Indiana
23 statewide awards handed out at Tuesday’s Indiana High School Sports Awards show
East Central High School’s Josh Ringer was named Boys Athlete of the Year and Hamilton Southeastern High School’s Lauren Harden was named Girls Athlete of the Year on Tuesday night at the Indiana High School Sports Awards, presented by the Indiana Pacers.
Hamilton Southeastern volleyball was the Girls Team of the Year Award while Fishers basketball won the Boys Team of the Year award at the event, which honored athletes, teams and coaches from the entire state. Indiana Fever star Aliyah Boston was the speaker at the event, which was produced with the support of the Indianapolis Colts, The Kiwanis Club of Indiana, USA Today Sports And Golfweek.
In all, 23 awards were handed out:
Coach of the Year: Dave Benter, Brownstown Central High School
Benter, in his 26th year at his alma mater, led top-ranked Brownstown Central to the Class 2A boys basketball state title, the school’s first. Benter’s son, Jack, was the Braves’ star player and helped Brownstown Central to a 28-4 record, including finishing the season on a 19-game win streak culminating with a 55-36 win over No. 2 Wapahani in the state final.
Courage Award: Breece Bass, Franklin Central High School
Breece has persevered through the tragic deaths of her brother Broderick and father Stephen, remaining focused on her personal aspirations and drawn inspiration from the sky-high standard she holds herself to. A three-sport athlete, she led Franklin Central soccer to its first sectional championship since 2018, qualified for state in wrestling and has her sights set on returning to the state track meet this spring. A Murray State soccer commit, Breece will be the first in her family to attend college.
Marion County High School Female Athlete Award presented by the Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis: Lila Mattick, Covenant Christian High School
According to her coach, Lila was the glue that held the Covenant Christian girls basketball team together this season. She is well known as a hard worker and hustler on the court, and a team leader who is constantly encouraging others. She has a 3.95 grade point average and constantly takes on many challenges outside sports, including intense year-round physical training for basketball. And she is cherished by her team for her habit of writing notes or creating cards of encouragement and leaving them around for the person to find. She was always the first person there to help teammates and opponents up from the floor after they fell and is described by her coach as “selfless and devoted, a woman of integrity, an encourager and an overall impressive person to be around.”
Boys Team of the Year (PRESENTED BY USA TODAY SPORTS): Fishers High School basketball
Despite losing one of the country’s top players prior to the season, Fishers finished 29-1, winning its first sectional, regional, semistate and state championships since the school opened in 2007. The Tigers were ranked No. 1 for much of the season and capped off the year with a 65-56 win over defending champion Ben Davis in the Class 4A state final.
Girls Team of the Year (PRESENTED BY USA TODAY SPORTS): Volleyball, Hamilton Southeastern High School
HSE volleyball has been simply dominant. The Royals repeated as Class 4A state champions and have won 67 straight matches. HSE finished this year’s title run 33-0 with a 95-5 set differential led by a seven-girl senior class with five Division I commits. Perfection was the expectation for HSE. And it still raised the bar.
School Spirit Award: Shortridge High School
Shortridge won this award based on a state-wide online vote. Shortridge won $1,000 for its athletic department.
Boys Athlete of the Year: Josh Ringer, East Central High School
Ringer led East Central to back-to-back Class 4A football state championships and finished his high school career with school records of 6,640 rushing yards and 118 total touchdowns. The Miami of Ohio recruit won IndyStar Mr. Football and was named Gatorade Player of the Year.
Girls Athlete of the Year: Lauren Harden, Hamilton Southeastern High School
Harden led the Royals to back-to-back state championships and a 67-match winning streak. The University of Florida recruit was named MaxPreps National Player of the Year. A multi-time All-American, Harden had more than 1,000 kills in her HSE career.
IndyStar Mr. Football (PRESENTED BY THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS): Josh Ringer, East Central High School
The Miami (Ohio) recruit ran for nearly 3,000 yards as a senior and scored 60 total touchdowns in leading the Trojans to back-to-back Class 4A state championships. He owns school records for rushing yards and total touchdowns and is just the second player from East Central to win Mr. Football.
IndyStar Miss Basketball (PRESENTED BY THE INDIANA PACERS): Chloe Spreen, Bedford North Lawrence High School
Spreen played a starring role in BNL’s Class 4A state championship run as a junior last year. For her encore, the 5-10 Alabama commit carried the Stars to a 20-5 record and a13th consecutive sectional title. She averaged career-highs in points and rebounds and finished second on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,869 points.
