SOUTH MADISON COUNTY – This year in South Madison County both Lapel and Pendleton Heights sports programs excelled, former coaches returned, and new coaches entered.

Highlighted by the Lapel girls basketball team’s appearance in the Class 2A State Championship, county, sectional, regional and semistate titles were won all throughout the year .

Below is a selection of stories published in The Times-Post, reflecting those accomplishments and other happenings from the past 12 months.

The full versions of these and other related stories are available at ptlpnews.com.

Originally published Jan. 5

Pendleton rugby leaves South Carolina with new hardware

GREER, S.C. — The Pendleton Rugby Club traveled to Greer, South Carolina recently to compete in its second annual Greer Christmas 7s Rugby Tournament with teams from South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Indiana.

They returned home to Pendleton with some new hardware.

Pendleton took 27 players with to Greer, and were split into a gold division team, and silver division team.

In the gold division, Pendleton went 5-1 on the weekend to earn the championship.

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Originally published Jan. 12

Bulldogs knock off Arabians for girls basketball county title

LAPEL — For the first time in 15 years, the Lapel Bulldogs stand atop the Madison County Girls Basketball Tournament.

They did so in dramatic fashion, and on their home floor, defeating the defending champs, Pendleton Heights, 42-38 to earn the second title in school history.

The win was a long time coming for head coach Zach Newby who has now led the team to four title-game appearances in his five years as head coach.

Originally published Jan. 19

Two area wrestlers compete in girls state finals

NEW CASTLE — The past weekend was a big one for county wrestlers.

On Friday, Pendleton Heights’ Kalli Stock and Lapel’s Paige Stires competed in the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling State Finals conducted at Mooresville High School.

In what has become an emerging sport, but not yet sanctioned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, both Stock and Stires still had to earn their way into the state finals, advancing from the regional round where Stock placed third, and Stires placed fourth.

Both placements earned the girls a spot in the state bracket.

Stires, a freshman, and Stock, a sophomore, both dropped their opening matches in their first appearance at the state finals.

Originally published Jan. 26

Pendleton Heights bowling advances to semistate

KOKOMO — Led by a late comeback, the Pendleton Heights bowling team was among the top four teams at last Saturday’s Kokomo regional tournament.

The third-place finish earned the team a spot in Saturday’s semistate held at Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne.

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Originally published Feb. 9

Lady Arabians season ends at hands of rival Mt. Vernon

FORTVILLE — Good defense.

A rival opponent.

The pressure of the moment.

A near-full house at Mt. Vernon High School.

They all played a factor in Friday’s Class 4A Sectional 9 semifinal girls basketball game between Pendleton Heights and host Mt. Vernon.

The Marauders, for the third straight year, and fifth straight time in postseason matchups, put an end to the Arabians season.

In a game that had nearly as many turnovers as points, Pendleton Heights fell to the eventual sectional champions, Mt. Vernon, 29-25.

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Originally published Feb. 16

McCLure takes over PH girls soccer program

PENDLETON — Pendleton Heights girls varsity soccer will be under new and experienced leadership in 2023.

In a press release, Pendleton Heights athletic director Chad Smith announced the hiring of Jonathon McClure as the team’s new head coach.

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Originally published Feb. 16

PH’s Todd advances to state finals

NEW CASTLE — Pendleton Heights entered Saturday’s Indiana High School Athletic Association New Castle Semistate with two representatives.

One is headed to tomorrow’s state finals, while an unfortunate draw led to the other falling just short.

Jack Todd was the lone Madison County competitor to punch his ticket to the state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and he did so with two decisive victories.

At 145 pounds, Todd (32-3) began his day with a win by major decision 13-1 against Lawrenceburg’s Brayden Tudor (19-6). In the quarterfinals, and with a trip to state on the line, Todd defeated Roncalli’s Braden Getz (29-6) by decision 5-2.

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Originally published Feb. 23

Bulldogs advance to first Class 2A state championship in school history

LOGANSPORT — County champs. Sectional champs. Regional champs. And now semi state champs.

The Lapel girls basketball team just keeps checking off another box.

On Saturday, they defeated Andrean 44-32, and Central Noble 51-38 to advance to the first Class 2A state championship game in school history.

