Published: April 01, 2008 11:18 pm         

Metro Roundup: Drake Relays to honor ISU’s McNichols

John McNichols, coordinator of Indiana State men's and women’s track and field and cross country programs, will be inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame during an April 24 reception at the Drake Knapp Center.

McNichols will be the 76th inductee into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame, which was established in 1977.

“I was very surprised when I was informed about this honor and I still don’t think it has completely set in,” said McNichols. “I am extremely honored to be a part of such a tremendous group of coaches and in a Hall of Fame at one of the most prestigious meets in the country.

“I’m being included with coaches that I have worked with, competed against and tried to model my coaching style after during my career and that is really overwhelming. This is one of the best honors a track and field coach can receive, and it’s hard to express how special this is.”

McNichols has seen his student-athletes win nine individual titles at the Drake Relays. One of his prized pupils is seven-time NCAA sprint champion and 10-time All-American Holli Hyche, who was inducted into the 1999 Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame. In addition to Hyche, McNichols has coached four-other All-American sprinters.

“This meet has always been special for our program throughout the years and some of the best moments in our history have taken place there,” continued McNichols. “I’ll never forget the standing ovation Holli received as she came down the backstretch on her way to being named the most outstanding athlete of the meet.”

Since his arrival, the Indiana State men have won six Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field titles and five cross country titles, including three-straight cross country championships from 2004-06. Under his leadership, the combined men’s and women’s programs have won 23 MVC titles.

• • •

In other track and field news:

• Repking, Belton honored — The Rose-Hulman track and field squads claimed a pair of Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference weekly honors this week.

Senior Matt Repking captured HCAC Runner of the Week honors, while senior Janel Belton earned league Field Event Athlete of the Week accolades.

Repking came within one second of breaking a 25-year old school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:31.54) to win top honors in the event at the prestigious Rhodes College Invitational.

Belton recorded second-place (shotput/37-3) and fourth-place (discus/114-3) finishes in a pair of field events at the Rhodes College Invitational on Saturday.

Baseball

• Rose loses HCAC home game — A ninth-inning rally by Rose-Hulman fell short, as Franklin edged the host Engineers 6-4 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action at Art Nehf Field on Tuesday.

The Engineers trailed 6-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Senior Michael Matsu, who made a pair of spectacular fielding plays earlier in the game, led off with a single.

Sophomores Chandler Kent and Keenan Long added back-to-back singles to make the score 6-4. Franklin closer Cody Nees forced a ground out on the game's final play to earn the save.

Kent and Long paced the Engineer offense with three hits each. Kent slapped a double and scored one run, while Long added an RBI single. Kirk Thompson had a bases-loaded triple.

Franklin improved to 13-7 on the season and 6-2 in conference play, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 14-7 overall and 2-2 in league play. The Engineers host archrival DePauw University on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Art Nehf Field.



Franklin 001 500 000 — 6 13 1

Rose-Hulman 003 000 001 — 4 10 0

Larson, Clark (4), Applegate (7), Nees (9) and Smith; Maloney, Bougrat (4) and Long. W — Clark (4-2); L — Maloney (0-1); S — Nees (4).

Next — Rose-Hulman (14-7, 2-2 in HCAC) hosts DePauw at 6 p.m. today. Franklin improved to 13-7, 6-2.



• ISU game cancelled — Indiana State’s game at St. Louis University on Tuesday was cancelled. The Sycamores are still on tap to play at Xavier today.

• Top-ranked Vikings — West Vigo has taken over the top spot in the Western Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Poll this week.

The following is the poll with rank, number of first place votes and total points:

1. West Vigo (3) 45

2. Terre Haute South (2) 44

3. Terre Haute North 43

4. Northview 38

5. Shakamak 27

6. North Putnam 21

7. Linton 17

8. Rockville 13

9. North Central 11

10. Riverton Parke 9

Basketball

• Mahurin, Grbic named — Two players from the area have been named to the Junior All-Star teams that will compete against the Indiana All-Stars in exhibition basketball games.

R. J. Mahurin of Rockville and Dragana Grbic of Terre Haute South are members that will compete in a June 9 exhibition at Washington. Another exhibition is slated for June 11 at Marion.

Mahurin has announced that he intends to sign with Indiana State in the fall. Grbic has given a commitment to Butler.

The Indiana All-Stars will meet the Kentucky All-Stars June 13 at Indianapolis and June 15 at Louisville.

Six boys and six girls form the Core Six that will compete in both exhibition games.



Junior All-Stars

Boys

Core Six — Patrick Bade, Franklin Central; D. J. Byrd, North Montgomery; Tyler Koch, Winchester; Colt Ryan, Batesville; Stephan Van Treese, Lawrence North; Scott Wood, Marion.

South Six — R. J. Mahurin, Rockville; Kelsey Barlow, Ind. Cathedral; Kendal Brown, Evansville Harrison; Matt Gehl, Jac-Cen-Del; Jordan Hulls, Bloomington South; Jordan Myers, Forest Park.

North Six — Derek Elston, Tipton; Patrick Hopkins, Kokomo; Justin Jordan, Fort Wayne North; Damian McGee, Gary Wallace; Jawann Scaife, Muncie Central; Brandon Williams, Lafayette Jeff.

Girls

Core Six — Alexandra Bentley, Ben Davis; Skylar Diggins, South Bend Washington; Macey Elyea, New Castle; Kelly Faris, Heritage Christian; Courtney Osborn, Hamilton Southeastern; Chrissy Steffen, Carmel.

South Six — Dragana Grbic, Terre Haute South; Daress McClung, Lawrence North; Brooke Owens, Vincennes Lincoln; Paige Smith, Hamilton Southeastern; Kristen Turner, Seymour; Lindsay Vandivier, Franklin.

North Six — Skyler Gick, Benton Central; Taylor Goshert, Wawasee; Ta'Kenya Nixon, Michigan City; Kelsey Reynolds, Penn; Lily Svete, Penn; Jasmine Watson, Elkhart Memorial.



• North teams win — At Vincennes, North teams were winners in the Indiana North-South All-Star Classic played Sunday at Vincennes University.

The North boys defeated their South counterparts 126-112 and the North girls bested the South 87-76.

Zach Odum of Terre Haute South had 11 points for the North, making 5 of 8 shots with a slam dunk. Megan Craft of South saw action for the North girls.

Indiana State recruit Deja Mattox of Maconaquah led the North girls in scoring with 17 points and ISU track signee Felisha Johnson had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. ISU recruit Brittany Schoen of South Central scored 10 points for the South team.

Golf

• Seventh ace for Harvey — Mark Harvey recorded his seventh career hole-in-one Sunday at Hulman Links.

Harvey got the ace on the 175-yard, No. 13 hole using a 6-iron while playing with Jim Homburg, Chuck Adamson, Ted Collins and Mark West.