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Ansonia celebrates a point in match, they defeated Bradford in four sets. (Barger photo)

ANSONIA – The Lady Tigers improve to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in the WOAC with a 3-1 win over Bradford in Volleyball action Thursday night.  The Bradford fell to 3-9, 1-4 but played better than their record shows.

Ansonia won the first set 25-20 but they were never able to build a large lead with Bradford hanging tough the entire way.  The Railroaders dropped set two 25-21 as well with Ansonia able to make the plays needed down the stretch.

In the first and second set the Tigers got some big hitting from “Big Red” senior Olivia Schmitmeyer and timely service from junior Dani Gibbs.

Olivia Schmitmeyer delivers the kills for the Tigers in win over Bradford. (Barger photo)

Lexi Custenborder in her first year as head coach at Ansonia stated they wanted to maintain focus and be consistent in their play and got that for much of the night with the exception of the third set and Bradford would show no quit after trailing by two.

They turned the tables on Ansonia, they were energized and having fun while making the necessary plays winning the third set 25-21 to extend the match.

The Lady Railroaders were all smiles after winning the 3rd set at Ansonia. (Barger photo)

Ansonia looked like a completely different team in the 4^th in what would be the final set as they dominated on their way to a 25-6 set and match win.

After the game I asked Ansonia coach Lexi Custenborder what the difference in that fourth set compared to the third.

“I think that the difference from the third to the fourth set is that we cleaned up our mistakes. They turned up their focus, and I think the energy everybody had was a lot more,” Custenborder commented.

“There were definitely several highs and lows throughout that game. I thought we made a lot of unforced errors on our end, which was frustrating, because I feel like we've been doing better.”

“I told the girls they just can’t choose when they want to have high energy or decide now is the time to focus.  It needs to be something that is just done, and they need give110% effort from the start of the game to the end,”

Coach talked about the play of “Big Red” who had 12 Kills in the match. 

“There's more opportunities for her and I thought she did a really nice job tonight and Rose Barga did well too,” Custenborder praised.

Dani Gibbs came up big serving late in the 1st and 2nd sets. (Barger photo)

“She also mentioned the service play of Dani and Elly, they're two juniors and pretty much are our servers and when they go in and serve, they do a really nice job, they've totally embraced their role,” Custenborder added.

But before she ended the interview she wanted to give credit to Bradford.

I thought they played really well and I told their coach that's a different team than we played last year for sure,” Custenborder concluded.

Bradford's Chloe Hocker got a work-out setting up her team vs Ansonia. (Barger photo)
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Tri-Village Lyla Brewer is 1st in WOAC scoring average. Her sister Reagan graduated last year & was first in scoring average in 2024.  (Barger photo)

ARCANUM – Over the last four years there have been just two ladies golf teams who have won a WOAC league championship.  Tri-Village won in 2021, 2022 and Arcanum in 2023, 2024.

In all four years these two teams battled it out till the end … but both were hit hard by graduation.  In fact, Arcanum graduated almost their entire team last year and Tri-Village’s most acclaimed golfer in school history also graduated and is now playing IU East.

So, if there was to be a glimmer of hope for other WOAC teams to gain a title, the 2025 season might just be the one.

But to the chagrin of the other teams and just one week left in the regular season before the season ending league tournament both Tri-Village and Arcanum are still at the top battling it out for supremacy in the conference.

Current Girls Standings

TEAMS                                                     WOAC                   OVERALL

Tri-Village                                             6 - 0                         8 - 0      

Arcanum                                               4 - 2                         6 - 2      

Ansonia                                                 3 - 3                         4 - 8      

National Trail                                        2 - 2                         4 - 4      

Mississinawa Valley                             2 - 2                         2 - 2      

Dixie                                                      0 - 3                         0 - 5       

Franklin Monroe                                   0 - 5                         0 - 7      

Arcanum graduated 4 seniors from their championship team and two time WOAC Golf “Coach of the Year” Andrew Bryant needed to step away from coaching due to military obligations he had to fulfill.

Athletic Director Abbey Moore would need to fill his spot in the interim and approached Jesse Warner a Franklin Monroe graduate and now an educator at Arcanum to see if he would be willing to take over the program.

