Recently in Sports Report Category

. . . . even his daughter personally honored and thanked him at the LCA Sports Awards Banquet.

A great finale to Rachel's (Track and) Field season: Another PR and a 3rd place finish in the discus at the conference meet!

Yesterday marked the 18th year of our Princess Sarah's birth. It was no ordinary day nor one that history will forget.

The celebration began on April 30th with a journey to Pennsylvania for the National Christian School Athletic Association National Track and Field Meet. After a short practice joust, the Lords and Ladies from Lakeland Christian Academy enjoyed a royal feast of pizza at the round table . . . . . followed by a Castle of Cookies.

After ample beauty sleep, Princess Sarah awoke invigorated for a day of friendly competion and comradery. But first, a little good luck with a wave of her magic wand and hugs from her Royal Court.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Let the May Day competition begin!

And indeed, Sarah and LCA fared well and added more jewels to their crowns.

Five years ago, a certain young lady begged her father to build this faction.
Yesterday, the top five highest scoring senior high females were all proudly represented by LCA and the LCA Senior High Girls won the NCSAA crown.

Jo Boren donned the gold crown as the leading scorer and in her court were the only two remaining ladies from the first LCA track team: Sarah and Jamie Duchane.

Steve certainly felt like a king to have had the opportunity to coach such fine young ladies.

The fairy tale ending is that these two young ladies who have been competing side-by-side for the past five years actually tied for second place and therefore proudly and graciously shared the silver crown.

The Princess returned home in her carriage late last night and had another night of sublime sleep. No peas under this princess' mattress ---- because they were served at today's Royal Feast of Poppyseed Chicken!!!
(The tradition continues)

So now my dear Princess, you must return to reality . . . . . . .but we'll meet you at the castle in July! (Neuschwanstein, here we come)

The Edgewood Tigers 8th Grade Volleyball Team finished their season today with another win.
Rachel, #13 and a newbie on the team, earned her spot as setter on this almost perfect team.
Today's victory in the conference championship put the Tigers 29-1 for the season.

Only one problem..............the #13 jersey was empty today because Rae was home sick with the swine flu :( As you can see, though, Rae's teammates kept her jersey on a chair during the entire tournament and even called her during a huddle!!! It still hurt to miss the grand finale to such a great season, but #13 still felt pretty special.

Rachel's setting style stuns the other team :)

The team, with #13, celebrating a victory earlier in the season

Today was also the finale for the Lakeland Christian Academy Cougars which means it was the final volleyball game of Sarah's senior year. (GULP!)

Unfortunately, the Cougars lost in the first round of the tournament. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I was not there to see the end of the season because I was at home in the H1N1 infirmary with Rachel.

It was a tough season for the LCA volleyball team, but even though they did not close with a winning record, I saw Sarah come out victorious in every single match.

Despite the attitudes, antics and drama of her teammates (remember, they are teenmates), Sarah rose above it all in every single game. Despite being a strong hitter, she changed to setter early in the season to provide more leadership on the court. More importantly, however, she was the team's spiritual leader on and off the court. She never stopped cheering them on and her words of encouragement could always be heard above the crowd during every point of every game.

We all wish the team could have scored a few more points, but the most important victory was Sarah's.

Sarah and I spent the last 4 days Erie, Pennsylvania where the LCA volleyball and soccer teams competed in the NCSAA Great Lakes Classic.

When they were free, the volleyball players also doubled as the LCA cheerblock for the soccer team. The girls wore the boys' soccer jerseys and cheered them to victory on the first day. The girls even got their coach to play some "circle games" with them during half-time. (He almost escaped into the woods --- see top right.)

Three of the four volleyball seniors (gulp!!!)

The soccer guys also made a very big and loud cheerblock for the volleyball players, but the most spirited cheerleader was one of the soccer moms. She is also a teacher at LCA and is in the middle of chemo for breast cancer.

