The 2018 high school sports season came to a close over the weekend, as football state champions were crowned at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
While there weren’t any state champions across Jackson County’s five schools, there was plenty of accomplishments to go around.
Here are some of the highlights from the past few months:
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Girls golf
The first sport to come to an end was girls golf.
Seymour finished with a 41-25 record overall. The Owls finished runners-up in the sectional at Bedford’s Otis Park and tied for sixth in the regional at Country Oaks in Montgomery.
In the Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament at Shadowood Golf Course, Seymour placed third of eight teams.
Owls junior Bridget Marshall was All-HHC and tied for second with a 75 in the HHC. Marshall, The Tribune’s Golfer of the Year and team MVP, had averages of 41.7 and 82.3 strokes to lead Seymour.
Brownstown Central had a record of 18-22 and finished third in the Mid-Southern Conference at Shadowood and fourth at sectional.
Senior KaCee Collins earned All-MSC honors before advancing from the sectional as an individual. At the regional, Collins shot a career-best 84, shaving off 16 strokes from her former personal best.
Collins and sophomore teammate Ashlyn Fox both advanced as individuals to regional. Fox, who earned All-MSC honorable mention status, shot 105 at regional.
Boys tennis
Seymour’s boys tennis squad was the school’s only team to win a sectional this fall.
In 2018, the Owls finished with a record of 12-5 while capturing the program’s 10th sectional championship. The title marked the second straight and third in four years for the Owls.
The Owls also finished runners-up in the HHC Tournament.
Owls senior Adam Berry, The Tribune’s Player of the Year, went 14-3 at No. 1 singles and was named All-HHC, All-District and to the All-State honorable mention list. Berry played on the Indiana Senior All-Star Southeast team in the annual North-South All-Star event.
The Owls’ No. 1 doubles team of Brandon Hubbard and Will Rinehart was named All-HHC honorable mention, the first doubles team to earn the honor under coach Brad Emerson.
Brownstown Central also had a strong season on the tennis courts.
Under second-year coach Mitchell Taylor, the Braves went 13-3 overall.
The Braves placed third in the MSC with a record of 7-2 and were third at the Scottsburg Invitational.
After losing to Scottsburg on Aug. 23, the Braves won 10 straight matches before losing to Seymour in the sectional championship.
Braves senior Ethan Carlin was named the team’s MVP. He was a four-year varsity letterman, and during his freshman season, he set a school record for wins in a season with a record of 22-2.
Trinity Lutheran didn’t fare as well this season, as they finished 2-12 under first-year coach Clayton Engel. Hunter Morgan was named Trinity’s MVP.
Soccer
Seymour’s boys soccer team had one of its best seasons ever.
The Owls’ varsity went 12-4 this fall, including 7-0 in HHC play. It was the first time the Owls went undefeated in conference competition and was the program’s seventh HHC title since 1990.
Seymour scored a school-record 72 goals in the season and also set a record for goals in a game with 14 against both Brown County and Shawe Memorial.
Head coach Matt Dennis also made some history, becoming the all-time leader in coaching wins at Seymour. Dennis, who just completed his eighth season, currently boasts 79 wins. The former record (67 wins) was held by Shaun Mahoney.
Seymour senior Daniel Hartman, the Tribune’s Player of the Year, set the school record for goals in a career, finishing with 66 scores. Among all of his accomplishments, including All-District and All-HHC honors, Hartman was recently named All-State second team.
Eight different players received All-HHC or HHC honorable mention honors for Seymour this fall.
The Seymour girls posted a record of 13-5-2 after winning 12 matches a year ago. The Owls were 4-2-1 in the HHC, placing them third.
The Owls advanced to the sectional championship, falling short to Floyd Central.
Senior Elizabeth Lenart, The Tribune’s Player of the Year, was MVP, All-HHC and All-District.
Six different players earned All-HHC or HHC honorable mention honors for Seymour this fall.
The Owls had a school-record 11 shutouts this past season.
Under first-year coach Joe Doggett, Trinity’s boys soccer team went 4-12.
The Cougars advanced to the semifinals of the Christian Academy of Indiana Sectional, where they fell to Henryville.
Trinity Lutheran’s girls soccer team went 7-9.
The Cougars advanced to the Providence Sectional championship, where they fell to the Pioneers for a second straight year.
Jeff Nolting, who stepped down at girls soccer coach at the season’s end, founded the program at Trinity. He guided three players through all four years of the program after it began.
Sidney Hoene and Emma Goecker shared most valuable player.
Cross-country
Seymour’s boys placed fifth in the HHC meet at Floyd Central before finishing runners-up at sectional, fifth in regional and 20th at the semistate in Brown County.
Luke Plummer made All-HHC honorable mention.
