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WRITER: Blake Sebring

PREP FOOTBALL: ACAC Preview

Though the Allen County Athletic Conference may be the state's top small-school conference for football, it might have the area's top all-around player this season. Adams Central's Logan Macklin can dominate a game offensively, defensively and on special teams, and he's good enough he could do it at any school in the area no matter the classification. Last year, he made a team-high 102 tackles with 5.5 ...

Prep football preseason countdown: #3 HOMESTEAD SPARTANS

OUTLOOK Coming to the Summit Athletic Conference three years ago was supposed to make things much tougher for the Homestead football team, but the Spartans have responded with continued excellence and seasons of eight, nine and eight wins. Can they take a jump and challenge for a conference title? The Spartans lost a lot to graduation but plenty of individual talent returns. "You always look at the ...

Time to submit Ask The Beat Writer questions for Fort Wayne Komets

Please reply to this post or send them to bsebring@news-sentinel.com, on Twitter @bsebring or through Messenger on Facebook to make sure I see them. What would you like to learn about your favorite hockey team? We'll look to run the answers late next week. As always, personal lives are off-limits. Questions are limited to one per person, and I get to decide whether the questions will be used. I’ll seriously ...

Fort Wayne Komets add four players

From a Komets press release: The Komets announced Thursday that four players have been added to the preseason roster. Pros Jeff King and Thomas Ebbing have agreed to terms along with rookie forwards Trent Fox and Mathieu Nadeau. King, 22, will be entering second full season as a pro after splitting last year between Orlando and Brampton in the ECHL. The defenseman also made his AHL debut last season skating ...

Ball Sports Academy to host Special Olympics volleyball event

Olympic gold medal winner Lloy Ball is hosting a Special Olympics volleyball event from 2-5 p.m. Sunday at Ball Sports Academy, 200 Intertech Parkway in Angola. Ball's Team Pineapple club and Parkview Health are partnering with Special Olympics of Steuben and Allen counties for a one-day volleyball skills clinic, consisting of basic skills, fun drills and games. "I love the Olympics, and I love sports," said ...

Fort Wayne Komets continue to narrow affiliation hopes

Komets General Manager David Franke said Monday afternoon he expects to hear within two weeks if Fort Wayne will have an affiliation with the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL's Chicago Wolves. "It's more in their hands now and I'm just waiting for them to get some paperwork back to me," Franke said. "They are very receptive and they've been helping out, and that's about all I can say right now." The ...

Surprise winner named Fort Wayne's Favorite athlete

Karissa McLaughlin and Ryan Potts may not be the most acclaimed local athletes, but they sure have a lot of good friends who stick up for them. With 48 percent of the vote, McLaughlin pulled away from Potts with 32 percent to win a News-Sentinel.com poll of Fort Wayne's Favorite Athletes. The poll was the culmination of a summer series at News-Sentinel.com which asked fans to pick their favorite athletes in ...

Ask The Beat Writer: Fort Wayne Komets for Aug. 4

As the start of a regular new News-Sentinel.com feature, we’ll attempt to answer questions from the fans every two weeks or so. Fans can submit questions by replying to this story, through email at bsebring@news-sentinel.com, on Twitter @blakesebring or on Facebook. Sarah Knight: When will the team allow the fans to come and watch practice at the Coliseum? I have always wanted to watch them practice! NS: ...

Prep football preseason countdown: #11 ADAMS CENTRAL FLYING JETS

OUTLOOK After putting together 12-2, 11-2 and 9-3 marks the last three seasons, Adams Central has a chance to put together the best four-year run in Adams Central history with 12 wins or more to match the mark of 44 wins from 1997-2000. The defending Allen County Athletic Conference champions would also like to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since 1994-95. This team is also loaded with ...

Prep football preseason countdown: #13 SOUTH ADAMS STARFIRES

OUTLOOK Here's one of the most amazing statistics in Fort Wayne area football: Last year the South Adams Starfires put together their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2000 and 2001. That's remarkable considering the Starfires are always a challenging opponent and usually in contention for a Class A sectional title. This year, they'd like to go for three winning seasons in a row for the first time ...

