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Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
'I'm speechless.' Kya Crooke breaks 39-, 40-year-old records at IHSAA girls track state meet
INDIANAPOLIS – Kya Crooke pleaded with her mother for tickets to see R&B artist SZA in St. Louis. In ordinary parental fashion, Julie Crooke initially told her daughter no since the concert was three days before the IHSAA girls track state meet. The Heritage Christian senior persisted. With her persistence came a pledge. 'I told my mom, 'No, I have to be at that concert; I promise I'll do good at state,'' Kya said. Julie granted permission. In turn, her daughter did better than good. Crooke set state meet records in the long jump (20-4.75) and high jump (6-0.25) Saturday at the IHSAA girls track and field state meet at North Central. The long jump record stood for 39 years, and the high jump record, 40. 'That record has been around for so long, so it's been my goal this whole season to work toward breaking the long and high jump records,' Crooke said. 'Coming out here and being able to do that, I can hear the people clapping with me. It's just really cool to see.' IHSAA girls track and field state meet: Results, event winners, record breakers 'We did this as a team.' Carmel wins girls track state title without winning single event Crooke said she was anxious before her jumps but talked to friends to calm her nerves and 'have fun,' claiming, 'That's when I'm at my best.' Her best left her dad, Val, at a loss for words. 'I'm speechless. To have the last meet of her senior year and to break the long and high jump records, that girl has something special,' Val said. "I just sat back and watched; I didn't even have to coach anymore.' Val trained his daughter since she began track and field. He ran track on his native Caribbean island of St. Kitts and later attended college at Anderson University. When Crooke was in middle school, Val and Julie started the SocaSpeed track club. With four state titles, including one in soccer her freshman year, Crooke said it's 'awesome to be the person the girls at Soca could look up to.' 'We talk about the little brown and black girls that get to see someone high jump and say, 'I want to do that,' and there are girls in St. Kitts now going, 'What in the world, that girl is going crazy,'" Val said. "Now, I am going to have a ton of young ladies in the islands that want to high and long jump.' Val's confidence and excitement in his following comment released a strong Carribean accent. 'St. Kitts got the sprints covered,' he said. 'We got the jumps now.' Crooke hopes to compete for St. Kitts in future international competitions. After every meet, she sends videos to her grandparents and extended family on the island, and they often ask Val for ways to livestream her events. 'There's a whole other country behind me,' Crooke said. The City Female Athlete of the Year appreciates her domestic support as well. Born and raised in Indiana, Crooke acknowledged her parents, high school coaches and teammates for 'pulling for her to be the best I can be.' She praised Indiana for granting multiple opportunities, like the Indiana All-Star track meet, for its athletes to gain experience and showcase their talents. Crooke will attend Arizona in the fall, where she'll be trained by decorated jumps coach Bobby Carter. As Crooke builds a ladder of achievements in track and field, Val recognizes his daughter's inclination to carry others up with her. 'She understands she has a plan and purpose for her life and gets to walk in it and bring people along. It's not about her, it's about others,' Val said. 'At the end of the day, this is all about her love for Christ, so to see that play out in her athletics, where she gives God the glory for all of her successes, it brings tears to my eyes.' 'Let's try everything.' Heritage Christian's Kya Crooke City Female Athlete of the Year For Crooke, her actions must reflect that she represents someone beyond herself. 'I had to learn that whether I'm doing bad or amazing, people are watching and can see how I handle certain situations. Track is my ministry, so I like people to see something different in how I handle things and ask, 'Why did I do it that way?'' Crooke said. 'My athletic ability is a gift from God, and I love that I can show that through a sport I love so much. "The biggest compliment I've received these past two years from people is that they can see Christ through me on the track, and that's really why I'm out here. I want to continue to do that out in Arizona and whatever else is planned.'
Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Purdue basketball and South Bend Clay legend Jaraan Cornell dies at 48
SOUTH BEND ― Jaraan Cornell, who authored one of the greatest shots in IHSAA state basketball history for Clay High School, died unexpectedly Friday, June 6, at the age of 48. The details surrounding his death are unknown, but multiple sources confirmed to the South Bend Tribune that his body was found in his apartment Friday morning. Noie column: Friday was a bad day after the loss of a good one in South Bend boys basketball More: 30 years ago South Bend Clay made HS basketball history. What the team is saying today Cornell was a star for the South Bend Clay boys basketball team in the 1990s. He hit one of the defining shots in state history during the 1994 state championship game, draining a '3' as time expired in regulation to force overtime. Clay went onto beat Valparaiso, 93-88, in overtime in one of the final title games on the one-class era. Cornell was a sophomore on the 1994 team. He would be named an Indiana All-Star and finished third in the Mr. Basketball award voting in 1996. He then had a decorated playing career at Purdue University, including back-to-back third team all-Big Ten selections in 1998 and 1999. He was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary team in 2021.
Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
IHSAA softball: Greenfield-Central falls to Floyd Central
Interview with Josie White, Leilani Forshey and Savvanna Riall following Greenfield-Central's 6-1 loss to Floyd Central in the Class 4A semistate semifinals. Brian Haenchen IHSAA softball: Noblesville seniors remember Craig Lutz IHSAA basketball: Addi Baxter scores 13 points, eight assists in All-Stars win Cathedral 2B Connor Christiansen on leading Irish to City championship Savvanna Riall helped Greenfield-Central blast its way into semistate
Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
IU softball commit overcame 3 ACL tears to lead Greenfield-Central. 'She's a different breed'
GREENWOOD — Josie White remembers sitting with her Greenfield-Central softball coach at an IU camp a few years ago, forced to watch off to the side as she recovered from a torn ACL. 'If I have to do this again, I'm quitting. This sucks,' she told her coach. "And that was just the first time," White said. 'I went through it two more times.' The second half of that quote is enough to make most anyone do a double take. Greenfield-Central senior Josie White — who just last week announced her commitment to IU softball — tore her ACL three times during her high school career. The second occurrence limited her to just 18 games as a sophomore, then the third ended her junior campaign after only 12 games. And each time, the sure-handed shortstop worked her way back. Noblesville honors assistant's memory: 'If you were coached by him, you knew what love was.' IHSAA softball semistate: Statewide scores, schedule, recaps "I knew I wasn't ready to be done," she said following Saturday's 6-1 loss to Floyd Central in the Class 4A semistate semifinal. "I love softball and even before I committed, I was like, 'I'm not done. I can't give up this sport. I have no reason to quit.'" 'She's a different breed,' added senior first baseman Leilani Forshey. 'Not very many people would tear their ACL three times and be like, 'Yeah, let's go back. Let's try it again.'' White played the entirety of her senior season and used those 27 games to make up for lost time, batting .500 with 51 hits, 41 runs and 13 RBIs. She was nearly perfect in the field, recording 95 putouts and 16 assists on 116 chances with 12 double plays, and showed off her wheels, swiping a team-high 16 bases. A career .467 hitter (134 hits in 80 games), White scored twice as part of a stirring come-from-behind win over Pendleton Heights (trailed 7-0) in the sectional, then went 3-for-4 with three runs scored amidst a regional rout of Lawrence North. On Saturday — one year since her most-recent knee surgery — White clocked a couple hits and scored Greenfield-Central's (19-8) lone run against the Highlanders. "It's been great (having White as a teammate). I couldn't be more thankful that she's been healthy this year," junior third baseman Savvanna Riall said, fighting back tears as she continued. "I've been playing with her since I was 10, so to see her have a full season and have a great one — that's pretty special." Those long-running ties and deep connections with her teammates helped White keep going these past few years, pushing her through the moments of doubt. She also played with junior second baseman Kristen Wineinger growing up, the two starting out at pitcher's helper and first base before moving to their current positions. At home, her parents — former college baseball and softball players themselves — have been a constant source of motivation. "I wanted to be like them — to be better than them," White smirked. "(My parents) got me here and I'm trying to use what they helped me build, my skills and everything." Asked what it's meant to play for Greenfield-Central and to lead the Cougars to their first sectional and regional championships since 2017, White replied: "It's just been huge." "I think everyone around me knows I try to lead by example as best I can and these people are just so amazing, as softball players and outside of it," she continued. "Great friendships have been built. I just loved being here."
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Noblesville struggles with downpour, Harrison's bats. Need 'to come off the bus ready to go' when regional resumes
WEST LAFAYETTE – Deke Bullard was just looking to buy some time. Noblesville trailed Harrison, 4-0, in the Class 4A regional championship game with two on and no outs in the bottom of the fifth, but more pressing were the rapidly deteriorating conditions. Wednesday's weather cell that forced a nearly 20-minute delay earlier in the game had returned with a vengeance, and the steady downpour was making it nearly impossible for sophomore pitcher Addison Retzinger to grip the ball. 'I told the girls I was out there stalling, trying to see what they're going to do with the rain,' Bullard said. 'That's all I was doing. … Because I already knew she couldn't hold onto the ball. When you're switching the ball every pitch, that's hard on a pitcher. It's hard to get into a groove.' IHSAA softball regionals: Statewide pairings, schedule, scores The umpire sent Bullard back to the dugout and after trying to stall a few more seconds — all while the rains increased to more of a torrential downpour — Retzinger was forced to throw another pitch. It came out flat and sophomore Anna Hainje capitalized, launching it over the left-field wall for a three-run homer. The game entered a delay as soon as she crossed home plate and play was suspended shortly thereafter. Officials hope to resume play at 6 p.m., Thursday, with West Lafayette Harrison batting with no outs in the fifth. 'It's flat-out pouring,' Bullard said. 'You can't see the ball. You can't hold onto the ball. And we held off probably three pitches too long before they called that. I mean, the last three pitches were in the dirt because the pitcher can't hold onto the ball. I'm not going to blame the umpires. We haven't played well. But you have to be aware of that.' The night's heaviest downpours occurred with Noblesville in the field — Murphy's Law, Bullard deadpanned — but the visitors came out flat, their coach observed, and that proved costly against Raiders pitcher Bradi Odom, who's working a four-hit shutout with only one walk and five strikeouts. 'We have done some guessing on what she's doing and what we're trying to do,' Bullard said. 'She's kept us off-balance and done a really good job. Kudos to her.' At the plate, Harrison's generated 11 hits with three from Hainje — she's also scored two runs and has been generally excellent — and two apiece from juniors Becca Knight and Della Bossung. Hannah Voll and Alex Waitkoff accounted for the Raiders' other two RBIs. If it can escape the fifth without further damage — a fairly significant 'if' against a lineup of WL Harrison's caliber (seven earned runs on 11 hits with only three strikeouts) — Noblesville will have six outs to generate seven runs, a by-no-means impossible task for a lineup that averages nearly eight runs per game and hung nine runs on two of the state's top talents in the sectional: Hamilton Southeastern's Grace Swedarsky and Zionsville's Leah Helton. 'We've had big innings before. They're going to have to come off the bus ready to go. And it's going to take a tremendous effort on our part to be able to do anything, to even make it close. Seven? With no outs in the fifth? That's a big hill. … We'll come back tomorrow and see what happens.'
