilpin is excited as he tries to continue that success.

“The last three years has been remarkable, to win as much as we have, and to race with the best-of-the-best in modified racing,” he said. “I am extremely proud of what my grandfather and I have accomplished. A lot of people don’t realize how much work it is to do on these cars on a weekly basis. I have to thank all of my pit crew, some are able to come and help once in a while, but they are a dedicated bunch.”

When asked if he will try for a four-peat, Gilpin was succinct. “It depends on how we start the season off in Florida, if we run well then we may take a shot at it, if not and we start winning in the Late Model, we may park the Modified and run the Late Model the rest of the season.”

Gilpin’s crew includes his grandfather, Colton and Chanler Fleetwood, Roy Gingery, Shane Brown, Cory Holman, Steve Bechelli and Shawn Gilpin. Gilpin will be joined by veteran crew chief, Troy Tabata of Clifford, on the Jim Beeman Motorsports Late Model Team in 2015.

Gilpin got a start on his 2015 racing season this week competing in events at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida. From there the team heads to North Florida Speedway in Lake City, Florida, Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida, and conclude its Speedweeks excursion at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida.

Local fans will have to wait until March 14 at Brownstown Speedway before seeing Gilpin in action. He plans to compete in both the Modified and Late Model Divisions that night. Then he will run in the $10,000-to-win Indiana Icebreaker for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series on March 21.

James Essex covers motorsports for The Republic. He can be reached at sports@therepublic.com.

Staff Reports

MERRILLVILLE — Columbus East put four gymnasts in the top nine of the all-around competition and came away with a victory in Saturday’s Merrillville Invitational.

The Olympians scored a 106.375 to win by a little more than a half-point. Merrillville finished second at 105.85.

Becca Bryan won the floor (9.4), finished second on the beam (8.625), tied for second on the vault (9.4) and took third on the bars (8.725) to finish second in the all-around (36.15). Adi Minor battled a cold to win the vault (9.6) and bars (9.55) and take third in the all-around (36.05).

Seena Greiwe finished fourth on the bars (8.625) and seventh in the all-around (34.025). Jaycie Jaggers was ninth in the all-around (33.25).

“It was a good performance,” East coach Nancy Kirshman said. “We had some falls on beam again. We came back in vaulting real well to end the meet. It wasn’t our best showing, but we weathered the storm, and we were excited to win.”

BOYS SWIMMING

East takes 4th in HHC

FLOYDS KNOBS — Columbus East had better than 90 percent personal-bests in finishing fourth in the Hoosier Hills Conference.

Floyd Central edged Jeffersonville 285-281 to win the title. Seymour finished third with 164, while the Olympians scored 143 to slip past Bedford North Lawrence (139), New Albany (136) and Jennings County (131).

“This is a team that is swimming way above what any one of them would have guessed they could do this year, and as they have success, they have worked harder, leading to more success,” East coach David Fribley said. “The Seymour (dual) meet caused them to refocus. They have been swimming up to their abilities ever since.”

East’s Cordell Glass finished second in the diving competition (402.30), and Jake Smith took second in the 100-yard freestyle (50.57 seconds) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:53.82). Sam Lewis, Charlie Rix, Joe Krause and Smith teamed to finish second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:34.07) and third in the 400 freestyle relay (3:30.36).

Jennings’ Lane Sawyer won the diving (436.80). Trever Wilson took second in both the 200 individual medley (2:01.98) and 100 breaststroke (1:01.15).

Jon Montgomery led Seymour with a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle (22.91) and a third in the 100 freestyle (50.79).

BOYS BASKETball

Eagles claim conference title

NASHVILLE — Brown County clinched at least a tie for the Western Indiana Conference with a 56-45 win over South Vermillion.

Collin Hoskins led the Eagles (10-5, 5-0) with 25 points. Austin Kritzer added 11, and Matt Adams had 10.

Jennings comes up short

BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington South jumped out to a 47-31 halftime lead and went on to hand Jennings County a 76-56 loss.

Dan Leach led Jennings (8-8) with 17 points. Ethan Jarvis added 16 points and six assists, and Tyler Vogel had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Lancers rout Chargers

EDINBURGH — Edinburgh jumped out to a 17-3 lead after one quarter and rolled to a 67-24 win against Baptist Academy.

Matt Heagy led the Lancers (10-7) with 23 points. Kyle Pendleton added 14.

Cougars roll over Rams

SEYMOUR — Trinity Lutheran put up at least 20 points in each of the first three quarters in an 82-64 win against Paoli.

Daniel Horton led the Cougars (14-4) with 23 points. Luke Stuckwisch added 19, and Toby VanLiew had 18.

Cardinals edge Crusaders

Columbus Christian battled back from a double-digit first half deficit to take a 48-45 lead after three quarters, but Washington Catholic recovered for a 74-70 win.

