Mounsithiraj Named Girls Soccer Coach

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Mounsithiraj

GOSHEN — Thavisith Mounsithiraj will become the third head coach in the history of the Bethany Christian High School girls soccer program, the school announced Monday. He replaces Dennis Yoder, who went 41-27-6 in four seasons and won a sectional championship in 2009 before resigning this offseason. Mounsithiraj, popularly known as "Coach T," was most recently the women's soccer coach at Goshen College for nine seasons before announcing his resignation 19 days ago.

In announcing the hiring, Bethany athletic director Benji Hurst said in a press release, "I am very excited to have Coach T joining us at Bethany. Coach T brings a wealth of coaching knowledge and experience, but more importantly, he already has a great understanding of the mission and goals of athletics at Bethany.”

Bethany will be the third high-school coaching job on Mounsithiraj's resume, after stints at Centreville in Michigan and Northridge, where he is and will remain the guidance counselor, before taking the Goshen College job. In addition to experience as coach at Elkhart County United Soccer Club, Mounsithiraj is also part of a family where coaching runs in the blood — his brother Thavisak is the head men's coach at Goshen College, while another brother, Viratham, is the head boys soccer coach at Goshen High School.

Mounsithiraj will be able to hold his first official practice of the 2011 season on Monday, August 1, when practices begin for all fall sports. The contest season begins two weeks later.

(Photo via Bethany Christian Schools)
New Girls Soccer Coach (Bethany Christian Schools)

Breaking: IHSAA Reverses Course, Gives East Noble Sectional

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana High School Athletic Association has announced that East Noble High School will host the 2010 girls soccer sectional. This is a change from the association's last statement on the matter, as minutes indicate that the IHSAA executive committee had assigned the sectional to Bethany at its July meeting.

Bethany had hosted the previous 58 games in that sectional, an eight-year streak that dated back to 2002. The change in sites is believed to be related to Bethany's policy of not playing the national anthem before sporting events; while the school was removed from the hosting rotations in all other sports in April 2007, the next three soccer tournaments opened at Bodiker Field.

The move will also increase travel to sectional play, as Bethany is a total of 124 miles from the other seven schools while East Noble is 155 miles from its opponents. Warsaw, at 173 cumulative miles, is the least central sectional school.

Ramer, Third D-1 Bruin Athlete, Plays for WMU

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KALAMAZOO, Mich. — With an appearance in today's Concordia-Western Michigan match, 2010 Bethany graduate Jesse Ramer became the third Bruin to appear in an official NCAA Division I sporting event. Ramer, who was part of both preseason exhibition games for the Broncos, entered the game as a substitute for Western Michigan at halftime and did not manage a shot in the match from his defense position; no more information is available in the statistics on the WMU website.

Ramer follows partially in the postsecondary footsteps of Jennifer Mortrud, who also continued her career at Western Michigan after graduating from Bethany in 1994; however, Mortrud played softball instead of soccer. Ramer is the second Bruin to make his D-I debut in the last five months, after 2009 alumna Chelsea Noble, who appeared in seven games for the Indiana softball team as a pinch-runner last season. Listed as an outfielder, Noble scored twice on the basepaths, but had no at-bats or fielding chances.

Links from WMUBroncos.com:

• Men's Soccer Statistics
• Men's Soccer Schedule
• Jesse Ramer Player Page
• Men's Soccer Dominates Season Opener, 5-0

(Photo: Zolton Cohen/Western Michigan University)

Lakeland Christian to Join IHSAA

INDIANAPOLIS — The Executive Committee of the Indiana High School Athletic Association preliminarily approved the application for membership of Lakeland Christian Academy in Winona Lake during the committee’s meeting last Thursday. The minutes published by the IHSAA note that approval was granted “contingent upon successful resolution of outstanding issues,” which are not identified in the minutes; however, LCA is not accredited by the Indiana Department of Education, which is a prerequisite for IHSAA membership.

Bethany competes against Lakeland Christian in all five sports that both schools offer, and had played in golf before Bethany’s team was eliminated after the 2009 season. The Cougars are members of the Northern Indiana Soccer Conference along with the Bruins and five other schools, and have participated in both holiday basketball tournaments since the event’s 2009 inception. 

