Summer vacation is over and students in Humboldt County are finally back to school. With that comes the start of the fall sports season. It’s just the beginning, but here is a possibility of what to look forward to.
The Lowry High School volleyball team was the only varsity sport to get under way last weekend. The Lady Bucks went 6-2 at the Yerington Invitational, with one of the losses to Spanish Springs, who may be one of the best teams in the Division I North.
It will get even tougher for Lowry this weekend at the High Sierra Invitational in Reno hosted by Galena High School. The Lady Bucks will see what kind of team they have headed into the Division I-A North season.
Lowry was 27-4 last year and a match away from the state tournament. The program has been building within to get back to state and this year may be its best chance. If the Lady Bucks can stay healthy and continue to improve, there might be a ticket awaiting them for a trip to Las Vegas in November.
The big question is what to expect from the Lowry football team. The Buckaroos have been to the playoffs for six years in a row, including four trips to the state semifinals. Lowry could never get over the hump and into the title game.
Less than 10 players return from a season ago and with new coach Taua Cabatbat, it will likely be a rebuilding process for a couple of years. The Division I-A will be tough with Churchill County (Fallon), Elko, Spring Creek, Fernley and Truckee. Lowry gets tested right away in the season-opener on Friday at home against Fernley.
Parents and fans need to be patient because it will be a learning experience with a majority of the players not taking a snap in a varsity game before. If the Buckaroos can get around .500 that will be a good year.
If the Lowry girls soccer team can bottle up its finish from last year and open it up and pick up from where it left off it should be a fun season. The Lady Bucks won their last six regular season games, including against rivals Elko and Spring Creek.
In order to be successful, Lowry will need to do that again and find a way to steal a win from Truckee and South Tahoe. That is easier said than done. The Lake Tahoe schools have dominated soccer in Nevada, even though those two reside in California.
With six playoff teams this year, Lowry ideally would like to be in the top four or even the first two spots to avoid playing three days in a row.
If the Lady Bucks can get in the semifinals of the regional tournament, they will most likely have to play either Truckee or South Tahoe in order to reach the state tournament for the first time in school history. David has beaten Goliath on occasion.
The Lowry girls golf team lost one of the premiere players in the Division I-A last year, but return five players from the 2014 state tournament team that finished fourth.
Just that fact alone makes the Lady Bucks a contender to be near the top of the league standings once again. It will likely be a two-team race with Lowry and Elko for that honor. However, Lowry through in a little wrinkle last week at the icebreaker in Spring Creek, when freshman Tatyana Carlson tied for low honors with an 81. To ask her to do that every week is impossible, but if she can stay in the high 80s and the other five play like they can, there may be a regional title waiting to be claimed.
The Lowry boys soccer team is looking to shake off a disastrous 2014. Like the football team, there may be some bumps in the road. Numbers are down in the program, but the starting 11 the Buckaroos will put on the field should be competitive against most in the Division I-A North.
The biggest question to answer is the depth coming off the bench. There will be little varsity experience there. Lowry needs to avoid the injury bug. Truckee, Sparks and South Tahoe will be tough as usual. If everything goes right, Lowry can secure one of the six playoff spots.
Everything goes in cycles and the Lowry cross country teams were one of the most dominant in Nevada history from 2000-09, winning 17 state titles.
With a number of realignment changes in recent memory cross country is becoming more and more competitive. Truckee, Elko, Spring Creek and South Tahoe has become the teams to beat in northern Nevada.
Lowry is slowly rebuilding its program and sent Hayden Jeppsen to the state championships last year. The goal now is to get full teams back to state and coach Kathy Norcutt is doing her best to do that.
Like wrestling, cross country is an individual sport but also a team competition. It may be tough for the Buckaroos to get full teams to state this year, but it’s possible to get individuals back there.
Here’s hoping that McDermitt High School does field a football team this fall. With only single digits in numbers, it makes nearly impossible to play.
The team lost a number of players to graduation and others decided not to play. With school starting late, hopefully the Bulldog can added three or four players. It’s not high school and fall without football.
The McDermitt volleyball team reached the playoffs last year and have that ability and more to do that again. For the first time in a long time, the Lady Bulldogs have multiple seniors on the roster. The core group has finally hit the 12th grade. It seems like they have been there forever.
The senior will look to lead this group to the playoffs. If everything stays on the right course there is no reason for that to happen.
