Looking Forward: The Wildcats in 2010
by Kara Buescher

Football season doesn’t start until fall, but for the Valdosta Wildcats, practice for those Friday night lights is well underway. Currently the team is undergoing a rebuilding phase with the addition of new head coach Rance Gillespie. Coach Gillespie has implemented a new practice system that is extremely rigorous but will certainly benefit the team come this fall.  Since his arrival, Gillespie has established a system that not only teaches them what to practice but also how to practice. In addition, he has taught new schemes for offense and defense that will prepare the Wildcats to defeat all of its challenging competitors this fall.

Coach Gillespie is not the only new addition to the team, however. This year the number of varsity players has increased to approximately 135 and he ninth grade team has approximately 50 players. Gillespie says, “We have a large team. Although progress was slow at first, the team continues to improve each and every day. I’m very optimistic for this season.”

Coach Gillespie is not the only one with high hopes. Upcoming senior Jay Rome says, “I think we’re going to do really well this season. Practice is much different now than it was last year – it’s a lot harder. I think our hard work will pay off, though, and allow us to win more games this year.”

At press time, the Valdosta Wildcats were preparing to put their hard work to the test on Saturday, May 15, at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium with the annual Spring Game. The seventh grade will start off the event at 4:00. The eighth and ninth grade teams will then compete against each other at 5:30, and the varsity team will play at 7:30. After the Spring Game, the Wildcats will continue to practice throughout the summer. The official football season will kick off on August 20 with a scrimmage against Ware County.

Photography submitted by Valdosta High School

Cats On The Prowl
by Kara Buescher

This baseball season, the varsity ‘Cats are on the attack! On March 3, the Valdosta Wildcats got off to a great start with their first win of the season against Madison County, defeating the team 15-5. The team continued their success and defeated Crisp, Leon, Warner Robins and Tift County. On March 24, the ‘Cats went head-to-head with cross-town rival Lowndes and proved victorious with a 9-3 win. The Wildcats pounded out 12 hits and earned a key region victory, improving their record to 6-4 and 3-1 in Region 1-AAAAA. The Valdosta baseball team then dominated over Deerfield Beach, Houston County, Warner Robins and Tift County, bringing their record up to 7-2 in region play.

The Wildcats are currently ranked first in the region. The team will continue their season with games against Northside, Lowndes, Leon, Coffee and Colquitt. Their last region game will be against Houston County on April 30. If they finish in the top four of the region, which seems highly probable, they will compete in the first round of state playoffs on May 7. “I’m proud of the players. They’ve worked extremely hard this season,” head coach Bart Shuman says. “Every win right now is critical, especially at home. We have to win our games.” Pitcher Chad Prain says, “I always say that baseball is 100 percent about mentality. You have to have a great mental game to play baseball. I use my mind at all times. I can’t overpower you, and I don’t have the greatest stuff, but I can paint the corners, and I go with what I got.”

Photography by photocr.com

‘Cats Soccer Season Has Shaky Start
by Dillon Hanson and Nick Harrison

Midway through their respective seasons, the Valdosta Wildcats boys and girls soccer teams have gotten off to shaky starts, but both have high hopes for the rest of the season. 

The varsity boys have had a string of bad luck lately, losing to Colquitt County in overtime after jumping out to a 3-0 lead and then watching it disappear.

Despite the disappointment, the boys turned their fortunes around by defeating Lowndes, their cross-town rival, 4-3. This was the varsity boys first victory against Lowndes since 2006. When asked about his team’s performance, team captain Trav Harris responded, “We got off to a rough start, but we have continued to hold our heads high and improve our overall team unity.”  He continues, “We also hope to build off of this win and have a successful remainder of the season.”

The varsity girls team has had their fair share of misfortunes as well.  They defeated Brooks County and Coffee by a combined score of 5-2.  Returning goalkeeper Kendal Baskin added yet another clean sheet to her résumé against Brooks County, allowing no goals to the Trojans.  The girls hope to continue to improve as their season progresses.

The junior varsity boys team has faced as much adversity but continues to strive for victory.  Their only win came from a 1-0 defeat of rival Lowndes.  All of the losses have taken place away from home, but they hope to perform in an upcoming stretch of home games against the teams that previously defeated them. Despite their losing records, several players have shown signs of promise for future varsity positions.

Photography by photocr.com

Tennis Teams On Fast Track To State
by Dillon Hanson and Nick Harrison

Both Valdosta Wildcats tennis teams are off to great starts this season, losing only one match to Starrs Mill. 

The boys, led by seniors Tommy Cangelosi and Stephen Moore, won their first four matches.  Cangelosi had only lost four games in the Cats’ first four matches, while Moore dropped only one set in that same span. 

