Pride and Success echo through 2011 for IR sports
It has, undoubtedly, been an extraordinary year for Indian River High School’s athletic program in 2011, one that students, athletes and faculty will certainly carry with them forever. From new faces on the fields, courts, and tracks to bars set even higher and greater milestones reached, an eventful 2011 drew to a fitting end for the Green and Gold, finally capped off with a championship season that resonated throughout the state.
Coastal Point • File Photo
Aaron Moore runs to the outside, picking up some yardage before being pushed out-of-bounds during Indian River’s state championship game against Caravel.
The tail end of last year’s winter season saw leaps and bounds in several Indian River sports, as it turned over into the start of 2011. The boys’ and girls’ varsity swimming program picked up their first wins in the two-year-old program, and yielded 10 athletes to the state meet. The Lady Indians’ basketball team snagged their second consecutive Henlopen South title, and earned a second straight berth into the postseason tournament.
On the mat, the Indians’ wrestling team wrapped up the competition on their way to a Southern Henlopen Division title, and a fifth-place finish out of the 14 teams at the Henlopen Conference duals. Six athletes went on to represent Indian River at the Individual Wrestling State Tournament, with four placing in the top four spots in their respective wight classes. The Indian River varsity wrestling team also earned the Delaware Wrestling Alliance’s Team Academic Award, as their roster boasted the highest grade-point average (GPA) of all the wrestling teams throughout the state.
As spring approached earlier this year, so did new faces. Kevin Cordrey, a 1990 graduate of Indian River and a staple as an assistant coach on the varsity baseball team, stepped up to fill the shoes of long-time coach Howard Smack. In his first season as head coach, Cordrey saw the Indians through a 9-9 season and a state playoff berth.
The school’s track and field team, another of three varsity sports introduced to Indian River’s athletic department in 2009, welcomed a new head coach in 2011, Bob Hahn. Hahn helped the Indians along to the program’s first win, and yielded six individuals reach qualifying cuts into the state tournament.
On the courts, the boys’ varsity tennis team was narrowly edged for the division crown by Seaford, but put together a strong showing at the Henlopen Tournament, reaching third place. For the second year in a row, the girls’ varsity tennis team secured the Henlopen South crown.
Out on the links, the Indian River golf team completed their most accomplished season since head coach, Paris Mitchell, Sr. took the helm in 2008. They finish 11-2, picking up the program’s first victory against Dover, earned a clench of Henlopen’s southern division, and advanced to the state tournament.
Springtime saw the introduction of a new sport in Dagsboro, too. Lacrosse, a widely popular sport in the Baltimore and D.C. metropolis and surrounding regions, had not found its way to Indian River until 2011. IR Athletic Director Todd Fuhrmann, who pushed to bring swimming, cross country and track and field to the school in the 2009-2010 school year, welcomed the game as an intramural sport this past spring, with hopes of developing it into a varsity program in seasons to come.
Though, just because the sport wasn’t alive and kicking in Dagsboro, didn’t mean it wasn’t around. Schools like Cape Henlopen and Sussex Tech were already a head above other teams in the sport, but Indian River’s own Abby Miller drew some attention, announcing her commitment, back in spring, to Queens College of Charlotte in North Carolina, to play lacrosse, a sport she grew up with, playing through most of the year on travel teams.
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Indian River’s Max Wilkinson and Davontae Mitchell grapple during practice earlier this week. Both Wilkinson and Mitchell finished first in their weight classes at last weekend’s YellowJacket Invitational in Newark.
Indian River boasted soccer stand-outs, as well, as eight seniors announced their commitment to various collegiate programs, where they would be furthering their education in the classrooms and talent on the pitch.
The graduating class of student athlete soccer stars was highlighted by Caitlin Forte’s agreement to play at Villanova, becoming the third female soccer player at Indian River to sign with a DI university in the past four years. Forte, as well as four-year boys’ varsity forward, Victor Cuenca-Aguilar, were recognized as First Regional All-American athletes, the first soccer players from Indian River to ever earn the award.
