The girls’ swim team competed in the IHSAA Sectional on Saturday at LaPorte High School. Jackie Bontrager made the state cut in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.21! Her third place 100 freestyle was very close to getting called down as well. Lizzie Simac broke a 19 year old school record in the 200 IM going a time of 2:08.98. Her time also earned her a call down to the state meet in that event. Her next individual event was the 100 breaststroke, where not only did she win the event but also broke her own school record and broke the sectional record with a time of 1:03.78! She is currently seeded 4th in this event at state. The 400 freestyle relay of Grace Cobble, Shannon McCall, Hannah Shepherd, and Jackie Bontrager went a time of 3:39.51 which earned them a call down to state as well. Overall it was an excellent meet with the majority of our swimmers dropping time in their events and the team finishing in the runnerup position to Chesterton. Final results for all swimmers will be posted on valposwimming.com
Below are highlights from the girls IHSAA State Swim Championship, Elizabeth Simac swam the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke during the Friday preliminaries. She advanced to the Saturday finals in her 100 Breaststroke and placed 13th in the state of Indiana with a time of 1:05.72. She also made a Futures Championship cut time, and plans on swimming a few pro-series meets this summer before swimming for the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Jackie Bontrager swam the 200 freestyle and 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Her Friday 200 freestyle preliminary swim time of 1:52.57 broke her own previous Valparaiso High School record as well as qualified for a Futures Championship cut time, which will allow her to swim at proarena series swim meets this summer. She advanced to Saturday and placed 14th with a final time of 1:53.27. The 4 x 100 freestyle relay consisting of Jackie Bontrager, Shannon McCall, Grace Cobble, and Hannah Shepherd dropped time from their Sectional meet during their Friday preliminary swim going a 3:37.99. The relay did not advance to finals. Congratulations to the ladies on a fine season!
The girls’ basketball team defeated Portage 54-40 in the semifinals of the IHSAA Sectional on Friday night. Ari Gerdt led the way with 20 points. Followed by Aleah Ferngren with 8 and Taelynn Oelling and Sarah Douglas with 7 each. On Saturday, they lost to Kankakee Valley in the Sectional Championship game 64-55 to end their season 15-11. Ari Scored 26 points and eclipsed the 1000 point mark for her career. Taelynn Oelling added 16. Great season ladies!
Wrestler Ian Dembowski was the IHSAA Regional Champion at 138 pounds on Saturday. Ian wrestled in the IHSAA Semi state this past weekend at East Chicago HS. He finished 4th in the 138 lb. weight class qualifying for the IHSAA State championships in Indy.
The boys’ basketball team hosted Bishop Noll for a Saturday afternoon matinee. The JV won 76-37. Luke Balash led the scoring with 16 points and 5 rebounds followed by Carter Casko with 11 and 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Brandon Mack scored 10 points and 5 rebounds and Peyton Krutz added 10 points. Tuesday they defeated Michigan City 45-28. Cooper Jones scored 11 points and pulled down 5 rebounds. Logan Mersman added 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Brandon Mack contributed 7 points and 7 rebounds. On Thursday, they took on Crown Point. The JV won 57-43. Rafeek El-Naggar led all scorers with 11 points followed by Logan Mersman with 7 points and 3 rebounds, CJ Opperman with 6 points and 4 rebounds and Luke Balash with 6 assists. The JV is 17-1, The Varsity dispatched Noll 65-50. Brandon Newman had 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Nathan Aerts had 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Colin Walls pulled down 4 boards and dished out 4 assists. On Tuesday, they faced off with a tough Michigan City team. Ultimately the Vikings were victorious 60-44. Brandon Newman led the way with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Nate Aerts added 18 points and 4 rebounds. Charlie Healy had 14 points, Colin Walls added 5 assists and Jake Evans had 4 assists. They beat Crown Point on Thursday 49-38. Brandon Newman scored 20 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Nate Aerts added 16 and 3 assists. Charlie Healy contributed 8 points and 4 rebounds while Colin Walls dished out 3 assists. The Varsity is 15-4 overall and 6-0 in the DAC.
The IHSAA recently notified the VHS Athletic Department of an Exemplary Sportsmanship Report from the Bishop Noll boys’ basketball game. The official reported that both head coaches behaved professionally with their interaction with the officials throughout the closely competed game. The report also highlighted Coach Coolman’s positive interaction with the student section prior to the game. Way to go Coach Coolman and Viking Nation!
The Gymnastics team, ranked third in the State, beat Portage 112.6 to 108.625. The Vikes swept the top three spots on Vault, Uneven Bars, and Beam, as well as going 1, 3-3 on Floor and 1-2-4 All-Around (McKeon, Wilson, Moneta). Highlight of the meet was Beam, as Jenna Algozine (9.675), Whitney McKeon (9.625), and Rachel Moneta (9.6) came up with a 28.9 event score. The Vikes are now 8-1 on the season. A new Beam series was performed by Lizzy Wilson and Jade VerSchure, with Sabrina Falk adding a release move to her Uneven Bar routine. Eden Roberts won Team II All-Around. The team will compete Monday against #10 Merrillville, in their last home dual meet of the season. Seniors Jenna Algozine and Rachel Moneta will be honored for their tremendous careers, which include two State championships, one runner up title, as well as individual All-State accolades.
VHS Senior Jake Leffew signed a full scholarship offer to play football at the University of Indianapolis. Fellow seniors Adrian Guzman and Michael Scarsella have committed to play football at Valparaiso University. Joey McIntyre has committed to play at North Park University. John Hruska has committed to play at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology. Congratulations Vikings!
Coach Danny Jeftich has been the Valparaiso High School soccer coach for 27 years. In those 27 years he has won 14 Duneland Athletic Conference Championships, 11 IHSAA Sectional titles, 4 Regional titles, 4 Semi state titles and one State Championship in 2004. He has won over 500 games and has a career winning percentage of 76%. Coach Jeftich has been inducted into three prestigious halls of fame. The Indiana Soccer Coaches Association in 2012, the Indiana Soccer in 2013, and the University of St. Francis in 2005. On Thursday night at the boys’ basketball game VHS Athletics presented Coach Jeftich with his 25 year VHS coaching ring. Congratulations!
Six members of the 2017 football team have been named IFCA Academic All State. They are Timothy Davis, Charlie Healy, John Hruska, Michael Scarsella, Tyler Sharp, and Reece Staples. The student athlete must have a minimum GPA of 3.4 and either a minimum SAT of 1660 or ACT of 24. Job well done!
Valparaiso High School will host the IHSAA Girls’ Basketball Northern Semi state games for Class A and 4A on Saturday morning. In Class A, #1 Michigan City Marquette takes on unranked Tri-Central at 1 PM and in Class 4A #6 Penn takes on #10 Zionsville at 4 PM for an opportunity to play in the state championship game one week later. Admission is $8. Because this is an IHSAA event, no VCS passes will be accepted.