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Nolan dubbed GLVC Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, Nolan has two of these awards on the season

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The University of Southern Indiana’s senior Austin Nolan was announced as the Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week by the Great Lakes Valley Conference Thursday morning.

Nolan grabbed first place in the 3000-meters by 10 seconds with a brand-new NCAA II provisional qualifying time of 8 minutes, 17.69 seconds last weekend in the Kentucky Collegiate Indoor Invitational. Nolan now boasts six career GLVC weekly awards including (cross country- 2018, twice), (cross country-2019) and (track & field- January 2020, January 2021 & February 2021).

Up Next: Nolan and the Screaming Eagles shift their focus to the UIndy Last Chance Meet held at the University of Indianapolis, February 26-27.

 

Hoosiers Grab Eight Spots in Thursday Night’s Finals

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IU to have Four Swim for Gold

The No. 21-ranked Indiana University women’s swimming team earned eight second swims during the preliminary rounds of the third day of action from the 2021 Women’s Big Ten Championships on Thursday afternoon at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

100 Butterfly – Elizabeth Broshears (sixth)

400 IM – Josie Grote (second); Mackenzie Looze (fourth)

200 Freestyle – Ella Ristic (third)

 

CONSOLATION FINAL

100 Butterfly – None.

400 IM – Bailey Kovac (10th)

200 Freestyle – Ashley Turak (11th); Laurel Eiber (16th)

 

C FINAL

100 Butterfly – None.

400 IM – Anna Freed (20th)

200 Freestyle – None.

TEAM SCORES

  1. Ohio State – 526 pts.
  2. Michigan – 358.5 pts.
  3. INDIANA – 310.5 pts.
  4. Northwestern – 258 pts.
  5. Wisconsin – 237 pts.
  6. Nebraska – 184 pts.
  7. Iowa – 169 pts.
  8. Minnesota – 164 pts.
  9. Penn State – 149 pts.
  10. Purdue – 120 pts.
  11. Michigan State – 104 pts.
  12. Illinois – 96 pts.
  13. Rutgers – 30 pts.

 

NOTABLES

  • Michigan leads all schools with 13 returning for a final swim, including six swimming in a Championship Final. Ohio State is second with 12, followed by Indiana with eight. The Hoosiers are tied for second in the conference with four returnees swimming in A Finals.
  • The career-best time of 52.75 set by Broshears in the 100 Butterfly makes her the sixth-best performer in program history in the event.
  • Ristic now sits as the 13th-best performer in team history in the 200 Freestyle after notching a career-best mark of 1:46.16.

 

PRELIMINARY RESULTS

100 BUTTERFLY

Elizabeth Broshears – 52.75 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

  1. Carla Gildersleeve – 54.82
  2. Mia Ristic – 54.83 (Career Best)
  3. Avery Williams – 56.39 (Career Best)
  4. Grace Pangburn – 57.98

 

400 IM

Josie Grote – 4:11.70 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Mackenzie Looze – 4:12.42 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Bailey Kovac – 4:14.85 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)

Anna Freed – 4:19.17 (C Final, Career Best)

  1. Christin Rockway – 4:24.03
  2. Maggie Wallace – 4:28.18 (Career Best)

 

200 FREESTYLE

Ella Ristic – 1:46.14 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

Ashley Turak – 1:47.61 (Consolation Final, Career Best)

Laurel Eiber – 1:48.06 (Consolation Final)

  1. Ryley Ober – 1:49.57 (Career Best)
  2. Samantha Muma – 1:54.93 (Career Best)
  3. Anne Rouleau – 1:57.14

 

UP NEXT

The 2021 Big Ten Championships will continue on Thursday evening with the second night of finals beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Three events will be contested, including the 100 Butterfly, 400 IM, 50 Freestyle, and 200 Freestyle.

 

Leah Anderson Collects National Player of the Week Award

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The sophomore is the third Eagle to ever receive the honors

University of Southern Indiana Volleyball sophomore outside hitter Leah Anderson adds AVCA National Player of the Week to her portfolio after she posted colossal numbers in back-to-back sweeps over then-No. 6 Rockhurst and Lindenwood during the USI-hosted GLVC triangular on February 20.

