By Roman Ashcraft
Sports have given us some unforgettable moments this year. New school records, game-winning shots, undefeated seasons and more. Delta has had some great athletic moments this year.
The number one top play this year goes to senior Bronson Edwards for hitting the game-winning drive against 7th ranked Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian.
It was the regional boys’ basketball game at New Castle High School Field House. The game was tied 43-43 with 6 seconds left when Bronson drove to the rim beating the 6-foot-10 senior Kellen Pickett and layed it up for the win.
Delta won that game 45-43 for its third straight regionals win.
“It felt great. It was a good upset win and it was really special winning that game with my best friends,” Bronson said.
The number two top moment of this year was girls’ basketball making it to semi-state for the first time ever. The girls’ team finished with an 18-8 record, their most wins since the 2002-2003 season.
They have a great chance to go back to semi-state again next year because all of their players are returning and there are also some incoming freshmen who can help the varsity team improve.
The next great sports moment from this season is the cheer team winning the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship and winning the 3A state. This was the traditional routine in the competition sponsored by the Hoosier Cheer Coaches Association.
Winning state is a great achievement to have, but also winning the HHC in the same season is one of the greatest things that happened this year for sports. The reason why winning the conference was such a big deal is because we have one of the toughest conferences with several bigger enrollment schools and it was also the very first time cheer has won it.
Another great sports moment that happened this year is track and field getting new school records. Track has some very talented runners like Marcus Bright being one of the best in the state for the 110-meter low hurdles.
In the Delaware County meet on May 9, Marcus broke a 47-year-old record in the 110 hurdles. His winning time was 14.27 seconds.
For girls’ track they have great runners such as Jillian Barr, who set three county records. She set new records for the hurdles, long jump and was part of the 400-meter relay race. Jillian Barr and her teammates set a new school record in the 400-meter relay with her, Reese Backus, Chloe Newsome, and Mia Bollinger.
Track and field has set more than 10 records this year. The track team set 4 records in county and freshman Reese Backus set a new record in the Hoosier Heritage Conference for long jump. She also set the long jump record in sectional with a leap of 18 feet, 5.5 inches. There are new track records in shot put, hurdles, long jump and the 400-meter relay.
In the conference girls’ meet, Delta was seeded number 6 and was only expected to move one or two spots, but with new track records the girls moved from the sixth seed to the runner-up position in the meet.
A great sports moment this year is the wrestling team being top 10 in the state. They finished their season 7th in state. The wrestling team also won the semi-state title as well.
The wrestling team has some great wrestlers. The team has a great wrestler who is committed to Indiana University. His name is Ayden Bollinger and he is one of the best wrestlers in the state at his weight class.
Senior Kaeb Stebbins and junior Kaid Jackson each placed fourth at state, sophomore Sam Mosier and freshman Reed Wicker placed fifth, and senior Syden Bollinger took sixth.
They also have a very young team. They have sophomore Jensen Boyd who couldn’t wrestle this year due to injury. So with the returning wrestlers they have another great shot to go to state again next year and possibly get a better outcome.
A great individual moment that happened this year is junior Maddox Huffman setting a new school record for most soccer goals in a season.
Maddox scored 26 goals this season, beating the previous record by three. Maddox is only a junior this year, so next year he can have an even more insane season for soccer.
A great sports moment that happened most recently is girls’ tennis being number one in the conference and obtaining the conference traveling trophy racket after beating Mt. Vernon.
The girls’ tennis team, ranked 16th, has beaten four Top 25 teams in the state this season: #17 Center Grove, #19 Homestead, #20 Mt Vernon and #23 Franklin.
The number 1 doubles team of Kate Manor and Kelsey Vest is 18-3.
One of the top ten sports moments that happened this year is the girls’ swim team putting together their third straight undefeated regular season. The girls swim team is a great team with great swimmers and coaches. Their best swimmers are Elle Groves and Annie Jackson. Groves was great at the 50 and 100 freestyle and Annie Jackson is best at the 100 meter butterfly.
Their coach Laura Seibold-Caudill has been coaching at Delta for nine years after she retired in 2014 from being the Ball State swim coach for 33 years.
Another great sports moment that just cracked the top moments of this year is the boys’ tennis team winning its 32nd sectional in a row. The tennis team won 5-0 against Muncie Central and beat Yorktown 5-0 to win their 32nd consecutive tennis sectional.
Lastly for the top ten sports moments the varsity baseball team beat the state’s 9th ranked baseball team New Pal 1-0. Delta is currently ranked 45th by Maxpreps in the state right now and beating a top ten ranked school is a huge accomplishment for the team. The baseball team also just won the county title beating Yorktown 10-0.