When asked about the team’s recent success, Cangelosi replied, “We have enough talent to go all the way but right now we’re just trying to focus on winning our region.” Cangelosi and Moore are both ranked in the top 20 in the state according to USTA.com; the boys team is currently ranked sixth in the state.

The Lady Cats have improved tremendously from last season, posting a 4-1 record as a sharp turnaround from a last season’s losing record.  They were also 4-0 before losing to Starrs Mill.

 The Lady Cats have no seniors on the team this year; however, some of the top juniors on the team have played on varsity since they were freshmen.  Carly Cangelosi, Leslie Brandon and Shelby Sharp lead the girls team, although they are all juniors.  None of them have lost a single set in the Lady Cats’ four wins.

The boys and girls are both on track to qualify for the state tournament and hope to overcome their struggles with North Georgia teams.  Both teams aspire to continue their recent success and win their respective region tournaments.

Photography by photocr.com

The Wresting Wildcats
by Krissy Nelson

Emerging as the 2009 Wrestling State Champion last season, the wrestlers of Valdosta High School are showing no signs of slowing down this year!

Valdosta started the season off by gaining their first win at home during a match against Berrien County.  They didn’t just stop there; they went on to win match-ups against Bainbridge, Appling County and Glynn Academy.

Coming back from the Christmas holidays, the team started the New Year off  by taking second place at their annual Wildcat Invitational, beating 16 other schools. They advanced to take notable triumphs over Kennesaw Mountain, East Paulding, Forsyth Central, and Paulding County.

All in all, the Valdosta wrestlers are having an astounding season with many victories and it keeps getting better! This year’s lineup has changed around a few times throughout the season with an additional female on the team this year.  The wrestlers are in the wrestling room working extremely hard to succeed. Each wrestler pushes one another to be better and the coaches encourage them to do all they can to succeed.

As well as striving to do well on the mat, the coaches promote excellence in school for their wrestlers. Head coach Benjamin Scarbor and assistant coach Randy Drew ensure that each student maintains respectable grades in order to get out on the mat and wrestle, pushing to make Valdosta a great all-around team and come out victorious.

Valdosta recently earned their latest victory, taking first place in this year’s Region Dual Championship at Lowndes High School. This makes their fifth win at region in six years. With adjustments in the lineup, Valdosta quickly pushed towards first place during the finals, winning their first six matches, four of them with pins.

“We have our best lineup now, and I can see big wins over teams we lost to earlier this season,” says Coach Scarbor. With that said, Valdosta went on to defeat both Lowndes High and Tifton County, who they had lost to earlier in the season.

Overall, Valdosta’s wrestlers have had an outstanding season this year and currently hold a 20-0 record. With much hard work and a passionate coach, Valdosta has managed to take on significant wins and fight their way into the spotlight. The team is looking forward to doing extremely well at state this year, in hopes of returning home with yet another state championship trophy in their hands.

Photography submitted by Valdosta High School

Wildcat Basketball
by Nick Harrison and Dillon Hanson

The Valdosta High School Wildcats boys’ and girls’ basketball teams have recently begun their respective seasons and hope to reach the state playoffs. The new head coach of the girls’ team, E.A. Wilcox, has started off 4-0, which is a solid start compared to seasons past. Boys coach Rufus McDuffie looks to lead his team to another successful season, though they have a 3-1 record so far.

The boys’ team this season is led by junior standout Jay Rome, while senior Alisha Crawford leads the girls’ team. Both teams have challenges coming with region play, but have shown promise and continue to build toward more improvement.

When asked about his expectations for the girls’ team, Coach Wilcox answered:   ”Coming into this year, our goal was to be better. We have some talent, but we have to be well-coached to win the region. They have to want it in order to get there, so part of my job is providing incentives. I want to keep them hungry for winning.”

Both teams have high expectations and hope to continue the winning tradition of Valdosta High School.

Photography by PhotoCR.com

Wildcats Cross Country
by Nick Harrison and Dillon Hanson

The Valdosta High Wildcats cross country team recently completed a successful season.  Freshman Doyle Wallace led the boys’ team to a fourth place finish in their region, while Chelsea Walker led the girls’ team to second place in their region.  The team’s motto for the season was: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

The boys’ and girls’ teams both qualified for the state cross country championship by finishing in the top four in their region.  At the state meet, the girls’ team defeated every team south of Macon and finished No. 17 of 31 teams competing at the meet, while the boys finished No. 24 of 42 teams.  At the state meet, Timmy Evans finished with a time of 18:03 and Lexi Hurst finished with a time of 23:24, both setting personal records; everyone on the team set a personal record at some point in the season. 

“When I found myself struggling, I thought of our motto and it inspired me to push myself.  I always work hard at everything I do because when I am not practicing, someone is always working harder than I am,” said senior leader Trav Harris.