The sophomore is the third Screaming Eagle to ever earn the AVCA National Player of the Week honors and the first since 2011. This follows the outside hitter taking GLVC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week recognition on Monday, February 22. The two previous Screaming Eagles to garner the AVCA national weekly award were Danielle LaGrange (Oct. 25, 2011) and Laura Ellerbusch (Sept. 26, 2005).

During the two-match weekend, Anderson cut through the Hawk and Lion defense at 5.67 kills per set (34 total), three service aces, and a hitting percentage of .446, amassing 38.5 points (6.42 points per set). The sophomore also flew around the defensive side, laying out for 3.00 digs per set (18 total) and thwarting opponent attacks with three blocks (0.5 per set).

The Illinois-native set a season-high in hitting percentage at .455 against Lindenwood after setting a season-high earlier in the day against Rockhurst at .438. Anderson tied her season high in kills with 17 in both games, also blasting 17 kills against Indianapolis (2/6/2021), and points with 21.0, also recorded 21.0 against No.2 Lewis (then No. 14).

This season, Anderson leads the Eagles in multiple categories while also ranking highly in the GLVC overall in multiple statistical categories. She leads USI in kills (83), kills per set (4.15), services aces (14, 0.70 per set), digs (63, 3.15 per set) and points (101.0, 5.05 per set). In the conference, she leads in points per set at 5.05 while ranking second in service aces per set (0.70) and kills per set (4.15).

UP NEXT & HOW TO WATCH AND FOLLOW:
No. 13 USI (5-1) hits the road for another weekend GLVC divisional crossover, playing Maryville (0-6) and William Jewell (0-7) in St. Louis at Moloney Arena on February 27. USI will first duel Maryville at high noon, then taking on William Jewell at 3 P.M. Both games will be broadcast on GLVCSN.

While fans are not permitted to attend the games, they can watch free of charge on the GLVC Sports Network, which is available both you’re your desktop, mobile/tablet devices, as well as four over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV (4th Generation). GLVCSN.com is the official website of the GLVC Sports Network, while the GLVCSN mobile app is available for iOS in the App Store and Android on Google Play. Apple users also can use AirPlay with their Apple TV or some of the newer smart TVs. (GLVCSN FAQs)

Previews, live game updates, and post game information can be found via USI Athletics (@USIAthletics | #GoUSIEagles) social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

USI Volleyball can be followed directly on Twitter (@USIVolleyball) and Instagram (@USI_wvolleyball) as well for team updates.

Softball shifts weekend location and schedule

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Aces will now face Green Bay in Decatur, Ill.

Due to inclement weather in the forecast for Chattanooga, Tennessee, the University of Evansville softball team has announced an updated opponent and location for the weekend due to the cancellation of the Frost Classic.

 

The Purple Aces will now travel to Decatur, Ill. to face Green Bay.  A 4-game series will be on tap on the campus of Millikin University.  The Purple Aces and Phoenix will open up the series on Saturday with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. with Sunday’s action beginning at 10 a.m.

 

UE opened its season last weekend, going 2-2 at the Black & Gold Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama.  The Aces wrapped up the weekend on a high note, defeating Alabama State in the final two games.  Mea Adams led the team with a .583 batting average in the opening weekend while Eryn Gould batted .500 with a team-high six RBI.

 

In the circle, Jaime Nurrenbern picked up a win while throwing 8 1/3 innings and allowing just two unearned runs.  Izzy Vetter also had a nice start to the season, tossing 10 innings while allowing one earned run.

USI starts GLVC title defense Sunday

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University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer begins its defense of it 2019 Great Lakes Valley Conference championship Sunday at 4 p.m. when it hosts the University of Indianapolis at the Goebel Soccer Complex. The GLVC title defense is the first in the history of the USI women’s soccer progam.

USI will be implementing a spectator policy in 2021 due to COVID-19. For the safety and well-being of the players, coaches, and officials. For this weekend’s games at Goebel Soccer Complex, the following guidelines have been set in place:

  • Goebel Soccer Complex allows for any parents, guardians, siblings, spouses, and minor children of participants to attend so we will go based off this for the weekend.
  • All guests will be asked as they come in who they are there for so we can make sure it is just those who have someone participating in the game.
  • Masks must be worn at all times per GLVC policy and will be enforced unless eating or drinking.
  • The bleachers at Goebel are closed so all spectators will need to bring their own seating (chairs, blankets, etc.)
  • Social distancing will also be required.

