Football
Redington Scrimmage
13 STRONG
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – On July 27th, the Valdez Buccaneer Football team began preparing for the 2022 football season. Our team has battled through low participation numbers and injury, leading to the forfeit and cancellation of our week 1 and week 2 games. However, this adversity has only made the players that remain that much stronger.
This past Friday, we took 13 players to battle. These 13 took the field against a small army in a scrimmage versus Redington High School. Our 13 players faced even more adversity as our Captain, Gabe Brewi, and freshman Tristen Mayerwent down with injuries after two great tackles in the first six plays on defense. The remaining 11 stepped up and battled through the remaining 51 plays! It took some time for our defense to find their groove. However, during the second series of 15 plays on defense, our players began to fire up and put significant pressure on the quarterback, making it difficult for them to complete many passes.
In our first offense series, our team was able to drive the ball down the field. Ben Aldrich set us up on the goalline after a 20-yard run. Barrett McCumby punched it into the endzone on a short run up the gut for a touchdown. Unfortunately, we lost focus on the second drive.
Throughout the scrimmage, we were able to get film and identify the chinks in our armor and look forward to addressing them as we prepare for Seward at home in 2 weeks. We hope to see a crowd, rain or shine, at our first home game on September 3rd at 12 pm.
Offensive Player of the Game: Barrett McCumby had three rushes for 6 yards, a touchdown, and two receptions for 28 yards.
Defensive Player of the Game: AJ Tudela (3 Tackles for a Loss)
Varsity Volleyball
Girls Varsity Volleyball @ Chugiak Invitational
Masen Holmes & Lola Compehos Block at the Net
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This weekend, the varsity traveled to compete in the Chugiak Invitational. This was a great weekend for the girls to gain experience playing at a faster pace than what they are used to, as we were the only 3A team invited. Unfortunately, we were missing a few players who weren’t able to travel and had a couple of players get injured on the first day leaving us with only 7 players to compete for the majority of the weekend. I am so proud of how the team stepped up and overcame the adversity they are experiencing this early in the season. The seniors showed great leadership on and off the court all weekend and kept the energy high and attitudes positive. The rest of the team adapted great in playing in new positions and having to change rotations we had never practiced multiple times over the weekend.
Olivia Selanoff Digs a Ball at Chugiak Tournament
On Friday, the girls had five matches and we ended the day 0-5. Despite not winning any games, the girls had close matches and had some great plays over the course of the day. Saturday’s matches went better as the team was more comfortable in the new rotations and knew what to expect. They started off the morning beating Eagle River High School and halfway through the day they picked up another win against West Valley. They ended Saturday 2-4, but did not make the final bracket. Next weekend we travel to Eielson to compete in our first conference games of the season.
Peyton Wade serves the Ball
All- Tournament
Masen Holmes
Match Scores
Vs. Colony 15-25
Vs. Palmer 14-25
Vs. Bartlett 23-25
Vs. East 21-25
Vs. Wasilla 16-25
Vs. Eagle River 25-17
Vs. West Anchorage 22-25
Vs. Soldotna 18-25
Vs. West Valley 25-15
Vs. Ketchikan 10-25
Vs. Chugiak 22-25
JV Volleyball
Monroe Catholic JV Volleyball Tournament
Aug 21, 2022
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This past weekend was another excellent tournament opportunity for the Valdez Junior Varsity Volleyball team to play against many teams with a wide span of skill levels. The Buccaneers traveled to Fairbanks to compete against five other schools from the surrounding area: Lathrop, North Pole, Eielson, Monroe, and two teams from West Valley.
Friday afternoon and evening the Bucs came out hyped to play and gave every team they competed against a taste of intensity. It was exciting to watch the level of confidence and trust that developed from one set to the next. The team as a whole showed huge growth from our first weekend playing together at Colony to this past weekend at Lathrop High School. Players were much more comfortable with their base positions on the court and were able to focus more on the fundamentals of volleyball: passing, setting up plays for offense, and responding quickly to the other team.
Probably the most exciting set of Friday evening was against the Eielson Ravens. Scrappy and aggressive attackers, the Ravens put up a tremendous fight. The Bucs responded with equal intensity. Both teams exchanged point for point, but the Ravens came out on top of the 18-20 set battle. Despite the loss, the Lady Bucs were pumped full of adrenaline and pride in their hard work during this set. They had maintained control and played organized volleyball, continuing to try to set up plays to the very end.
