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Middle School Girls Basketball
11105 *Hulett Red Devils H 4 PM
11/12 B Team vs Gillette Rec H 4 PM
Middle School Wrestling
11107 Wolf City Invite @ Moorcroft 9 AM
11/12 Wright Invite A 3:30 PM
essemng
the sting
"If it's true that we learn
more from losing than we do
from winning, we are getting
quite an education."
A coach recently said this to
me with an air of disappointment
as he described his season, but I
actually began to ponder the
long range implications of the
statement. Don't get me wrong,
I know how frustrating it is to
lose when you know that you
have the talent and the ability
to win, and how disappointing
it can be when you fall short of
what you consider to be your
potential, but maybe it's ok to
suffer the pain of loss.
This past weekend our Lady
Dogie volleyball team experi-
enced this
situation in
a big way.
They headed
into their
Regional
Tournament
up against
Sonia Karp it, having to
Karpe Dogietake on the
top seeded
team from the Southeast in order
to advance. Unfortunately they
were unable to prevail, which
meant that they had to then get
by Douglas, their nemesis, if
they wanted a ticket to the Big
Dance.
I'm not going to lie, I was
worried for the girls. Newcastle
has had a mental block when
it comes to playing the Lady
Bearcats for as long as I have
been here and for this do-or-die
match, they were going to have
to defeat tfiis team On their home
c0~'::'a'~afinting thought by
anyone's imagination.
When the ladies lined up
for introductions, I could see
that they were nervous in the
fidgeting of the starting seven.
However, as I watched the first
set start to unfold I could see the
squad, and the five seniors in
particular, playing with what I
interpreted to be the determina-
tion of those who knew that this
could be their last game as a
Dogie and who didn't want their
high school volleyball career to
end before they were ready.
They stunned the Lady Cats
by playing some of the scrap-
piest and tenacious ball that I
have seen this season and after
dominating the first two sets
they were only one away from
claiming victory in the match.
As I watched, I could see that
Douglas was reeling from the
Lady Dogies' aggressive attacks
on offense and their tenacity on
defense. Knowing how impor-
tant the third set was, though, I
was still nervous for our girls.
It didn't take long in the third
set for me to lose my nerves
as the ladies continued to play
strong and confident against
their opponent. When the Lady
Dogies reached match point
-- See Karp, Page lO
News Letter Journal
Todd Bennington
NLJ Reporter
A proposal to expand
Newcastle's high school soccer
program to the middle school's
seventh and eighth grades
passed the first of three sched-
uled readings at the regular
meeting of the WCSD #1 Board
of Trustees last Wednesday.
Before the vote was taken,
soccer coaches Bryce Hoffman
and Josh Peterson presented to
the board, as they had done at
the meeting previous, saying
they wanted to clarify a few
things in regard to the pro-
posal.
Hoffman told the board the
program was planned for the
spring semester only, and is
projected to cost $8,688 annu-
ally for salaries and benefits for
the planned three coaches. The
program would cost $9,827
annually in total, he said.
Peterson suggested to the
board that the program would
benefit those students who
are unable to compete in the
Newcastle Soccer League for
religious or financial reasons,
as games and practices would
not be held on Sundays and
participation would be free of
cost.
Based on his investigations
into the matter, Peterson went
on to say that he expected
about 20 students who did
not participate in any other
activity last spring to turnout
for soccer. The program would
also be of benefit as a feeder
program to the high school in
terms of skill development, he
contended, citing a letter to
that effect from Gillette's high
school coach.
Superintendent Brad
LaCroix recommended against
the proposal for reasons related
to the uncertainty surrounding
state funding for education
and the district's potential
future downsizing, but board
Treasurer Tom Wright moved
to vote on the proposal, and
Vice Chairman Tina Chick
spoke in support of the exten-
sion, saying the $9,000 seems
to her like a reasonable expen-
diture.
"I understand that we are
trying to be conservative as a
district ... and I think that's
right to do. But I also feel like
it's not very much money to
provide something that I think
is going to be important for
some of our kiddos," she said
Trustee Dean Johnson said
he would like to see specific
projected numbers in regard
to the program, while Trustee
John Riesland spoke in favor
of the measure but acknowl-
edged there is value in both
sides of the argument. Trustee
Ron Mills indicated he is on
the fence due to financial con-
cerns, but voted 'yes' in order
that two more readings might
be heard on the matter.
Board Chairman Bob
Bonnar cast the lone dissenting
vote, though he said he wel-
comed the discussion. Only
Buffalo, Worland, and Gillette
could serve as potential oppo-
nent schools, he pointed out,
and Newcastle High School is
already among the smallest in
the state to offer soccer as an
option to begin with.