Unfortunately, the volleyball and soccer teams usually competed at the same time which left me as the only one in the LCA cheerblock for the volleyball team, but my cheers did get a compliment (I think) from one of the refs.

Both teams placed third in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Daddy stayed back in Warsaw with Rae. She had a big week in volleyball as well with a tough loss to rival Lakeview on Thursday and then an all-day tournament on Saturday which ended up pitting Edgewood against Lakeview for first place. After a long day, Edgewood proved themselves to be the champs!!!

File photos since Daddy was in charge ;o)

The National Christian School Athletic Association held the National Junior and Senior High Track and Field Championships in Beaver Falls, PA again this year.

The LCA Girls' Senior High team placed 3rd overall, the LCA Boys' Junior High team placed 3rd overall and the LCA Girls' Junior High team place 2nd overall. All but 2 of the Boys' Senior High team were on a mission trip in Papa New Guinea, but the 2 that competed had oustanding performances and their team placed 5th overall.

Rachel had a great meet and finished 2nd in shot put, 2nd in the 4x100 relay and 4th in discus. Overall, she was 10th in individual points for Junior High girls.

Sarah finished 1st in long jump, 3rd in discus, 1st in high jump and despite a bum knee from a slip in high jump, managed to place 6th in the triple jump. (The MRI on her knee is next week.)

Sarah placed 3rd overall in individual points for Senior High Girls.
Logan Pitts (L) also placed 3rd overall for Junior High Boys and Joel Widman (R) placed 3rd overall for Senior High Boys.

What a great coaching job, Daddy!!!

Sarah set a new PR and track record today: 5 feet!!!

The Lake City Skiers made their debut in the Division I Show Ski National Championships this weekend. After years of competing (and dominating) in the Division II level, our back-to-back D-II National titles in 2006 and 2007 launched us into a whole new tier of competition.

So . . . . while most of you were watching the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics, the Lake City Skiers were busy preparing for our "opening ceremonies" on Lake Wazeecha with 13 other teams. For the LCS members that have been faithfully building the team for over 20 years (and dreaming of competing with the "big dawgs" in D-I), it was clearly an olympic moment even though we were in Wisconsin instead of Bejing.

As the tournament logo implies, the flooding this year caused a lot of havoc at many ski sites and caused both D-I and D-II national tournaments to change locations. (LCS hosted D-II last weekend.)

Lake Wazeecha is interesting because of it's red sand "stadium" seating.

(Sorry I don't really have any photos from the tournament, but I was kinda busy.)

The entire tournament was webcast and is still available for viewing for a limited time at www.webcast-tv.com/sports/events/showskiusnationals2008 (Unfortunately, you won't even see much of our signature barefoot pyramid slingshot because the camera man cut out too soon, but you can always catch the clip at www.lakecityskiers.org)

The Lake City Skiers finished in 10th place. (We could have easily placed 7th based on our usual scores and performances, but we admittedly had a few jitters and glitches.

(Pardon me while I whine for a minute.)

Our signature act, the barefoot slingshot pyramid, was only scored as an 8 out of 25 by one judge. Though many have tried, we are the only team in any division that can do the slingshot. (That was just one of several scoring inconsistancies.) Our sound board died less than a week before Nationals so our sound guy made his debut on a new sound board during our D-I debut performance. Hence, our typically award-winning sound was less than stellar. I didn't even get to barefoot because my boat driver got cut off after my dock flyer.

Enough whining! We still put on an entertaining prime-time show and put Lake City on the map.

Here are a few glimpses from our home shows:

Jeffery is hooked too and made his debut with the Lake City Skiers this week!

Deja vu

When Rachel joined the Lake City Skiers four years ago, Sarah watched the first few shows with a scowl on her face. At first she didn't even want to go to the "stupid ski shows." Then the transformation began: she "grudgingly" started going to the shows and started to laugh and smile. She knew all the dance routines in just a few weeks and before summer's end, Sarah was proud and excited to be a Lake City Skier.

