Sports blast from the past

Throughout its history, Mt. Vernon High School has been privileged with many talented athletes and teams, including some state championship winners. As the end of the 2016-17 school year draws to a close, it’s time to look back into the past, and remember some of MV’s recent successes.

In 2000, the softball team finished with an astounding 29-1 record, and beat Evansville Memorial High School by a score of 6-0 to win the Class 2A State Championship. The team was coached by Stacey Bricker, who eventually moved on to become a teacher at Mt. Vernon Middle School.

For the boys’ basketball team, it was a devastating loss in the 2012-13 season when they were defeated 62-37 in the Class 3A Semi-State game by the Greensburg Pirates. Both the Marauders and Pirates were 24-1 going into the game.

“I remember going to that game, it was played at Richmond High School,” said Richard Bratton, 12. “We went, and were expecting a really good game, and to win of course, but then they blew us out of the water and kept hitting three pointers.”

In the 2012 football season, MV compiled an 11-2 record after only losing one regular season game to start the year. Led by star running backs Anthony Burnett and Tyler Dicks, the Marauders crushed their competition by a combined score of 536-239, only to fall to eventual Class 4A State Champion Cathedral in the Regional game.

Lastly, the girls’ basketball team went to back-to-back Class 3A State Championship games in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, losing the first to Fort Wayne Concordia by a score of 42-39. However, the Lady Marauders went back for more, led by star freshman point guard Sydney Shelton and junior center Erica Moore, winning the second over Hamilton Heights 61-46. Moore now plays for New Mexico after a brief stint at Purdue, and Shelton plays for Butler.

The Marauders have quite a historic and exciting past, but only time will tell if the future generations of MV athletes will have similar stories.