What’s recently happened?
The Andrean High School Lady Niners Varsity Softball team recently competed for the 2A State title on Friday, June 9. Despite having an impressive record of 29-8, with a win percentage of nearly 80%, the team fell short in the last game of the state championship against the North Posey High School (NPHS) Vikings from Poseyville, IN. The Vikings had an insanely impressive record in the 2A division of 29-0, making the team undefeated for the entire regular and playoff season.
The game started slow, and this trend continued into all but the seventh inning, where the NPHS Vikings scored three runs within the last stretch of the game.
Senior Erin Hoehn of the Vikings was chosen as the state championship’s Player of the Game. She was chosen by Head Coach Gary Gentil.
“She pitched a no-hitter and hit the game-winning home run to win 3-0,” said Gentil on maxpreps.com.
Hoehn has received the title of Player of the Game three other times during the 2023 season.
On the Andrean side of the game, many players and coaches were highlighted in and outside of this state championship game. Coach Gleen Eisfleder was named the “Times of Northwest Indiana”’ Softball Coach of the Year because of his way of keeping softball simple.
Rising Senior and Pitcher Abbey Bond was also named the 2023 Post-Tribune Softball Player of the Year. Class of 2024 First Baseman Elizabeth Voliva and Class of 2025 Infielder Micah Snider were both chosen alongside Bond for the "Times of Northwest Indiana" 2023 Softball All-Area Team.
“I knew going into that game what I could do and what my team could do, and once the game started, I tried to stay focused on the goal. We also had two coaches added to the coaching staff this year that brought something new to the team. They really gave us the confidence and encouragement to reach new levels,” said Bond.
Despite the upset the Niners faced during the biggest game of the season, the girls managed an impressive record, kept up their game, and gained traction through the media throughout the year.
What's coming up?
Andrean is hosting the highly anticipated Andrean Golf Classic on Friday, July 14.
The event is considered a classic for good reason, as it has been continued for 27 years. White Hawk Country Club is hosting the outing, with registration beginning at 10:30 a.m., shotgun start at noon, and dinner at 5 p.m.
The event organization team would like to note that, after June 14, the pricing will increase to $250 per individual golfer and $1,000 per foursome.
The event also features a silent auction, with items donated by participants. For questions in regards to donating silent auction items, email development@andreanhs.com.
Sponsorships are available and popular at the Andrean Golf Classic, with many options and deals. Some of the sponsorships help the volunteers working the event, paying for their dinner for $75 or their lunch for $25 each.
According to the Andrean website, the memorial sponsor includes a memorial photo and the name of a dearly departed friend/alumnus at the hole. Another popular sponsorship is the bag drop sponsor, which includes the name of the sponsor on signage at bag drop as well as two dinner tickets.
Sponsorship prices vary from $75 to $10,000. For questions in regards to sponsorship pricing and levels, view the Andrean support webpage at andreanhs.org/support.
This event is meant to raise funds for Andrean, particularly for air conditioning, regular school fixes, and more. Any other questions in regards to the upcoming classic should be directed to development@andreanhs.com.
Community member spotlight:
LM Premier Dance (LMPD) is a performing arts school focused on dance technique and movement quality. LMPD’s motto is “the studio to love and learn dance,” and that is certainly true.
The L and M in the name stands for Lynn Marie, referring to Lynn Gelatka. Gelatka, or “Miss Lynn,” as referred to by her over 100 students, started her business in a small strip mall located in Beecher, Illinois. The business was relocated to Cedar Lake, Indiana, just across the street from Hanover Central High School, in 2021. LMPD specializes in a plethora of dance styles, including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop.
The dance studio is very well known for its acrobatics program, which is run by Ohio-native Tammy “TJ” Wright. Wright was born and raised in and around dance near Sandusky. Ohio is very well known for being involved in acrobatics and acrobatic arts.
Wright took the skills she learned from her training in her home state to Northwest Indiana. While her program started small, she quickly grew with her highly-sought-after skills in the acro-tumbling world. In 2021, the acrobatic team at LMPD competed and won at the Revolution Talent Competition national finals. This gained traction and attention from surrounding studios and dance families.
“The win did add pressure to me and the dancers, but good pressure. It pushed everyone to work harder and have more goals to shoot for,” said Wright.
This win catapulted the studio into larger competitions and more wins, with the most recent being at the Dreammaker Talent Competition Finals in Virginia Beach, VA. Despite tough competition, the team took home seven banners in different categories, two being in the national competition, and five in the Dreammaker Final competition.