In 2006, they recruited me. In 2007, they recruited Steve and now we have the other half of the family eating, breathing and sleeping LCS style: Samantha and Jeff are skiing. Penny helps Steve in the LCS pick-up boat and Rick helps wherever he is needed.

Gramma and Grampa remain loyal fans . . . so it really is all in the family.

The Lake City Skiers are back on the water this year with "Robin Hood, Prince of Skis."

Since we have moved up into Division I with the "big dawgs" this year, we are working hard to make our little team unforgettable.

Our newest recruit is my niece, Samantha. She is two years younger than Rachel and about half her size, but strong, agile and the perfect "topper."

Tonight, Sam slithered her way up to the TOP of her first three-tier pyramid. (Pardon the blur, but we barely caught the picture since we were running between acts.)

Sam was AWESOME and stood TALL. Keep climbing, Sam!!!!

Some one from St. Croix found my blog and asked for permission to use a few of my photos on HIS web-site. Check it out at www.stcroixsports.com.

No money, no credit, but I'll consider it a compliment.

This weekend we returned to Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA for the National Christian School Athletic Association Track and Field Championship. Last year we only had about a dozen athletes, but still made our presence known. This year our travel team doubled in size and more than tripled in performance.

The Junior High Girls and the Junior High Boys both won their division championships and the Senior High Girls (with only 4 girls) placed second.

LCA's Daniel Zuercher place second in individual scoring for the Junior High Boys and Jamie Duchane placed first for the Senior High Girls for the second year in a row. Our princess, Sarah, was crowned third.

Kudos to a wonderful group of athletes that represented LCA with distinction and to the wonderful coach (that's you Steve) that built this program from ground zero.

Check it out.............The October issue of USA Water Ski

http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/WaterSkier/October07Articles/24-27.pdf

The Lake City Skiers had their final show of the season over Labor Day weekend before an overflowing crowd. Here are some highlights of the National Championship show.

In the exhibition "junior show" before the main event, Sarah decided to jump. She had tried it 3 times, so why not?

(Hey, we're a low budget club . . . so I don't get to quit my day job!)

 

Division I, here we come!!!

About a month ago, the Lake City Skiers starred in a commercial which is now being aired on Fort Wayne's Channel 21. We don't get Channel 21 with our rabbit ears, so thank goodness for high-speed internet.

Check it out at www.lakecityskiers.org. Hit the "Promo Video" tab on the top left of the home page.

Ski ya later!

My 7 year old nephew, Jeff is one of the youngest members on his baseball league's all-star team.

He is already having a hard time keeping the girls away!

We may be back in the lowlands, but the girls and I are still on a Rocky Mountain high after spending the day barefooting with Ron Scarpa.

We got home from Colorado at about 11 pm last night so I was dreading the thought of trying to get Sarah and Rachel up this morning for the barefoot clinic with Scarpa. I was out the door before 6 am to make the first ripples in the lake, and the girls were to drive the Boston Whaler over to Little Tippy by 8:30. Amazingly, they were up and walking out the door when I made my first "wake-up call" at 8:00. (Very encouraging!)

Both girls quickly got back on their feet (literally) even though they really had not barefooted at all since Scarpa's clinic last year. They both did short-line deep-water starts off the boom and ended the day with long-line deep-water starts on shoe skis not much bigger than their own feet! The water was a little choppy, but they were fighters!

Both Sarah and Rachel even said they might practice again before Scarpa comes back next year.

Great day, but I stopped by the office . . . the mountains are calling.

The LCA Track & Field team travelled to Pennsylvania to compete in the National Christian School Athletic Association (NCSAA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Junior High and High School Track and Field Championships on May 5th.

We took 13 athletes and were one of 15 schools. Over 600 athletes competed.

