At the beginning of every year, fall sports take to the fields and courts to represent Cascade against rivals such as Cashmere, Omak, and Chelan. Volleyball, football, cheer, cross country, and girls' soccer typically practice weeklong with meets and games on weekends. Student athletes must have perseverance and dedication to both play a sport and keep up with schoolwork. This fall, Kodiak teams have already accomplished a lot.
In volleyball, Finna Gillikin (12) is serving as captain with Teagan Sauer (12) as the co-captain, and Ami Coronado (11) as manager. The team also has a new head coach, Anthony Mora. As co-captain, Teagan said her jobs include “leading exercises and warmups if Finna isn’t there, and just keeping morale high.” The team has played four games already. Varsity member Mckenzie Sheppard (11) said that so far her favorite part of the season has been “really just improving in techniques and seeing hard work pay off.” The team has been meshing really well. “The vibe is so great; we have a really good group of girls with no drama. We really trust each other, get along on and off the court, and we all love our new head coach,” said Sheppard. The volleyball team is excited for their game in Chelan on October 3.
The football team has had many changes this season including “a new coaching staff, new defense, and an entire new playbook with new hand signs,” said captain and wide receiver Will Biebesheimer (11). So far, the team has played Naches Valley and Brewster at home, and Tonasket and Granite Falls away. The coaching staff this year consists of Carl Haberberger as head coach, and Mr. T. Fraker, Mr. Sunitsch, Mr. Muscutt, Mr. Adams, Mr. Lang, and Mr. McMillan as assistant coaches. Arthur Northrup (11) is quarterback with Biebesheimer, Payton Adams (12), Axel Pacheco (12), and John Varges (12) as the captains. “As captain we decide what jerseys we want to wear for each game, and we are the ones getting yelled at by the refs,” said Biebesheimer. “I think we’re all getting closer like a family, and we’re getting the plays down too,” said Northrup. Up next for the team is an away game against Quincy on September 29. They are getting excited for the Pear Bowl game against Cashmere on October 6.
Cheer has always had the most interaction with the student body. This year they have been working hard to bring school spirit to games and assemblies. The captains are Natalie Sanchez (12) and Abigail Carnahan (12), with Janessa Subido as coach. “My job is to make sure everyone is completing cheers and doing their best, and having fun,” said Sanchez. The cheer team has been working on a lot of new projects including “over 80 cheers and we’ve been working on stunting and tumbling,” according to team member Grace Redman (11). “This team has been my favorite team out of my 2 years doing this. We always find a way to have fun,” said Redman. Something exciting coming up according to Sanchez is “the Pear Bowl game. Hopefully we are going to have a big crowd show up to support.”
“This team has been my favorite team out of my 2 years doing this. We always find a way to have fun." -Grace Redman, Cheerleader
For the first time in many years, the women's cross country team has more members than the men's. The captains are Isabel Menna (12), Blue Knutson (12) and Brayden Anderson (12); Dayle Massey is head coach and Staphanie Astell and Heleene Tambet are assistant coaches. The team has already competed at Ellensburg, Walla Walla Park in Wenatchee, and Okanogan this season. “I’m very excited for the Nike meets and for the girls to do well at state,” said Menna. Team member Ben Jerome said that his favorite part of the season so far was “the Wenatchee meet because it was a great race with lot of energy and people, and I [had a personal record] by over 2 minutes.” Jerome also said that he was most looking forward to “Nike Hole in The Wall and Nike Twighlight, because over 2000 people from Washington and Oregon compete and it's going to be fun and intense.”
Both the varsity and junior varsity girls' soccer teams have been working hard since the beginning of the season to crush the opponents during the league season. Leslie Mata (11), Teyva Dillon (11), Rayen Blue (12), and Cassidy Gillespie (12) are this year's varsity captains; Damian Sandoval (11) and Dulce Herrera (12) are managers; Jaime Lamb is head coach with Manuel Derobles as JV coach. “[So far the best part of the season] has been the win against Zilla because it was our first win and we proved we can win and make good plays,” said Mata. “I really like all my team members; it is fun to play with them. I also like soccer in general, it's fun to play and experience something new,” said JV team member Paula Wasmuth.
Something exciting coming up for the team is “this game versus Cashmere, because hopefully the student section will show out with lots of good energy and intensity,” said Mata.
Managing all of this is a new Athletic and Activities director: Tim Barnes. Barnes was hired for the position last spring. “I’ve always loved being involved with athletics. I get to be involved and watch all the sports as part of my job. I just love being involved with the programs,” said Barnes. One unexpected challenge that he has had to face is “right now with Ms. Osborn out, I’m having to do a lot with the financial part of athletics, which is not usually part of the job.” Barnes is “excited for our programs to become strong again. I think we have a great coaching staff, and I’m excited to see more students get involved to build the program.”
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