By DAVID WOOD, for The Democrat
After each graduation cycle, Brown County High School looks to its younger athletes to carry on where the departing seniors left off.
This year, the junior high athletics program houses prospects that look to not only match, but also surpass their upperclassmen in time.
As defending champions, the eighth-grade volleyball team recently captured its second Western Indiana Conference title. According to Superintendent Laura Hammack, this makes the squad the first in Brown County history to win WIC volleyball titles in their seventh- and eighth-grade years.
Cross-country runners Abby Fleetwood and Chase Austin also won their respective WIC championship races. This is Fleetwood’s second title in two years and Austin’s first.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“I’m pretty sure Chase only lost once this season during their regularly scheduled events. … Abby has been undefeated in the regular season for two years in a row,” said junior high cross-country Head Coach Chasity Smith.
In addition, Fleetwood won the 2017 Eagle Classic, where she broke the school record for the second time. Her Eagle Classic victory was the first time in 16 years a Brown County runner has been able to do so.
In his own right, Austin won the 2018 Tri-North Invitational as well as the Brown County Invitational.
“He has the drive and the motivation and he loves to work hard. … I think Chase even has the potential to be the No. 1 boys runner next year if he continues the way he’s going,” Smith said.
Smith also has increasingly high hopes for Fleetwood, who had only just started cross-country as a sixth-grader.
Barely three years into her career, she carries the potential for a state championship by the time she’s a senior, Smith said. She’s just now tapping into her talent and realizing what’s there.
“Abby is going to go really far if she can get some good training in as well as help with her form and breathing. She’s a phenomenally gifted runner. Everywhere we go, people know who Abby Fleetwood is,” Smith said.
The eighth-grade volleyball team dominated with an overall record of 19-4 during their record-making season.
“They communicate well and know the game very well. … Their strongest point is taking each opponent like it’s their first and going out to win. Their competitiveness is strong,” first-year Head Coach Emma Totten said.
The squad coasted through the season after only being taken to a third set in one of their regular season victories. However, she’s not worried that the squad will rest on their laurels during the off-season.
“This season I kind of told them they’d be stepping up a level and facing better competition. With this group, if you present them with a challenge, they’re going to work hard and try to overcome it,” Totten said.
In order to make a successful transition into high school sports, Jessica Robertson, varsity head coach and sister to Totten, believes the key is maturity.
“As the freshmen come up, there are a lot of high pressure situations they get into and they have to be able to handle those maturely. You need to do what you’ve been trained to do,” Robertson said.
“With this eighth-grade group, I think they’ve been so successful, they haven’t had many of these high-pressure situations. So it’ll be interesting to see how they do before we put them onto the varsity squad.”
However, Totten believes they have what it takes.
“I’ve been around quite a few junior high teams, and these girls are mature for their age off and on the court. … As long as they don’t settle and work hard in the off-season, I think they can go as far as they want,” Totten said.
