Baseball StatsBaseball season is over and while the Falcons were not in the playoffs, they finished the season on a winning note. After sweeping Mesa Ridge 15-3 and 16-12, they defeated Harrison 41-3 and non-conference Mitchell 18-8. Several batters continued to swing the bat well, including Cade Schulze and Cody Solberg. Solberg finished the regular season third in the area stats with a .587 batting average. He also ranked third in doubles. Schulze made the final rankings with 27 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Standout senior pitcher Travis Ewing was fifth in the standings with a 1.94 ERA.Golf FinalsThe Falcon Girls’ Varsity Golf Team had a good season despite their inexperience. They finished tenth in league play. Senior Lisa Shipley shot a 98 at the Cougar Classic and was 17th of 85 entries. The season is now over except for a makeup tournament. Regarding the League Final, Coach Kirsten Woods says, “The girls didn’t finish like they wanted to, but overall they have all improved for the year. I’m actually pretty happy because they all got their personal best scores this season.”Track Regional and State TourneysArea leaders in track include Wes Rickman (first in 800, 1600 and 3200) and Kiah Hicks (third in discus). Besides Rickman and Hicks, three other Falcons are pre-qualified for the state finals. They are Jessica Brungardt (shot put) and Kevin Johnson (3200). Brungardt, who has been named a KRDO champion, is also an academic standout with a 4.25 GPA. This is her fourth year as a state qualifier. Keenan Ballage (100) qualified too, and has the distinction of being the defending state champion in his event. This is his third year as a state qualifier. Coach Wilson is confident that Bryce Lane (high jump and hurdles) will qualify by being in the top three in the Region.Wilson says that one reason for her optimism is the showing the freshman and sophomores did at the Freshman-Sophomore meet at Liberty where they even competed against 5A teams. The boys won their meet with 271 points, 90 more than their closest opponent, while the girls won with 246 points. Wilson says, “The best is yet to come from Falcon.”In the state contests, Falcon actually exceeded expectations with Ballage (100) sixth, Aaron Blevins (400) sixth, Michael Petherick (400) eighth, Dimitri Longmire (discus) fourth, Paul Rotering (discus) fifth, Shane Woodard (long jump) sixth, Bryce Lane (110 hurdles) third and Chris Scheppele fifth, Lane (300m hurdles) third, Scheppele sixth and David Fredericksen eighth, Lane (high jump) fifth with Kevin Haberkorn eighth, Vito Key (shot put) fifth with Rotering sixth and Longmire eighth, and Kevin Johnson (3200) third and Chris Stearns eighth in the Region. In the 4X400 Falcon was fourth. In the Finals, Wes Rickman was second in the 1600 meters, with Kevin Johnson sixth.In the regional girls events Katelyn Gatrost (400) took seventh, Sade Lewis (high jump) seventh, third(100 hurdles) and second (triple jump), Kiah Hicks (shot put) second, Jessica Brungardt (shot put) sixth, Hicks (discus) third, Lewis (100) seventh, Sade Bryceland (100) fifth. In the finals, Brungardt (shot put) was fourth with Hicks ninth.
