2nd Annual Lady Vikings Invitational

The weekend of January 13, we had 2 Viking athletes visiting colleges and considering options for their futures. Sanjil Magar was invited to visit Indiana University East and meet with the tennis coach.  He was able to visit the campus on Friday and speak with the coach on Saturday.  He is going to have the opportunity to play tennis for the Red Wolves of IU East if he chooses.

Elijah Gervins attended an official football workout visit at Ashland University where he blew away the competition and impressed the coaching staff.  He is narrowing his college choices down, but as you can see from the attached pictures, AU definitely wants him to be an Eagle.

As you know, we hosted the 2nd Annual Vantage Lady Vikings Invitational on Saturday.  There were 38 teams in attendance coming from as far away as the Indiana border (Taylor HS, 4 hours) just to compete in this tournament.  It was great to see staff, alumni and community members in the building and supporting our athletes.  Our girls team represented us well and made us proud: 

7th Place - Anamika Rai

4th Place - Karuna Rai

10th Place - Sanjita Subba

6th Place - Kretina Rai

4th Place - Anne Ruble 

Overall, the Lady Vikings finished in the team standings 14th out of 38th.

There are a LOT of moving parts to pull off a tournament this size and provide all of the little "extras" that make teams and fans want to return.  I am going to try to thank everyone who helped, which makes me nervous because I do not want to forget anyone.  Without the army of support that I am going to try to list, there is no way we could have accomplished this.

First, thank you to Coach Emily, Coach Reed and Coach Ross for the very official and professional set-up that started early Friday and ended somewhere Saturday night.  

Thank you to everyone who donated food and funds to support a well-stocked and much appreciated hospitality room. We received nothing but positive feedback and compliments. 

Thank you to Joe Vassalotti and Sherry Basinger from APS Central Athletics for attending and supporting our ladies.

Shout out to the following people who were there and working in the trenches with Mrs. Stewart on Saturday:  

Coach Halverson, Coach Devin Williams, Coach Erika Johnson, Coach Ronald Carroll (Jennings), Coach Joe Thomas, Mrs. LaFlame, Mrs. Deblasio, Mrs. Miles, Mrs. Cielec, Mrs. Delahanty, Mrs. Cohen, Mrs. Merrell, Mrs. Corneliussen, Mrs. Flores, Mr. Locht, Mrs. Kopas, Mr. Gordon, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Barclay, Reggie Lockhart

Thank you to Mrs. Torrence, Mr. Stowers and Miss Rondinella for the behind the scenes prep work leading up to Saturday.

Special shout out to Mrs. Lin who was there with me ALL night Friday for set-up as well as Saturday.

And big thanks to Josh Anderson, who came back to help troubleshoot on Friday to ensure that everything ran smoothly.

If I forgot anyone, please call me out on it!  I appreciate all of the support and assistance.  It was such a good look for our building and is such a showcase for our team.  And, I don't want to give anyone a reason to turn me down when next year rolls around! -- Mrs. Stewart