“I think it was back in April when Abbey said, hey, we need somebody to do girls’ golf are you interested?  So, me being a teacher and having worked at a golf course for six years and been around golf a lot in the summer I thought I’d give it a try,” Coach Jesse Warner said.

“I didn't think we were going to have a full team and maybe we would get three girls, with just one player returning in Adalyn Paul, but then we had three cross country kids, Ella Warren, Sadie Waldo and Brynn Byers who decided they wanted to do both. Brooklyn Eley a cheerleader also decided she wanted to do both, and they've loved it,” Warner stated.

Arcanum junior Adalyn Paul is the lone returning player on the 2024 championship team and is the #1 golfer on the team.  (Barger photo)

“My goal this year was to make it fun and hope they get to love the game of golf, because it can be very frustrating at times. I think coaching girls is great because they are so willing to try things and make changes to their swing, so it’s been easy to coach them.”

“The best part about having freshmen and sophomores who have never played, they don't have all the bad swing thoughts where you can fix small things here and there, just to get them having a little bit more success. And I think our scoring average from beginning of the year where we were shooting 230s in our invitationals for nine holes, and now we've gotten it down to about 215 and lower … so we've shaved a lot of strokes off, which is all because they want to get better and they're willing to put the work in,” Warner explained.

Warner was pleased with the way his team competed in their first head-to-head match-up with Tri-Village a week ago falling by just one stroke.  The two teams met again on Tuesday with the Patriots prevailing again this time by 7 strokes.

Coach Warner talked about his line-up and how they have been playing this year.

“Adalyn Paul is our only returning player, a junior and mid to upper 40s golfer, she has been playing the one spot and our most consistent golfer all year.”

“Ella Warren has been our two and her scoring average right now is 53, she had a round last week in National Trail playing lights out with a 46.”

“Brooklynn Ely has been our three and for being somebody who's new to the game and a cheerleader has been 53, 54, 55, she's had some really good scores for us.”

“Sadie Waldo is our four, she started the year actually as our six and has put a lot of work in this year and gotten much better to move all the way up to our four.”

“Meridith Laux decided she wanted to pick up golf in her senior year, and she's had some good rounds for us and is playing the five spot.

“Brynn Byers who is one of our cross-country kids is playing the six spot and was strong at the beginning of the year, so we're trying to channel the beginning of year into her game of late.”

“Genevieve Dues is another first-year player who came in having no golf experience, wanted to learn and is playing the seven spot. She has started hitting the ball a little better, getting some good rounds underneath her,” Warner commented.

Going from just one golfer to seven this year is a huge step forward for Warner and he’s long on his way to building back the program.


Brooklynn Eley Cheerleader on Friday night and golfer the rest of the week is helping Arcanum golf compete in 2025.  (Barger photo)

“I wanted to build back the program … and get the girls to fall in love with game and come back next year.  If they do that then, I’ve done my job,” Warner concluded.

Tri-Village has a similar story to that of Arcanum after graduating 3 seniors they were left with just two sophomores on the roster heading into 2025.

Returning for the Patriots were Addie Pipenger and Kaytie Lytle both juniors.  The Patriots picked up freshman Annabeck Spencer, Abby Hampton, Taytum Gray and Lyla Brewer along with sophomore Kash Mead.

Lyla Brewer is the younger sister of Reagan Brewer who is now at IU East along with Annabeck Spencer, both playing above their years for the Patriots.  In fact, Brewer is first in the conference for scoring average and Spencer is 6^th overall.  Taytum Gray is 7th, Addie Pipenger is 8^th and Kash Mead 9^th helping lead the Patriots to their 8-0 record thus far.

Tri-Village coach Lee Morris believe the success they have had is due to the hard work the girls put in and the perfect weather to play golf in.

“I think we are definitely getting better, we have a few kids who got bit by the golf bug early in the year, and they’ve played quite a bit. When just starting out, and not having played very much, it's easy to get better quicker, as opposed to just trying to hone on specific things,” Morris said.

