Through the first two months of school, many fall sports have caught fire.
The football team opened its season at home falling to a tough Hays team 22-21 on a last-second touchdown and two-point conversion. The team bounced back with a blowout win at Campus. In week three the Panthers took on Salina South at home. The final score was 57-21. Despite the two wins, the team has been sloppy with penalties and mental mistakes.
The volleyball team played in a jamboree to open the season. Although the Panthers went 2-3, falling to Kapaun, Eisenhower and Maize South, and beating Garden City and Buhler, the team took several positives out of the tournament. The team brought energy to their home opener where they defeated both Salina Central and Goddard. The team is sitting right around .500 with a record of 8-9-1 as of Sept. 24.
The cross country team headed down to Great Bend for its first meet of the year. Great Bend always produces some of the team’s slowest times of the year; however, junior Ben Perry and sophomore Ethan Smith both placed in the Top 15 with times of 16:35 and 16:56. Junior Ellie Rinn also medaled, finishing 22nd in 21:50. The following meet was in Emporia. Despite it being one of the fastest courses in years past, the team struggled. Smith didn’t finish the race due to injury and only Perry placed, finishing second with a time of 16:33. The boys also took first as a team at the East High Fritz Snodgrass Invitational.
The boys soccer team went into the Titan Classic confident and ready, this quickly changed with an opening round loss to Garden City. Not much changed in the next three games with losses to Newton, Wichita North and Maize. The team didn’t score a goal in the first four games. The team picked up their first win on Sept 18, over Campus 1-0. The team is 2-5 as of Sept. 24.
The girls golf team started its season with two second place finishes as a team. In its third tournament the team brought home a gold medal. Senior Ashlyn Hamilton led the team and got 2nd individually.
The girls tennis team has found some success through many meets. It took first as a team, and senior Ella Boline took first at the Valley Center Invitational. Junior Emma Flaharty took second in singles. Senior Karlie Demel and freshman Katie Rehm took first in doubles at the same meet. At home Boline took first once again, and the Demel Brehm duo took third.