August 3, 2016 // Uncategorized

Sports news from around the diocese

Todays Catholic

Kevin Godfroy named Bishop Luers athletic director

FORT WAYNE — Kevin Godfroy has been named athletic director of Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne. He assumed the role on Aug. 1.

A native of Huntington, and now a resident of Roanoke, Godfroy grew up at St. Mary and Sts. Peter and Paul parishes. He attended Huntington Catholic and then Bishop Luers High School, graduating from Bishop Luers in 2006 and then earning a bachelor’s degree in education at Miami University of Ohio in 2010. Godfroy and his wife, Janna, have been married for five years and are members of St. Joseph Parish, Roanoke.

Godfroy was director of student services at St. Vincent de Paul School in Fort Wayne. Prior to that post he was a physical education teacher and athletic director for three years at Huntington Catholic and taught physical education in a joint effort at St. Bernard, Wabash, and St. Paul in Marion.

Most recently at Bishop Luers, Godfroy has been an assistant softball coach and worked the scoreboard for basketball. He also kept the statistics for Bishop Luers football.

“I always wanted to be at Luers,” Godfroy said. “I’ve always loved the school and the family here.” He said he likes “the close-knit community, the value. That really is Luers Spirit.”

Godfroy said he was inspired by a baseball coach from his youth. The coach was a gas worker and lost his life in an accident when Godfroy was a freshman in college.

“Just knowing how he affected me, pushed me towards working with kids,” Godfroy said helped to motivate his career plans.

His goals are “to continue the great traditions at Bishop Luers and help to build them into something greater and support the mission of the students — growth of mind, body and soul.”

Cross-country and the Cardegle tradition

The Cardegle cross-country team program has developed for more than 20 years to fulfill the need for a cross-country training program for fifth through eighth grade students from St. Jude and St. Charles schools. The Cardegles name was developed by the student athletes themselves about 10 years ago: It’s a combination of the St. Charles Cardinals and the St. Jude Eagles names.

The Cardegles have an interesting history that can be traced back over 20 years to 1993-1995, through the initial efforts of Doug Snowball. Pam Mahlie and Pam Tippmann continued the program in 1996 and current Cardegle coach Dan Kaufman took over in 1997. Scott Reiling joined from St. Jude in 1998.

In the early years, the combined St. Charles-St. Jude group began small in total numbers. Over time, interest in the program continued to grow as more students from both St. Charles and St. Jude joined the ranks. Kaufman works to this day with the group that now includes his son, Coach Chris Kaufman.

Now, over 20 years later, there are 60-70 Cardegles who begin training in July with “fun runs.” Training in earnest begins in August, just before the start of school. Chris and Dan Kaufman, Reiling and the other coaches — Dan Delaney, Steve Leffers, Dan Leffers and Tim O’Connell — train right along with the student athletes, so the coaches are in condition along with their team. Additionally, Brian Kaufman has developed the team’s website Cardegles.com.

”Cardegle Nation” started small, but over the years the group has been a stepping stone that provided a training ground for a number of well-known runners in the local running world. Chris indicated that probably 90 percent of the runners now graduate to the distance running and cross-country programs at Bishop Dwenger. Additionally, a small number run for other area high schools.

A number of current athletes have gone on to run in college and continue to run today:

Blake Malone — IPFW; Zack McIntyre — Huntington University; Lee Ann Moeller — University of Saint Francis; Mary Momper — Ball State University; Bryson Tretter — Marian University; Kevin Wuest — Rose Hulman; and former Cardegle graduates no longer running in college are Andrew Coolidge — Iowa State University; Andrew Eckrich — University of Dayton; Luke Miller — Indiana University; and Joel Sanders  — Huntington University.

The competitive racing season for the Cardegles typically starts around Labor Day and lasts until the first week of October. At the end of the regular season, the Cardegles sponsor an area-wide meet. This meet attracts several hundred runners from a number of area cross-country teams. It has developed into a year-end meet that the Cardegles host for all of the local parochial schools, including local Catholic schools such as St. Vincent, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Huntington Catholic. These schools now also have their own established cross-country programs.

This year-end meet is testimony to the growth of the Cardegle cross-country mission. Not bad for a program that started over 20 years ago with four or five runners and an idea generated to give some young student athletes a positive summer and fall running experience, and starting a tradition today known as the Cardegles.

Blueberry Bike Cruise registration open 

DONALDSON — The Ancilla College Alumni Association, in association with the annual Marshall County Blueberry Festival, will host its annual bicycle tour Saturday, Sept. 3, in Plymouth. Routes cover 31, 41, 62 miles, and a special family tour of 16 miles to the Menominee Monument. The tour has won wide acclaim for being well organized and scenic with outstanding SAGs (support and gear.)

“This is the 26th year for this great event. It appeals to casual family riders as well as serious bicyclists and covers a number of beautiful, well-supported routes,” said Development and Alumni Relations Manager Emily Hutsell, organizer of the event. “Best of all, money raised from the hundreds of participants funds scholarships for our students, many of whom are completely reliant on Ancilla’s generous financial aid.”

The cost of the BBC is $20 per person before Aug. 19, and $25 per person after Aug. 19. The maximum fee for families is $35, ($55 after Aug. 19). The cost includes refreshments, SAG stops and a map of the route with emergency numbers. Refunds will not be made after the application is accepted.

To register, participants can pay securely online at www.ancilla.edu/BBC or call Ancilla College at 574-936-8898 ext. 355 or email to [email protected]. Registration forms are also available at the Blueberry Festival office, 233 E. Jefferson St., Plymouth.

Riders must sign a waiver on the registration form before starting. Riders under 18 must have a parent or guardian signature. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 21. All riders will be asked to sign in at the end of the ride.

Plymouth is the home of the annual Blueberry Festival conducted during the four-day Labor Day Weekend Sept. 2-5.