This year was ridiculously loaded. Vote for Indiana high school girls athlete of the year

Indianapolis Star

08-07-2025

The 2024-25 high school sports season is officially in the books. Before we turn our attention to 2025-26 (and with it being the dog days of summer), we're recognizing Indiana's top-performing girls high school athletes from the past season!
Voting for the Indiana girls athlete of the year, presented by YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, will be open until noon EST Sunday.
Bell capped her career with a Class 3A state championship, hitting a career-best .313 with 333 kills last season. She also logged a career-high 63 aces, 26 blocks, 252 digs and 50 assists against the state's 24th-toughest schedule, per the IPV rankings. The Kansas incoming freshman finished her career with 1,280 kills, 1,131 digs, 168 aces, 108 total blocks and 79 assists, plus 115 wins and three regional championships in four varsity seasons.
Creager claimed the all-around state championship at this year's state meet. She won the uneven bars title with a score of 9.675, placed third on beam (9.675), fourth on floor (9.275) and fifth on vault (9.775) to accumulate 37.975 points. The junior was the third Homestead all-around winner overall and first since Shellen Goltz in 2000.
Crooke set a state high jump record with a nation-leading clearance of 6-2 in May, then claimed state championships in both the high jump (6-0.25, 2nd nationally; meet record) and long jump (20-4.75, 10th nationally). The Arizona track commit also notched 24 goals and six assists in 17 games for the semistate runner-up Heritage Christian soccer team (96 goals, 32 assists for her career).
Dowty, a junior, finished sixth at state (17:48.79), then took fifth at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, fifth at the Foot Locker regional championships and seventh at the NXN Midwest regional championships. Dowty took sixth in the 3200 at state with a time of 10:35.95.
Erb, a Kentucky-bound junior, led the Panthers to a semistate runner-up finish, batting .659 with 56 hits, 53 RBIs and 59 runs scored. Her collection of hits included 21 homers, eight triples and 15 doubles, and she also stole 18 bases and posted a .937 fielding percentage on 79 chances with two double plays. Erb is a career .652 hitter with 57 home runs and 193 RBIs.
Kirkland finished runner-up at this year's state meet to become the fourth golfer in state history to finish second or better three times in their career. The Xavier incoming freshman and Mental Attitude Award recipient was a three-time all-state honoree and led her team to a fourth-place finish at the 2022 state meet.
The 2025 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball recipient, Makalusky averaged 22.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 assists, while shooting 40% from 3 and 80% at the line for the semistate runner-up Royals. The IU freshman finished her career with 1,933 points.
Mishler won two state titles and set a meet record at this year's state meet. The Louisville commit clocked a 21.87 to capture the 50 freestyle championship, then broke the record she set in the 100 freestyle prelims with a time of 47.86 in the finals. Mishler is Wawasee's second state champion in swimming (first since 2012) and set a national record in the 50 free (21.56) in December.
Ocampo became the first girls wrestler to medal during the boys state finals, placing sixth at 106. Ocampo won her opening night match by fall in 5:46 over Plymouth's Alonzo Chantea to advance into medal contention. She wrestled back to reach the fifth-place match and lost by decision 3-0. A four-time state qualifier and three-time IHSGW state champ, Ocampo holds the most wins in school history (169) and ranks third in pins (78).
The MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year, Shackell became the second Indiana girl ever to medal at the Olympics while still in high school over the summer, then led the Greyhounds to their 39th straight state title in girls swimming in the winter. The IU swimming recruit won four state titles, leaving her with 15 for her career.
The freshman claimed individual state medalist honors with a two-day score of 144 (72-72). She is only the third freshman in the 52-year history of the IHSAA finals to claim individual honors, joining Columbus North's Ava Bunker (2022) and Warsaw's Emily Johnson (2003). Snively is also the first medalist to play for the team champion (Zionsville) since 1999.
Tippner led the Millers soccer team to a 19-0-2 record and a third consecutive Class 3A state championship, scoring 24 goals and 16 assists. On the hardwood, the Miami hoops commit set career-highs across the board with 26 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 4.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.
Vinson overcame a life-threatening illness last summer and returned to lead the Tigers to a 4A state runner-up finish, logging 361 kills (.324 hit%), 16 aces, 40 total blocks and 84 digs over 83 sets. Now an IU freshman, she set a school-record with her 1,940 career kills, and rounded out her high school stat line with 968 digs, 199 aces and 134 blocks.
The junior claimed the state cross-country title with a time of 17:12.19, helping her team to a second-place finish behind Carmel. She took first in both the 1600 (4:49.06) and 3200 (10:28.26) at the state track championships.
The 2025 Indiana Miss Softball recipient, Zachary totaled a .482 batting average, 196 hits, 169 runs, 174 RBIs, 41 doubles and 20 home runs, 79 stolen bases and a .926 fielding percentage in her four high school seasons. Now a freshman at Notre Dame, she batted a career-best .543 for the state semifinalists with 10 doubles, four triples and eight homers, career-highs in both RBIs (62) and runs (46), and 50 hits, which marked her third consecutive season with at least that many.