IndyStar Mr. Basketball (PRESENTED BY THE INDIANA PACERS): Flory Bidunga, Kokomo High School
Bidunga earned a spot on the McDonald’s All American game and won the Gatorade Player of the Year for Indiana for a second consecutive season. The Kansas recruit averaged 19.0 points, 12.9 rebounds and 4.4 blocked shots per game to lead Kokomo to a Class 4A regional appearance this year. In three seasons at Kokomo, Bidunga finished with career totals of 1,609 points, 1,132 rebounds and 402 blocked shots while shooting 80.3% from the field. Kokomo reached the 4A state finals his junior year.
Girls Golfer of the Year (PRESENTED BY GOLFWEEK): Samantha Brown, Westfield High School
Brown completed her run to the individual state championship with an ultra-consistent, two-round total of 2-under-par — four shots better than a group of four golfers tying for the runner-up spot. The Purdue recruit finished the 36 holes with only two bogeys and was also named the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award winner.
Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year: Cameron Todd, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory
A Notre Dame recruit, Todd won the boys individual championship, posting the seventh-best time in state history, and fastest since 2011. At the Foot Locker national championship in San Diego, he finished eighth (the top Midwest finisher).
Boys Soccer Player of the Year: Cole Thompson, Noblesville High School
Voted player of the year by the Indiana High School Soccer Coaches Association, Thompson allowed just 12 goals in 21 games played this past season. He recorded 10 shutouts and stopped nearly half the penalty kicks he faced, which included three straight PK victories to reach the state finals. “We have Cole Thompson. Best keeper in the nation,” one teammate said.
Boys Tennis Player of the Year: Alex Antonopoulos, North Central High School
The individual boys state champion, Antonopoulos picked up North Central’s lone point in a 4-1 quarterfinal loss to eventual state champion Carmel, winning his No. 1 singles match 6-1, 6-2. A Western Michigan recruit, he finished his senior season 22-0 and won the individual singles state final with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Columbus North’s Hank Lin.
Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year: Libby Dowty, Indian Creek High School
The Indian Creek sophomore led most of the IHSAA state finals, until she was passed with 400 meters left, but Dowty regained the lead and in the final 200 meters and went on to become the first Indian Creek girl to win a cross-country state title with a time of 17 minutes, 6.7 seconds. She won a sectional title by more than 30 seconds and a regional title by more than 20 seconds. Dowty finished third at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional and was named Gatorade Indiana Cross Country runner of the year.
Girls Soccer Player of the Year: Hailey Wade, Hamilton Southeastern High School
Named 2023 Player of the Year by the Indiana High School Soccer Coaches Association, Wade allowed just seven goals this season with nine shutouts, helping lead the Royals to a Hoosier Crossroads Conference title. Over her career, the Valparaiso commit had more shutouts than goals allowed.
Girls Volleyball Player of the Year: Lauren Harden, Hamilton Southeastern High School
Just the second player in program history to clear 1,000 career digs, Harden also set HSE’s all-time kills record on her way to helping the Royals become the fourth undefeated Class 4A state champion in state history. The Florida-bound standout closed out her career with 13 kills in the state final vs. Castle.
Boys Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year: Matthew Klinge, William Henry Harrison High School
Klinge won a third straight state title in the 50 freestyle and repeated as state champion in the 100 butterfly. He was just .07 seconds off the state record in the 50 freestyle, set by NCAA champion and Olympian Drew Kibler. An Ohio State recruit, Klinge will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, hosted this summer at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Girls Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year: Alex Shackell, Carmel High School
Shackell posted four first-place finishes in helping the Greyhounds extend their national record to a 38th straight state team title. She broke her own state record in the 100 butterfly, won the 100 backstroke and was part of two winning relay teams. In December’s East Junior Nationals, the California commit finished first in seven events and featured times that bettered high school state records in six.
Boys Wrestler of the Year: Jake Hockaday, Brownsburg High School
Hockaday finished the season with a 37-2 record and the state title at 132 pounds. He helped guide Brownsburg to its first team title since 2017. An Oklahoma commit, Hockaday has won individual state titles in each of his three seasons so far and is ranked among the top recruits in the 2025 class.
Girls Gymnast of the Year: Elly Kiran, Crown Point High School
The all-around individual state champion, Kiran placed first in the vault and floor exercise and placed second in the uneven bars and balance beam, helping Crown Point to a second team state title in three years. Kiran was also named the Mildred M. Ball Mental Attitude Award winner at the state meet.
Girls Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year: Alex Shackell, Carmel High School
Shackell posted four first-place finishes in helping the Greyhounds extend their national record to a 38th straight state team title. She broke her own state record in the 100 butterfly, won the 100 backstroke and was part of two winning relay teams. In December’s East Junior Nationals, the California commit finished first in seven events and featured times that bettered high school state records in six.
