Spring Sports

Baseball

SCC Panther Baseball

By Trevor Miller

After a shaky start to the year, the Panthers have gotten back in the win column in the past few weeks, after going 5-0 last week. With notable wins coming in conference play against Somerset and Osceola, the Panthers are sitting in a good position to compete for the right to be Conference Champions.

The varsity coach of the Panthers, Tom Sauve, had this to say about the team’s successes last week, “One of the biggest things is that we had a good practice and changed our approach to hitting and using the whole field to hit the ball. Another thing [was the addition of] more enthusiasm in practice and people deciding to have more fun. Once we started hitting and had more fun, players gained confidence last week.” Sauve seems to have righted the ship and is confident in what his team can accomplish in its final games.

Softball

By Parker Chladek

After waiting a month to step on the field due to winter weather, the Panther Softball team is currently midseason. After a long wait, the team finally got the chance to play in Mauston for their first two games of the season versus Somerset and Baldwin-Woodville. Their ongoing record is 1-6, beating Somerset in their first outing of the year, 20-10. Not only was it St. Croix Central’s first conference win in three years, but it was also their first Middle Border Conference win. It was a huge accomplishment for the Panthers. This season, the softball program also has an entirely new coaching staff. The softball team is now headed by Mike Nilssen.

The Captains of the 2018 Panther Softball Team are Olivia Wasley and Abigail Edelman. Abigail was a team captain last season, while Olivia is a newly chosen captain this season. When captain Olivia Wasley was asked what goals were set by the team this season, she stated, “A goal set for the softball team this season is to win multiple conference games. Something not done by the Panther Softball team in several years.” The Panthers also have strong team chemistry this season. “We always have a good time together, and we are all very supportive of one another,” says Captain Abigail Edelman.

The Panthers hope to finish their season strong and come out on top.

Boys Golf

By Evan Fermanich

This year, the boys golf schedule and season was altered by the sudden snowfall in late March and April. Despite natures disruption, the team is one of the top five teams of the middle border conference.

With the May 6th Prescott conference match, the SCC boys won the entire meet and gave them the conference points they needed. At May 8th Amery conference meet, the SCC Boys Golf Team placed fourth out of all of the teams that participated. With their performance this year, they are on track to win the entire Middle Border Conference.

Varsity Senior, Trevor Woyda, said during an interview, “The hardest thing for the golf team to overcome this season is the shortened season due to the weather. We weren’t able to get out onto the course until the end of April, so it pushed back our entire season to a span of two weeks. There’s only so much you can do when practicing in a gym, The weather was unfortunate for this season, but we are making it work the best we can.”

After I asked him what difficulties he and the team had to overcome, I asked him what kind of chances he thought the team has at winning the middle border conference. Trevor responded with, “I think the varsity team has a huge chance to win the conference this year and in the next few years, as well. We are right behind New Richmond and Amery by only a few strokes, and in golf, that’s not much.” Also stating that “ We currently have the best round as a team in the conference, and the Prescott meet was the first time we have ever dropped a 48 after being as a score.”

Lastly, I asked him what he would miss the most after his last golf season as an SCC golfer. Trevor said, “I'm going to miss the van rides, invitation meets and, working the chopper.” He said that he will miss the van rides the most because he had the most fun goofing off and having fun with his other golf members.

To Trevor and the rest of the SCC golf team, I wish you luck with the rest of the season.

Boys Track & Field

By Erik Collins

The Panthers Boys Track and Field team entered the 2018 not fully sure of what to expect. They knew they had lost a major powerhouse from the previous year in Trevor Nelson, but now it was time to look to the future. Several weeks and a couple snowstorms later, they found they were still one of the most well rounded teams in the conference.

In the field, the boys have proven they are still a major force and might be the strongest part of the team. Joe Hueg returned as one of the most prominent throwers in the conference, even though he started late due to a shoulder injury. Seniors Nathan Strader and Justin Freyholtz both returned to Pole Vault, and Strader looks to vault his way back to state again this year. Zac Bringold has returned to the High Jump and is just as dominant as ever.

On the track, the boys sprinters have made huge strides and are easily the most reliable source of points for the team. They are led by seniors Frank Holter and Zac Bringold and juniors Austin Kopacz and Jacob Murtha. They have formed a lethal quartet of a relay team and have broken their own school record from the previous season. Collin Nelson continues to be a reliable source of points in 110 and 300 meter hurdles.