The sport has remained a staple at Indian River, which saw varsity co-captain Josh Mercer represent the school and the region in early 2011 at the Disney Soccer Showcase in Orlando, FL, at the ESPN World Wide of Sports complex, as part of the U.S. Youth Soccer Development Program. Mercer was one of two Delawareans to do so, and the only Sussex Countian to compete in the competition.
The fall season, welcoming the 2011-2012 school year, saw coaches Katie Holloway and Indian River grad Whitney McMillon take the reins as the head coach and assistant coach, respectively, of a developing field hockey program at Indian River. A young and improving cross country team finished up strong to earn its second-straight winning season in the program’s three years.
But even after such an accomplished 2011 year, the Indians weren’t done. A first-year head coach, coupled with a vastly developed quarterback and a headstrong roster of ambitious athletes set out in August to do something that hadn’t been done in 23 years - earn a Division II State Championship football title.
Ray Steele was no stranger to the sport or the pride of Indian River High School. As a math teacher at the school and an assistant for over 30 years to former head coach Jim Bunting, Steele put his nose to the grindstone, each and every day, and he had his players do the same. As the season started, many knew the Indians were contenders in the Henlopen South, but no one expected what came next. Fourth-year quarterback Jamie Jarmon took control of the Indians, who opened up their season, 4-0. Their fifth game on the schedule pitted them against Southern division rival Delmar, who also boasted an undefeated record at the time.
“We were taking everything one game at a time,” said Steele, earlier this year. The Indians came out on top, in dramatic fashion, upending the Wildcats, 28-14. “It was a tremendous feeling when it was over,” Steele added. “We felt we beat a team that many thought was the best team in the Henlopen Conference’s Southern Division.”
Coastal Point • File Photo
Swimmers approach the end of the pool during a meet on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
But the Indians still weren’t finished. They powered past Polytech, then Laurel, in a packed-house, standing room only, homecoming victory. They left Lake Forest and Seaford in their wake before hosting another sold-out evening against Sussex Central, the two-year defending Henlopen North champions. After a 47-17 win, there was little doubt or question about Indian River’s football program. This team was the real deal. Their regular season 10-0 performance earned them an indisputable clench of the division, the Henlopen Conference’s number-one seed, overall, and a first-round bye in the state tournament. Little stood in their way as they pushed past fifth-seeded Howard in the state semis, 49-14. The performance, just leading up to the state championship, earned Jarmon the Gatorade Athlete of the Year for the state of Delaware.
But on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Delaware State University’s stadium, the Indians faced one final test. With an undefeated season and a heightened reputation on the line, Indian River was closing in on a chance to rewrite the history books. With Jarmon at the snap, and a relentless defense to counter the Caravel Buccaneers, Indian River did not disappoint. After finishing each of the past two seasons at 5-5, Jarmon exacted his revenge on Caravel, the same team that vanquished the Indians’ playoff chances in 2008, as he led the Indians to a 35-13 win, and the school’s second state championship in history.
Their undefeated season, a 12-0 record, was the best that the program had seen since the Indian River School District was established in 1969, even better than the 1988 team that captured the school’s only other state championship title.
“[That night],” said Steele, days after the win, “had to be my most proudest moment in my 35 years of coaching. To see so many people cheering for Indian River and showing their support, it was unforgettable.”
A welcoming and congratulatory return awaited the team that evening, and in the weeks to come, the hallways of Indian River High School reverberated with pride. Since the close of the season, the sense of achievement and honor of student athletes has picked right back up where the varsity football team left it. The wrestling team came out of the gates with impressive performances at several testing tournaments. The Lady Indians’ basketball team opened the schedule with two solid victories, and in only its third meet of the season, the swim team has already seen individuals qualify for states and boasts over a dozen broken records.
Perhaps the athletic programs are looking to resonate the success that the football season restored in the school. Maybe the talent of young, up-and-coming athletes is coming around with tradition that has been rooted in these programs for decades. Whatever the case, as 2012 brings us an untold future, there’s no doubt that the pride is still ringing strong at Indian River.