Although this blog always has a biased coverage (details on Sarah's day are below), LCA had many great performances. We had 23 PRs (personal records), 12 LCA school records, 4 first place finishes, 2 second place finishes, 3 thirds, 3 fourths, 3 fifths and 1 sixth place finish.

The LCA Girls HS team took 3rd place overall --- with just THREE FRESHMAN girls!

Jamie Duchane was named the HS Girls' Outstanding Athlete. She placed 1st in the 100 meter hurdles, 1st in high jump, 1st in long jump and 2nd in the 200 meters. The only thing that outshines her performance is her exemplary attitude and gracious humility.

The head coach for LCA (aka Dad) thinks that Sarah would make a great heptathlete, but it's hard to convince a tall, curvey, girly blonde that it's good to grunt!

Here is Sarah taking a practice throw on Friday night. She can't compete in the large hoop earrings, but she can use her hair to her advantage for extra momentum!

Shotput never looked so graceful........27' 2" was good enough for 5th place

Sarah placed 2nd in high jump at 4' 6".

Then there was the triple jump.

Coach's intuition was that Sarah would be an incredible triple jumper. She learned this very awkward and technical event just a few weeks before the national meet, but the first time she had the opportunity to practice "in a real pit" was the night before the meet. It only took three jumps and she "was in the pit!" Coach says most people never even make it into the pit their first year.

The triple jump, according to a source I found on the internet (so it must be true) puts more stress on an athlete's body than any other field event and requires incredible strength and timing. It comprises of 4 phases: approach phase, hop phase, step phase and the jump phase.

Sarah jumped over 30 feet --- but scratched on all three of her jumps. :o(

Coach went to bed hours ago, but if Sarah hadn't had the race-day jitters, she probably would have placed in the triple jump too. Disappointing for her, but still a performance to be very proud of.

Back to the golden locks of luck and the discus.

Coach gives some loving, fatherly encouragement while waiting.

It was a good throw!

77' 8"........ almost 15 feet further than second place.

The sweet smile of success.

LCA went to the Final Four last weekend. We ended up #4, but still had a season to be proud of.

Speaking of four, here are the Fab 4 Freshman.

Sarah, Kayla, Logan and Jamie

Now we're off and running again . . . (track season), but the ice came off the lake on the 15th and Steve put the pier in on the Saint Paddy's Day.

We're all ready for more GREEN!!!

If you can't already tell by Rachel's leap for joy, Sacred Heart won the City Volleyball Championship earlier this week.

The LCA Cougars also won their volleyball tournament today. Here's a glimpse of Sarah, with an equally interesting leap!

Last weekend I taught a barefoot clinic for the Lake City Skiers.

I had a dozen footers from fourth grade to forty-something . . . I didn't make any money, but the pay-off was still great.

I had so much fun, I barely had time to get cleaned up for the 10th annual Cancer Gala.

Steve and I always go by boat and it is about the only time that I actually get in the picture!
(Who wouldn't want to be photo'd with such a handsome guy?!?)

Sarah has a BOO-BOO but hopes to be back on the volleyball court again by next week --- though "casted" for six to eight weeks.

It was not a glorious, game-saving injury, but at least she didn't break her pinky by tripping on a shoe lace.

She just recovered from a groin strain that almost kept her on land for the National Show Ski Tournament.

Steve is still re-cuping from his hamstring injury on the first day of ski season . . . Two years ago, Rachel broke her arm on the first day of school . . . Gramma Bev had two hip fractures in the past year . . .

I hope it's not genetic --- or contagious!!!

From the Central Region Show Ski Association . . .

Lake City Skiers Win DII Nationals

The Lake City Skiers gave a stunning performance Saturday at the 2006 Nationals held at the Water Hawks show site in Evansdale, Ia.

With only two falls in their entire show the Lake City Skiers brought the crowd to their feet from the opening act as they did a barefoot pyramid slingshot around the jump. Things didn't stop there as act after act left the dock and returned to the main stage.

