By Sam Ojeda
Buhler High School sports are in full swing as their 2023-2024 athletic year begins.
Soccer:
The Buhler Crusaders Soccer team looked to grow off of their 16-2 season last year with a strong start to this season. The Crusaders took on the Hutchinson High Salthawks on Tuesday. Buhler won 1-0 in a defensive game that flashed highlights from both goalies.
Jaylen Cherry scored the one goal in the game and was assisted by AJ Thetford.
The real game MVP was Buhler goalie Landon Hallier. Head Coach Joshua Tafolla spoke highly of Hallier’s performance, “Landon played phenomenal on Tuesday, couldn’t be more proud of his performance.” Hallier had 12 saves. He sealed the game for the Crusaders when he saved a Salthawk penalty kick with 11 seconds left to go in the match.
Hutch High required a lot of preparation to beat, “I knew the game was going to be a battle,” Tafolla said. “Coach (Tyler)Lawrence had his team prepared.” Buhler is 1-0 to start the season and look to continue the strong start next week.
Golf:
The Buhler golf team played their first tournament at the Nickerson Invitational at Crazy Horse Golf Course. Senior Sloane Adkins finished in 7th place with a round score of 52. Freshman Ellie Goering shot a 58 which put her tied for 16th. Madalyn Bohringer, Dani Rogers, and Gracin Bergmier all shot 61 and tied for 23rd. Senior Delaney Hartnett rounded out the results for Buhler as she shot a 66 and tied for 37th. As a team, they finished 4th out of 9 teams with a combined score of 232.
Volleyball:
Buhler Volleyball hosted a home triangular with Rose Hill and Collegiate. The Crusaders ended up splitting their matches. They beat Rose Hill 2-1 25-27, 25-16, 25-18. They lost to the Collegiate 0-2 22-25, 20-25. Head Coach Deedra Emel was excited to start the season again, “It was exciting to be back in Jim Baker Fieldhouse, playing in front of our fans.” There were some goods and still some to work on, “We improved our defense and blocking but struggled from the service line.” said Emel. “We have a week to really focus on serving consistency and the little things.” Buhler is back in action Tuesday against Augusta and El Dorado.
Tennis:
Tennis jumped into action this week with matches on Tuesday at Wellington and Thursday at the Maize Invitational. They won their match on Tuesday at Wellington as 1S(1st singles) was won by Haeleigh Ruiz, 3-0. 2S(2nd singles) was won by Ashlyn Coker, 3-0. 1D(1st Doubles) came down to a three-way tie for first place but because of the tiebreaker procedure, Kayleigh Hamby and Jaiden Gillette finished 3rd. 2D(2nd doubles) finished 1st as Madi Tanksley and Faith Miller won 3–0.
On Thursday 1S Addy Caywood finished 7th. 2S Cassidy Banning also finished 7th. There was another 7th place result for 1D Jaiden Gillette and Haeleigh Ruiz. Thursday’s bright spot came from 2D Mady Tanksley and Ashlyn Coker who finished 2nd.
Cross Country:
Girls Cross Country finished 9th at Great Bend on Thursday. The girls top finisher was Krysten Hamby. Hamby, who is a Senior, finished 29th with a time of 22:46. The boys finished 2nd. Their top finisher was Layne Whisler. Whistler finished 3rd with a time of 16:40.
Head Coach Curtis Morgan is encouraged about the season, “I like where we’re at, I like the summer that we had. I’m looking forward to what these teams can do.”
Last season the boy’s team lost the state title by six points so this season means something to them, “This team has got a chip on their shoulder.” The girls team finished 6th at state last season and Coach Morgan sees a future for them, “I think they’re going to be sneaky good. I know that they want to finish better at state than we did last year.” Morgan said.
