With the first games of fall sports season three of weeks away, hopes are being renewed for the Lowry and McDermitt high school fall sports teams.
The Division I-A will be entering their third year of realignment and it was not a bad 2013-14 season for the northern teams against the much larger schools of the south. Lowry brought home two state championships - one in wrestling and another in girls basketball. Wrestling has won a state-record 16 tiles and the Lady Bucks won their sixth title.
The Lowry High School football team has seen its season end in southern Nevada for four straight seasons. The first three were to Moapa Valley and last year it was to Faith Lutheran, the eventual state champs.
The Buckaroos have won a school record 10 games in the last two seasons. If Lowry does that again this year, it will be a successful year. The Buckaroos lost some strong players, including the Division I-A MVP, but the cupboard is not bare.
Everyone loves preseason rankings and predictions and they mean nothing until you play. However, as the year gets ready to kickoff, Lowry is ranked No. 25 in the state by Max Preps. There will be plenty of games played to figure everything out.
The schedule makers were not kind to Lowry, who plays six road games, including road trips to Fernley, Wooster and Fallon. The Buckaroos play the Vaqueros on Friday, Sept. 5, to kick off the Division I-A North slate. It's early, but a big game.
Other key games will be when Lowry hosts Elko on Friday, Oct. 10. The Buckaroos and Greenwave play in the final regular season game of the year on Thursday, Oct. 30. Lowry ended Churchill County's perfect season and the Greenwave remember that.
After a miserable 2012 with just one league win, the Lowry volleyball team made major strides a year ago, reaching the regional playoffs as the No. 4 seed.
The future looks bright for the squad. There are a number of returning players, along with a strong group of JV players. The JV team went 16-0 in the Division I-A North and the lone loss was to Churchill County in a preseason tournament.
Lowry gets to host the regional championships this year and quite possibly will be on its home floor in November. The group will be tall and athletic and now they know how to win.
The Lowry girls golf team had another strong season last fall, with a third-place finish at the Division I-A state tournament. The Lady Bucks were not that far off from a runner-up finish, as Faith Lutheran and Clark separated themselves from the field.
The Crusaders have won the last two state championships and have sent a handful of young ladies to NCAA Division I schools.
Lowry loses two players off its team due to graduation, but have the returning players that will have a chance to compete for a spot in the state tournament once again.
There was quite a bit of excitement at the start of the 2013 season for the boys soccer team. The Buckaroos were quick, young and had one to the top goal scorers in the state. However, injuries depleted the squad in the final five to six matches and Lowry missed out on the playoffs.
Lowry loses its top scorer to graduation, but the disappointment from last year should be a big push this season.
The teams on the eastern side of Nevada have made some gains on the Lake Tahoe schools. Still the likes of Truckee, South Tahoe and Sparks are tough to knock off. The addition of the schools in the south has made the league competitive.
The Lady Bucks' soccer team went on a wild roller coaster ride in 2013. Lowry was in a majority of its matches it played, but let a few get away from them that they shouldn't have.
The Lady Bucks have a solid group of young players back and with new coach Melanie Rasor there will be excitement with this group.
With just four teams making the playoffs, you will have to find a win over Truckee, South Tahoe, Elko, Spring Creek or Churchill County. The Division I-A North is deep.
After being one the most dominant dynasties in Nevada history (17 out of 20 championships) from 2000-09, the Lowry cross country team will be looking to get back to those glory days.
With the realignment that brought South Tahoe and Elko down to Division I-A, the northern league has become much tougher. The south is not a pushover, either.
The sport will go in cycles, as Lowry has not competed in the state championships the last couple of years. A number of runners have gotten in shape over the summer, getting ready for the year.
It will be interesting to see how the McDermitt volleyball season plays out. Last year, the Lady Bulldogs played with five freshmen and three sophomores.
It was an up and down season for the Lady Bulldogs with three straight wins to start the year. As with every team, McDermitt let a couple of matches get away from them, but attribute that to youth.
A lot of the players are off the basketball team that has enjoyed continuous success. If that can translate to the volleyball court, it will be fun to watch.
After canceling its football season in 2012 due to a lack of players, McDermitt was back on the field a year ago. To say the least there were a couple of spirited match-ups against Eureka that spilled into the basketball season. Numbers have been an issue in the last few years, determining if there will be a team. Hopefully, the Bulldogs have enough players to play this fall. With the course of injuries, they are looking to have at least 12 players to play eight-man football. Any less and the season could be in jeopardy.
Tony Erquiaga can be reached via email at t.erquiaga@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
