Sunday, December 15, 2013

Worth County Fall Sports Teams Overcame Inexperience, Adversity

Worth County's fall sports teams overcame a lot of inexperience and adversity and all improved as their seasons progressed. They were all recognized at the Fall Athletic Banquet last week.

The football team finished 8-4 this year, overcoming a lot of injuries at the start of the year and a lot of adversity to win districts, beat Rock Port for the first time in school history, and set some records along the way. Andrew Mullock broke the single game record for interceptions, getting four against Tarkio. Wyatt Rush and Andrew Mullock were the first runningback pair to both get over 150 yards in a game in the team's win over Rock Port. Wyatt had a 280-yard performance on his way to a 1500+ yard season, impressive for converting from blocking back to runningback for his senior year.

Participation awards went to Andrew Faustlin and Justin Parker. First year letterwinners went to Ben Badell, Dalton Auffert, Johnny Carlson, Harley Charles, Andrew Freemeyer, Wade Rush, Rowdy West, and Jacob Wimer. Returning letterwinners were Lane Craven, Andrew Mullock, Wyatt Rush, Austin Carlson, Gavin Hawk, Josh Warner, Chris Alarcon, Shadow Briner, Jacob Hardy, Nate Pointer, Tristan Miller, Truman Moore, Brevyn Ross, and Will Runde. Maddison Cassavaugh and Ally Buffington served as the managers for the team, enduring some of the hottest games and one of the coldest games in recent memory. Assistants were Mark Fletcher, Josh Smith, and Joshua Smith. Statisticians were Jeannie Fletcher and Janice Borey. Larry Kinsella and Jeannie Fletcher helped prepare the field before every home game.

The Senior Dedication Award went to Lane Craven, Andrew Mullock, and Wyatt Rush. Together, they helped their teams to a 41-7 record, one state title, three conference titles, and three district championships during their time at Worth County. Team dedication awards, for showing a strong work ethic during the offseason, went to Andrew Faustlin, Jacob Hardy, Truman Moore, and Josh Warner. Ironman award went to Austin Carlson. Recognized for post-season honors were all-conference honorees Wyatt Rush, Austin Carlson, and Lane Craven; all-district honorees Wyatt Rush, Austin Carlson, Lane Craven, Truman Moore, and Andrew Mullock; KAAN all-stars Lane Craven and Wyatt Rush; and all-state honorees Lane Craven, Wyatt Rush, and Austin Carlson.

For the cheerleaders, 1st year letterwinners were Kristen Ross, Carissa Runde, Erin Colvin, Dominique Findley, and Jarisa Moffit. Returning letterwinners were Brianna Fletchall and Dylanie Abplanalp.

For the girls golf team, Taylor Causey and Tess Andrews were the returning letterwinners for the squad. They were able to field a team for the first time in the last few years. First year letterwinners were Kaitlyn Davidson, Dora Martz, and Erin Colvin. They won two meets this year; they won a four-way match with King City, Rock Port, and West Nodaway. They also won a three-way match at Mozingo with West Nodaway and Rock Port. They beat out Braymer at the South Harrison meet and performed well at the Albany Best Shot Tournament. Taylor Causey and Kaitlyn Davidson made it to sectionals.

Taylor Causey was recognized for having the lowest average. Dora Martz was named the most improved. Gary Owens of the Grant City Golf Club helped retrieve golf balls after practices and got the course ready for them while Craig McNeese helped the players with their form.

This year's girls softball team won eight games this year, one game better than last year. They also won four GRC games, two more than last year. They also placed third in the King City Tournament. They beat Princeton, who won their districts this year. Coach Dave Gilland said that his squad got much smarter at the plate as the season progressed. They had a team on base percentage of .376 this year. Gilland said that one of the umpires for the King City game double booked that night, thinking it would be over by the third inning. But Worth County refused to go along, giving King City everything they could handle before losing 11-7; he recalled that the umpire was making frantic phone calls between one of the innings trying to find someone to cover for him.

Victoria Moore and Kristen Ross both had an on base percentage of 1.000 in just one at bat. Participation awards went to Victoria Moore, Dylanie Abplanalp, Dominique Findley, and Nicole Aragon. Provisional letterwinners went to Kristen Ross and Brooklyn White. First year letterwinners went to Taylor Causey, Payton Adwell, Adrian Fletchall, Jacklyn Brooks, Sidney Troutwine, Quinci Schottel, and Rachael Gardner. Returning letterwinners were Brianna Fletchall, Rikky Hunt, Kenna LaFollette, Claire Andrews, Kristen Andrews, Maddison Cassavaugh, and Sydney Thummel. Kristen Andrews was second team all-conference while Adrian Fletchall was honorable mention. Kristen Andrews and Adrian Fletchall were first team all district while Claire Andrews and Payton Adwell were second team all district.

Gilland said that there were several girls who shared the traits necessary to earn the Tiger Award, consisting of attitude, helping the team, and character. But earning the award were Quinci Schottel and Victoria Moore. Kristen Andrews won the MVP award while the senior awards went to Claire Andrews, Kristen Andrews, and Brianna Fletchall. Assistant coaches were Bryce Shafar and Kirby Dowis while Ann Gilland was the statistician.

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