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Originally published Feb. 23

Todd caps off outstanding junior campaign at state finals

INDIANAPOLIS — For Pendleton Heights’ Jack Todd, a phenomenal junior campaign came to an end at the Indiana High School Athletic Association State Finals.

In the opening round, and in a hard-fought battle against a familiar opponent, Todd fell 4-0 to Center Grove’s Wyatt Krejsa, who was ranked No. 3 in the state according to Indianamat.

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Originally published March 2

Lapel comes up just short in bid for first school’s first state title

INDIANAPOLIS — One basket. That’s all that separated Lapel girls basketball from the first state title in school history.

An already historic season for the Bulldogs came to an end on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a heartbreaking 38-37 loss to Forest Park in the Class 2A State Championship.

Amber Tretter, a Miami OH commit, scored the game-winning layup with 6.9 seconds left to secure the Rangers their second straight state title over a Frankton-Lapel Community School Corp. school. They defeated Frankton 52-44 a season ago.

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Originally published March 2

PH’s Simpson competes in swimming state finals

INDIANAPOLIS — The lone competitor for Pendleton Heights, and all of Madison County — Jacob Simpson — ended his season on Friday night at the IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Final.

In the 100 butterfly, the junior entered seeded 20th, and finished in that position, but cut off time in the event. He beat his sectional time of 51.72, with a 51:50. In the 100 backstroke, Simpson came into the state final seeded 16th. With a time of 52.93, Simpson finished his junior campaign with a 22nd place finish.

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Originally published March 9

Pendleton Heights Middle School swimming team ends undefeated season with HHC crown

PENDLETON — The Pendleton Heights Middle School boys swimming team capped off their best season in the past 25 years at the Hoosier Heritage Conference Junior High conference meet.

To close out an undefeated season, they ended a 24-year drought by winning the conference title.

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Originally published March 9

Jamerson returns as coach of PH cheerleading team

PENDLETON — Pendleton Heights cheerleading will be back under familiar leadership starting full time in 2023.

At the March 2 meeting, the South Madison Community School Board of Trustees approved the hiring of Brenda Jamerson as the school’s cheer head coach.

Jameson led the Pendleton Heights cheer program for 19 years before announcing her retirement two seasons ago.

Following a year and a half away from the team, she returned on an interim basis for the final half of the 2022-23 season.

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Originally published March 30

Newby named coach of the year

LAPEL — Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Lapel head coach Zach Newby has been recognized as the 2023 District 2 Girls Basketball Bob King Coach of the Year.

Newby is the IBCA District 2 Coach of the Year after leading Lapel to a 22-8 season that included a Class 2A state runner-up finish. His Bulldogs earlier had clipped the nets by winning the Madison County Tournament, the Wapahani Sectional, the Lapel Regional and the Logansport Semi-State.

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Originally published March 30

Iron Horse Martial Arts represents Pendleton at 2023 Michigan AAU Taekwondo State Championship

PENDLETON — Iron Horse Martial Arts competition team represented Pendleton recently at the 2023 Michigan AAU Taekwondo State Championship in Wayne, Michigan.

The Amateur Athletic Union tournament hosted a record 665 athletes and represented several states and Canada.

The team, coached by Jack Wimmer, Andrea Kopanski and Iron Horse owner Master Myron Gerber, captured 10 first-place, 10 second-place and five third-place finishes.

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Originally published April 20

Bulldogs win second straight county baseball championship

LAPEL — Following a dominant tournament run, Lapel baseball became just the third team to win back-to-back Madison County championships.

The Bulldogs defeated Madison-Grant in the final by a score of 11-4.

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Originally published April 20

Arabians claim sixth consecutive county softball title

PENDLETON — Pendleton Heights continued its Madison County Tournament dominance with its sixth consecutive title.

In the championship game, the Arabians — ranked No. 8 in the state — defeated Elwood 16-1.

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Originally published May 11

Pendleton Heights defends county golf title

ELWOOD — A new course, and the return to an 18-hole format, did little to stand in the way of Pendleton Heights’ repeat bid at a Madison County title.

On Saturday, at Elwood Golf Links, the Arabians successfully defended their 2022 Madison County championship.

With a score of 308, they easily outpaced top competitors Lapel (333), Alexandria-Monroe (335) and Frankton (350) to grab the 2023 title. Anderson (425), Elwood (431), and Madison-Grant (448) rounded out the team scores.

