The Millers started the game quick, scoring four runs in the first three innings with junior Ryan Byrne holding Jeff scoreless, but Byrne gave up seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, and the Millers saw themselves behind 7-5 after the bottom of the fifth.  But, they made a late bottom of the seventh inning rally, scoring three runs, and ended up to top.

Byrne pitched all seven innings, striking out 13 batters, allowing six hits, and only walking one batter.  He gave up seven earned runs.  Seniors Jake Yeary and Kyle Guariello lead the Millers, both scoring two runs; Yeary connected on three hits and Guariello had two.

The varsity Miller baseball team is back in action this Friday May 7 when they travel to Avon to take on the Oriole varsity baseball team at Avon High School.  The game begins at 5:30 pm.

The girls took fourth place out of eight teams, breaking four school records in the process. The 4-by-mile team of freshman Kendra Foley, sophomore Hannah Pimley, senior Megan Bowles, and freshman Renee Studt scored first in the meet and set a new school record. Other school record-breaking events included the distance medley, which consists of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter distances; it was set by the team of sophomore Helen Willman, senior Alex Kacer, Pimley, and Foley. Senior Emily Goggin, sophomore Tori Mumaw, sophomore Liz Potee, and senior Charlie Maxwell set a new record in the shuttle hurdle relay. Senior Isabelle May also set a new record in the discus.

The Lady Millers won six of the fifteen events the meet offered, including the 4-by-mile, long jump, discus, 4-by-800 meters, shuttle hurdle relay, and distance medley.

The boys scored third place out of eight teams. Junior Jake Bates scored second place in the shot put. Sophomore Daniel Purvlicis and junior Leroy Bibbs captured first place in the team pole vaulting event. Christian Bowers got first in the 2 mile run, running a personal best of 9:46.

The girls’ and boys’ next big meet is this coming Friday, May 7 at The Hamilton County Meet, hosted by Carmel.

Junior Vince Drahman tees off at a par three hole. The meet was held at Fox Prairie Golf Course in Noblesville.

Drahman chips from underneath a large pine tree. There are many trees and hazards on this course, as it is one of the most difficult courses in the area.

Sophomore Spencer King lines up a putt after hitting it onto the green from a sand trap. He would go on to bogey the hole.

Senior Andrew Penski hits his tee shot. This is his third year on the team.

Junior Matt Ehman pitches onto the green. He would go on to two-putt the hole.

Sophomore Blaine Compton putts for birdie. He missed the putt but would go on to sink his par putt.

Both varsity and junior varsity teams are left undefeated after April 21′s JV 10-2 win against Herron High School. Seniors Celeste Bremmer and Brianna Handy made a goal each under the leadership of sophomore Anna Resiak, team captain.

The teams will next compete against rivals Hamilton Southeastern on Thursday, April 22.

For more information, visit www.eteamz.com/NoblesvilleLadyMillersLAX.

What time was it? Game time. And the Millers scored their way through a groundbreaking tournament season.

Noblesville started out the competition strong on Tuesday, March 2, with a 47-42 victory against the Zionsville Eagles. Three days later, the Millers continued their winning streak, defeating Hamilton Southeastern 43-42 on March 5. The Millers topped off their week of domination on March 6 with a 47-41 victory against Westfield – a success that earned Noblesville the title of Sectionals Champion.

“I was extremely pleased with the performance of the Millers last week in the sectionals,” head basketball coach David McCollough said. “I thought we did a great job defensively. I felt we were prepared and focused. They knew the task ahead of them and they performed admirably.”

McCollough also asserted that the Millers truly play as a team – which has proven to successfully lead them through the season.

“There were players who put up better numbers each game but the key was the contributions by the entire team,” McCollough said. “It was all facets of the game that allowed us to succeed.  We defended, we rebounded, we took care of the ball and we outscrapped our opponents.  It was a total team effort.”

The Millers took that group effort to Saturday’s Regional game against Perry Meridian and crushed their opponent 65-44. Later that night, Noblesville hit Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse once again to face off against North Central. After two intense halves, the Millers tied North Central, extending the game into overtime. The Millers fought hard, but missed the Regional victory by one point, ending the game at 54-53.

As Noblesville left the court, its devoted Student Section remained standing and chanted “We love the Millers” until the last player disappeared into the locker room – showing just how much the students support and love their team. Win or lose, the Miller basketball team had its fans behind it the whole season, encouraging the team’s talented and hardworking crew to many a victory.

The team began official practice on Monday, March 1, just as their indoor season came to a close with the league’s championship game, which earned the Millers another runner-up honor at Off the Wall Sports.

Now however, Noblesville Lacrosse is migrating out of doors to start their official season and battle the elements of Indiana’s intemperate spring weather. The team’s schedule for the season is as follows:

Sophomore Aubrey Kluth swims the freestyle during practice. The girls' swim team competed in the State competition Feb. 13.