The Lake City Skiers won with a score of 1704. The team also took home every piece of hardware at the tournament with best male skier going to Jakim Wilson and best female skier going to Angela Malcolm. If you missed this tournament, you missed one of the best water ski shows ever performed. Congratulations to The Lake City Skiers from Warsaw, In.

The Ski Broncs finished 2nd with 1428 points and the Bayside Skiers finished 3rd with 1344 points. The Hartwick Huskies rounded out the competion with 1284 points.

Lake City Skiers Win Malibu Division 2
Show Ski National Championships

The Lake City Skiers of Warsaw, Ind., won the team title Saturday at the sixth annual Malibu Division 2 Show Ski National Championships at Eagle Lake in Evansdale, Iowa. Lake City swept all of the team box scores and tallied 1,706 points to win the title in convincing fashion. Hosted by the Waterhawks Ski Team, the tournament featured more than 300 athletes.

So . . . we didn't make the front page of the Times Union, but we will have a feature article and photos in Thursday's "Leisure" section. Stay tuned.

Details to follow tomorrow . . . . . on the front page of the Times Union!

The Junior Team of Lake City Skiers built their first 3-2-1 pyramid tonight --- almost as easy as 1-2-3!

Here you see Rachel on the second tier, but she still climbs to the third tier in the "Big Show."

We were also tickled to see our first Junior ballet line tonight --- starring the Jungbauer sisters!!!

Look Mom, no hands!!! (We're in ankle hold!)

Despite high winds, river currents, recreational boaters and a few unexpected guest appearances by the LCS swim team, the Lake City Skiers still held their reign as the Central Region Division II Champs.

Beware Rockford: The Dukes are Back!!!

Off to Regionals . . . stay tuned.

For the third year in a row, Ron Scarpa spent the week barefooting in Warsaw.

Most all of you know by now that my world revolves around Ron during the week that he is here. (I'm so glad that Steve understands.) Even Sarah and Rachel become zoned in on his every word and motion and tempoarily turn into androids! This year, Ron even got them to take the first step toward barefooting backwards --- and they loved it!

Ron reminisces over what it was like to have hair! And yes, Ron, Sarah IS taller than you.

All of us already know that Sarah and Rachel have their father wrapped around their little fingers. All they have to do is use their "sweet" voice and bat their eyelashes to get anything they want. He's definitely the soft one.

This spring, Sarah surprised Daddy with a special request. He actually thought twice about it at first, but even I could not understand how he could refuse. Sarah asked a second time, "Please, Daddy?" Tears welled up in his eyes and the obvious answer was "Yes, Sarah, I will coach your track team at LCA."

LCA has not had a track team for many years, but with a strong core of enthusiastic 8th graders, the team had a great start. Steve had to re-learn how to teach some fundamentals since most of the team had never run track before, (Coach, what's a baton? Coach, what's a relay?), but at the end of the season, the team was already looking forward to next year's season.

High jump

We hosted the co-ed track team party at the end of the season. I'm not sure what the parents thought when their sons came home donning hot pink nail polish, but if it's up to the team, Steve has job security for next year. (Lousy pay, but great fringe benefits!)

Rachel also had her debut in track this year. As a 4th grader, she ran on the "A-team" and her 200 meter time was faster than Sarah's in 6th grade!!!

We think her secret is in her hair.

Here is our highlight of tonight's basketball awards ceremony.

The Lakeland Cougars ended their season SMILING with a tournament victory. Sarah ended her season with 14 of the 20 winning points --- to counter the frustration of being double-teamed in the first game of the tournament.

Last week was the end of Rachel's basketball season. She also got "double-teamed." She was the only 4th grader on the A Team, and only got to play part-time on the B Team, so she spent more time on the bench than if she had just been on the B Team. Nonetheless, our little A- / B+ team-member never complained and always played with gusto.

At the awards ceremony last week, Rachel received the "Best Attitude Award."