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Originally published May 31

Lapel wins third softball sectional championship in school history

LAPEL — After a come-from-behind victory in the semifinals over rival Frankton, Lapel cruised to its third ever softball sectional championship in the final game of the tournament against Wapahani.

The Bulldogs took care of the Raiders 11-0 to secure their first title since 2019.

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Originally published May 31

Arabians knock off New Palestine for sectional title

NEW PALESTINE — Pendleton Heights found a way to beat the wind and get the win.

In a battle of the two favorites in the IHSAA Class 4A Sectional 9 softball tournament, No. 12 Pendleton Heights defeated host No. 6 New Palestine 5-3 in Thursday’s championship game to advance to Tuesday’s regional round.

In a stiff wind, the visiting Arabians hit a solo home run in the third inning to tie the game and a three-run home run in the fifth to take the lead.

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Originally published May 31

Baseball season ends with pair of close losses

MADISON COUNTY — Both Pendleton Heights and Lapel baseball had their season’s come to and end with heartbreaking losses in sectional play.

Over the weekend, the Arabians were knocked off 1-0 by New Palestine, and the Bulldogs were eliminated 1-0 by Winchester Community.

Originally published June 8

Davis, Denny advance individually to regional

NOBLESVILLE — For two Pendleton Heights golfers, their 2023 seasons will include at least one more round on the course.

At Monday’s IHSAA Noblesville Sectional at Harbour Trees golf course, both Sam Denny and Ryan Davis advanced individually to the regional.

Denny’s 77 (+6) led Pendleton Heights and was the second-best individual score on non-qualifying teams. A 1-under front nine helped propel Denny to the placement.

Davis’s 79 earned him the last individual spot.

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Originally published June 8

Roncalli ends Pendleton Heights season for second straight year

GREENWOOD — Saturday brought to close the 2023 softball season for Pendleton Heights, and it came at the hands of a familiar postseason foe.

Led by National Player of the Year and University of Florida commit Keagan Rothrock’s sixth no-hitter of the season, No. 1 Roncalli ended Pendleton Heights’ season for the second straight year with an 8-0 win at Center Grove High School on Saturday night.

Last year’s loss came in the semi state semifinals, and this time the Royals knocked off the Arabians in the championship game. The trip to the Class 4A final four was the Arabians first in school history. They did so in 2001, 2003 and 2005 in class 3A.

Pendleton Heights finished the season at 25-6-1 with Madison County, sectional and regional titles for the second straight season.

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Originally published June 8

PH’s Jarrell, Lapel’s Smith compete in track state finals

BLOOMINGTON — Two area track stars closed out their seasons at the IHSAA Track and Field State Finals this past weekend.

Both Pendleton Heights’ Ava Jarrell and Lapel’s Cameron Smith ran their final races of the 2023 season on the biggest stage at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University.

In the 1600-meter race Jarrell placed 12th with a time of 5:05.49.

Lapel’s Smith capped off his junior season with a 21st place finish in the 3200-meter with a time of 9:38.96.

Originally published June 22

Three area standouts participate in Indiana All-Star Classic

MADISON COUNTY — The 15th Annual Indiana Basketball All-Star Classic is a preview of what to expect in the 2023–24 boys and girls high school basketball seasons.

With a change of format this year, all players participating were underclassmen this past season. In previous years, the classic had included games of graduating seniors and contests that featured standout returning players.

Three of south Madison County’s top girls basketball players were at this year’s event which took place June 17 at Anderson University.

Rising-senior Maddy Poynter and rising-sophomore Laniah Wills represented Lapel, while rising-junior Kaycie Warfel represented Pendleton Heights.

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Originally published July 13

Lapel’s Imel adds to season accolades

LAPEL — Lapel outfielder Owen Imel continues to pick up accolades and honors from the 2023 baseball season.

Most recently, he was named Class 2A All-State by the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association.

The senior ran double-duty for Lapel, leading them both offensively and on the pitcher’s mound.

At the plate, he batted .484, compiled 44 hits, 36 RBI, 32 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples and six home runs.

His .484 average ranked 11th in Class 2A, his six home runs ranked sixth in the class, his 36 RBI ranked fourth, and his .879 slugging percentage ranked fourth.

All were the top marks for Lapel.