The Wildcats hope to continue their success next season as they grow as a unit and team.

Photography submitted by Valdosta High School

What is your definition of a sport? In the Macmillan dictionary, “sport” is defined as any game that requires physical activity and involves some competition. Many people think competition cheerleading is not a sport, but at Valdosta High School, the competition cheerleaders see it just as important as any other sport.

The Valdosta High competition cheerleading squad has always been one to rise to the tournament arena and epitomize excellence. The girls work extremely hard and a major contributor to their success is their positive attitudes. The Wildcats are always supportive and keep each others’ heads up. I asked head Coach Jana Whitehead, who stresses a positive point of view, how negative attitudes affect the cheerleading squad and she replied, “I try to cut it off because it will bring everyone down.  It will also tear your squad apart because it hurts the team in many different ways.” In her past years as a coach, she said she has learned that she would rather take a girl with less talent and a good attitude instead of a girl with plenty of talent and a bad attitude. Coach Whitehead always reminds the girls to keep their heads up and have a positive attitude because the outcome will always be great.

The girls find practice enjoyable, but extremely difficult. They work very hard in the gym to fix their flaws so they can excel.  Long-time competition cheerleader Sloan Shuman said, “Competition cheerleading has always pushed me harder than any other sport.  It continues to challenge me every day, but is certainly very rewarding when we win competitions.”

Valdosta’s competition cheerleaders have placed first in three of the four competitions they have had so far. They hope to keep doing their best, which means they will have to work even harder. The cheerleaders really want to go far this year and they hope they go to region and also make it to state!

The 2009 Competition Cheerleaders are Sloan Shuman, Jam Sharpe, Tiara Jenkins, Courtney Cain, Heather Toth, Kathryn Cody, Caitlyn Rowe, Carly Cangelosi, Ashtin Baskett, Leigh Ellis, Chandler Williams, Rebecca Reinhard, Brooke Thomas, Katelyn Greenway, Erin Greenhaw, Aujae Head, Sala Prain, Holly McDonnel, and Elizabeth Anne Wilson.

Lady Cats Are Back And Ready For Action
by Kara Buescher

The VHS Lady Cats are back and ready for action! Although they have not had the best start to the season, they are sure to come out strong in the end. Head coach Adam Haire says, “We have a group of very talented young ladies whose commitment to the program has enabled them to improve each and every day. I’m very proud of them.”

The team has not only had an addition of new players, but also a completely renovated practice field. The field has a new fence, dugout, and playing surface. Coach Haire describes it as “one of the best facilities in the region.”

This month, the Lady Cats will face off with opponents from around the South Georgia region in the annual softball region tournaments. Senior Amanda Smith says, “It’s been an honor to be a part of the Lady Cat tradition. I’m very excited for the rest of the season.”

Senior players include Amanda Smith, Haley Emmons, Miranda Walker, and Kelly Mullis. Juniors are Rosie Yelito, Bridgette Walker, and Keyauna Evans. Sophomores are Inde Herrington, Sylvia Sadler, Raven Richard, and Kelly Strickland. Freshmen are Stormm Phillips, Anna Beth Sadler, Taylor Houser and Jasey Cain.

The Wildcat 2009 football season kicked off Friday, August 14, but for the VHS varsity football cheerleaders, their season began long before August. Starting shortly after tryouts in April, the new varsity squad began practicing and preparing for the annual spring game. After the spring game, the VHS cheerleaders headed to Panama City, Florida, to attend a UCA cheer camp. The camp lasted four days in June and consisted of cheer, dance, and stunt training. After camp, the squad stayed in shape by conditioning in the VHS weight room three days a week. Once the official season began on August 1, the squad held mandatory practices to learn new cheers, dances, and stunts. In addition to this, the cheerleaders made spirit signs that will be placed at the Bazemore-Hyder Stadium this fall.  Assistant coach Christin Davis, a new addition to the squad, says, “I am so proud of the girls. They’ve worked very hard all summer and their efforts will certainly show on the field. I’m very excited to be a part of Wildcat tradition! It’s been an honor coaching them.”

 

Cheerleaders on the 2009-2010 varsity football squad are Kara Buescher (captain), Kathryn Cody, Leigh Ellis, Daphnie Foster, Brianna Green, Erin Greenhaw, Katelyn Greenway, Sharda Hall, Aujae Head, Kasey Holly (captain), Tiara Jenkins, Carlie Lingefelt, Kacie McLean, Sydney Ray, Jamila Sharpe, Sloan Shuman, Jamie Stuckey, Caroline Watson, Chandler Williams, and Brittany Yoder. Coaches for the varsity squad are Donna Hall and Christin Davis.