“The improvements our kids have seen, they’ve liked and that’s been very helpful along with having one of the best weather golf seasons we've ever experienced. I've been doing this a long time, when you're not out here and it's 90 degrees, or  it's 45 degrees and the wind blowing, it’s really helpful. We've been very fortunate as far as weather goes,” Morris added.

Tri-Village sophomore Kash Mead is golfing for the first time and has already made an impact and in the top 10 for scoring average in the WOAC.  (Barger photo)

When I asked about their match-up with Arcanum, Morris was glad to see both teams competing again and gave credit to the Trojans for being able to put a competitive team together this year.

“Yeah, they just had the Paul girl as their only returner, they were worried about even being able to potentially field a team. So, for them to be able to go out and find some kids, some doubling up on sports, which small schools need to do.  You've got to have that, we have a young lady who's playing both volleyball and golf, and a young lady who is involved in cheer while playing golf as well. You just kind of have to keep working with other people in order to get kids the opportunities they're seeking,” Morris offered up

“So, we've had a couple nice matches with them so far and I think our girls have enjoyed playing with them, so that’s a good thing,” Morris remarked.

“Obviously we want to win … but the whole golf experience goes beyond that,” Morris added.

“I’ve shared with the girls if you stick with this for four years of high school, there's a really good chance you could potentially, one day in a business setting, be the number one draft pick for your office golf scramble,”

“I want the girls to enjoy the game and have fun and after school you could be a good player. But for now, the game is something many are just being introduced to … but it is something they can do for a long time, not just for four years of high school,” Morris concluded.

But that might seem a long time down the road and so for now Tri-Village’s focus is on the WOAC Championships.  The Patriots control their own destiny when all the league teams play 18 holes on Wednesday September 17^th at the Richmond Elks golf club.

One thing you can count on, Arcanum will be there to challenge them once again.

Tri-Village freshman Annabeck Spencer is 6th in the conference in scoring and one of a few freshman playing well for the Patriots.  (Barger photo)
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MV Senior Setter Danika Neargarder receives ball commemorating her 1000th career assist in game vs Franklin Monroe.  (Barger photo)

UNION CITY – The Mississinawa Valley Volleyball team defeated Franklin Monroe in straight sets 25-15, 25-18, 25-13  to remain undefeated at 4-0 in the WOAC.

It would be a special night for Danika Neargarder who was able to give her team a boost in. a tight second set with Franklin Monroe. 

The Jets playing their best volleyball on the night held a 9-8 lead and battled back and forth with the Blackhawks until senior Danika Neargarder was able to set back-to-back kills for Allyson Waymire and Makenna Hoggatt to reach 1000 career assist and giving Mississinawa a boost they needed as they went on to win the 2^nd set 25-18.

Danika sets the ball for her teammate and outside hitter Makenna Hoggatt.  (Barger photo)

After her 1000^th assist play was stopped a few seconds to allow Mississinawa Valley Coach Taylor Rawlings to present a special ball, and she would then go into the stands to give to her parents before play would resume. 

On reaching the milestone Danika sort of took it in stride.  She plays the game with a quiet confidence and never gets too high or low always focusing on the next play as if she has been doing it her whole life. Well, that might be because volleyball has been her and her family’s life for as long as she can remember.

Danika's family was on-hand to support and witness her 1000th assist. (Barger photo)

“It's always been a part my whole family: my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles, my parents, we've always played volleyball, they enjoy and I enjoy it,” Danika commented.

“Ever since I could play it's always been my goal not to let the ball hit the floor, and that's what I do,” Danika stated.

Not only does she not let it touch the ground she covers a lot of space on the floor because she has the big responsibility of setting up big hitters and has been fortunate to have great ones over the last 3 years.

“She doesn't miss anything and playing a five-one center position is a tough job, especially when you're not very tall, but she does a great job at it, and she puts the ball where the hitters need it, and that's how you get 1000 assists,” coach Rawlings explained.

“Danika’s not one who wants to be in the spotlight, even when she deserves it, like tonight. She just comes in and does what she's supposed to do and is definitely one of those kids that leads by example.  She isn’t going to be the most vocal leader, but she's going to get the job done,” Rawlings praised.

Danika will have bragging rights now with her family after reaching 1000 assists, but she knows a lot of that credit goes to her teammates.

