WP Honors Fall Athletes Dayton Girls Get Slow Start

WAITSBURG -- WP's new athletics director JP Thew introduced the Cardinal and Tiger sports award evening as a moment to "celebrate the greatest fall sports season" the combine has ever had.

And with that, coaches from cheerleading, cross country, volleyball, soccer and football recognized the exceptional student athletes who made it so.

Cross country coach Joanna Lanning introduced the half dozen members of her team as "a family," who looked out for each other and "uplifted each other constantly."

Trent Hafen, who unfortunately sustained a seasondampening injury, was selected as Most Inspirational; EJ Meserve, who had a "great race" at state, was Most Improved, while perennial hardware winner Seth Deal was Most Valuable Player, placing 16th in the state competition despite suffering from the flu and getting sick several times along the route.

Cheerleading coach Vickie Hamann described her group as "very athletic."

"They like dancing and performing for you guys," she told the other students and parents gathered for the awards.

Hailey Goenen, known more as a baseball powerhouse than your typical cheerleading recruit, tried out the squad on a bet and won the Most Improved Award, while Kristin Potter, who always encourages everyone "to do their best" was selected Most Inspirational and Taylor Doepker was Most Valuable Player.

The Tiger soccer team, which had its own awards banquet at Vista Hermosa last week, saved its team awards for the combined celebration.

Head Mark Grimm said after last year's run at state, expectations were high, but the team decided they were going to prove something. Throughout the season, the coaches were complimented everywhere for the players' integrity and sportsmanship, he said.

Jesse Albarran won Most Improved, while Kevin Ortega got the Most Inspirational Award and team member selected Lino Diaz as Most Valuable Player.

Grimm also announced the following All-State selections among the Tigers: Diaz - First Team All-State on defense; Aldair Escalante - First Team All-State on defense and Central Defender Of The Year; Pedro Mendoze - Second Team All-State Goalkeeper; Kevin Gonzalez - Player Of The Year, Senior Player Of The Year and Central Midfielder Of The Year.

"It's been a great ride," Grimm told the players and the crowd. "Make sure you cherish these moments. They will be among the highlights of your lives."

After last year's disappointing volleyball season, this year's Cardinal volleyball team "had to get past thoughts that they couldn't win," head coach Angie Potts said.

They did win, ending up fourth in the league with an overall record of 17-11 and 7-5 in the league, she said.

Freshman Samantha Fedderson, who was thrown in as a started against the mighty Asotin team, won Most Improved, while hard-working Kayla Huxoll won Most Inspirational and powerhouse Ronnie Hulce landed Most Valuable Player.

Hulce also won First Team All-League, placing as the third best player, while Dionna

DAYTON -- What seems to be going well for the Bulldog boys varsity team seems to be a struggle for the Lady Bulldogs so far this year: winning basketball games.

But new head coach Clayton Strong sees improvement in his players already and believes the girls are merely warming up.

The Lady Bulldogs are 0-3 so far this season after losing, 53-41, to the Riverview Panthers in Dayton on Tuesday night. Dayton lost, 54-42, against TOR on Nov. 29 and fell, 54-20, to Pomeroy. Yet Strong is pleased with the girls' initiative.

"It's been a good effort early in the year," he said.

A first game against TOR, which racked up a 16-point spread in its favor during the first period, saw the Lady Bulldogs shave the difference to only four points halfway through the third period.

But the Nighthawks pressed and "we didn't handle it well," Strong said in retrospect. "We had too many turnovers."

Turnovers plagued the Lady Bulldogs against the Pomeroy Pirates as well.

Pomeroy took a 15-0 lead in the first quarter, clocked 18-10 during the second period, still outscored Dayton, 9-8, in the third and clobbered the Bulldogs some more in the fourth, 12-2, for a final score of 54-20.

Strong said his team was much more together in Tuesday's game against Riverview, playing a tighter offense and passing the ball around the court better. But the girls had trouble with the Panthers' star player, Kim Gier, who broke through the Dayton defense on more occasions than the team cared to count - for a total of 36 points.

Dayton plays Pomeroy at home next Tuesday.

Bulldog Scores

Nov. 29

Day 6 16 16 10 - 42

TOR 13 11 17 14 - 54

McKayla Bickelhaupt 11

Shelby Smith 9

Courtney Fuller 8

FT 6/18 for 33%

Dec. 3

Day01082-20

Pom 15 18 9 12 - 54

Dec. 6

Day 5 13 11 12 - 41

Rvrvw 14 9 14 16 - 53

McKayla Bickelhaupt 16

Nicole Lambert 7

Malia Frame 7

Shelby Smith 5