After playing three sets Friday evening against North Pole (20 – 13), Eielson (18 – 20), Monroe (20 – 15), and West Valley JV (20 – 8), the Lady Bucs were seated 3rd for the following day’s double elimination bracket and were excited for the possibilities of going the distance the following day.
On Saturday the team started out slow, giving the West Valley Wolfpack an early lead in both sets, but each time the Bucs fought back into the lead and secured the win for their first match of the day (20 – 17 and 20 – 15). As anticipated, the next match against the Eielson Ravens was another nail biter. The Ravens took an early lead and won in the set scoring 12 – 20. The Bucs demonstrated tremendous grit by clawing their way back into the next set with a close 22 – 20 set victory. In the final set the Ravens came out strong and the Bucs were never able to pull back out of the hole. Eielson won 8 – 15 placing the Bucs into the consolation bracket. In our final match against North Pole we couldn’t seem to find the same confidence and trust on the court that had made the team so successful the day before. North Pole won in two sets taking the Patriots to the next level and ending the tournament for the Valdez Bucs.
Shout out to Marcedes Taylor, Holly Carter, and Savannah Barton for another weekend of tremendous serving. This weekend many players snagged incredible saves from tipped balls or scrambles. Jazlyn Gallatin popped up close tips covering the net, both Hana Meyer and Emili Brewi chased down rogue balls to keep the team fighting in tight sets, and Jade Cook was a consistent strong passer from the back row. It was also exciting to see some aggressive attacks both on the net and from the back row from Madison Sauls, Mariah Dunning, Gallatin, and Brewi. Last but not least, I have to brag about Marcedes Taylor’s continued leadership on and off the court. As the coach I had a referee pull me aside after a match to acknowledge Marcedes’ on court communication, encouragement, and humility with her teammates.
A lot to be proud about from this past weekend, and a lot to grow from. Way to go Bucs!
Cross-Country
Valdez Invite
August 20, 2022
Honoring Senior Cole Wadsworth
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Bucs Cross-Country team hosted their one and only home meet of the season. It was a soggy day for all. The many potholes up Mineral Creek quickly became small lakes that the runners had to ford during the race. We welcomed Delta and New Halen to a 5K race up Mineral Creek and back. The small lakes and cold rain presented the greatest challenges to runners.
There were 15 boys to start the races. Junior Rafe Caruthers and Senior Cole Wadsworth started in the lead. Caruthers maintained a huge lead for the duration of the race, finishing on the track at 20:24, almost a full minute ahead of the next runner. Delta dominated second to sixth place. Wadsworth’s pace slowed midway, but he finished strong in 7th place at 22:32. Freshmen Erik Vincent and Oliver Owneby finished their first 5k. Vincent showed off his form and sprinted to the finish line at 32:29 in 13th place. Owneby kept an even pace and pushed himself to finish strong in 14th place at 37:19.
The rain slowed slightly as 7 girls lined up at the start. New Halen immediately took the lead with Junior Anika Palomar sneaking her way toward the lead. At the turn around point Palomar was in the lead briefly before the two of the Lester sisters took the top two spots. Palomar finished 3rd at 25:20. Sophomore Morgan Hamilton maintained an even pace while battling shin splints to finish 6th at 31:15.
A shout out to all the spectators and volunteers who endured the wet and cold weather to support our runners!
Next week we are off to Chena Lakes in North Pole for a favorite course.
Go Bucs!
Swim
Colony Swim Invitational
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This weekend the Valdez High School Swim team took six swimmers, including three seniors, a junior, a sophomore and a freshman, and Joshua Sims as the manager to Colony for their first meet. Racing against Colony HS, Palmer HS, and Wasilla HS, our hometown team took third overall with the cheering support of the team mascot, Beige. Even with all the first meet jitters and excitement, the team had five top 3 races. Fisher Mishmash took first place in both of his
individual races accumulating the most points for the team. The girls medley relay took 2nd place with swimmers Rhain Osburn, Kinsey Mishmash, Ginger Keller, and Sophia Hodgkins. Gray Odencrans is our recognized swimmer of the meet, getting best times in both his 50 freestyle (31.57) and his 100 backstroke (1:25:81). This is an incredibly impressive feat for the first meet of the year and we can’t wait to see what he accomplishes by Regions in October. Fisher Mishmash is our other recognized swimmer from this weekend, earning 1st spot rankings in his 50 Freestyle (23:29) and the 100 Freestyle (54:71), and earning the team 14 of its cumulative 50 points.
This weekend the Buc Swimmers and Beige the Toaster mascot are traveling to Fairbanks for the Lathrop Invite. Let’s Go Bucs!