Fall Sports

Cheerleading

What Happened To Cheer?

By Jenna Wehausen and Olivia Cleary

The cheerleading team had an excellent season this year until it unexpectedly came to an end. Most of the cheerleaders decided to quit for various reasons including busy schedules, injuries, and disagreements.

“It started with the seniors and captains and after they quit, the juniors and the rest of the grades followed,” said former cheerleader Mandi Wilberg.

“The season was almost over, and we all had busy schedules, plus a lot of us were injured,” explained former senior captain Sandra Queen. Although the two girls will not be returning to cheer next year, there has been a lot of interest from incoming freshman, so it seems that we will most definitely have a team this fall.

Wilberg also talked about how essential having a cheerleading team is. She said the team helps pump up the student section at football, volleyball, and basketball games.

While we unfortunately were not able to have a full team through the end of the season, the St. Croix Central School District looks forward to a new school year filled with lots of cheer and pep.

Cross Country

By Sydney Carlson

Both the girls and boys St. Croix Central cross country team pulled off an amazing season. This started at the beginning of summer with morning practice until the end of October, when they headed off to state.

Although the summer practices were not mandatory, the boys and girls made sure to be there every single morning. The determination they had during practice really showed during the season as they dominated at every meet.

The girls Varsity team consisted of Olivia Moll, Marie Hamlen, Claire Moll, Mya Kizer, Mariah Withuski, Kourtney LaBeuse, and Sydney Carlson. The girls Junior Varsity consisted of Liberty Grant, Kylie Hodenfield, and Samantha Deno.

The boys Varsity team consisted of Riley Hackbarth, Erik Collins, Jakob Eggen, Cougar Holder, Spencer Goodwin, and Will Spitzmueller. The boys Junior Varsity consisted of Connor O’Brien, DJ Busch, Jacob Hein, Micah Larson, Cameron Tredal, Luke Mahedy, Lance Queen, Derek Rock, Jackson Tokheim, Blake Olsen, and Joey Sauer.

The sectionals meet was held at Hayward, Wisconsin. Sectionals was won by the girls, and the boys placed second. Both teams would head off to state at the end of October. This was the second year in a row that girls would be heading off to state. The girls took 7th out of 16 teams, with first runner, Olivia Moll, finishing in at 17th place. The boys took 16th out of 16 teams, with first runner, Cougar Holder, coming in at 79th place.

Panther Football

By Logan Shackleton

The Panthers had another great season this year. They finished with a 12-2 record this season, making it back to the State Championship game for the second year in a row. Sadly, they lost that game in overtime. The final score was 17-10. Although it was not the storybook ending they were hoping for, it was a great game.

The team's leadership this year came from Senior Quarterback, Collin Nelson and Junior Running Back and Linebacker, Ryan Larson. On offensive, Larson was dominant, and he ended with 1,391 rushing yards on 199 attempts. He also contributed on defensive, leading the team with 92 tackles. Nelson had 1,003 yards rushing, 336 passing yards, and 46 tackles. New comer, Peyton Nogal, had a stand out season, leading the team with 5 sacks and 64 tackles.

The Panthers were 6-1 going into the playoffs, losing only to Osceola. The first round was Mauston, and the Panthers blew them out, winning 48-24. The second round was Northwestern. Again, the Panthers took care of business, crushing the other Panthers 28-0. The third round was played against Bloomer, the so called “scrimmage champs.” The Panthers did not come to scrimmage, and they had sent Bloomer home with another 28-0 loss. The semi-finals were against Freedom, and it was a good game. The Panthers again were victorious, winning 42-21. Then the State Final came, and the Panthers fought proudly but came up short with a loss in overtime. The final score was 10-17.

All in all, the Panthers had a great season, and Head Coach, Tony Disalvo, will be back for another season.

Girls Golf

By Brooklyn Mishler

The High School Girls Golf team had a successful season, record breaking in-fact. Golf is a game that demands the player to be mentally tough, skilled, and precise. The varsity team for the 2017 season held those exact qualities. The team consisted of sophomore Brooklyn Mishler, senior Audra Scott, senior Abigail Edelman, sophomore Parker Chladek, and junior Hanna Wehausen, respectively. Coached by Logan Kimberly and Luke Fritsche, the team and their coaches made goals for the season- 1) Make it to Sectionals 2) Maintain a high team GPA 3) Stay Positive. Tackling the first goal was something that lingered in the back of the team’s heads’ throughout the season. When Regionals came around, the girls had quite the advantage, being it was at their home course-Pheasant Hills. The top four placing teams would move onto Sectionals; after a long day of playing in the cold weather, the girls placed 3rd and went on to represent the Middle Border at Sectionals.

The second goal that was made and accomplished was to maintain a high team GPA. The team wanted to have the highest team GPA in the school and was working toward it all season. When the season ended, the girls were surprised to find out that they had gotten awards for their GPA from the state. All five of the varsity players were awarded Academic All-State, with High Honors for their GPA’s. This was a huge accomplishment, as the girls realized they were the only ones in the area who had all five players stay above the GPA threshold. Later on in the year, the team was surprised again that not only had they all received the individual award, but as a group they got 1st place in Wisconsin for Team Academic All State. FIRST place!

The final accomplishment that the girls will carry with them to next season was unexpected. At the last match of the season in Ellsworth, awards were announced. Sophomore Brooklyn Mishler was named All-Conference, the first sophomore from SCC to be on the All-Conference team. Closely behind her was senior Audra Scott who was also named All-Conference, finishing the season with 45 conference points. Finally, senior Abigail Edelman was given an Honorable Mention.

The girls finished the season with a banquet, saying goodbye to many seniors. The returning players are hopeful for the 2018 season, hoping that they can make a return trip to Sectionals and continue excelling in the classroom and on the golf course.

Volleyball

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL TEAM CONFERENCE AND REGIONAL CHAMPS

By Hannah Koerper

The St. Croix Central varsity volleyball team was named Conference and Regional Champions, going 29-1 in the 2017 season.

The volleyball team crushed every team in the conference leading to their title of Conference Champs. They then went to gain the title of Regional Champs. “Our past volleyball season was a fun one. We went 29-1. The one loss stung a for long while. As with many other seasons, it wasn't all roses,” Mindy said about the season.

“Yes of course, I'm proud of the players for becoming Conference and Regional Champs. However, I'm more interested in the player's growth when learning these life lessons and overcoming adversities as student athletes. Through hard work, dedication, and perseverance, athletes can achieve great things and learn many lessons along the way,” said Mindy Widiker, the head coach of the varsity team.

With all of the team's hard work, the amazing season was well deserved. They have played together for years, learning to play well with each other and becoming the best team in the Middle Border Conference.

Although they did not make it to state, they still made it incredibly far and became one of the best Central volleyball teams in years. It will always be a season to remember.

“Players at all three levels had to fight through adversities during the season. Whether those adversities were injuries, illnesses, life-lessons, late night academics, playing time, social issues, and so on. However, student athletes learn to persevere and push through these issues. They have their teammates to help pick them up or pick up the slack on the team if somebody is out for various reasons,” Mindy said appreciating and recognizing all teams that participate in St Croix Central Volleyball.