Along with the All-State selection, earlier this year, Imel was selected as the District F Player of the Year, and was a participant in the North-South All Star Weekend at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette.

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Originally published Aug. 10

Coach Buck returns to Pendleton Heights as boys head basketball coach

PENDLETON — At its Aug. 4 meeting, the South Madison Community School Corp. Board of Trustees approved Joe Buck as the next boys varsity basketball head coach.

Buck previously spent 13 seasons on the Pendleton Heights bench as the head coach from 1993-2006. He then moved away from coaching to serve as district chief financial officer from 2007-11 and later as superintendent until his retirement in 2020.

Originally published Aug. 24

Baldwin, Arabians end Lapel’s county reign

ANDERSON — For the first time since 2018 the Madison County golf tournament had a new individual medalist, and for the first time since 2016 it had a new overall team take home the trophy.

Pendleton Heights was responsible for ending both of Lapel’s long reigns at the top of the county.

A four-year stretch by Lapel’s Macy Beeson as the county’s top golfer was destined to end with her graduation, but who would take her place was the big question entering the weekend.

Arabians’ senior Skylar Baldwin stepped up and fired a personal-best 83 to earn the honor, and help Pendleton Heights win the team title.

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Originally published Aug. 31

PH facilities named in honor of long-time coaches

PENDLETON — Two athletic facilities on the Pendleton Heights campus will take on new names.

The boys cross country course will be named in honor of Coach Alan Holden on Sept. 19 at the Madison County cross country meet.

In a home boys basketball game on Dec. 1 against Lapel, coach Joe Buck will have the basketball court named in his honor.

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Originally published Oct. 5

Arabians defeat New Palestine for share of HHC title

NEW PALESTINE — It was a night of role reversal.

Two years ago, the Pendleton Heights boys soccer team came into New Palestine with hopes of an outright Hoosier Heritage Conference title. The Dragons stopped that from happening and got a share of the crown, too, along with Greenfield-Central and Yorktown, beating the Arabians 2-1.

Last Thursday night at Kelso Stadium, the Dragons were the team seeking first place all to themselves. They came in 6-0 in the HHC play. The Arabians bussed in with a 5-1 mark.

Just like two years ago, the team seeking the share got what it was looking for.

Pendleton Heights scored twice in the second half to defeat New Palestine 2-0.

The teams finished as co-conference champions.

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Originally published Oct. 26

Bulldogs season ends at hands of familiar foe

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Lapel and Eastern Hancock are no strangers to one another, and no strangers to back-and-forth shootouts when they meet.

Last season, the two split the regular season and postseason matchups, with the Royals winning the regular season finale and the Bulldogs winning in the sectional semifinals.

This year, those outcomes were flipped, but the high-scoring shootout remained. Lapel won the regular season finale 36-31, but in the IHSAA Sectional 38 quarterfinals on Friday, the Royals got their revenge, defeating the Bulldogs at home on a last-second field goal 45-43.

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Originally published Oct. 26

Pendleton, Greenfield-Central square off for second straight postseason

GREENFIELD — For the second straight postseason and the fourth time in the past five seasons, the Arabians squared off against Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Greenfield-Central to open sectional play.

The Cougars, who came into the night ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, defeated Pendleton Heights at home 27-17.

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Originally published Nov. 2

Jarrell, Smith compete in XC state finals

TERRE HAUTE — Two local runners made their return to the Indiana High School Athletic Association Cross Country State Finals this past weekend.

Lapel senior Cameron Smith made his second-straight appearance in the boys race, while Pendleton Heights junior Ava Jarrell ran in the girls race for the second year in a row.

Both improved on their times from last season at Lavern Gibson Championship Course on Saturday afternoon.

Jarrell moved up one spot from her 31st-place finish a year ago to earn 30th with a time of 18:32.1. The time was a 25-second improvement from last season.

Smith’s time of 16:11.4 was an 18-second improvement and earned him 86th place out of 250 runners.

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Originally published Dec. 21

Pendleton Heights grapplers win 10th straight county title

ELWOOD — In dominant fashion, Pendleton Heights won its 10th straight Madison County team title.

On Saturday, at Elwood, the Arabians advanced 10 wrestlers into the championship round and took home four individual titles to come out on top as a team. The team win was Pendleton’s 14th county win since 2008 and its 11th in the past 12 years.