They’re possibly the most committed athletes on the planet. They arrive at school at ungodly hours of the morning – only to plunge into the icy waters of the natatorium. They never have to buy perfume because they’d rather get eaux de chlorine for free. They’re the swimmers – the ladies who sport hydrodynamic swimsuits and “bust theirs to beat yours.”

After a dazzling performance by many a swimmer and diver at sectionals, seniors and captains Audrey Welklin and Meghan Potee; juniors Marley Cripe and Katie Bittner; sophomores Michelle Hance, Cora Meeham, Aubrey Kluth, and Claire Brolsma; and freshmen Katie Horn and Heather Hayes, qualified to compete at the 2010 IHSAA Girls State Swimming Finals held on February 12 and 13. There, the girls swam their way to number eight, thanks to a hard team effort – including Potee’s first place in 1 Meter Diving and Welklin’s inexhaustible endurance used to swim the most yardage one can at a meet (which means the 200 Yard Freestyle, the 500 Yard Freestyle, the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, and the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay).

Although the team had hoped to rank in the top five – especially since the number two spot was up for grabs – they placed eighth with 88 points, behind the infamous Greyhounds, who championed their twenty-fourth state title with a sweeping 419 points – a whole 232.5 points ahead of Center Grove’s second place spot (ihsaa.org).

Despite the disappointment at state, Welklin said, “The overall season was, really, pretty good. I’m proud of my girls.”

Indeed, the season proved to be rather successful, highlights including the team’s second at the Carmel’s Sectional and the smashing of two school records, provided by Meehan (100 Yard Back) and Hayes (100 Breast Stroke).

And just as the swimmers taper before a meet, the swim now season tapers to a close – yet, not entirely. Noblesville Swim Club resumes directly after school swimming takes its bow, proving once again just how dedicated these athletes are.

But remember, no matter how crazy they may seem, the swimmers’ hard work pays off, and through daily practices, they become something of a family. Hance has enjoyed her time in the pool and said, “It’s really fun to participate.”

American Lindsey Vonn won her gold in Ladies' Downhill skiing. Her medal would worth roughly $500 if melted down.

At a time when gold is worth roughly $1100 per ounce, the value of an Olympic gold medal lies in both its physical worth and its symbolic meaning. That golden circle hanging around champion’s neck? It represents years of training and sacrifice, the pride of a victory, and the pure hard work of beating out every competitor and becoming the best in the world.

Cue up the Olympic theme song in your head.  The soaring notes work to showcase that broadcasting of exhilarating victories and bittersweet seconds, of devastating mistakes and the spirit of these 16 days of competition on the world stage.

You’ve heard the names: Shaun White, Apolo Anton Ohno, Lindsey Vonn. The hype surrounding these athletes and their sports hit a feverish pitch just prior to the Games, and it continued as these athletes all competed, eventually winning gold. Students caught onto that gold fever and tuned in, witnessing the best of the world go head-to-head in competition.

“Last night I was watching Lindsey Vonn and was really surprised when that German girl [Maria Riesch] won [Ladies' Super Combined],” sophomore Zach Isaacs said. “I mean, she [Riesch] had more medals, but Lindsey was expected to take it all.”

Shaun White’s dominance in Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe brought him a second gold medal and more fans, especially with the unveiling of his new trick, the Double McTwist 1260. Sophomore Luke Vandewater enjoyed watching White’s performance, but he cited a different kind of race as his favorite.

“[My  favorite was] that one event where the girl got completely trashed by the pole, the Swedish girl, not Lindsey Vonn,” sophomore Luke Vandewater said.

Wipeouts were aplenty in many of the events and drew viewers, but senior Kelsey Corbett looks forward to another heavily favored event.

“I’m super pumped for Women’s hockey finals because Canada’s going to win gold,” Corbett said, supporting her native country.

Hockey, snowboarding, skiing, and figure skating may be crowd favorites, but one event has drawn a large following in these Vancouver Games.

“Curling. Curling’s the number one sport, best one in the Olympics,” sophomore Charles Logan Knotts said.

The following boys qualified: freshman Mitch Hensley, sophomores Ivan Keene, Wayne Specth, Cody Bond, and Alex Wormuth, juniors Tyler Carlotto, Jordan Edwards, Tyler Gadient, Alex Bowers, Derrick Holpuch, and Steven Rushforth.

Bowers, Gadient, and Holpuch all advanced to the semi-state competition before being eliminated, all by third place state wrestlers.

“We had no seniors in our starting line up, so if everyone works hard in the off season we look forward to an even better year next year,”

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games have not only brought together 82 nations to compete, but they also have brought a vast array of Olympic Moments. From the tears of near-misses and podium pride to the smiles and cheers of at-last victory and unexpected success, these Games have provided an outpouring of emotion from athletes and fans alike.

Check out a few of these moments the Mill Stream has picked to showcase the latest Winter Games.

The Thrills:

-American snowboarder phenom Shaun White’s second gold medal in Men’s Halfpipe. The Flying Tomato lives up to the hype, laying down the “Double McTwist” at the end to awe audiences with another golden performance.

