Swimming
August 26th and 27th Lathrop Invite
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – It was another great weekend of swimming for the Valdez Buccaneers! The 7 hour road trip to Fairbanks was a bit arduous (thanks Alaska construction season) so swimmers stretched their legs and made friends with the Sandhill Cranes at Creamer’s Field before their first day of racing. Eight teams took part in the invitational, making it a “fly-over” meet (the next race starts their dives over the previous race’s finishers) to speed it up a bit.
Valdez did well, despite a “hot pool with loose lane lines”, and racked up points for the small but determined team. Senior Sophia Hodgkins took 4th in her 200 free and 6th in her 100 back, earning the team 5 points while the other female Senior, Ginger, earned 4 points for her 4th place in the 50 free. Lone male senior, Fisher Mishmash, pulled out two 2nd place finishes in his 200 IM and 50 free, earning a total of 10 points. Junior Rhain Osburn, sophomore Kinsey Mishmash, and freshman Gray Odencrans brought in a combination of 11 points, with Kinsey earning 7 of those with a 1st place finish in her 100 breast. The girls 200 IM relay of Rhain, Kinsey, Ginger, and Sophia took 4th place, while their 200 free relay took 2nd.
The second day of meet was a fun one, shortening races to mere lengths of the pool and allowing some freedom with mixed relays and 25 yard sprints. Again, Valdez stepped up their speed and finished strong, led by a tie 1st place finish from Fisher in his 25 free with an impressive 12.08 seconds. The mixed relays were fun as well, allowing siblings Kinsey and Fisher to swim together in their 100 mixed IM medley possibly for the last time!
In the end, and despite only having 6 swimmers, Valdez’s combined totals took 5th place, with the boys team took 6th and the girls took an impressive 2nd place!
This week we wanted to recognize our team manager, Joshua Sims, as he transitions to being a Buc swimmer for the rest of the season. He really helped us out this weekend with heat sheets, med kits, and reminding coaches to check in! We look forward to seeing him in the races from here on out, Thanks for all your help Joshua!
Some of the insider highlights of the weekend:
Ground: 2 Sophia: 0
24-hour diner food, coaches eat first!
Screeching cats in the room?
“Gracefully falling” half time events
Front and center posing!
The Bucs are off this upcoming weekend but will be attending the Wasilla Invite on September 9th and 10th.
Cross-Country
North Pole Invite
August 27, 2022
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Bucs Cross-Country team headed to North Pole to run three loops around the Chena Lakes Recreation Area. The terrain varied from grass, wood chips, dirt to gravel. It was a fairly flat trail with little elevation change. It was a relief to finally be out of the rain for once.
The girls hit the trail first. Junior Anika Palomar was in 2nd place for Region 6 Division 3A/2A/1A going into today’s race. Palomar started the first half of the race strong, then her pace began to slow midway through the big loop. Palomar gained 10 seconds over last year’s race on this same course, finishing this year at 25:39. Sophomore Morgan Hamilton continues to battle shin splints, but overcame them to drop over a minute from last week to finish at 29:39, a mere 4 seconds more than last year.
We are still awaiting final times, results and places. Going into the race, Junior Rafe Caruthers was in 2nd place for Region 6 Division 3A/2A/1A and Senior Cole Wadsworth was in 10th place. Caruthers maintained a constant pace of just over 6 minutes/mile. This earned him a new PR of 18:54, almost 2 minutes faster on this course over last year. Wadsworth also worked on maintaining an even pace throughout the race, finishing over a minute faster than last year at 21:51. Freshmen Erik Vincent has been working hard on form this past week and his speed is improving. Vincent shaved off 2:49 off of last week’s time, finishing in 29:40, a new PR. Ownbey stuck with it, but gained a few seconds, finishing in 38:01. Freshman James Humphrey has recovered from his injury and competed in his first race finishing at 27:10.
Congratulations to Rafe Caruthers and Erik Vincent for their PRs!! Next week we head to Kenny Lake for another fun course above the Copper River.
Go Bucs!
Varsity Volleyball
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Lady Bucs traveled to Eielson AFB for their first conference games of the season. Friday night started off strong for the varsity girls. With conference matches being 3 out of 5 set, the girls kicked regular season off winning 3-0. All three sets showed the girls control of the game as they were successful in running quick plays that they aren’t typically running until midseason. The girls did a fantastic job serving and gaining 16 aces during the match.
The Varsity Lady Bucs continued to show their dominance in play, winning the match 3-0. The team played well all-around in respects to kills, blocks, and aces. The girls showed a great improvement on defense and coverage throughout both matches. Next weekend we will be traveling to the West Valley Invitational.
Friday Night’s Match
25-20
25-23
25-14
Saturday Night’s Match
25-20
25-8
25-14
J.V. Volleyball
Lady Bucs vs. Eielson Ravens
August 25-26
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This weekend the Lady Bucs faced the Eielson Ravens for a second time. Eielson has proved once again to be scrappy competitors. On Friday the Bucs came out fighting, putting up both front and back row attacks. We held the lead for the majority of the first set, but the Ravens did not give up without fighting back. They sealed the victory of the first set (22 – 25) and ended up winning the match in three sets. On Saturday the Bucs came out digging and swinging. The team won the first set 25 – 20, but unfortunately lost the next three, giving Eielson a clean sweep for the weekend.
Overall the Lady Bucs JV team is a scrappy, hard working group of athletes. They are continuing to work on transitions from offense to defense and setting up plays and attacks. Our goals are to talk more on the court, work on consistency with passing, and to continue looking for offensive opportunities even during out- of-system plays. We are at a great place at the start of our season and looking forward to more game opportunities. Great job this weekend, ladies!
| Fri |
Valdez Score |
Opponent Score |
|
Set 1 |
22 |
25 |
|
Set 2 |
18 |
25 |
|
Set 3 |
16 |
25 |
| Sat |
Valdez Score |
Opponent Score |
|
Set 1 |
25 |
20 |
|
Set 2 |
11 |
25 |
|
Set 3 |
16 |
25 |
|
Set 4 |
16 |
25 |