SPORTS

A recap of the 2020 fall season for SHS varsity sports.

Graphic by: Peyton Mullen

Above: Sandpoint High School Athletes compete in their sport during the fall season.

By Chris Koch

News Editor

This past fall, Sandpoint High School athletes were able to compete despite the unusual circumstances this season. This year, 4 and 5A schools in the area recreated the Inland Empire League which gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to play more games against tougher schools. Playing during a pandemic didn’t stop the athletes from succeeding.

Football: The Football team had a season to remember and ended up winning the regional title and went to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015. The team’s overall record was 5-5 and the Bulldogs dominated the other 4A schools in the region. After beating Lakeland, the Bulldogs played Hillcrest and won. Sandpoint then beat Moscow which gave them the ticket to the state semifinals. The team is hopeful they will make it to the state championship next season.

Boys Soccer: The boys soccer team went to state for the first time since 2017. Their record this season was 5-6-2. The Bulldogs won the Inland Empire League with an undefeated record. They competed in the state tournament in Idaho Falls where they lost to Bishop Kelly and Vallieview. Although the Bulldogs were not able to make it far in the state tournament, the feat of getting to compete contributed to a memorable season.

Girls Soccer: The girls soccer team ended their season with a record of 5-7-1. Despite their struggle this season, the team hopes to recapture their league title. “I think that’s entirely up to my players quite frankly” Baranski explained, “it doesn’t matter how much that frustrates me...And I think my players will respond appropriately.”

Volleyball: The volleyball team had a record of 5-10 this season. The head coach, Karen Alsager, had an optimistic view on her team’s season. “I’m happy that we did better than we did the previous year.” She said. Alsager was also pleased that the team beat a variety of different school levels. “This year, we had 2 5A wins and 2 4A wins, so we were beating better teams.” She said. The team performed better this year in the district tournament than last year. Sandpoint beat Moscow, but lost to Lakeland. The Bulldogs came out of their season with their heads high and ambitions for next year.

Boys Cross-Country: The boys cross-country team had an outstanding season. They beat all division one and two teams in their league. Coach Matt Brass enjoyed coaching the team saying, “[It was just] a really fun team, they were a really fun team to coach and be around.” Coach Brass said that Nikoli Braedt, Jett Lucas, and Keegan Nelson were influential to the team’s performance and placed high in every meet. At the end of the season, the Bulldogs went undefeated in every regional meet and earned a fourth place title in the state of Idaho.

Girls Cross-Country: The girls cross-country team did very well placing ninth at the state competition. Coach Angie Brass said, “It was a great season...We placed in the top three of most of our meets we attended,” The girl’s team were regional champions and made it to state which is always one of the many goals for their season. There were some key runners for the Bulldogs success this season including Mackenzie Suhy Gregoire, Megan Oulman, and Ara Clark. Nueder described her season with pride in her team. “I think this was my favorite season [and] the whole season is what really got our team through this crazy time,” she said.

Swim Team: The swim team achieved success this season. The boys team came in second in the district competition and the girls came in first. Both teams competed in the state tournament, but this year it looked different considering it was a virtual event. Both teams placed second at state to cap off an amazing season. Kate Bokowy, one of the team’s leading swimmers, said “COVID gave us a new motivation to try our best everyday because for all we knew it was our last practice.”

Dance: The dance team has had a great start to season with exciting performances at the home football games. Head Coach Laurie Buck was excited about the high skill level her team showed this year saying, “Our team this year has such a positive outlook and the skill level is higher than it’s ever been.” Captain Breann Klopman said, “[Our season has been] pretty good so far we haven’t had competition yet...But the football games have been great.”

Cheer: The cheer team has cheered at most of the football games this year. Although their competitions do not start until late January. it is still beneficial for the team perform at the football games. Knowing whether they should be prepping for competition season since one of the competitions has already been canceled has been a struggle for the cheerleaders, but they are hopeful they will get to perform.