Fort Wayne Komets announce six signings

From a Komets press release: The Komets announced Wednesday that they have added six players to the 2018-19 preseason roster. Forwards Danny Moynihan, Joseph Widmar, Charlie Graaskamp, Brandon Morley, and Chase Phelps along with goaltender Kyle Hayton have each agreed to terms. Moynihan, 22, will be entering his third pro year after serving a three-year stint in the QMJHL. In 2015-16 the Boston, ...

Prep football preseason countdown: #14 WOODLAN WARRIORS

OUTLOOK After putting together a 35-8 record over the past three seasons, and a school-record three straight seasons of 10 wins or more, the Warriors graduated most of their top players. Six first-team all-conference offensive players and one second-team pick have graduated. The Warriors are always the most dangerous when they are not expected to do much and it's time to reload. They still return four ...

Veteran wins Fort Wayne's Favorite male basketball poll

With a rally over the last two days of voting, former Northrop, Purdue and NBA star Walter Jordan has won the voting for News-Sentinel.com's Fort Wayne's Favorite male basketball player. Jordan came back with 28 percent of the vote to sprint past former Homestead, Purdue and NBA star Caleb Swanigan who led the voting 23-21 percent on Friday. After helping Northrop win the 1974 state title (Fort Wayne's last in ...

Who is Fort Wayne's Favorite overall professional athlete?

For seven weeks, we've asked you to vote Fort Wayne's Favorite athletes in several categories, and the response has been outstanding. You have selected Rod Woodson in football, Moose Myers in auto racing, Kevin Kiermaier in baseball, Lloy Ball in the Olympics, Karissa McLaughlin in female basketball and Walter Jordan in male basketball. And the only major upset was Ryan Potts in local pro hockey players. ...

Fort Wayne Komets public address announcer Larry Schmitt also sings for his supper

As he was growing up and going to Bishop Dwenger High School, Larry Schmitt always figured he'd end up in the family paint business for a career. The Schmitt family ran Perfection Varnish Company at 2836 S. Clinton St. for 99 years. But when the company went out of business in 1998, Schmitt needed to find something else, and though there were plenty of jobs he loved, they weren't full-time. Luckily, he's been ...

Fort Wayne Police Department officers also working as coaches, officials

As he puts it, when Greg Addison attended Hammond High School, his school resources officer saved his life. "He was the one who kept me out of trouble. I was heading down the wrong path one time and he snatched me back," Addison said. "I was hanging out with a bad group of guys in gang life. He grabbed me right before I got into the storm. That's my story about why I do what I do right now." Besides being the ...

"Coffee with Katie" has become Fort Wayne internet hit

The inside story of Fort Wayne's hottest internet sensation starts with coffee. Really, coffee? Yep, and not even a specialized brand or flavor. "We sat down in my office just drinking coffee and chatting and I thought of `Coffee with Katie' because she loves coffee and loves to talk to people," said GiGi's Playhouse Executive Director Holly Tonak. "We did a fun little video, not thinking this was going ...

Who is Fort Wayne's Favorite male basketball player?

The voting is open until 6 p.m. Sunday. James Hardy, G Besides finishing as the county's all-time career scoring leader with 1,823 points, Hardy led Elmhurst to the 2003 Class 3A state runner-up finish. He finished in the Indiana Mr. Basketball voting to Indianapolis' A.J. Ratliff. While at IU, he appeared in 23 games in 2004-05, with three starts, averaging 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds before he decided to ...

Former Miss Basketball wins Fort Wayne's Favorite female basketball player poll

As easy as a breakaway layup, former Homestead and current Purdue star Karissa McLaughlin has won a poll as Fort Wayne's Favorite female basketball player. McLaughlin, the 2017 Miss Basketball in Indiana, received 43 percent of the vote at News-Sentinel.com to run away from the field. SEE EVERY STORY IN THE "FORT WAYNE FAVORITE" SUMMER SERIES Former Leo and Iowa State star Tonya Burns finished second with 21 ...

Ask The Beat Writer: Fort Wayne Komets for July 20

As the start of a regular new News-Sentinel.com feature, we’ll attempt to answer questions from the fans every two weeks or so. Fans can submit questions by replying to this story, through email at bsebring@news-sentinel.com, on Twitter @blakesebring or on Facebook. We've already got enough questions to do another round in two weeks. Josh Cliffwood: Is there any single player that the Komets hate playing ...