Around Sports

FROM IDS Reports

BASEBALL

Rogers signs with Frontier League

Former Hoosier second baseman and centerfielder Tyler Rogers recently signed a contract with the Gateway Grizzlies. The Grizzlies, one of 12 teams in the independent Frontier League, play their home games in Sauget, Ill.

During Rogers’ final season donning the cream and crimson, he hit .427 in Big Ten play — ranked second in the conference — and drove in 24 RBI, good enough for eighth in the conference.

Rogers is one of four Hoosiers to sign professional contracts during the offseason, joining Michael Earley and Ethan Wilson, both with the Chicago White Sox, and Chris Squires, who signed with the Florida Marlins.


FOOTBALL

21st player commits

The Hoosiers picked up the 21st commitment for the 2011 recruiting class with Bernard Taylor’s verbal commitment over the weekend.
The 6-foot-2, 281-pound defensive tackle is ranked as a three-star prospect and also had offers from Ball State, Central Michigan, Illinois State and Western Michigan.

Taylor, a Michigan native, also received interest from six other Big Ten schools.
 

TRACK AND FIELD

Drouin wins again

After winning two national titles in his sophomore season, Derek Drouin added another impressive championship to his already lengthy resume, this time in his native country of Canada.

Drouin dominated the other jumpers, defeating the six competitors by several inches, to win the 2010 Canada national high jump title. Drouin jumped 3.25 inches over the runner-up, Michael Mason.

Drouin’s championship winning clearance was 2.24 meters (7.34 feet).

15 Hoosiers earn All-Academic honors

Nine women and six men were named All-Academic honorees by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross County Coaches Association.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic team, a compiled grade-point average of 3.25 is necessary, and the student-athlete must have competed in either the NCAA Division I Indoor or Outdoor Championships, including the preliminary rounds.

Indiana track and field coach Ron Helmer said he enjoys seeing his athletes excel on and off the track.

“We want our kids to embody both the student and the athlete in student-athlete,” Helmer said in a press release. “It is always good to see the hard work these young people put in on the track and in the field, and at the same time in the classroom, get recognized.”

The women honored included senior Molly Beckwith, junior Chelsea Blanchard, graduate student Kristen Crawford, junior Breanne Ehrman, junior Caitlin Engel, junior Jordan Gray, senior Sarah Pease, graduate student Wendi Robinson and senior Faith Sherrill.

The men honored included sophomore Andy Bayer, sophomore Zach Mayhew, junior Derek Messmer, junior Olu Olamigoke, junior Andrew Poore and sophomore Chris Vaughn.


— Candice Rohrman