“I’ve been fortunate to have good senior teammates, and we’ve had so much fun playing together since the 7^th grade and I really can’t believe this is our last year, we really want to make it special,” Danika concluded.

Makenna Hoggatt gets kill to secure 1000th assist for Danika Neargarder.  (Barger photo)

Reaching a 1000 assist with her teammates will always be special … but they Blackhawks want more as they have their eye on a conference title.

Mississinawa cruised in the 3^rd set to improve their record to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the WOAC and have two big conference games with National Trail and Newton before colliding with Arcanum in what many predicted to be the top two teams in the WOAC on September 18^th. 


Danika surrounded by team after win over FM to celebrate milestone.  (Barger photo)
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Mississinawa Valley is off to their best start in the WOAC at 2-0.  (Barger photo)

After 3 weeks of football and two weeks of WOAC play just four teams remain undefeated, Arcanum, Mississinawa Valley, Preble Shawnee and Tri-Village.  

Mississinawa Valley 45 – Bradford 0

You would have to go back some time ago to find Mississinawa Valley off to a 2-0 league start as the Blackhawks defeated Dixie 34-3 in week two and 45-0 verses Bradford in a Thursday Night game in week three.

Mississinawa rushed for 271 yards and passed for 174 for a total 445 yards of offense.

Sophomore QB Caleb Spradling was 6-for-8 for 156 yards and 2 TDs.  Running back Kyle Wehrkamp threw one time for an 18-yard TD as well.

Wehrkamp also had 3 receptions, 95 yards for 2 TDs including a 51 yarder.

Ashton Amspaugh had 2 receptions on for a 16-yard TD.

Senior running back Bryce Watson on just 6 runs went for 127 yards on the ground a score.  Spradling and senior Michael Bell also had rushing TDs.

Defensively Colton Hiestand led the way with 9 tackles, 5 solo and 2 sacks.  Ty Houser had 7 tackles 1 sack, and Cooper Nieport had 6 tackles for the Blackhawks.

Mississinawa Valley will travel to National Trail next Friday and Bradford will travel to Arcanum.

Arcanum 53 – Dixie 13

Robert Denniston gets the hand-off as the Trojans run game rushed for 364 yards in win over Dixie. (Blosser photo)

Arcanum is off to a 3-0 start, 2-0 in WOAC and defeated the Greyhounds in a Thursday night lights game broadcasted on TKDS sports network.

They defeated the Dixie Greyhounds 53-13 that saw a little of everything: running, passing, kicking, and defense.

“I think we are capable of winning any kind of game,” said Arcanum coach Matt Macy. “We threw the ball like I would like to, got some playmakers out there we need to get the ball to. We rushed the ball like we normally do. It was a nice win for us.”

Arcanum had 493 yards of total offense 384 on the ground and 109 in the air.  Junior MJ Macy rushed 9 times for 164 yards and 2 scores and also had a kick-off return of 79 yards.  Sophomore Hudson Knaus had 6 carries for 152 yards and 2 TDs.  Freshman Kenton Kenworthy also had a score.

Junior Bishop Cartwright was 4-for-7 passing and 1 TD strike and Freshman Weston Schmidt threw once for a TD.

Freshman Raysean Miles pulled down both passing scores and had 4 receptions for 59 yards.  Freshman Paxton Besecker also had one reception for 50 yards.


Dixie's Cole Swafford threw 2 TD passes for the Greyhounds vs Arcanum.  (Blosser photo)

The Greyhounds two scores came through the air from sophomore quarterback Cole Swafford on 14-of-24 attempts for 166 yards.  Sophomore Noah Thompson and sophomore Ayden Hipp hauled in TDs for Dixie.

Arcanum will host Bradford next Friday while Dixie will travel to Preble Shawnee.

Preble Shawnee 56 – Twin Valley South 12

The Arrows up their record to 3-0, 2-0 in WOAC.  They had 312 yards of offense; 176 rushing and 136 passing.

Sr QB Brody Morton was 11-for-17 with 136 yards and 2 TDs, one to senior Ian Francis and the other to junior Caleb Blankenship. 

