#10 Senior Kelli Damman Scores 1000th Point

On January 2nd Kelli Damman had a career game against Norwell in which she scored a game high 39 points en route to a Carroll 83-62 victory making her the 3rd player in Carroll Girls basketball history to score 1000 career points. A four year starter at Carroll, Damman says the biggest struggle during her run was her change in roles from Sophomore to Junior Year “I went from being more of a distributor to a scorer.” Damman also added that it was important to try to look past the milestone and help the team win” This milestone is just one of many that made this girls team special for the 2017-2018 season.

#9 Mallory Jackson 2nd at State in 100m Backstroke

Last year As a freshman Mallory Jackson did something that not many swimmers here at Carroll do over the course of their swimming career she finished top 10 in State. This year she accomplished something no other individual girls swimmer has done ever at Carroll. Jackson finished 2nd in state in the 100 Backstroke with a final time of 54.47. Jackson drastically improved her freshman year time and credits her off season work for the jump “I dropped two and half seconds from freshman year to sophomore year. In the sport of swimming you get out of it what you put into it. So it is extremely rewarding to see all of the hours of practice and focus on detail pay off.” Jackson will work to improve her time and try to become the first ever individual girls swimmer to win state at Carroll. Jackson says in order improve her place she needs to focus on her time “I will be focusing on more detail work in my events in the next year. The two main things are my underwater and arm speed across the board. If I improve those things in the water then my time will get faster and therefore my place.”

#8 Carroll Wrestling Wins Team Regional and Sectionals for 6th Straight Year

For the Super Chargers winning regional and sectional titles is nothing new in fact the Chargers have won 6 straight and that’s exactly what makes this special. The dominating postseason run the Super Chargers have put together is unmatched in the area even after a season in which they faced adversity. Multiple injuries plagued the Chargers all season long and some late weight class shifts before postseason made things interesting. After taking another sectional the Charger were pegged in a battle with Garrett for Regionals. With Garrett closing in the Chargers and only holding a 5 point lead over the Railroaders, Senior Joel Arney was able to win his 3rd Regional title in what would be the finishing move as the Chargers won 104-92 for number 6 in a row. Arney talks about the struggles during the season and into Regionals “About three weeks i hurt my shoulder again, I really didn’t even know if I was going to be able to wrestle again, and then to come back from all of that and win sectionals and Regionals its something I will be able to look back on” For Arney and the rest of the Super Chargers this run will be something they can take with them and look back on as something earned not given.

#7 Carroll football Jack Miguel 7 passing Touchdowns in One Game

For Jack Miguel his Senior year was finally the year he could take the reins as the full time starter of the Charger offense. With this opportunity  Miguel did not disappoint he broke multiple season records for Carroll football and on one night in particular he set new standards. In front of a packed homecoming crowd Miguel dazzled from behind center going for 386 yards and 7 passing Touchdowns for a 49-14 homecoming victory. Even before the night began Miguel said the energy for the game was at and all time high. “The atmosphere was like no other, the pep rally during the day had everybody going. The confidence in the offense was high and gave us a huge advantage over the Bruins, it really gave the o-line and the skill guys a chance to be electric”.  The night turned out to be electric and set new standards for the program. Looking back on the night Miguel says he will remember the 7 touchdowns but more to what he and his team was able to accomplish this season along with the impact of his coaches, “The team was great and would love nothing more than for my kids to be apart of it one day, Coach Dinan and the rest of his staff left a positive impact in my life that I will carry with me forever.

#6 Carroll Girls Gymnastics Win Sectional and Regional 

Coming into this season the Carroll Gymnastics team hadn’t challenged 10 time defending sectional champion Dwenger and hadn’t won a regional since 2010. They did both of those things in a magical run for the Carroll gymnasts.  They won the Concordia Sectional with a school record score of 111.775. Senior Jill Hoffman finished 6th in the all-around with a score of 36.475. Hoffman was the senior leader for the team this year and recounts the year “ From looking back to our freshman year where we finished 3rd at sectionals and barely scraped into state, to this year where we came into both the sectionals and regionals as the #1 seed that really meant a lot and showed our growth”. In the regional at Huntington North with a score of 111.075 a 2 point cushion over the closest challenger Homestead. “We just had to make sure we were focused on not just getting the win but on us as a team, when you focus on winning a lot can happen and you might crumble, when you focus on the team you know there are others around you that can pick you up.” That type of team focus helped the gymnasts achieve levels the program hadn’t reached in years and made for one special season.