The middle distance runners are led by seniors Spencer Goodwin and Derek Rock, both showing major improvements since last season. The long distance squad is led by sophomore Erik Collins and freshman Cougar Holder. Although they are young, their talent has proven a reliable source of points for the team.

Girls Track & Field

By Mikala Bringgold

Even with the battle versus Mother Nature in the first few weeks of the season, the girls track team has really worked hard to come out with some mighty competitors. During the snowy start, the girls had to work inside the school, which coach Jean Bringgold helped shed some light on. Bringgold coaches along with head coaches Ben Lamb and John Tackmann, and other assistant coaches Brian Millar and Jake Knapton.

During an interview with Coach Bringgold, who coaches the distance portion of the team, including the 400 meter run, the 800, 1600, and 3200, she speculated that the “cold weather and snow greatly impacted the girl sprinters because they were forced to train inside. Running in the halls on cement floors is now rearing its ugly head in the form of shin splints.” Although, the cool weather was not all bad. The distance girls “benefited from being able to run in the snow. Running in snow makes a distance runner crazy strong.” To give an example, the school record for the 3200 meter run was broken last year by Livvie Moll. This year, the record was beaten again by Moll, then by teammate Marie Hamlin, and once again, recently, by Moll. “Friendly competition between Liv and Marie has resulted in successes that have built both of them up.”

The end of the season is shortly approaching these SCC track girls, as their Conference meet, in Osceola, is next Tuesday, and Regionals, in Amery, is the next Monday after that. That week Thursday is when the Sectional meet will be held. To go from Regionals to Sectionals, girls have to be in the top four of their events. Some events or individuals Bringgold says have a chance of qualifying for sectionals are “the girls on the 4x800 team, Livvie Moll, Marie Hamlin, and Mya Kizer could be close in individual events.” She also said that there is great potential for two of our pole vaulters, Liberty Grant and Ariel Juetten (who recently broke the school record in pole vaulting), our hurdlers, Katie Koerper, Mikala Bringgold, and Kolbi Juen, and a strong athlete in the jumping events, Mia Krogseng. There is also a good chance for the girls in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Last year, the girls team was able to pull off winning Conference and Regionals, as a team. As for the potential of being back to back champions, Coach Bringgold stated that, “we have many strong athletes...that have great potential of also placing high and earning big points.” As for her distance kids, she has confidence that “if they run in the right events, we can score very high.” Looks like this girls team has good potential for being champions once again.

SCC Senior Breaks Osceola Stadium Record

By Tadan Holzer

SCC Senior Nathan Strader broke the pole vault record at the Robert W. Vesperman Athletic Complex in Osceola on April 24th. Strader completed a 13 foot and 6 inch vault. After reaching that important milestone, Strader has his eyes on another loftier goal. Strader is currently hot on the heels of the school pole vault record, which is held by Josh Freyholtz. The record of 14 feet is a major goal of Strader’s senior campaign. When asked about what he has learned from pole vaulting, Strader said, “You have to have bad days to appreciate the good ones.” Strader has his goal set and will not stop trying until he reaches it.

Olivia Moll, Breaks Own Record

By Mya Kizer

Olivia Moll, senior runner, has broken two records throughout her high school career. In middle school, Moll first decided to join the cross country and track teams.“My sister, Lauren, was in cross country when she was in middle school so I wanted to do what she did,” Moll says. Besides the two records held by herself, Moll says her biggest personal accomplishment is “winning sectionals last year in cross country.” Moll broke her first record during the 2016 cross country season by running at a time of 19:43. During the 2017 track season in the spring, Moll broke the 2 mile record with a time of 12:01. Not only did she break the first record held by Amber Bowman, but she then broke her own 2 mile record in the current 2018 track season with a time of 11:54. “I was surprised because I didn’t think it would happen because of the slow start to the season, but I was excited,” Moll says. Despite these top races, Moll says she has doubted herself. “Sometimes if I didn’t have a good race, I would think I would perform bad the next time, but I know that with confidence comes good results.” After graduating, Moll plans to attend the University of Saint Thomas to continue her running career in cross country and track.