The Seymour girls were fourth in the HHC, third at both the sectional and regional and 14th at semistate.
Senior Ashton Chase finished her illustrious career by advancing to state as an individual for a fourth straight season — the first athlete from Seymour to accomplish the feat. She also became the first runner to win the regional as an individual and also garner All-HHC status for all four years.
Randy Fife coached the boys and Spencer Sunbury led the girls again this fall.
Brownstown’s girls team finished 118-40 overall. They were the runners-up in the MSC race, fourth at sectional and eighth at regional in Brown County.
Kaelyn Johnson was named the team’s most valuable runner. She advanced as an individual to the semistate.
The Braves finished 95-65 on the season. They took sixth at both the MSC race and sectional.
Junior Mason Kellogg was named the Braves’ most valuable runner. Kellogg, Nathan Koch and Trey Hackman all advanced to regional as individuals.
Maria Conklin (girls) and Derrick Koch (boys) both coached again this fall.
Under coaches Marc and Carl Bowman, Crothersville’s girls team won a fourth straight Southern Athletic Conference title and advanced to regional competition for the first time this fall by placing fourth at sectional.
Freshman Kaylyn Holman won the SAC and was the first Crotherville runner to win a sectional title.
Holman went on to advance as an individual to the semistate along with teammate Grace Wilson. Holman got out of the semistate round and was the first runner to represent the Tigers at the state finals.
On the boys’ side, the Tigers didn’t field a full team.
David Rose was All-SAC. He and teammate Lane Wienhorst both advanced to the regional as individuals.
Holman and Rose were the Tigers’ most valuable runners.
Trinity Lutheran didn’t field a full team for either the boys or girls this fall.
The Cougars’ A.J. Goecker was named male most valuable runner and Sadie Nay was female most valuable runner.
Goecker, The Tribune’s Runner of the Year, was consistently the fastest runner in Jackson County and advanced to the semistate as an individual. Nay also was a regional qualifier.
Jennifer Hildreth was hired as the Cougars’ coach at the beginning of the season.
Volleyball
Jackson County’s volleyball teams saw ups and downs this fall.
Brownstown Central went 29-6 overall. In the MSC, the Braves were the outright champions with a perfect 9-0 record.
Junior Keeli Darlage was named the Braves’ most valuable player and leading hitter. The Tribune’s Player of the Year also was Class 3A All-State second team, All-District and All-MSC.
The Braves were consistently ranked in the top-10 for Class 3A throughout the season and fell to Silver Creek in the sectional finals on their home floor.
Jennifer Shade was the coach of the Braves.
Trinity Lutheran’s volleyball team also had a wildly successful year, finishing 28-10 under first-year coach Faith Wilder-Newland. The Cougars won the West Washington Sectional, their fifth straight title and eighth in the program’s history.
They lost in the regional championship game to Barr-Reeve, which went on to win the Class A state finals.
Junior Hannah Sabotin was named most valuable player.
Seymour finished 17-15 overall in 2018. In HHC play, the Owls had a strong 5-2 record, which placed them second. The Owls made big improvements this season after going 8-25 in 2017.
Angie Lucas returned to coach the varsity team after stepping away for four years. She recently wrapped up her 24th year of coaching the Owls.
Crothersville finished 10-13 overall and Medora was 8-19.
In the program’s first Southern Roads Conference Tournament, Medora finished runners-up.
Maddie Riley was the team’s most valuable player for Crothersville.
Missy Stewart was Medora’s coach, and Kourtney Settle led the Tigers.
Football
Both Seymour and Brownstown Central had solid seasons on the gridiron.
Under second-year coach Mike Kelly, the Owls finished 6-4 overall in varsity competition.
At Bulleit Stadium, the Owls finished with a perfect 4-0 home record. It was the first time Seymour finished undefeated at home since 2001.
Going 4-3 in HHC play, the Owls were third in the conference standings.
Senior running back Nathan O’Mara led the team with 1,986 yards on 286 carries and 12 touchdowns.
O’Mara set the school record for rushing yards and carries in a game with 356 yards on 41 attempts against Jeffersonville. He also set the record for carries in a season and finished in second place for most yards in a season at Seymour.
Brownstown Central’s football team claimed its 13th sectional title in 20 championship appearances since Reed May took over the program in 1993. Promoted in 2011, the Braves are 4-1 in Class 3A sectional championships.
In the regular season, the Braves went unblemished in the MSC to take the crown. The program has won 18 MSC titles under May, who just wrapped up his 26th season of coaching.
Brownstown finished 11-2 overall and has won at least eight games in 20 straight seasons.
The Braves fell to Evansville Memorial in the regional championship. The Tigers went on to advance to the state finals, where they fell to West Lafayette 47-42.