Category: 2010s

Working at Super Bowl LVI — gaining experience in your major — win-win for Jess Friederick, BCHS Class of 2018.

As a sports management major at Trine University, she couldn’t pass up the chance to spend 10 days in Los Angeles in a program sponsored by Living Sport, an organization that provides work and study experiences for student interested in a sports career.

Said Jess of her experience: “While the SoFi stadium is incredible and a sight to see, it is a very complicated layout for fans who have never been there before,” … “The first people I got to help were the parents of the Los Angeles Rams punter Johnny Hekker. That was such a memorable experience. I also got to escort the president of NBC Sports News, Jon Miller, to his suite with his wife, and he texted me the next day to thank me for helping them after an hour of frustration looking for their seat!” ¹

¹Read the full story at www.trine.edu

Congratulations to a BCHS alumni couple, Annie (Bates), Class of 2012 and Chris Tarpey, Class of 2011, as they welcome their second child to the world — Oliver Vincent Tarpey!

Matthias Benko, BCHS Class of 2019 and current junior at IU, shared his passion for birding with the IU campus by forming a club called Bloomington Birders. His hope was to inspire students to be concerned about birds and preserving the places they need to survive.

During 2020 and the pandemic, the birding club offered opportunities to connect with nature through guided bird walks and virtual gatherings. This led to joining Audubon Great Lakes in an effort to raise awareness for climate solutions in Indiana to protect the two-thirds of North American birds that are at risk because of climate change.

Read the full article in gl.audubon.org.

Aaron Hepp, BCHS Class of 2012, is once again on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium! This time he is a senior broadcast producer and editor at the University of Alabama, on the sidelines and behind the scenes for the Crimson Tide as they meet Georgia in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship!

After playing on back-to-back state champion football teams at BCHS, Aaron played football from 2012-2016 at Ball State. During that time, he joined Ball State Sports Link to learn the trade, to prepare for a career after football. Upon graduation, he spent 7 months at the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, and has been working with Alabama Athletics since July 2017.

Read the complete story (in the Muncie Star Press) of his pathway from playing football to producing broadcasts for the top game of the college season.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Hepp/Star Press

Kenny LaRose, BCHS Class of 2011 and Colleen (Treesh) LaRose, BCHS Class of 2013, welcomed Scottie Catherine LaRose into their family on 9/9/21. She had open heart surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital at 8 days old and now she is thriving!! Our prayers for the health of this new little LaRose.

Courtney Wheelock, BCHS Class of 2012 and a third-year PhD student in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences (ENS), University at Buffalo, has received several awards and scholarships for her research involving altitude-acclimation. Whitney is looking at whether heat acclimation, which takes less time than altitude acclimation, might be a good substitute if someone needs to quickly get used to a high altitude.

“She calls it “cross acclimation” between a hot environment and hyperbaric (high altitude) exposure. The theory, she says, “is that heat acclimation might improve conditioning in high altitudes.” She is studying the idea at a specific height of 8,000 feet above sea level, roughly the altitude of Afghanistan. Once you get above 2,500 feet, she explains, physical performance declines in people who aren’t acclimated.” ¹

Whitney became interested in the field as she shadowed sport medicine doctors and athletic trainers, then helped in a research lab. Her career path enables her to explore a range of environments. She can explore what happens in hot or cold environments in the department’s environmental chamber, and can simulate environments of different heights in the hypobaric chamber.

¹Read the full story at buffalo.edu.

Congratulations to Rachel (Strattman) Roberts, BCHS Class of 2011, and her husband Blaine on the birth of their first-born daughter, Emerson, in June.

Joey Annee, BCHS Class of 2018, has become one of the top Division III punters during his career at Wabash College. Just starting his punting career as a sophomore at Bishop Chatard and only appearing in 3 games as a freshman at Wabash, he has excelled to be a huge force for the Wabash team. By the end of his Wabash sophomore season, he was named to the Division III All-America Honorable Mention Team. Prior to the 2020 season that was wiped out from COVID, Annee was named an All-American by multiple publications.

Through three games in the 2021 season, Annee has the second-longest punting average in Division III. That mark would rank him 25th among Division I punters in the top level of college football.

Read his story at Wabash.edu

Congratulations Joey!

Congratulations to Adriana (Zermeno) Triebold, BCHS Class of 2011, who was married to Christopher Triebold on August 6,2021 in Indianapolis. Fellow alum Demarise Abbett was a bridesmaid!