Girls Wrestler of the Year: Julianna Ocampo, New Haven High School
Ocampo won the girls state title at 110 pounds in January, finishing with a 22-1 record. A month later, she made history becoming the first girls wrestler to medal at the boys state finals. In her third career state finals appearance, Ocampo placed sixth at 106 pounds.
For spring sports, watch list athletes were recognized at the show. The Indystar will announce Player of the Year winners in those sports later in the school Year. Also, athletes who won Athlete of the Week awards during the school year were recognized at the show.
The Indiana High School Sports Awards show is part of the USA TODAY High School Sports Awards, the largest high school sports recognition program in the country.
CHICAGO (WLS) — Suspected tornadoes have left extensive damage in Kankakee County in Illinois and into neighboring Indiana Tuesday.
The storms also produced hail ranging in size from two to four inches, the National Weather Service said. The NWS said the largest hailstone produced was six inches in diameter, which fell in Kankakee. The NWS said the hailstone may be a state record for Illinois.
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The NWS said a supercell that went from Pontiac, Illinois to Pontiac, Indiana spawned at least four tornadoes in Pontiac and south of Kankakee in Illinois and Lake Village an Wheatfield in Indiana.
The NWS is sending survey teams to the area Wednesday to investigate the damage.
Search crews worked late into the night looking for people who may have been left trapped by the storm damage as severe weather hit the Kankakee area.
Apparent tornado in Kankakee, Illinois – March 10, 2026
The area in Aroma Park along Sandbar Road was one of the places hardest hit.
Dangerous weather ripped through the area leaving a path of destruction.
The powerful storms driving rain and gusting winds downed at least a half dozen power lines that were snapped in half by gusting winds.
One homeowner says the storm blew out windows and leveled a two-story barn.
A concrete silo was also destroyed.
The fire lieutenant says a man did have to be rescued from the basement of a home with heavy damage. But otherwise, I have not heard of any serious injuries from the storm.
The American Red Cross has set up a shelter at Kankakee Community College for those impacted by the storms.
The tornado damage stretches into Indiana.
There has also been major damage across the state line in Indiana. Most of the damage is in the town of Lake Village.
Video shows a number of homes and buildings destroyed.
The local fire department says a tornado had a wide path of destruction and continued for several miles.
So far, officials said there have been only a few minor injuries.
They said the tornado sirens went off with plenty of time to alert people in the area.
People impacted by the storm can go to North Newton High School for support.
People living in Kankakee described the hail as almost as large as their hands, pounding the pavement and causing extensive damage.
“As if I have a bulletproof car and somebody was, like, shooting a machine gun or something like that. That’s how hard it was hitting,” Jon Robicheaux said.
Some car windows were left shattered.
“It just kept tearing into my front windshield,” Robicheaux said. “The back went out first, and it kept hitting the front. And it constantly got damaged.”
He had to pull over to find shelter.
“And I was kind of scared a tornado would’ve came over me while I was parked because I couldn’t see anything,” Robicheaux said.
Some cars in the west suburbs were damaged, as well, after golf ball- to baseball-sized hail fell.
One large chunk of hail came down on Gabrielle Zinkel’s car as she was driving home to Homer Glen from work in Downers Grove, shattering her back windshield.
“It sounded exactly like bullets hitting your car. Like, I was like, did my windshield just get shot through? Like what just happened? Because I did not think. I was like, OK, I’m going to come through this with some dents. But I didn’t think that this thing would hit my windshield and crack it right open,” Zinkel said.
There was also heavy rain and hail in parts of the city.
The hail sent people scrambling around dusk.
ComEd said as of 5 a.m., about 27,000 customers were impacted by the storm, with power restored to all but about 4,000 customers. Those without power were mainly in Kankakee County.
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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — We are monitoring the potential for severe weather into early Wednesday morning.
Tornado Watch in effect until EDT midnight March 10, 2026, for Benton, Newton, and Jasper counties.
Tuesday night: Please make sure you have your safety plan on standby into tonight through pre-dawn Wednesday morning. There is now a level 4/5 severe risk in northwest Indiana. Much of central Indiana remains in a level 2/5 risk.
The risk for significant tornadoes (EF2+) and very large hail (2″+) is greatest north of I-70 with any discrete cell(s) that maintain their-selves into mainly northern Indiana. There is also potential for a max expected intensity of an EF-3+ tornado within much (if not all) of the level 3 & 4 risk zone.
