Caleb Kirkpatrick
MALE
Caleb Kirkpatrick // Columbus East sophomore wrestler
Kirkpatrick won three matches Saturday to capture the 138-pound weight class and help lead the Olympians to the Hoosier Hills Conference title. On Thursday, he won his match by pin in a 50-18 win against Bloomington South.
His performance last week: “I’m pretty proud of the performance. It’s been a big step-up from being hurt last year to being varsity this year and being ranked.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “For conference, I was pretty sick, so I was doing what I needed to keep my body healthy. But for normal meets, I try to eat right and stay mellow.”
Favorite drink: “Pedialyte”
Favorite food: “Any of my mom’s cooking.”
Favorite class: “English”
Favorite sports team: “Pittsburgh Steelers”
Favorite athlete: “(National team wrestler) Jordan Burroughs”
Role model: “My step-dad (Albert Puchany)”
Best advice: “’Success doesn’t come without failure. I’ve failed a lot in my life, and good things will come with effort.’ Coach (Chris) Cooper told me that my freshman year.”
Athletics goal: “To perform to my best ability and see where it takes me.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Probably Germany, because of the agriculture.”
FEMALE
Connelly Furnish // Columbus East freshman swimmer
Connelly Furnish
Furnish won the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events and swam on the second-place 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams to lead the Olympians to a fourth-place finish in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet.
Her performance last week: “I thought I did well, but everyone did well, and we did well as a team.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “When I’m at the meet, I just watch the girls on our team swim before me, because when they do well, I know I can also do well.”
Favorite drink: “Dr. Pepper”
Favorite food: “Bacon”
Favorite class: “My Business class”
Favorite sports team: “Purdue basketball”
Favorite athlete: “(Michigan quarterback) J.J. McCarthy”
Role model: “My Columbus East and Club Olympia coaches, and also the seniors at East and my sister (sophomore Cassidy Furnish)”
Best advice: “Hark work pays off.’’
Athletics goal: “To swim in college.”
If you could travel anywhere: “I would go to Hawaii because I love warm weather.”