We're just a liitle proud.

The Rochester Royals hosted their arch rival, the Kosciusko YMCA today. One little 8-year old girl named Sam swam away with 5, yes, FIVE, FIRST place finishes today. Her 5-year old brother Jeffrey took two 3rds and a 5th.

Meanwhile, Kosciusko YMCA CEO Steve Jungbauer (and his wife) were at the LCA Cougar game where Sarah made her splash with a swoooosh and scored 11 of the team's 19 points to lead the team to victory!

Last year's spring training in Mexico: Jeff, Rachel and Samantha

Sacred Heart opened the basketball season tonight. It was Rachel's debut on the basketball court and even her big sister Sarah's jaw dropped when Rachel was put into play early in the first half of the "A" Team's game.

We don't mean to brag (OK, yes we do), but for my little 4th grader, it's like playing on the varsity team as a freshman. Go, Rachel, GO!

It wasn't officially homecoming, but it certainly felt like it when Steve took us back to Minnesota this weekend.

Steve was invited back to his alma mater to be inducted into the Hamline Athletic Hall of Fame. We received red-carpet treatment including brunch at the President's house, priority parking, tail-gating passes and seats on the 50-yard line to watch the Hamline Pipers football team.

At halftime, the Hall of Fame inductees were introduced on the football field. Almost before the announcements were over, Steve and team-mate David Wenberg were greeted on the track by their mentor and coach, Kent Stahly. Even Coach's wife remarked on how good it was to see "her boys" again.

The day culminated in a dinner ceremony and each inductee gave a tribute about their experience at Hamline. No one talked about winning, but each one talked about the wealth of love and learning outside the classroom at Hamline.

For Four years, Steve was a point-producing member of the Hamline Track and Field team which earned him four varsity letters. Steve's event was the pole vault and during his time at Hamline he set the school record for both the indoor and outdoor events. He also added numerous meet and conference records to his resume during that time. For his accomplishments, Steve was honored as a four time All-MIAC performer and awarded All-American status in 1979 and 1980 at the national indoor and outdoor meets.

Team-mate, fellow pole vaulter and and co-inductee David Wenberg '83 also publically recognized Steve at the Hall of Fame ceremony for teaching him how to break Steve's records. Steve was also inducted into the Hamline Hall of Fame several years ago with the 1980 Men's Track & Field Team.

Appropriately, Steve's Hall of Fame plaque will hang in the original field house and in the same corner where he used to pole vault.

Both girls have decided against going to Hamline --- It's too cold!

We saw Steve's dad who was just around the corner from our hotel in a rehab center recovering from a hip fracture and we even connected with the Senator and the Sister too.

The rest of Mike's clan even met us for an early breakfast before we headed back home. (I'm not sure if they really got up early to see us or because they were headed to the Packers' game.) Nevertheless, we enjoyed reminiscing and razzing together. I'm always amazed at the stories that surface when they get together.

The Lakeland volleyball season closed this weekend. In stark contrast to last year, this year's record was almost flawless.

LCA went into the final tournament as the #1 seed. Although the photos make it appear as though the tournament was won by just one player, it was a great team effort.

The fans also put forth a great deal of effort in the championship match as they cheered the team on to win 25-23, 24-25 and 15-14! WHEW!

Another tradition in the Jungbauer household is that Steve is never home for his birthday. Even though he has the much coveted age-defying genetics that help him maintain his youthful good looks and frighfully-fit forty-something figure, I think he still hates to be reminded that he, too, is getting older. OUCH!

In years (and previous jobs) past, Steve and I frequently found ourselves traveling to different destinations to celebrate his birthday. Recently, we have enjoyed celebrating together! Last year, we celebrated in Aspen. This year's destination was St. Croix.

St Croix is the largest of the US Virgin Islands, but probably the least visited. No wall-to-wall tourists or even a Wal-Mart --- which suited us just fine.

