Jenna Lang came close last week, but fell just short of earning a US Youth Soccer National Championship.
Lang, who will be a senior at Columbus North, plays on the Indy Premier SC 03G Elite 1 team that finished runner-up in the Girls 18U Division last week in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida.
Indy Premier fell to Impact United SC from Utah 3-2 in Sunday’s championship game after beating that Impact United team in the final game of pool play. Indy Premier went undefeated in its pool, then won its semifinal game 2-1 to advance to the championship.
“We knew going into group play, we had what it took to get out of group play and advance to the semifinals, and we ended up doing that,” Lang said. “I think the overall experience was really great. If I’m not mistaken, I think we’re the first girls team to make it the farthest in the tournament from Indiana, but it was unfortunate how it ended.”
Wilson wins Midwest
Open doubles title
Kathryn Wilson, who will be a sophomore at Columbus North, teamed with Emma Gu of West Lafayette to win the Doubles event Monday in the USTA Midwest Open Girls 18 Championships. They were the No. 8 seed.
Ashlie Wilson, who will be a senior at North, won her first two singles matches Saturday and Sunday before falling in the Round of 16. Wilson and Natalie Stasny of Woodridge, Illinois, were the No. 1 seed in the doubles draw, but withdrew after both were dealing with injuries.
East earns Academic Excellence Award
Columbus East’s baseball team has been recognized as an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award recipient for 2020-21.
East was one of about 200 high schools across the country to be honored. To be eligible, teams must have a combined cumulative 3.0 GPA, and the head coach must be an ABCA member.
Niedbalski ties for 23rd in Masters Tour final
Recent Columbus North graduate Jacob Niebalski tied for 23rd place in this week’s Indiana Golf Association Masters Tour Championship.
Niedbalski carded back-to-back rounds of 76 to finish at 8-over-par 152. North’s Aditya Banerjee had rounds of 92 and 91 and finished 52nd at 183.
Sectional alignment, host sites proposed
Proposed sectional alignments remain largely unchanged for Bartholomew County schools for fall sports in 2021.
The one big change comes in football, where Columbus East drops from Class 6A to 5A and joins a sectional with Franklin, New Palestine and Whiteland. Columbus North now is in just a three-team sectional with Center Grove and Franklin Central.
If proposed host sites are approved, East and North will play their sectional games at Martinsville for volleyball, New Albany for boys soccer and Center Grove for girls soccer. North will continue to travel to Brown County for the boys and girls cross-country sectional and Bloomington North for the girls golf sectional and will host the boys tennis sectional.
Hauser will continue to play in sectional events at Edinburgh for volleyball, Southwestern (Shelby) for boys soccer, Brown County for cross-country and Columbus North for boys tennis.
East freshmen girls can still join soccer team
It is not too late for incoming freshmen at Columbus East to join the girls soccer team.
If interested, contact coach Ilya Schwartzman through the East athletics department at 812-376-4365.
Girls golf season kicks off Monday
Fall sports get underway on Monday with the beginning of the girls golf season.
Girls golf teams can begin practicing on Friday. Columbus East and Columbus North both play their openers on Monday at the Bloomington South Invitational.
Ted Schultz is sports editor for The Republic. He can be reached at [email protected] or 812-379-5628.
