WINNEMUCCA - This is the second of a two-part series that offers a look back at the local sports scene in 2012. Today's stories are from July through December.
July
• The Lowry High School gym was full of junior high and high school girls as part of the Spike Frog Volleyball camp. Spike Frog is a private volleyball skills instruction operated by Dave Taylor in Austin, Texas. The camp teaches core skills in passing and serving. Once those fundamentals are achieved, campers move on to spiking, setting, individual defense and blocking.
• Bobby Hoenck, Cole Stremler, Sam Harper and Cole Hatcher of the Humboldt County Rodeo Club compete in the National High School Rodeo Finals in Gillette, Wyo. Humboldt County independent rider Josh Harrer also competes. Shaynee Monchamp, the 2012 Nevada High School Rodeo Queen, takes part in the national queen contest
• The Silver State International Rodeo returns to the Winnemucca Events Complex for a second consecutive. Competitors from all around the country and Canada converge on Winnemucca for the week-long competition. Humboldt County's Clay Stremler wins the saddle bronc competition. Savannah Montero finishes second in the goat tying, missing out on the championship by .06 seconds.
• The "Mardi Gras of the West" returns to Winnemucca, as the 32nd annual Paradise Valley Volunteer Fire Department 44-Hour Softball Tournament takes place at the Winnemucca Sports Complex. Teams from around the West competed for three days for a shot at the men's and women's championship. Aftermath out of Dayton beats Sparks' FDI for the men's championship. WCPC out of Sparks defeats BTFU out of Idaho for the women's title.
• The Greater Nevada Badgers, a local summer high school traveling baseball team, closes out its season by placing third at the Baker City (Ore.) tournament.
• Lowry High School graduates Justin Grant and Trevor Grant hold their annual camp at Lowry High School. The brothers continued their wrestling careers at Colorado State-Pueblo. The camp features conditioning and technique sessions as well as lectures and live wrestling.
• Jessie Schirrick, Ashley Principe, Alexia Victoria, Makenna Mavity and Michael Drake earn All-American honors at a four-day camp at UC Davis in Davis, Calif. There were seven All-Americans chosen out of 112 girls and five of them went to Lowry High School. Drake and Principe have been asked to be on the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) staff.
August
• Nevada high schools begin play under the NIAA realignment for its schools, mostly pertaining to its two largest divisions. The 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A designations are dropped for divisions. Lowry High School begins play as a member of Division 1-A. The nine schools that comprise the Northern 3A move to Division 1-A. Nine schools from the Southern 4A (Division I) will join Boulder City, Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley as members of the Southern 1-A. Schools in the 2A (Division III) and 1A (Division (IV) are left unchanged.
• The Winnemucca Junior Golf season comes to and end with one of its most successful years in memory. More than 50 juniors looked to improve their skills over a two-month period.
• The Lowry varsity football team opens its 2012 season on the road with a 69-38 non-conference win over Battle Mountain. Brandon Okuma rushes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, Lowry rushes for 500 yards. The Lowry junior varsity team beats Battle Mountain 46-0.
• Due to a lack of numbers, the McDermitt High School football team cancels its season. It is the first time the school has to cancel an entire season.
September
• The 91st annual Winnemucca Labor Day Rodeo begins its two-night stay at the Winnemucca Events Complex, featuring cowboys and cowgirls from around the west. The rodeo events include saddle bronc, bareback, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing and breakaway roping.
• The Lowry volleyball team plays host to the annual State Farm Invitational, which brings in schools from northern Nevada and Idaho.
• Dominique Frearson shoots a two-day total of 176 to win the Winnemucca Ladies Golf Club Championship.
• The new season of the Nevada State High School Rodeo Association gets underway in Ely.
• The Lowry High School girls golf team claims the opening Division I-A tournament in Fallon with a score of 377 to beat Elko by 17 shots. The two rivals would battle for the top spot in the Division I-A North all season. The Lady Bucks' Cortney Kieser shoots an 86 to place second overall.
• Lowry High School caps off its homecoming week as the Buckaroo football team routs rival Elko 41-7. Whitney Waller and Michal Arenas are named the homecoming queen and king, respectively.