The island has a quaint and quiet personality. It is dotted with old sugar mills and decorated with wrought iron.

If you recall from last year, Steve's birthday get-away was also another good reason for a triathlon . . . . . and so another tradition was started. This year, however, instead of battling the elements of altitude, cold and snow, St. Croix challenged Steve with sand, heat and humidity.

Here is the course description: Swim over coral reefs to Cane Bay Wall (the Abyss) and back. Bike an exceptionally scenic rolling course along the shore and past the only site in the US where Columbus landed. Run a rolling course through the rainforest along the shore past the infamous "Beast" of Ironman (in)fame.

Hence the name Wall 2 Wall refering to the 1000 foot abyss and the "Beast" that would even weaken Lance Armstrong. (Fortunately, you only do the Beast in the Ironman course.) For a little more interesting twist, add narrow, pot-holed island roads that are still open to traffic AND . . . don't forget to ride on the LEFT!

The ocean swim was calm and clear and Steve came out of the water with a great time. On the bike, it looked like he even relaxed and enjoyed the ride a little bit.

Not too many other bikers back yet . . . Steve's orange Comet is already racked!

Enjoying some scenery on the home stretch.

Not only did Steve win his age group, he placed 8th overall! No trophy to show for it, but because he was the triathlete that traveled the farthest, he won a one week stay for four on St. John.

Afterwards, we took the advice of one of the locals and hiked up into the hills and back down to the beach to find the wave pools. The path was a little obscure . . . . . .

. . . . . . . but the view was awesome!

After our hike we relaxed "Off the Wall." We could have walked there, but Steve wanted to drive his JEEP.

It was great to be Off the Wall.

Doesn't he look good?!?

The LCA Winter Sports Awards were given tonight. As always, we are very proud . . . and perhaps not as biased as you think!

You haven't heard much about basketball yet this season . . . for a reason!

The season started off a bit rough. Lakeland's first game was against a very large, very tough and very rough inner-city team from Fort Wayne. The girls went home physically and mentally a bit wounded.

While the LCA Cougars continued to improve each game, there were still few victories on the scoreboard at the end each game. The point spreads were sometimes demoralizing and at times it seemed as though the girls were just playing ball, not basketball. The basket seemed to have been forgotten.

As parents (and grandparents) we all proudly and loudly cheered from the stands. We could see the team making great victories with each loss. We saw the transformation of mud-wrestling, herded cats into team-minded, competitive Cougars.

This photo should give you a sense of the chaotic energy on the court.

As the close of the season approached, the Cougars commanded a decisive, but hard-fought victory over Elkhart Christian that gave Lakeland momentum going into the end-of-the-season tournament.

This photo was from earlier in the season, but the Cougars definitely peaked at the perfect time.

Going into the ACSI (Association of Christian School International) tournament, Lakeland was seeded 5th out of 6 teams.

Our first game was against Granger. We played them earlier in season (and lost) but by the time the tournament rolled around, Granger had to play a much different Lakeland team. LCA confidently won their first game in the tournament 38 to 20!

The next game was against the #1 seeded Lakeview. We lost.
It was hard for the girls to maintain such a high level of energy, enthusiasm and concentration. Early in the game, we could see them quickly wear down mentally . This time youth was not in their favor.

But, "it's only a game." So they brushed it off, got a bite to eat and rested for a while because it was game time again in a few hours!

The consolation game for 3rd place in the tournament was against #2 ranked Keystone. We had played them twice earlier in the season. The first game was a "learning experience" and the second game was much more competitive, but we still lost. (Even though we're in a Christian school and even though we all know there are more important things than winning, it's still hard to lose.)

BUT . . . as the title of this extended entry says, "Three's a Charm."

The LCA Cougars played with their hearts and heads to beat Keystone 35 to 27 and claimed the 3rd place trophy in the tournament. A very confident Keystone team was humbled and didn't even recognize our team from earlier in the season.

