Sports Roundup

— Ryan Ulrich, Sports and News Editor

Senior Quarterback Jayce Lowman looking down the field trying to make a play..

Photo by Scout Hurley

Girls’ Swim and Dive Girls’ Golf

This season for the Girl’s Golf team went down to be historic. The team ended up finishing second at Regionals and third at State, which is the best finish for a Mandan High Golf team in decades, and the amount of hard work the team has put in ended up being key for the Braves. “Our golfers have never worked so much on their games during the off season as they did this summer,” Head Coach Dean Johs said. “It certainly helped that the golf course was a safe place to be during our COVID-19 times.” Besides having great team success, the team also ended up having great individual success as well as at Regionals. Freshman Anna Huettl and senior Deona Roehrich earned All-Tournament team honors, and freshman Anna Huettl finished fourth and junior Aysia Mettler finished sixth earning them All-Tournament team honors at state. All in all, it was a great season for the Braves, and they have a bright future to look forward to as seven of their top ten golfers are freshmen or younger.

The girls have had a young team this season.

That has not stopped the team from performing well even with a season impacted by outside circumstances. “The team members did a great job focusing on fundamental skills, which led to consistent time drops, and many girls were willing to move to different events from meet to meet,” Head Coach

Claudia Schoellkopf said. “This allowed for us to reach our improvement goals as a team, and we had several team finishes that surprised us, which was fun to see. Swimmers Josey Jackson, Taylor Adamski, and diver McKayla Lindbo have been event winners

so far for the Braves.

Photo by Ryan Ulrich Sophmore Brady Helbling hitting a forehand.

Boys’ Cross Country

This season, the boys ended up finishing 18th at state. However, the young teams’ effort that they brought daily was something to pride themselves on. “I believe that the team preformed well, as we gave it all that we had,” Junior Raine Skjod said. “We worked hard to improve each other and support each other, which is a great part of our teams.” The team this season would have no seniors and only one junior, so years such as these will be good for development. This provides the Braves with a young core and bright future.

Girls’ Cross Country Volleyball Boys’ Soccer

While the team ended their regular season ranked 17th and 18th after state, that does not mean that the Braves did not have individual success. Sophomore Acey Elkins placed sixth at State, which brings a bright side of promise for the teams’ future. “We are a very young team, having only one junior and no seniors, so I am excited to see what we can achieve next year when we have everyone back with us again,” Head Coach Hillary Feist said. The team ended up dealing with a variety of outside obstacles throughout the season. However, the team showed true passion by continuing to give it their all This season the Girls’ Volleyball team ended up finishing the regular season with a record of 14-4, and they were the second seed in the West Region. While the team found success throughout the regular season, it will take a lot of physical and mental toughness for the success to carry over, and that is something the players understand. “Mentality is everything, and many times it was our mental toughness that helped us stay focused and finish out close matches with good teams,” senior Taylor Leingang said. The Braves’ first postseason will be on November 10th. For more on the team check out page 24. This season the boy’s soccer team finished the season seventh in the West Region. While the finish for the team was not ideal, there was still plenty of good to come out of this season regardless of the circumstances. “Some key takeaways from the season are that we developed as the season went on, and in the last game of the year, we played our best game as a team without some key players due to COVID-19,” senior Austin Horn said. “We still gave it our all through the entirety of the season.”

Junior Morgan Sheldon spiking the ball against Minot.

Photo by Aspen Jewkes

Freshman Kelbi Pritchett winding up her swing.

Photo taken by Leah Emineth

Boys’ Tennis

The Braves finished the regular season fourth in the conference. More importantly, the team ended up accomplishing one of their biggest goals throughout the season. “One goal we have every year is to improve every day and I think we achieved that this year,” Head Coach Paul Christen said. “The players worked hard every day in practice, and I do not think we had one wasted day all season.” The teams’ continual improvement ended up going well for the Braves in the post season. Five of the top seven qualified for state, and sophomore Brady Helbling and senior Keaton Pritchett ended up being named All Confrence for placing third at West Region.

Football

The Braves finished third at WDA with a record of 4-3 this seaon. A big key for the team this season was leadership, and this proved to be important during the season. “The greatest strength of the team is senior leadership and willingness to see your teammates succeed even if it means you individually will not get the recognition,” Head Coach Todd Sheldon said. “Regardless of the situation athletes are placed in, there are still universal truths: kids are resilient, adversity will strike, and your attitude and effort will determine what happens next, but there is no replacement for senior leadership.” The Braves had their offensive line return from last year, so the team had a solid foundation. However, there was plenty of others who stepped up for the Braves as senior Quarterback Jayce Lowman finished third at WDA in passing with 918 yards and senior Tyler Thilmony (316 yards) and senior Treys Tietz (311 yards) finished third and fifth at WDA in receiving respectfully.