Jock Talk

What a fun day for Mrs. Southard and myself this past Thursday. We travelled to Bayard and took in the D-6 District Cross Country meet and talk about a large turnout of fans on hand to watch the runners. Cars were parked for long distances up and down the county road outside the Bayard golf course. Our trip was even more enjoyable watching the Kimball boys qualify for this Friday’s State Meet by finishing third at Bayard. It was special getting to watch Brandon Barker demolish the field in winning the individual championship well ahead of the runner-up runner. It was neat to see sophomore Zach Wagner blaze down the home stretch to earn the 13th place medal. It was special to watch Courtney Knisley of Banner County finish 12th and qualify as an individual for the state meet in the girl’s race.

I researched the six Class D District results and only four runners from the six districts ran a faster time than Kimball’s Brandon Barker and considering that there were 82 boys registered for the D-6 District at Bayard, you can assume that there were hundreds of boys running from all of the D districts. Brandon Barker, a senior, is really working hard to bring home more honors after winning both conference races and the district race in his last three races. The young man has a lot of talent and is working hard. Any college coaches out there needing an up and coming young runner?

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It was fun watching coach Tiffany Johnson and coach Laurie Janicek as they readied their runners for the race. They have race rituals they go through prior to the race. Lots of hugs and gatherings to talk. Coach Janicek has a couple of buckeyes the kids like to rub for good luck.

The post race celebration was even more fun including coach Johnson getting doused with cold water. Lots more happy hugging among runners, coaches, parents, and fans. Good snack food brought by the coaches and we were invited to join in and the homemade bread was awesome. I think coach Tiffany’s mom made it. Two of the runner’s moms were wearing shirts that said something like, “Cross County, a good reason for golf courses.” I doubt if Chad Wise would appreciate those shirts. Saw lots of other shirts with neat wording also.

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Then, as planned, it was off to Scottsbluff and a stop at Cougar Palace to finally get to see the highly touted and number 2 nationally-ranked Lady Cougar Volleyball Team, of which Kimball’s Danika Daum is a member. No problem on this night as the Lady Cougars won in three sets – 25-15, 25-18, 25-22 to notch their 25th win of the season. Danika, a freshman on this elite program, played the entire third set and played pretty much error free and among her stats were 15 set assists.

I got to talk with Danika at the end of the match and she told me she is enjoying school and volleyball at WNCC. It is her plan to work hard at her game and to move on to a four-year program when her two years at WNCC are complete. I like the atmosphere at WNCC and the way the community supports all of their athletic programs.

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I gave you a story last week about the win by Dakota Wesleyan and Kimball’s Jon Withrow and Enrique Cajero and their role in that win. I also mentioned that this past Saturday was a big game with ranked Concordia with both teams going in with 4-2 records. Happy to report that the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers came up with a 52-30 win in this important contest and are now 5-2 and still in contention for post season playoffs. Didn’t come up with any individual stats on Jon or Enrique, however.

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Andrew McCloud registered a rare double eagle this past week at the Four Winds Golf Course. Playing with Jordan Greenwood and Zane Anthony and actually playing from the advanced red tees, Andrew hit his second shot from 167 yards into the cup for a 2 on the 5 par. Red tees or not, still a rare happening.