Most Improved: The DHS Bulldogs

DAYTON - If there were one big award for an entire high school fall sports pro­gram, it might go to Dayton High School and it would say "Most Improved." From football to soccer and cross country to vol­leyball, each DHS team saw hopeful signs of progress thanks to good coaching, the unquestioning efforts among individual athletes and a die-hard home crowd. Some would even say progress came in much big­ger leaps and bounds than expected. "I thought this would be a building year and it would take two years to get the team to this level," said Shannon Turner, head coach of the Bulldogs volleyball that went to the state playoffs in Ya­kima for the first time in half a decade. Turner was among the handful of coaches who spoke and presented fall sports awards at the Bull­dogs' awards banquet Thurs­day night. Her team went furthest of any of the school's fall sports teams. Coaches and players said the Lady Bulldogs' accomplishments along with those of the other teams will carry over into the much-anticipated upcoming basketball season.

"There are big expecta­tions this year," said Dain Henderson, running back for the Bulldogs' football who will be trading his cleats for courtside sneakers and puts a lot of stock in the group

students who have played basketball together since fifth grade. "This year, we'll have a pretty strong varsity team." Turner said losing one of the first games of the season against rival DeSales was a turning point for the young Bulldogs volleyball team, who subsequently went on a 12-match winning streak that included several sweeps and ended up with an 8-3 league record. They were 3-0 district tournament champs.

Nikki Lambert, Amanda Melton and Kayla Turner all received Captains awards during the banquet, while Darci Hall was elected "Most Improved," Jessica Tate "Most Inspirational," McKayla Bickelhaupt "Most Valuable Player" and Lam­bert "Most Outstanding De­fensive Player."

The Bulldogs football team too made it to the play­offs after winning two key tiebreaker games against TCP and TOR for fourth place in the league. In the next round, they were beat by Colfax, which has thus far survived post-season chal­lenger and will play an unde­feated Waitsburg-Prescott at Martin Field in Pullman this weekend. "Thanks for playing your hearts out," said Dean Bick­elhaupt, who took over as head of the coaching staff this fall. "At the start of the season we weren't so sure of ourselves."

The football Coaches' Award went to Chris Conley, who had never played foot­ball

before until he joined the team this fall. Kroft Sun­derland won for "Most Out­standing Lineman," Dain Henderson for "Most Inspi­rational" and Colton Bick­elhaupt for "Most Valuable Player."

Head cheerleading coach Kassandra Dedloff said her squad became like family to her. Her team "built a great team bond," which will con­tinue as they move to support winter and spring sports. Molly Payne, Caylyn Tate and Jennifer Stephens won the team's Captain Award while Kellie Wessels was deemed "Most Improved" by her teammates.

Head soccer coach D.J. Frame, who himself received an honorary Number One jersey from his players, said his team's dedication to the sport and to each other was a "true testament to their heart and commitment." Junior Dedloff won "Most Improved," Willie Wepler was picked as the best "Team Player," Blake Powell was "Most Inspirational," Davy Philips won "Team Leader" and Keisha Philips received the Coaches' Award. Cross-country coach Dan Nechodom praised his ath­letes for persevering hot and cold, wet and dry, daytime and night time conditions of­ten

in places where few if any spectators could see them.

The cross-country Coach­es' Award went to Anita Jack­son. Jaron Button received "Male Athlete Of The Year" for working through the pain and discomfort of an injury, while Jackson won "Female Athlete Of The Year."

Other awards for the Bull­dogs included All League for volleyball players Kayla Turner, Nikki Lambert and McKayla Bickelhaupt, while the team as a whole won First Team All District. And the team got the District Scholas­tic Award from the WIAA for its 3plus average GPA. That same distinction also went to the DHS cheerleading squad.