Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Cheerleading (l-r): top row: Hope Adkins, Mattilynn Carter, Sarah Daves. bottom row: Audrey Walker, Sasha Mercado, Chloe McCaw, Pilar Diaz-Easton.
Wrestling (l-r): Sophomore Dylan Gutierrez, Seniors Graycen Teal, Jarod Hankins and Karissa Potts.
Boys' Basketball (l-r) Rollin Carpenter, Landen Henry, Blake Benevides, Logan Seal, JJ Gleason, Bryer Paul, and Liam Kiefel.
Girls' Basketball (l-r): Returning players from last year: Olivia Kiefel, Yaneli Flores, Cheri Mathews, Joslin Nodine (not pictured: Addison Crenshaw.
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg High School winter sports began on Monday, November 17. The girls' and boys' basketball, cheer, and wrestling teams are looking forward to a good season.
The Lady Cardinals have two returning starters, Cheri Mathews and Olivia Kiefel. Teammates are vying for playing time to fill the spots left by Alyssa Hollingsworth, Jessica Lambert, Morgan Lindsey, and Kadence Tiner, who graduated last year.
Girl's Basketball Coaches Kira Waggoner and Hunter Wallace have three freshmen, a sophomore, and a senior returning from last year's team, in addition to starters Mathews and Kiefel. New players include a trio of eighth graders, a freshman, and a junior.
"I think the girls are going to have a great season, and I am looking forward to this year's games. They have put in the time and work over the summer and off-season, and just from the first three practices, I can see a lot of improvement from last year," said Waggoner.
Cheerleading Coach Vickie Hamann has a team of eight who are looking forward to cheering for the boys' and girls' basketball teams this season.
The team is led by seniors Mattilynn Carter, Sarah Daves, and Hope Adkins. Returning are Pilar Diaz-Easton, Chloe McCaw, and Madison Strickland, joined by first-time Cardinal cheerleaders Sasha Mercado and Audrey Walker.
The high school wrestling team lost Will Ahler, who graduated last year. Coach Lash LaRue has Dylan Guiterez, Graycen Teal, Jarod Hankins, and Karissa Pott returning.
Hankins placed in the top 16 last year, and LaRue's goal this year is to get everyone to State.
"I believe everyone has a shot at making it. We must work hard and continue to focus on our fundamentals," said LaRue.
Basketball Coach Westin Wallace has four returning starters: seniors Logan Seal, Teegan Kenney, Blake Benevides, and junior JJ Gleason. The boys' team has 17 players, though it lost last year's graduates Jackson Karl and Lucas VanHoose.
Wallace said he expects some of his returning players to have bigger roles than last year, and will look to Landen Henry and Rolling Carpenter to fill in. He also has some
Wallace and assistant Coach Gavin Waggoner look to improve from last year's 4-16 record.
"I would say on our side of the league, Garfield-Palouse and Oakesdale are two very tough teams that are bringing most of their players back. We will be striving to get our kids to that level. Our expectation is to have a fun team to watch, work our tails off, and play together. If we do those things, we can be a dangerous team this year, which is a good place to be, and we will see how far that can take us," said Wallace.
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