-American skier Lindsay Vonn fights a bruised shin and a rough, icy course to add Olympic gold medal to her list of skiing achievements in Ladies’ Downhill, then goes on to win bronze in Ladies’ Super-G.

-Johnny Spillane’s silver makes him the first American to medal in Nordic Combined, an event dominated by the Europeans since its arrival to the Olympic Games.

- Russia’s Nikita Kriukov and Alexander Panzhinskiy finish 1-2 in the Men’s individual sprint (1.6K) cross country classic, crossing the line in a photo-finish, with Kriukov’s ski edging his teammate’s for the gold.

Russia's Nikita Kriukov and Alexander Panzhinskiy skied a very close 1-2 finish in Men's Individual Sprint (1.6K) Cross Country Classic

-American Shani Davis becomes the first man to win back-to-back 1000-m speed skating gold medals as he defended his title, while his teammate Apolo Ohno became the U.S.’s most decorated American athlete (7 medals) with his bronze in the 1000-m race.

-American Evan Lysacek ends Russia’s reign of dominance in Men’s Figure Skating when he upset defending gold medalist Russian Evgeni Plushenko. Lysacek’s Olympic gold is the first for the U.S. since Brian Boitano in 1988.

-Switzerland’s Simon Ammann ties the Olympic record for most decorated ski jumper when he soared to his fourth gold in Men’s Ski Jumping.

-Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir capture for hometeam Canada its first-ever medal in Olympic Ice Dancing with their gold medal victory over the U.S.’s Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Russia’s Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin.

-Great Britain’s Amy Williams brings the country its first individual Winter Games medal in 30 years with a gold medal victory in Women’s Skeleton. The race also set a new track record of 53.83sec on the 1,450-metre course at Whistler’s Sliding Centre, at a speed of 143.3 kph, according to www.vancouver2010.com .

The Spills:

-American Lindsey Jacobellis fails to capture the elusive Women’s Snowboard Cross gold the second Olympics in a row, despite her dominance in the event outside of the Olympics. Torino 2006 brought her a disappointing silver after her infamous board grab, but Jacobellis didn’t even make finals in Vancouver after bouncing out of bounds in the semi-finals.

-In an event the Americans were favored to sweep, Gretchen Bleiler misses her chance for a gold medal, falling in each of her two runs of Women’s Snowboard halfpipe. Australia’s Torah Bright edged reigning champion American Hannah Teter to win gold, while American Kelly Clark rounded out the podium with a bronze.

Downhill skiing saw wipe-out after wipe-out, as the rough, icy course brought down many a skier, including Swedish standout Anja Paerson who crashed and slid headfirst across the finish line. Germany’s favorite for the event, Maria Riesch, skiied conservatively and finished the race but failed to make the podium.

-World champion Britain falls in the first day of Men’s Curling after Sweden delivers a stunning defeat, 6-4.

-In the inaugural run of Women’s Ski Cross in the Olympic Games, gold medal favorite French Ophelie David crashes out in quarter-finals, allowing for a Canadian win in the finals by Ashleigh McIvor.

The Surprises:

The U.S. Men's Ice Hockey team defeated hometown favorite Canada in a Premliminary Round, 5-3.

-Nicknamed by some the U.S.’s 2nd greatest Olympic moment since the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. win over the Soviets in 1980, the United States beats out Canada in a Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary round with a score of 5-3.

-Swedish biathlete Helena Jonsson, world champion and ranked number one, fails to even make the podium in the both women’s individual biathlon events, finishing 49th the 15K, won by Norwegian Tora Berger in 40:52.8, and 12th in the 7.5K sprint, where Anastazia Kuzmina won Slovakia’s first gold medal.

-The Slovakians continue their Olympic surprises with a heavy upset over Russia, a favorite for the gold medal, in a Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary Round.

-A less arrogant American Bode Miller makes a comeback after his highly touted, disappointing appearances in Torino, shaking off the doubts to win gold (Men’s Super Combined), silver (Men’s Super-G), and bronze (Men’s Downhill).

-American Julia Mancuso adds to the United States’ skiing dominance in Vancouver with 2 silvers (Ladies’ Downhill and Ladies’ Super Combined), becoming the most decorated female American Olympic Alpine Skier with 3 medals (gold in Torino). Prior to Vancouver, she had not even cracked the top-three in World Cup competition in two years due to back problems.

-South Korean Lee Sang-hwa knocks off two overwhelming favorites in the women’s 500m short track speed skating, coming out on top of German world-record holder Jenny Wolf and China’s Wang Beixing. Her gold medal win added a South Korea sweep of the 500-m event in Vancouver to Asia’s unexpected dominance on the speed-skating oval.

-American Hannah Kearney’s win over reigning Olympic champion Canadian Jennifer Heil in Ladies’ Freestyle Moguls leads to a bittersweet silver for Canada’s favorite.

Have other ideas for the best thrills, spills, and surprises of Vancouver 2010? Comment below and let us know.