Fans can catch all of the game coverage for the 2021, including live stats, video stream, and audio broadcasts, on GoUSIEagles.com.

Following the season opener with UIndy, USI will be on the road with visits to Lewis University March 5 and the University of Illinois Springfield March 7 before returning home to host Quincy University March 12.

Week 1 – Eagle Game Notes

Eagles posted three-straight upsets to win 1st GLVC Tournament: The Eagles won their first GLVC Tournament title with three-straight upsets. USI, which was the seventh seed, defeated second-seeded University of Indianapolis, 1-0, third-seeded Rockhurst University, 3-0, and grabbed the conference title on penalty kicks after tying top-seeded McKendree University.

USI earned first NCAA II Tournament appearance since 1998: USI made its second appearance in the NCAA II Tournament after a 21 hiatus in 2019. The Eagles fell to top-seeded Grand Valley State University in the opening round to finish the 2019 campaign.

In the GLVC: USI led the GLVC with 105 points on a league-best 35 goals, and 35 assists. The Eagles were seventh in defense with a team 0.98 goals against average.

Returning Scoring Leaders: Junior forward Katlyn Andres led the team in scoring in 2019 with 21 points on eight goals and five assists. Senior forward Maggie Winter was close behind with 16 points on seven goals and two assists. Junior defender Madelyne Juenger is tied for the team lead with Andres with five assists.

Between the posts:  Sophomore goalkeeper Maya Etienne led the Eagles in goal with a 12-7-2 record, a 0.91 goals against average and a USI single-season record 11 shutouts, and 113 saves (four short of single-season record) during her first collegiate campaign.

Schoenstein is in his 4th year: USI Head Coach Eric Schoenstein is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Eagles, producing a 41-26-9 mark, the 2019 GLVC Tournament championships, a share of the 2018 GLVC regular season title, three-straight GLVC Tournament appearances, and an appearance in the 2019 NCAA II Tournament.

USI vs. UIndy: USI holds a slim 13-12-1 all-time series lead over the University of Indianapolis after taking a pair of matches with the Greyhounds in 2019. The Eagles won the regular season match, 1-0, and the GLVC Tournament match, 1-0.

UIndy in 2019: The Greyhounds were 15-5-1 overall and 11-3-1 in the GLVC during the 2019 season. UIndy advanced as far as the third round of the NCAA II Tournament after falling to USI in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals.

Eagles kick off spring soccer Sunday

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University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer is eyeing its 12th Great Lakes Valley Conference championship when it kicks off the spring season. The Screaming Eagles start the season with a showdown with the University of Indianapolis Sunday at a special 4 p.m. kick off at Goebel Soccer Complex.

USI will be implementing a spectator policy in 2021 due to COVID-19. For the safety and well-being of the players, coaches, and officials. For this weekend’s games at Goebel Soccer Complex, the following guidelines have been set in place:

  • Goebel Soccer Complex allows for any parents, guardians, siblings, spouses, and minor children of participants to attend so we will go based off this for the weekend.
  • All guests will be asked as they come in who they are there for so we can make sure it is just those who have someone participating in the game.
  • Masks must be worn at all times per GLVC policy and will be enforced unless eating or drinking.
  • The bleachers at Goebel are closed so all spectators will need to bring their own seating (chairs, blankets, etc.)
  • Social distancing will also be required.

Fans can catch all of the game coverage for the 2021, including live stats, video stream, and audio broadcasts, on GoUSIEagles.com.

Following the season opener with UIndy, USI will be on the road with visits to Lewis University March 5 and the University of Illinois Springfield March 7 before returning home to host Quincy University March 12.

