Girls Tennis

Tennis season is here and in full swing.

This year’s season opener is March 23, where CHS will compete against Lincoln Northwest High School at Pawnee Park. Other home events include a dual on March 28 against Norfolk at Pawnee Park, and an invite to Pawnee and Gerrard Park against several area schools.

Girls JV Tennis plays when Varsity plays with a few additional matches and invitationals. They have an invitational on April 1 at the Woods Tennis Center. They have another invitational there on April 14.

Coach Leibhart’s goals and expectations for this season are for each of the girls on the team to grow in their tennis skills. The top player, according to Coach Leibhart is Sarah Lasso.

Baseball

CHS boys baseball has high expectations for this year’s season. The boys on the team got together and set goals for the team prior to the beginning of Spring Sports and they determined some statistical goals.

Coach Jimmy Johnson said, “We always expect to be competitive regardless of who we play, and our players have the same mentality. We also expect to improve and come together as a team. This will be up to the players buying into their roles and having a team attitude at all levels.”

According to Coach Johnson, some good players to watch are Catcher Connor Rausch, Outfielder Jack Faust, Infielder Jarrett Bell and Infielder Wyatt Swanson. Johnson says the key for this year is to get leadership from these boys. 

The season opener is Thursday, March 16, with a doubleheader at Norfolk. The first home game is Monday, March 20, against Lincoln Southwest.

Girls Soccer

CHS is coach Zackary Wayman and his team’s biggest goals this year are to establish and maintain the level of focus, intensity, and execution necessary to achieve greatness.

The ultimate goal for any fans out there is to compete for a district championship and to give themselves the opportunity to compete at a state level, come May. 

Kelyn Garrelts, Ellie Thompsen, and Joey Long are team captains and seniors who have played varsity for what will be three years now. The coach along with the fans will rely on them for their leadership, consistency, and performances. However, seniors are not the only ones in the spotlight this season. Junior Carly Gadeke led the team with seven assists on goals last year and contributed two goals of her own. Returning Junior Jordan Trotta owns the school record for shots saved in a single game, (18 as a freshman). Sophomore Abby Haynes also returns as the leading goalscorer, finishing 11 last year. She is hoping to build on but ultimately improve her performance.

Some challenges in the past for this team have been playing a full class A schedule for the first time in at least 2 years. Another challenge they have faced is playing against very talented schools. Coming up this season, the CHS girls soccer team will face off against Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln East, Lincoln Pius X and many others who have advanced to the semifinals last year. The team looks forward to facing these opponents head on and with hard work, belief, and intensity, they will do their best to play to the best of their abilities for each game. 

Throughout the course of this season, the team will play six home games and three of those will be at the Columbus High School turf field. Coach Wayman is hopeful for a big crowd at each game to cheer the girls to a fun and successful season. 

All in all, the girls soccer season will be starting off strong this year at CHS. Be sure to be in the crowds cheering the girls on and watching sensational soccer history being made. Everyone knows the girls need the crowd to give them a good kick in the grass. 

Boys Soccer

Soccer is here at CHS and we are starting the season with great players and rivals.

The season opener is March 16 at CHS against Lincoln Northstar. Other events Boys Soccer will compete in are a game on March 21 against Grand Island, and another game on March 23 against Lincoln High at Wilderness Park. 

Boys JV Soccer plays March 18 against Millard South at the Buell Stadium, March 21 against Grand Island at the Grand Island Memorial Field and March 30 against Fremont and the Christensen Field.

Coach Arlt’s goals for this season are to have a winning season and qualify for the state tournament. Some top players, according to Coach Arlt are Jorge Tovar, Kay Ortiz, Tanner Esch and Jayson Spencer.

Boys Golf

It’s around that time when all those golfers out there come out to play. This season for boys golf, some players to watch are the returning letter winners. These include seniors Tyson Weber and Nic Kreich and sophomore Keaton Barnes.

Coach Anne Roberston has high hopes for the golfers this season. She is hoping to see improvements in each players’ golf games and lower individual scores. While she does have hopes for the boys to grow individually, she also has hopes for the group as a whole. The ultimate goal for this season is to qualify for state as a team.

One major challenge that Coach Robertson has seen throughout the years is competitive experience. Last year, due to graduation, the team lost two low scorers and state qualifiers. That means it is up to the returning letter winners to continue their efforts to break eighty in competitions. The only way to overcome the difficulties that this season presents is to “practice, practice, practice” according to Coach Robertson.

Obviously, this year’s boys golf season will be one to watch. Make sure you stand by to wish the boys good luck for an amazing start to their season at CHS. Anyone who is a fan of golf knows this will be an incredible season, no ifs, ands, or putts about it.

Boys Track

The first meet for Boys Track this season is going to be on March 18 at Concordia. 

Head coach Scott Bethune says his expectations are “to work hard every day, compete the best they can and improve as the year progresses.” 

“Top athletes” on the team include Noah Lawrence, Liam Blaser, Alex Ienn, Jaden McFarland, Adoriyan Daniels, Isaiah Eilers and lastly Tyler Hyde. Hopefully, these athletes will compete in the most exciting meets of the season. Coach Bethune says the most exciting meets will be the CHS invite, HAC invite, and Districts on our track at Pawnee Park.

Unified Track

Unified’s first meet is March 31 at Pawnee Park at the Columbus Invite. 

Coach Wildman states her expectations for the season are “for every athlete and their partner to have fun and be willing to try and do something new.” 

Some top news for the Unified team is that they have added shot put as an event. Wildman says “I’m excited to see what we can do in that event.”

There are no set-in-stone top athletes on the team but all are top athletes and have great potential to make it to state!

Girls Track

CHS girls track has high hopes of improvement this year. Coach Matt Bills hopes to be able to see improvement from the beginning of the season to the end. He hopes the girls are able to peak for the conference and district meets at the end of the year.

One of Coach Bills’ expectations for the girls this season is to have as many state qualifiers as possible.

Some excellent players to watch are returning state qualifiers Hailey Kropatsch, Hannah Kropatsch and Citlaly Ramirez in the 3200m relay. Another great runner to watch for is returning state qualifier Addison Johnson in the 800m and the 3200m relay.

The season opener is Saturday, March 18, at the Bulldog Challenge at Concordia University. The first home meet is a varsity meet on Friday, March 31.

For all things Discoverer, follow Anchor News on Twitter, Instagram, and Fusfoo.