“Our effort wasn’t there tonight,” Columbus Christian coach Kevin Roth said. “We didn’t play with any kind of urgency. I don’t know if it was from the hard-fought game we had (Friday) night with Horizon (Christian), but our guys took Washington Catholic a little lightly.”

Josh Miracle led the Crusaders (15-5) with 20 points. Nick Bridgewater scored 12, while Adriane Polley added 11 and Chris Noblitt had 10.

GIRLS BASKETball

Royals ground Jets

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Hauser battled back from a 15-point first-quarter deficit to within four in the third and fourth quarters, but Eastern Hancock held on for a 48-33 Mid-Hoosier Conference win.

“My bench came in and played awesome and kept us in the game,” Hauser coach Brad Hamilton said. “We battled. The effort was there the whole game.”

The Jets (10-12, 4-4) lost their third starter in five weeks when Frances Shoaf suffered a concussion. Ellie Trotter scored 10 points to lead Hauser, which was victimized by 34 turnovers.

Eagles nip Wildcats

NASHVILLE — Brown County snapped a four-game losing streak with a 47-44 WIC win against South Vermillion.

Dakota Anderson led the Eagles (8-14, 3-3) with 15 points. Ryanne Smith added 12, and Ellie Pool had 11.

Braves down Cougars

TRAFALGAR — Indian Creek wrapped up a perfect season in the MHC with a 61-36 win against South Decatur.

Stacy Fox led the Cougars (5-13, 2-6) with 17 points. Megan Niese added 15.

Austin stops Seymour

SEYMOUR — Seymour saw its six-game winning streak come to an end with a 73-71 loss to Austin.

Emilee Pollmann led the Owls (17-5) with 29 points. Morgan Ritz added 14.

Trinity tops Crothersville

SEYMOUR — Trinity Lutheran had little trouble in a 56-40 win against Crothersville.

Maddie Roark led the Cougars (10-12) with 22 points. Hailley Peters and Sydney Stuckwisch each added 10.

Ali Patberg, Debie Gedeon, Sheyanne Street, Hannah Poindexter and Sydney Patberg were all given standing ovations from the fans as each one of them left the court one at a time in the closing minutes of Columbus North’s 71-34 Conference Indiana girls basketball victory against Southport on senior day.

Those five Bull Dogs seniors were honored with a ceremony before the game. It was especially emotional for Ali Patberg, who was named a McDonald’s All-American on Wednesday, from holding back the tears in realizing that her high school career is almost coming to an end.

“It’s been rough thinking about it,” she said after leading North with 23 points. “I grew in this place and remember making my very first basket here. This whole community here has been great to me.

“I tried to contain my emotions as much as possible,” said North assistant coach Ron Patberg, who is Ali’s father. “She’s grown up in the gym her whole life. A lot of her success has to do with the people she surrounded herself with and has worked real hard to get where she is today.”

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Ali Patberg also said she appreciates her family and teammates for being there and making her the person she is.

“I think I have had the biggest support group anybody can ask for,” she said. “My family, friends and teammates have always had my back. That is why this moment is so hard for me because everyone here is like family to me.”

It was also bittersweet for Gedeon, who has been friends with Ali Patberg since they were 9 years old.

“There are a lot of memories that we have together from playing alongside each other for so long,” Gedeon said. “We are pretty much like sisters. We argue together like we’re sisters, but we also laugh together as well. We are realizing that we are coming to the end of the road playing together. It’s kind of rough, but in a way, it’s nice to remember everything that we have done together,” she said. “We both are competitive with each other and push each other to do better. She holds people to such high esteem and she really wants the best for everyone.”

“We all have been real close over the years and we have accomplished so much together,” Poindexter said. “It’s sad to see everyone go their separate ways after this year, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with another class rather than them. It’s been a great opportunity and a privilege to play with them.”

“It’s sad but I think the moment will really hit me tomorrow,” Street said. “We accomplished a lot over the years and we’re the last class on the team that went to state (in 2012).”

As for the game, the Cardinals (7-13, 2-5) did everything they could to contain Ali Patberg, but she easily broke through the defense and put up eight quick points for the Bull Dogs (21-1, 7-0).

Whenever Ali Patberg was double-teamed, other teammates were open for easy layins. Elle Williams was one Bull Dog that was very effective in the paint with Ali Patberg and Paige Littrell feeding her the ball inside. Williams finished with 19 points.

“Paige and I have been stepping up for the team recently,” Williams said. “I’ve gotten more confident throughout this season, and our chemistry together is only getting better with each game.”

North put away the game for good in the third quarter by outscoring Southport 24-3 to make it 64-19. Ali Patberg added another basket to start the fourth quarter before being taken out of the game.

“The accomplishments we had go to not only to the seniors, but to the entire team,” North coach Pat McKee said. “The last five years here, we had a remarkable group of players, and all the credit goes to them.”