Bluffton High School's softball team launches its 2016 season with a mix of experience and youngsters. Tony Rumer coaches the team and has a 33-32 win-loss coaching record. Assisting him is Darryl Willis and Adam Burris.
Three returning letter winners from last year's 14-12 overall and 6-2 NWC team include:
• Sami Fruchey, senior, pitcher, all conference
• Taylor Monday, senior, first base, all conference
• Abbie Parkins, junior, third base
Kalin Osting just finished the 2015-2016 hockey season with the Findlay Junior
Trojans. The Junior Trojans went 15-5 in tournament play, winning the Mid-Am
Silver Stick Regional in Dayton, and the McCarthy Cup in Newark.
The team qualified to play in the prestigious Silver Stick finals in Detroit,
where they played teams from Georgian Shores, Ontario, and Sturgeon Lake,Ontario.
Bluffton High School graduate and Eastern Mennonite University senior, Hannah Chappell-Dick, saved her best for last. Running in her final collegiate mile race Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Indoor National Championships, Chappell-Dick passed two runners over the final lap to pull away to her second straight silver-medal finish on the big stage.
Along with the second-place finish, Chappell-Dick broke her own EMU and ODAC records with a time of 4:54.32.
Bluffton High School grad and Eastern Mennonite All-American runner Hannah Chappell-Dick turned on the gas late in her preliminary race at Division III NCAA Nationals on Friday, earning a spot in Saturday's finals.
Despite sitting ninth in the nation entering the indoor national championships, she was second in her heat of the mile in 5:00.23 and will sit fourth out of the 10 finalists.
The top eight finishers in Saturday's race earn All-America status. Start time for the women's mile in Grinnell, Iowa, is set for 2:40pm Eastern time.
The Icon is now posting Bluffton High School and Bluffton University spring sports events scheduled in March.
To access the sports calendar, place your cursor over "calendar," and "sports calendar" will drop down. Click on it and it will take you to the sports calendar.
Please be patient: We are still working on April and May.
Hannah Chappell-Dick, a senior at Eastern Mennonite University, has qualified for the NCAA Division III track and field national meet for the fourth time.
Grinnell College (Iowa) hosts this year's national meet, March 11 and 12.
With her qualification, Chappell-Dick gets a chance to repeat as an All-American in the mile. Her best time this season of 4:59.10 put her ninth in the 17-woman field. Last year the three-time All-American was fourth heading into the national meet before running a 4:56.81 in the finals to take the silver medal.