Week 1 – Eagle Game Notes: 

Santoro needs one to break: Head Coach Mat Santoro needs one win to surpass former Head Coach Tony Colavecchia for the all-time lead in wins for the USI men’s soccer program. Santoro, who has a 97-81-21 overall record at the helm, has guided the Eagles to a pair of NCAA II Tournament appearances; the 2018 GLVC regular season crown, and six GLVC Tournament appearances during his tenure. Colavecchia was 97-59-11 (.614) between 1988 and 1995.

USI earned trip to GLVC semifinals in 2019: The Eagles earned a trip to the GLVC 2019 semifinals and posted a 9-7-3 overall record, 8-5-2 in the GLVC regular season. USI midfielder Sean Rickey was the team leader in points with 22 on seven goals and eight assists.

Mad dash to the finish: After starting the 2019 with a 0-3-2 mark, the Eagles won eight of the last 13 regular season matches, going 8-4-1. Overall, USI also won five of the last six matches to move from 11th to fifth in the GLVC standings.

Returning leaders: USI’s top returning scorer is sophomore forward Zach Barton, who posted 14 points on five goals and four assists. Junior midfielder Ryan Nevins follows Barton with 12 points on six goals (second on the team).

Between the posts: Senior goalkeeper Justin Faas returns between the posts after posting a 0.95 goals against average in 2019. Faas, who missed four matches early to injuries, allowed 15 goals in 1417 minutes of action, making 62 saves and posting a 9-3-3 record.

Faas in the USI record book: Senior goalkeeper Justin Faas ranks fifth all-time at USI in shutouts, one behind a tie for third (Kyle Penick, 2002-05; Adam Zehme (2014-17) and third in goals against average.

UIndy in 2019:  UIndy was 16-6-1 overall in 2019, 10-4-1 in the GLVC, and advanced to the NCAA II Tourament semifinals.

USI versus Greyhounds: USI leads the all-time series with UIndy, 23-16-0, after the squads split a pair of meetings in 2019. The Greyhounds took the regular season match, 2-1, in Indianapolis, while the Eagles upset UIndy in the GLVC Tournament, 3-2.

Overall GLVC Championships by the Eagles:  USI has 11 GLVC men’s soccer titles since the conference was created in 1979, the most by any program in the league. The Eagles won the conference tournament championships in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991; and the regular season title in 2018.

 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS

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Distributing “Harmful Material” To Minors Withdrawn By Senator Tomes

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Bill To Punish Schools And Public Libraries For Distributing “Harmful Material” To Minors Withdrawn By Senator Tomes

By Hope Shrum

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Senate Bill 288, a bill that would punish schools and public libraries for sharing “harmful material” with minors, was withdrawn before its final reading in the Senate by the author of the bill, Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville.

He said he withdrew the bill because it didn’t get enough support in the Republican caucus Tuesday before the Senate’s final meeting during the first half of the legislative session. But he said he will bring the bill back next year.

“We have between now and maybe next year to think about these things and see what we can do with it and maybe address the bill a little bit different perhaps,” Tomes said. “The bill is still going to be the same. The goal will still be the same. I’m not going to back down from that.”

SB 288 would have scrutinized material made available to children at Indiana’s public libraries. The bill was withdrawn by its author in the Senate. Photo by Hope Shrum, The Statehouse File.

The bill had sparked debate, with opponents saying that the consequences of prosecution and vague definition of “harmful materials” could be detrimental to schools and libraries.

Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said during her point of personal privilege, or her chance to speak on the topic, at Tuesday’s session that she originally supported the bill but became very worried when she found out schools and public libraries would be at risk for Level 6 felonies.

According to Indiana law, a Level 6 felony—the same as possession of child pornography—carries a sentence of six months to two and a half years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

Leising had written an amendment for SB 288 to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor, which is generally less severely punished. However, since she didn’t get enough support from Republican senators during caucus Monday prior to session, she dropped the amendment before its reading.

Leising said that she has not visited any libraries in her district, and she doesn’t think many of the other senators have either, so she is still hesitant about this bill’s penalty against libraries. But she claimed a lot of her constituents, or voters in her district, are in favor of the bill.

“I’m hoping that, because of Sen. Tomes’s bill, it will have us all maybe a little bit more interested in this subject and why we are hearing from so many constituents about their concerns,” Leising said.