Morton also ran for 75 yards including 2 TD carries.  Sophomore Ethan Mauler had 85 yards on the ground on just 5 carries and a TD.  Ian Francis and Caleb Blankenship also had rushing TDs, and senior Zarrin Walton had a two-yard fumble recovery for a score.

Twin Valley South got on the board late in the first half on a 27-yard pass completion from junior Evan Day to junior Lucas Barlow.  Day would also score in the third quarter on a 10-yard carry.

The Panthers had 224-yard offense led by junior Wyatt Harrod with 91 yards on 15 carries.  Harrod also had 3 catches for 37 yards.

Twin Valley South falls to 1-2, 0-2 in WOAC and they will host Tri-Village next Friday.

Preble Shawnee improves to 3-0, 2-0 and they travel to Dixie in week 4.

Tri-Village 56 – Tri-County North 12

The Patriots had 429 yards of offense with 279 passing and 150 on the ground.

Senior QB Trey Sagester threw for 202 yards on 16-of-21 attempts and had 4 TD aerials two of them to junior Kingston Shafer, one to junior Griffin Richards and one junior Teddy Miller.

Shafer had 4 catches for 64 yards, Richards 4 receptions for 52 yards, senior Noah Finkbine and Teddy Miller each had 3 receptions.

Teddy Miller goes high for reception and turned it into a TD. (Barger photo)

Sophomore QB Brecken Gray threw one time in the game for a 77-yard strike to fellow sophomore Kole Hiestand who did most of the work breaking a tackle and getting down the sideline for the TD.

On the ground sophomore Staley Colston led the way on 7 rushes for 90 yards including two TDs.

Junior defensive back Aaron Bruner had two interceptions including a 91-yard return for a touchdown for the Patriots.

Freshman kicker Owen Ridout was 7-for-7 on extra-point kicks.

Tri-County North had 99 yards passing and 142 yards rushing for a total of 241 yards of offense.

Sophomore Quarterback Luke Baughman was 8-for-14 for 104 yards and 1 TD but also had 3 picks.  His one TD pass was a 29-yard strike to junior Peyton Fanning.

Peyton Fanning had two TD's including this 29 yard catch & score. (Barger photo)

Fanning also had 66 yards rushing and a 10-yard TD run for the Panthers.

Tri-County North 0-3, 0-2 will host Ansonia next Friday while Tri-Village 3-0, 2-0 will travel to Twin Valley South.

Ansonia 54 – National Trail 19

Ansonia outgained National Trail 452 yards all rushing to 296 for the Blazers with 188 in the air and 108 on the ground.

Sophomore quarterback Talon Bousman threw for 109 on 8-for-12 with two TD tosses and he ran for 56 yards on 11 carries.  Aidan Martin also had two completions with one for a TD.  Junior Jonah Brinkley was the leading receiver with 6 receptions with 3 TDs.

The Blazers however couldn’t slow down the Tigers run game led by Jacob Schmitmeyer who had 221 yards on 18 carries and 4 TDs.  Cainan Robinson, Lander Shives and Layne Bowman all had TD runs as well for Ansonia.

The Tigers are 2-1, 1-1 and will travel to Tri-County North this Friday while National Trail falls 0-3, 0-2 and will host Mississinawa Valley.

The Tri-County North band performs at halftime at the Tri-Village game.  If you ever have a chance to watch them perform don't miss it.  They are good.  (Barger photo)

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National Trail Sr. Kellen Laird gets low to read the break. He sank the putt for a round of 36 & was the medalist leading the Blazers to a win over Arcanum. (Dale Barger photo)

RICHMOND, IN – The last two undefeated WOAC Boys Golf teams went head-to-head at Highland Lakes Golf Course on Thursday.  National Trail hosted Arcanum both 7-0 in the conference and when the evening was over the Blazers were the only team left without a loss in the WOAC.

National Trail shot 158, 14 strokes better than Arcanum who carded a 182.

Both coaches Arcanum’s Kip Gray and National Trail’s Ramon Rutan talked about their teams both being 7-0 and how a little bit luck was on their side to be in that position.

“We feel like we've kind of gotten lucky a lot. I feel like a lot of teams have not played as well as they have the rest of the season when they play us, so we've kind of dodged a few bullets,” Blazer coach Rutan stated.