#5 Carroll Girls Basketball Wins Back-to-Back Sectional Championships

After a breakthrough season last year winning a sectional title over East Noble. The Carroll girls basketball team came into this season trying to do something that has only been done once in Carroll girls basketball history repeat as sectional champs. After a 3-0 start to the season the Chargers faced off against Northrop on november 17th, in a 58-68 loss to the Lady Bruins hopes of repeating as sectional champions grew dim. From then on the girls didn’t have it easy every team they played gave them their all. The girls took close losses to Homestead and Concordia. Senior Point Guard Kelli Damman knew every team was giving them everything they had “we had more of a target on our back, because we were underdogs last year. Our opponents came out and gave us their best every game, so we had to exceed that intensity and play our game.”  As the season rounded out the Chargers began to match that intensity as the season carried on. They made it to the SAC Holiday tournament final and later went on winning streaks of 4 games twice throughout the season and one heading into sectionals. After handling Dekalb easily they had a date set with Northrop once again except this time for a sectional championship. The Chargers came out and dominated almost tape to tape. They came out ready to play and lead early 31-17. The scripted had completely flipped from first matchup of the season, the Chargers had made adjustments “we didn’t want our 4 years to end and we wanted to cut down our own nets. We adjusted defensively to create better match-ups, and overall played really well as a team.”  The Chargers were most effective at the line where they forced the Bruins into some foul trouble and converted 29-38 free throws. Coupled with these things the Chargers won the rematch when it mattered defeating the Bruins and cutting down their own nets in the Charger Fieldhouse, repeating as Sectional Champs.

#4 Carroll Baseball Wins Sectional Championship

Coming into the year, the Class of 2018 had yet to win a Sectional Championship and from the outset of the season made it clear that was one of their goals for the season. After losing their opening game on March 30th the Chargers wouldn’t lose again until April 28th, a 6-5 loss to Snider. Hayden Jones took center stage for the team, crushing 10 home runs with a .490 batting average. Austin Kresl was a force on the mound for the Chargers, posting a 6-0 record. He also had a 1.81 ERA in eight appearances. In the postseason the team went on to defeat Snider and Northrop in route to winning the classes first Sectional title before falling to Fishers in the Regional Championship, a back and forth game that lasted nine innings.

#3 Carroll Basketball Beats Homestead for First Ever SAC Championship 

For Carroll basketball coming into this season it was looked as what would be an underwhelming year. With most of the SAC and local Fort Wayne media looking past the Chargers as they were slotted to finish 5th in the Conference. On February 16th the doubts were silenced and all eyes were on the Chargers as they faced Homestead in the Final SAC game of the season. Winner of the game wins the Conference. Taking it back to  December 27 the the Chargers had lost to Wayne on a last second shot the week before and just lost to Homestead 40-38. The trouble seemed like it would continue into this season for the chargers against the Spartans. Victories had been far and few between against them in the past. This time around the energy of the game was swaying in favor of the Chargers. From the Tip the Chargers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in front of a raucous Homestead Crowd. From then on the Chargers would never trail with Homestead only tying the game at 31 late in the third. After another 10-0 run set by the Chargers pushed it out of reach for a 55-45 victory. Senior Arius Jones who faced Homestead 2 years ago with the Championship on the line didn’t take the opportunity lightly “ it was really nice to come back in our senior year and get a chance at Homestead at their place again and finally get the win my last time playing Homestead. For Jones and the rest of the Seniors this moment was the cherry on top for season that no one saw coming except for the guys wearing the blue and white.

#2 Jack Tranquill One-on-One Tackle to Seal Late Victory vs. Bishop Dwenger

During the Football season no moment was bigger than when the Chargers stormed back and defeated Bishop Dwenger way back on September 15th. After trailing twice in the game 14 the Chargers stormed back with a late fourth quarter drive to take a 28-24 lead late. The Chargers found themselves one stop away from getting out of Zollner Stadium with a win in front of a raucous Dwenger Homecoming crowd…. Enter Jack Tranquill, Tranquill had already had himself on the defensive end but what would happen next was unmatched. 4 and 7 to the goal with 1.7 seconds left on the clock as the Saints lined up and snapped the ball. Tranquill surveyed the play. “My guy ran a quick slant.. It was a designed screen pass i pushed off my guys and was able to get in front” off the play the Saints dumped a quick screen play and Tranquill was alone one stop and the win is secured “As he turned and i hit him i knew it was win or lose and when I started forcing him back then when their lineman came in and luckily my teammates came in and we were able to stop it and get the win” This game continued the chargers 4 game win streak and pushed them to the end of the season.

#1 Nathan Fish Buzzer Beater vs. North Side 

The biggest moment of the season and in at Number one is the Shot that was heard around the SAC. On February 6th the Surging Chargers took on the the 17th state ranked North Side Legends at Bay Hey Arena. With both teams tied for 2nd in the conference and the Chargers looking for a win to keep their conference championship hopes alive. Nathan Fish came through for the Chargers as time expired and the game tied at 61 Nathan Fish hoisted up a corner three as he had done so many times throughout the season this shot just had a little more weight on it “The original play was just a pick and roll for Dan (Mckeeman) with Riley (Perlich) setting the screen, but right after Riley set the screen they double-teamed Dan and I was left all alone in the corner. When Dan passed me the ball everything slowed down and all I thought was “don’t miss,”.  And Fish didn’t miss as the shot sunk and the Carroll faithful rushed the floor as Chargers knocked off the Legends 64-61 “That game will be something I’ll be able to tell my kids about” Fish added while saying the biggest part was the momentum it gave the chargers to capture the SAC title later in the season.