It was a Grand Finale!!! Our LCA Cougars showed great perserverence. We were always proud of their respect and sportsman-like conduct on and off the court. As parents, we would like to take credit but an enourmous amount of credit, respect and love also goes to Coach Kainer. We could not ask for a kinder or more positive mentor for our team. It sounds trite, but words cannot adequately express our gratitude for all Coach Kainer has done to positively influence the hearts and souls of fifteen young ladies at LCA. They are not just better basketball players, they are better and exceptionally blessed young ladies because of Coach Kainer!

Here are some more thoughts from Grampa G:

A Postcard from a Tourney-ng Point

Hoosiers are infamous for 2 things: We know what time it is; and we know that life is not defined, but is certainly shaped and enhanced, by BASKETBALL!

Grandpa G!

. . . . . but tonight's VICTORY was vividly clear to LCA's Girls' Junior High Basketball team.

Sarah's basketball team rang the bell for the Salvation Army at Wal-Mart today. Passersby were also treated to Christmas carols and lots of great smiles. There weren't very many people that could pass by without dropping something in the bucket. One gentleman was so inspired their good will and cheer that he dropped three one-hundred dollar bills in the bucket!

At the LCA Fall Sports Award Banquet tonight, Sarah received the "Coach's Award" in volleyball. She was commended for her leadership, sportsmanship, dependability, dedication and spirit. Last year, she also received the Coach's Award in basketball, so I guess she's turning into a pretty well-rounded young lady with a good head on her shoulders.

Kinda makes her parents proud!!!

The LCA Lady Cougars ended their volleyball season with an outstanding performance. Unfortunately, it was not a winning performance, but this very young team (only one eighth grade starter) made great strides and will return next season ready to set, spike and win!

Can you guess who we think the star player is?

While in Aspen, Steve attended a week long seminar: Practice Management Intense Training. While he did spend a lot of time in the classroom that week, he also sought the opportunity to do some intense altitude training.

The week culminated with his last triathlon of the season in Loveland, Colorado. Just days earlier, on the 20th, he moved into the bottom of the next age bracket to give him more of a competitive edge. (Happy Birthday, Honey.)

He ended the season with an outstanding performance and placed THIRD in his age group!

The Laporte Triathlon was this weekend.
There were 495 triathletes and Steve was 24th overall!!!

He's psyching up for his next triathlon in Loveland, Colorado on September 26th. He'll have a week to climatize in Aspen while he attends a conference and he'll move into the bottom of the next age bracket for a little more of a competitive edge.

The Jamis "Comet" is his bike. The Comet Crew, yours truly, faithfully follows to cheer him on.

By now you all probably know that Steve is just a little competitive.
Unfortunately, he is also a little fragile . . . i.e. injury-prone.

Well, after a few frustrating years of nursing injuries and trying to learn the secrets of the triathletes, "Mr Health and Wellness" had an outstanding performance during the recent Optimists' Triathlon held in Winona Lake.

He had a PR even though he had not been able to run for weeks before the race.
He was 40th (out of 460) and 4th in his age division.
(Ooooo, Ahhhhh, you should see the plaque!!!)

Better yet, he crossed the finish line unharmed!!!

Here are a few glimpses of my stud-muffin. The photos don't do him justice.

I have a license to brag. It says so on each of my children's birth certificates.

At the recent City Meet in Warsaw (the Olympics to all the grade schoolers) Sarah definitely earned her title as Sacred Heart's MVP. As the photo shows, she literally ran away with the victory in the 200 meter run --- and beat all the boys' times too! She also easily won the 50 meter run, placed 3rd in the high jump and her team placed 2nd in the 4 X 100 meter relay. Not bad for someone who doesn't like to run!

Dad, the ex-track coach, is particularly proud and very impressed with her uncoached, natural running form.

We both hope and pray that she continues to out-run the boys!!!