“Preble Shawnee has got a really good team and think they might have had their worst score of the year against us in conference.  Then in our first conference match of the year we set the school record for a round against a really good Franklin Monroe team, so that was nice,” Rutan added.

Considering the type of team and year National Trail had last year advancing to the State Tournament and the loss of Nick Brubaker and Justin Turner, the Blazers return experienced players who have worked hard in the off-season with expectation of winning a league title and heading back to state.

“For us to come back with losing the guys from last year and to come out and break the nine-hole school record, was pretty neat for these guys on the team this year, knowing that they own the new school record,” Rutan said.

"All of the guys playing for us this year had a role in the team’s success last year and earned varsity letters. They all played varsity matches so we didn't expect a big drop off. We thought we would have some but not a big drop off as our guys worked their butt off as we've played in some really tough invitationals this year. We traveled all over and played a lot tougher courses to try to prepare these guys for the end of the season, and they've grown a lot.  Those tough courses have kind of exposed some weaknesses in the game, and it's given us good areas to work at in practice."

Sophomore Josh Brubaker gets the up and down on the final hole to help secure the Blazers win over Arcanum in the WOAC.  (Dale Barger photo)

National Trail’s Kellen Laird leads the conference in scoring average with 37.84 and sophomore Josh Brubaker is second at 38.24 and have been a steady force all year but coach Rutan likes what he sees out of 3-5 guys and beyond as well.

“Our other guys especially Christian Rutan, Wyatt Gebhart and Sawyer Davies are seeing the results of their work as well and that’s pretty cool,” Rutan praised.

That work showed in how they finished in the match as well.

National Trail took the top four spots with Kellen Laird being medalist shooting even par 36.  Josh Brubaker was second with a 38, Christian Rutan and Wyatt Gebhart both shot 42’s, Sawyer Davies had a 46 and Charlie Cummings had a 47.

Arcanum coach Kip Gray felt like their luck was pretty good coming in … but it didn’t hold out on this night the Trojans were off the pace a little big compared to normal.

The Trojans were led by junior Daniel Kerns with a 44 in fifth place.  Luke Stephens 45, Kale Kramer 46, Cooper Tegtmeyer and Aiden Carlisle both had 47’s and Cohen Etherington 49.

Coming into the match Luke Stephens was third in the conference with a scoring average of 38.94 and even set a school record for nine holes with a 33 this year.

Arcanums Luke Stephens is 3rd overall in conference scoring average but the Trojans came up short in the battle of last two undefeated boys golf teams. (Dale Barger photo)

“I feel like we've gotten away with a few this year as I call it ham and eggs.  That’s when one guy plays bad, and someone else steps up,” Coach Gray said.

“We had a tight match with Tri-Village and had to go to the fifth man to squeeze it out with Tri-Village. Then had a really close match with Preble Shawnee and in both situations, we had guys play bad … but other guys stepped up. So that's been really big for us this year, we're deep enough that our five and six are capable of coming in and just the other night, both came in with 40’s and that huge when someone else is playing poorly,” Gray exclaimed.

“Luke Stevens been playing some amazing golf this year and is our one, he has been averaging around 38 or 39.  He had a great round at Winchester where he was actually five under, and then bogey’s the last two holes and still shot a 33, he’s a fantastic golfer,” Gray stated.

"Daniel Kearns has been playing the two spot, and he's just been super steady, not too low, not too high. Aiden Carlisle played three tonight and he just got back into the lineup as we had a transfer from Greenville that could only do half a season, so he’s really rounded into form. Kale Kramer is playing the four and is really consistent, shooting low 40’s and that's kind of what we've been doing all year,” Gray added.  We have Cooper Tegtmeyer and Cohen Etherington playing five and six, they both came in with 42’s Tuesday night when things looked like we weren't playing that well and that kind of changes the complexion of things and makes the game fun for everyone when they all can do that,” Gray concluded.


Aiden Carlisle stepped into the 3- spot for Arcanum. He is one of the guys coach Gray counts on to be consistent in contributing to the teams success.  (Dale Barger photo)
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