The board has opted to hold
three readings on the matter in
order to garner as much public
input as possible.
Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
Senior Katara Cade returns a serve in the team's final game against Douglas as Alyssa Dawson gets herself
in position for the next volley. (Sonja Karp/NLJ)
Douglas survives
three game points to
end Dogies season
Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
The senior-laden Newcastle High
School volleyball saw their hopes of
competing at the State Tournament
dashed when the host Douglas
Bearcats rallied to claim a loser-
out contest in a grueling five set
match, but the local netters knew the
road to State wouldn't be easy after
the brackets were released early last
week.
When the Lady Dogies hit the
road to Douglas for the 3A East
Regional Volleyball Tournament last
Thursday, they knew that the road to
State was going to be a rough one.
With five of the eight teams slated
to compete all having a legitimate
chance of moving on. Newcastle was
determined to be among the top four
that would advance, but they had to
get by some tough competition to
get there.
Because the squad ended up going
into the tourney as the four seed from
the Northeast, their first challenge
was to try to get by the Southeast
number one seeded Rawlins Lady
Outlaws. Having only seen this tradi-
tionally dominant team once during
the regular season and having lost
to them in three sets, coaches and
players knew that they would have
to be at the top of their game to pull
out the upset.
"Rawlins is very balanced this
year in their offense as well as their
defense," head coach Maja Jechorek
began. "They played fast and in-
system in their offense and made
very few errors when we played
them on Friday."
Unfortunately, the speed with
which the Lady Outlaws competed
was too much for the Lady Dogies,
so while they played them pretty
close, Newcastle was unable to get
past their opponent and lost once
again in three straight sets. That early
morning loss put the Lady Dogies
into a loser-out situation against
Wheatland in the first contest on
Saturday morning.
"Heading into the match, we
knew we were playing to stay alive,
and we performed well in games
one, three and four, but made too
many errors in game two," Jechorek
analyzed.
Despite a close loss in set two,
however, the squad was able to
defeat the Lady Bulldogs to advance
to their second loser-out game of
the day against Douglas, and this
was one that would decide who
would punch their ticket to the State
Tournament.
"We lost to Douglas twice this
year, however we came out with a
very positive mind set and a huge
will to beat them in the most impor-
tant game of the season," Jechorek
began. "It is such a mind game when
you play in that match to advance to
State because you know that if you
win you advance and if you lose you
are out. We worked harder than I
have ever seen us work before. We
moved extremely well on defeng~e
and scored more than usual on the
net and that helped us win the first
-- See Volleyball, Page lo
Numbers have been the Lady Dogies' Achilles
Heel this season when it comes to team finishes,
but the small team was able to even out the odds
a little against their Conference rivals at the 3A
State Swimming and Diving Championships in
Gillette last Thursday and Friday.
Teams are allowed to enter all swimmers in
the Conference meets, but only those who swim
qualifying times move on to the State Meet,
and the Lady Dogies sent six swimmers to the
culminating event who competed in six different
individual events and three relay races-- and it
paid off in the form of a sixth place finish, which
is considerably better than the Dogies have
performed in recent years.
With team size no longer as big of a factor,
the talent the Lady Dogies entered in the State
Meet gave them a good shot at scoring higher as
a team than they had all season.
"We tapered very well and had some signifi-
cant time drops at the meet," head Coach Doug
Scribner exclaimed, noting that the girls swam
very well and finished strong in several events.
Senior Shaylee Curren swam her best time
in the 100 Free and the 200 Free, dropping
almost six seconds in the latter, while senior
Nathina Crabtree dropped two seconds in the
100 Butterfly, achieving not only a career best
time but also claiming a personal victory by
beating the personal best time put up by her
sister, Kiersten, a former Lady Dogie Butterfly
swimmer.
Rachel and Sarah Henkle each swam the 50
Free faster than they had before, and Rachel
improved her time from the Conference meet in
the 100 Backstroke as did Mikenna Waggener.
All three relays saw significant improvements
as well.
Even though the swimmers put up times that
in the past would have not only guaranteed a
place in the finals, but would have put them in a
position to place well overall, Scribner said this
year's State Meet was larger and faster than the
3A coaches and even several officials had ever
experienced.
Curren's and Crabtree's times in the 200
Free and the 100 Fly would have been enough
to advance to finals in the past, but this year
those times put them just one place short of
the opportunity to compete for the title. Sarah
Henkle found herself in a similar situation in
the 50 Free. She put up an impressive time of
27 seconds in the prelims, which has historically
been fast enough to advance, but not this season.
In fact, in the 50 Free final race in which
her sister Rachel competed and placed fifth, all
swimmers put up a time in the 25 second range,
-- See Swimming, Page 16
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