During his availability Tuesday, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said that SB 288 is a difficult bill. He said Tomes didn’t bring the bill to vote because it didn’t seem to have support in the caucus.

He said the bill brings together two important concepts, with the first being the protection of children from seeing obscene materials and the second being about the government’s role in the process.

“How much do we want government telling people what they can and can’t read, or can and can’t look at,” Bray said. “Parents are good at that job, and more so than the government. And the local libraries and their boards kind of have some decisions and some authority they’ve got to put into play there as well.”

After narrowly passing in the Senate Education and Career Development Committee Feb. 17 after an amendment cut all but one section, the bill went through second reading Monday with no new amendments.

One of the bill’s authors, Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, proposed the amendment during committee, in which only Section 4—stating that public and school libraries would not be protected from prosecution for dissemination of pornography or obscene materials to minors—was not deleted.

Kruse said he wanted to make the bill simpler and easier to understand. He added that there is not a set list of “harmful materials” because that is something a judge or jury would eventually decide on.

He said that historically, a case of distributing illicit materials or pornography to a minor has to be pretty bad for a prosecuting attorney to bring a case against someone for it. So he doesn’t think schools and libraries should worry about the felony charge.

“I would think the school libraries and public libraries would want this,” Kruse said. “I think they ought to want a high standard for their libraries. And they shouldn’t want anybody in their library distributing obscene materials or pornography to minors.”

According to the 2019 Indiana Public Library Statistics, the state’s 9,000 libraries hosted 60,547 children’s programs, with attendance at those programs over 1.1 million.

There were also more than 65 million materials in circulation, with over 21 million of those being for children.

While SB 288 would have removed schools and public libraries from the list of entities eligible for special defense against prosecution, it added colleges and universities to that list to be protected.

SB 288 had also removed “educational purposes” as a reason for defense against prosecution.

The Indiana American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement in opposition of SB 288, stating that by not presenting a clear definition of “harmful material to minors,” it raised due process and enforceability concerns.

“The vagueness of the statute could be used to silence protected speech on a multitude of various issue areas and has historically been used as a tool to ban sex education materials and materials about LGBTQ issues from local libraries if community members and local prosecutors find it objectionable,” the ACLU said.

Kruse said the bill would only affect LGBTQ materials if they are “obscene or pornographic.”

According to a Courier & Press article, in late 2018, the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library hosted a children’s event that gained wide attention: Drag Queen Story Hour, a nationwide program in which drag queens, performers usually with roots in LGBTQ culture, read books to children.

Several prominent officials in Evansville, including City Councilman Justin Elpers, a Republican representing the city’s fifth ward, and Tomes—author of SB 288—said on social media that the event was wrong and, in Tomes’s post, “immoral.”

Tomes told The Courier & Press that it was “inappropriate” for young children and also for institutions to support that kind of event.

When he withdrew the bill Tuesday, he said the bill wasn’t made to ban books and go after teachers and librarians but to keep kids from “being exposed to stuff that’s way beyond their age.”

“It’s not rampant, I know that. It’s isolated,” Tomes said. “But if it happens once, it happens once too many.”

Tomes declined an interview with TheStatehouseFile.com, saying he is no longer interested to speak on the subject of SB 288 in any capacity since it “has died.”

When SB 288 was originally discussed in committee, several senators gave statements about why they voted either way.

Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, who voted no, said he thinks the bill is a slippery slope that could unfairly punish schools for trying to teach important topics like biology and health.

“I am not supportive of distributing harmful materials or pornography to minors, but when you talk about biology classes and showing the human anatomy and other types of educational material, I feel that we are shooting ourselves, literally, in the foot on this issue by censoring what libraries and educational institutions should be able to use to educate our kids,” Qaddoura said.

Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, voted yes for the bill. He said he initially had concerns about the bill regarding the First Amendment and civil lawsuits against schools and libraries.

“In its current form, I believe strongly now that we have tied the potential for prosecution directly to what is already in Indiana state law,” Baldwin said.

Withdrawn bills sometimes reappear as amendments to other bills still working their way through the legislature. Barring that, the next available opportunity to be heard would be at the next session in 2022.

FOOTNOTE:  Hope Shrum is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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