• McDermitt High School's Sharon Sherburn signs a letter of intent to play basketball for the University of Great Falls in Great Falls, Mont.
October
• After years of heartbreaking losses and ties to Spring Creek, the Lowry High School girls soccer team defeats the Spartans 2-1. It is the first win for Lowry against Spring Creek in 12 years.
• The 23rd annual Winnemucca Gold Rush Soccer Tournament is held at the Winnemucca Sports Complex. Teams from across northern Nevada play in the one-day event.
• The Winnemucca Junior High School seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball teams win the Tri-County championship played in Lovelock. The Warrior seventh-graders defeat Pershing County 43-36 in the championship to finish the season with a perfect 20-0 record. The eighth-grade squad beats Battle Mountain 46-14 to conclude their season at 15-1.
• The Lowry girls golf team finishes fourth at the NIAA Division I-A State Championships at Wildcreek Golf Course in Sparks with a two-day total of 820. Faith Lutheran wins the state championship with a 624. Cortney Kieser finishes a team-best eighth with a two-day total of 178.
• Golfers from northern Nevada converge on Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course for the inaugural Louie Peraldo Memorial Golf Tournament, sponsored by the Frontier Community Coalition.
• The Lowry High School varsity and JV volleyball teams don pink jerseys to bring awareness in the fight against breast cancer. The night ends on a high note as both teams knock off Elko.
• The McDermitt High School volleyball sweeps Owyhee in a pair of matches to claim the Division IV East championship with an 8-2 record.
November
• McDermitt High School's Staheli Wilkinson and Lowry High School's Jesse Studebaker and Carli Evatz were three of 20 Nevada finalists for the Wendy's High School Heisman award.
• The Lowry football team defeats Churchill County 47-14 in the quarterfinals of the NIAA Division I-A state championships to earn its 10th win, the most in school history. The Buckaroos' season comes up one game short of the state championship a week later with a 46-0 loss to Moapa Valley in the state semifinals. It is the third straight loss to Moapa Valley in the state semifinals.
• Pro basketball comes to Winnemucca as the Reno Bighorns, a NBA Developmental team, beats the Idaho Stampede 111-103 in front of sold-out crowd at Lowry High School. The event is a success with the hope of expanding the number of teams and returning to Winnemucca. The event is a fundraiser for the Winnemucca Century Club, the booster club for Lowry High School.
• McDermitt's Debra McKee is named the Eastern 1A Player of the Year in volleyball.
• Lowry High School football players Calvin Connors, Michal Arenas, Brandon Okuma, Daniel Pollock, Cody Andersen and Michael Billingsley are named to the Division I-A North all-league, first-team
• Lowry High School volleyball players Paige Thiede and Ere Higbee are named to the Ruby Mountain Division I-A all-league, first team. Both players also earn all-state honors. Juliana Velasco and Rachel Sigurdson are named to the Ruby Mountain all-league teams as well.
• McDermitt High School's Staheli Wilkinson was chosen as the Division IV East volleyball Player of the Year, by the league's coaches. Her teammates, Chandra Catches and Sharon Sherburn, joined Wilkinson on the first team. Freshman Va Draunidalo made her way onto the honorable mention squad for the Lady Bulldogs.
December
• McDermitt High School freshman Andrea Smart scores 24 points to help the Lady Bulldogs beat Round Mountain 68-22.
• The Winnemucca eighth-grade boys basketball teams win the Tri-County basketball championships in Lovelock with a 33-27 win over Battle Mountain. The eighth-grade team finishes the year 12-6. The seventh-grade team finishes 8-14 and finishes second at the Tri-County championships.
• Lowry High School's Cody Andersen garners All-American honors with his second-place finish at 220 pounds at the Reno Tournament of Champions. The Buckaroo wrestlers finish 24th, as the second-best finishing team in Nevada, as Las Vegas' Green Valley finishes fifth.
• The Lowry High School wrestling team finishes seventh out of 81 schools at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno. The Buckaroos are the highest-finishing Nevada team. Beau Billingsley places second in the 152-pound weight class. Brandon Okuma and Luis Cardenas finishes fourth at 145 and 285 pounds, respectively.
- Information compiled by Tony Erquiaga, the Humboldt Sun
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