With an enrollment of 149, Lakeland Christian would be classified as a 1A school in basketball, baseball, and volleyball; soccer classification standards for the beginning of two-class play in 2011 have not been announced. Geographically, LCA would most likely be assigned to sectional 51, which extends from Elkhart Christian to Hamilton and Fort Wayne, or sectional 50, which is bounded by Michigan City Marquette, Knox, and Argos. Lakeland Christian will not be eligible for the IHSAA state tournament series until the fall of 2012 at the earliest, as a two-year waiting period for new members is mandated by the association.

Sectional Shrinks as Keystone Closes

FORT WAYNE — Bethany will have only six other opponents in its baseball, softball and basketball sectionals after the closing of Keystone School in Fort Wayne. The closing, reported on the front page of the school’s website, had been suggested in Fort Wayne newspapers as early as January 30, with the Journal-Gazette going as far as to report on what would happen should the school shut its doors between the basketball sectional draw and its elimination from the tournament. Indiana’s NewsCenter, a joint venture between Fort Wayne television stations WPTA and WISE, reported June 18 that a decision on the school’s future was expected within the week.

Bleeding Bruin Blue’s Internet searches have turned up no additional reports since June 18 aside from the school site mentioned earlier. Bethany and Keystone were scheduled to meet in three sports during the 2010-11 school year.

Bodiker Named Goshen Champion of Character

GOSHEN — Former Bethany coach and athletic director Dan Bodiker will receive the Dr. Roman Gingerich Champion of Character Award from Goshen College Maple Leaf Athletic Club during that institution’s homecoming ceremonies in October, according to a brochure from the college. Bodiker served as coach of Bethany’s boys and girls basketball, boys soccer, boys and girls track, and baseball during his tenure from 1964-1997. In the fall of 1997, he became Bethany’s athletic director, a post he held until retiring in 2007. After his retirement, he has served as an assistant boys basketball coach for the past two years.

During his 34 years as a coach, Bodiker won over 900 games and had an approximate varsity winning percentage of .560; records from the soccer team’s early years are incomplete. While the baseball sectional title in 1987 was the lone sectional title he won in IHSAA-sponsored competition, the Bruins were voted state champions in 1971 and 1972 by the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association and advanced to the semifinals of that association’s tournament in 1986.

Bodiker was inducted to the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame and the Indiana Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007. Since the spring of that year, the soccer, softball, baseball, and cross country teams have called home the Bodiker Athletic Fields on the school’s campus. Bodiker is joined by eight other Bethany representatives in the Hall; he coached six of those eight, with one person playing for the Bruins after his retirement from coaching.

The Champions of Character awards were created in 2006 by the Maple Leaf Athletic Club to honor Goshen alumni who “exemplify … the core values of Goshen College, the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics, and the Mennonite Church.” Bodiker graduated from Goshen in 1964, lettering in baseball and soccer. He would be followed to his alma mater by his sons, one of whom was a two-time NAIA All-American soccer player and coaches high school boys soccer in Ohio.

Dan Bodiker (Elkhart County, Indiana Sports Hall of Fame)

Champions of Character (GoLeafs.net)

(Photo: Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame)

Noble Second Bruin to Appear in D-I Game

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — With a pinch-running appearance in the fifth inning of today's Indiana-Michigan State softball game, 2009 Bethany graduate Chelsea Noble became the second Bruin to appear in an NCAA Division I sporting event. Noble replaced Sara Olson as the designated player after Olson was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning; she scored on a grand slam by the Hoosiers' next batter, Cassie Gogreve. While Olson remained in the game as the pitcher, Noble would have hit second in the bottom of the seventh inning; however, the hosting Hoosiers led 6-4 on the Gogreve blast, making the final half-inning unnecessary.

Noble follows partially in the postsecondary footsteps of Jennifer Mortrud, who also continued her softball career at the Division I level after graduating from Bethany in 1994; however, Mortrud did so at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Western will also be the destination of the third Bruin to go D-I as Jesse Ramer is set to join their men's soccer team this fall.

Links from IUHoosiers.com:
Gogreve's Grand Slam Propels Hoosiers to First Big Ten Win Over Michigan State
Box Score
Chelsea Noble Player Page

Photo: Mike Dickbernd/Indiana University