Program-wide success spreads across Faith Christian athletics

LAFAYETTE - Faith Christian athletic director Josh Hill wanted his school's sports programs united.

Volleyball players at soccer games. Soccer players at cross country meets. Cross country runners at volleyball games.

All athletics programs supporting the rest.

Saturday will be the biggest day for Faith Christian sports in the Eagles' 10 years of affiliation with the Indiana High School Athletic Association.

"The old adage is the rising tide lifts all boats," said Hill, who doubles as the school's volleyball coach. "I think definitely applies to us."

Faith Christian has both its boys and girls soccer teams playing for regional championships. The girls cross country team is competing in the regional and Faith's volleyball program will be playing for a sectional title, if it can beat one-win Fountain Central in the semifinal.

"One thing that makes us different with all of our fall programs is our kids have bought into playing for a bigger purpose and that purpose is Jesus Christ," Hill said. "When we have that as a motivation going into competition, our level should raise. We should take it to a different level when we go compete because we are playing for someone and something that is bigger than us. Our kids have really embraced that this year."

Having a support base at almost every event has raised the level of Faith Christian student-athletes.

Freshman Clara Schenke can attest to that.

Last Saturday, she broke the school's 5K record, finishing sixth in the cross country sectional in 19:32.

"We have a huge group of people who came to watch us," Schenke said after the sectional. "We go to volleyball games. We go to soccer games. We all support each other. It is a great supportive community. The reason we get better is we just encourage each other so much. We build off of each other. The community is what makes us better."

It's been a monumental fall.

The cross country team has risen to become one of the best small school programs in Indiana. The Eagles have a chance to advance to semistate with a top-five finish at the IHSAA regional on Saturday at Tippecanoe Amphitheater.

Faith Christian's boys golf team won sectional titles the past two springs and this fall, the Eagles had their first female golfer. The volleyball team has followed up its breakthrough season a year ago with 24 victories in 30 matches.

"Right now, success is contagious," senior soccer player Andrew Johns said. "Volleyball is having a great year. Girls soccer is having a great year. Cross country one of the girls is a freshman and she set our school record.

"It is amazing to see the steps that have been taken to further the athletics at this school, not just from an athletics standpoint, but the steps we've taken to further show what we are about as a Christian school program."

Johns, whose father Kevin is Faith Christian's boys soccer coach and has led the team to four sectional titles, has been a part of seeing a successful program now for many years at Faith.

But seeing all sports succeed has been far more enjoyable.

It was boys soccer in 2013 that put Faith Christian on the map with the school's first sectional title and then with a victory in the regional semifinal. Two years later, the girls soccer program won what remains the school's only regional title.

"We're all doing really well this year. Girls soccer has made it a goal to encourage all the teams and got to all the games," said senior soccer player Alli Holder. "It says a lot about all the teams here that we are putting in the work and truly striving to go the extra mile."

Holder saw that school support firsthand last spring.

She qualified for the IHSAA state track and field finals in high jump, becoming just the second Faith athlete to compete in a state finals, joining discus thrower Madi Schultz, who advanced to state in 2018.

She had mounting support and that carried into fall sports.

"It is pretty neat to see how all of the fall sports are united and out here encouraging," said Grace Robinson, Holder's soccer teammate who scored two goals in Thursday's regional semifinal win over Tipton. "It is a small school and we have an opportunity to unite and everybody is wanting everyone to succeed."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Program-wide success spreads across Faith Christian athletics