This does not mean that every storm will produce a tornado of that magnitude. It is simply highlighting area of highest concern for the possibility of such occurrence.
Now, given a modestly unstable environment into the pre-dawn hours Wednesday with stronger wind flow aloft, all hazards will remain possible into central Indiana. The significant severe threat here is much lower.
Overall, you need to have multiple ways of being able to get alerts tonight. Do not be scared, be prepared and you will be ok.
Wednesday: Beyond sunrise Wednesday, we will continue to track more in the way of showers and storms. The main area of the strong-severe storm risk looks to shift mainly southeast of Indy with damaging winds the primary concern through the morning into afternoon hours.
Rainfall amounts through Wednesday may amount to 1-2″ with locally higher amounts.
Highs to occur earlier in the day with numbers in the mid to upper 60s. Non-thunderstorm winds will also be quite breezy with gusts up to 30-35 MPH.
Thursday: Be prepared for quite a temperature shift into Thursday. We will start the day off with temperatures in the low 30 with 20s wind chills. Yeah, that will not feel great considering our recent stretch of more mild days. Highs will only get into the upper 40s.
7-Day Forecast: We look to warm back up into this weekend, but it will come with more active weather and breezy winds. Friday will feature highs in the mid to upper 50s with wind gusts up to 25-30 MPH. Highs look to tick back into the low 60s Sunday with more chances for rain. Then, temperatures really take a tumble into next Monday with highs only in the 30s and a chance for a rain/snow mix.
Change could be coming to Chicago’s Soldier Field, a historic landmark initially designed as a memorial for American soldiers who died in combat. Opened in 1924, and home to the NFL’s Chicago Bears since 1971, the 102 year old venue’s future is uncertain as the team is exploring a new stadium, possibility across the Illinois state line in Hammond, Indiana.
“The fact that they’re even considering coming to Hammond versus keeping it in their own state says a lot about what we’re going to try to do to tell everyone Indiana is a place move your business,” said Governor Mike Braun (R-Indiana), in a televised news conference Monday, monitored by Military.com. The governor’s remarks addressed a range of issues related to the end of the state’s legislative session.
“We’re proud that we’ve put together a package to attract $2 Billion worth of investment from the Chicago Bears,” said the governor of Senate Bill 27, which he signed last week. “They’re now looking at Indiana as a place to actually bring that franchise.”
With a seating capacity of more than 100,000 spectators. Soldier Field is used not only for Bears games, but as a site for many other sporting events and exhibitions, including numerous Army-Navy games. But without an anchor sports team like the Bears, the stadium will likely be used less and Chicago could see less tax revenue.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson telling reporters Monday, the Bears were offered an opportunity to build a new stadium inside the city limits, as a way to stay in Illinois.
“We had an entire press conference, with a proposal on the lakefront two years ago,” Mayor Johnson said in a news conference. “How do you have an entire proposal with the Bears, with the city of Chicago, with labor, with the notion that somehow the greatest, the most fruitful, economic viable prime real estate anywhere in the state, anywhere in the region is somehow not suited?”
There’s another proposed site on the table. Illinois lawmakers in the House have advanced House Bill 910, which would lock in property tax rates at the former Arlington Racetrack, in Arlington Heights about 30 miles from Soldier Field. The Bears already own the land, but the bill is still in its early stages and already has some critics.
“It would shift [tax] liability directly onto homeowners and small businesses,” said Brian Costin, deputy state director of the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity, in a statement to Military.com. “It could double or triple the effective property tax rates over the next few decades.”
For now, the Bears have not made a commitment to move to Indiana or stay in Illinois.
The Bears said in a statement, “Indiana has taken important steps over the last few months, and we are grateful for the leadership reflected by Governor Braun signing SB 27 establishing the framework for a stadium development in Northwest Indiana. We continue to work on the necessary due diligence and appreciate the .”ongoing engagement with Indiana state and local leaders.”
The team also addressed Illinois efforts to keep the team from leaving Soldier Field or Illinois altogether.
“We recognize and appreciate the advancement of mega project legislation by the Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee,” said the statement from the Bears. “We look forward to continued engagement as the lawmakers determine the legislative path forward.”
In Indiana, Governor Braun hopes the better deal will be for the Bears to abandon Soldier Field for new digs across the Illinois border, in Hammond.
“We’ve identified a promising site near Wolf Lake in Hammond and established a broad framework for negotiating a final deal,” Braun said in a statement obtained by Military.com. “We have built a strong relationship with the Bears organization that will serve as the foundation for a public-private partnership, leading to the construction of a world-class stadium and a win for taxpayers.”
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