2019 Sports in Review: June through December

Many sports highlights occurred in 2019, and these are the top highlights from the area from June to December of 2019:

June 5:

Peetz Football Stars Excel at All Star-Game

Xavier Runge, Bryson Long, and Zach Holtz represented the Peetz Bulldogs in the 1A North/South 6-Man Football All-Star Game on Saturday in Hugo. Long, the 2018 6-Man Player of the Year, Runge and Holtz helped lead the North team to a 36-to-24 victory.

June 12:

Sidney Football And Volleyball Stars in All-Star Classic

The annual West Nebraska All-Star Volleyball and Football games were played on Saturday in Scottsbluff, and first was the 35th Annual West Nebraska All-Star Volleyball Match held in the afternoon at WNCC, with Sidney represented by Payton Jung and Katelyn Sylvester playing for the West Team. The West team won the contest four sets to one, 25-20, 25-14, 27-29, 25-20, 15-8. Both squads battled throughout the match, but the West Team was able to secure the win helped by Jung's 11 kills and 12 digs, and Sylvester's 15 assists and six digs, with Sylvester scoring the match-winning point.

Sidney's Arik Doty, Zach Pettit, and Alec Maddox represented the Red Raiders for the West Team in the All-Star Football Classic.. An Arik Doty nine yard touchdown pass to Ogallala's Lucas Paloucek was the difference in the low scoring 6-to-0 defensive battle. It was the first shutout in an All-Star Game since 2002. Zach Pettit earned the Sportsmanship Award for the West Team.

June 19:

Sidney Golfer Scores Hole-In-One

Sidney resident Collin Gregg shot a hole-in-one on June 7 at Hillside Golf Course. He aced the par 3, 125 yard hole number three using a pitching wedge. It was Gregg's fifth confirmed hole-in-one.

June 26:

Nesbitt Sets Two Records at Sidney Pentathlon

10 year old Reagan Nesbitt of Sidney set two meet records in the Girls 9-10 25 meter Freestyle with a time of 15.67 and the Girls 9-10 25 meter Butterfly with a time of 17.34 at the Sidney Pentathlon on Saturday.

July 10:

Sidney 10U Baseball Earns Runner-Up at State

The Sidney 10U baseball team traveled to Scottsbluff over the weekend for the Cal Ripken State Tournament, and came away with a second place showing to end their season with a 28-and-14 record. The 10U team had much success this season, playing in eight tournaments and earning three championships and two runner-up honors.

Legion Post 17 Retires No. 24

Sidney's American Legion Post 17 baseball program retired the number 24 in honor of Tyson Herrera, who was killed in a car accident in Wyoming on April 22. It is the first number ever retired in the history of Sidney American Legion baseball. An emotional tribute to the 25 year old former Post 17 standout included his family, tributes by former coaches, and Tyson's father Tim Herrera and mother Shanna Garvin threw out the ceremonial first pitches for the Seniors contest against Chadron.

Sidney 11U Repeats as Champs

After defeating the WESTCO Bluffs team for the second time on Sunday, the Sidney 11U baseball team ended the weekend undefeated and earned the Cal Ripken State Baseball Championship for the second straight year. The WESTCO squad jumped out to a 1-to-0 lead early in the contest, but that's all Sidney starter Alex Doty would allow in the game, and the Sidney boys rallied in the fourth inning to score two runs, and the game ended in a 2-to-1 victory and a Sidney state title.

August 14:

Hashman, Hofrock Named to All-Conference Team

The Panhandle Baseball Conference named its All-Conference Team, and two Sidney players from the Sidney Post 17 American Legion Junior team earned honors for their outstanding play during the 2019 season.

Nolan Hofrock was named to the All-Conference team as a catcher, and Ben Hashman was named as an infielder. Both players anchored the team, contributing on both offense and defense and leading the team to a 13-and-10 overall record.

August 21:

Haupt Landscaping, Soarin Health Chiro Win Co-Ed Softball Championships

The Cheyenne County Community Center Co-Ed Softball Leagues wrapped up with their championship games, and Haupt Landscaping won the Division 1 title while Soarin Heatlh Chiropractic won the Division 2 title.

September 4:

Sidney Survives Bridgeport 14-13

In a wild-weather filled opening game, the Red Raiders jumped out to a lead, but it was a missed extra point by the Bulldogs that gave the Sidney squad the victory after holding off a late rally by the visitors in one of the few bright spots for Sidney football in 2019.

September 25:

Johnson Hits 1000 Kills for Career

Sidney senior Mattie Johnson scored her 1000th kill of her career during the Lady Raider's volleyball match against Alliance on Thursday night.

October 16:

Sidney 7th Grade Volleyball Cap Perfect Season

The Sidney Seventh Grade A and B Volleyball Teams capped off perfect 2019 seasons on Monday night, October 7th, by sweeping Scottsbluff. Sidney won regular season games against Gering, Kimball, Sterling, Alliance, Ogallala, and Scottsbluff.  The Raiders were champions at the Gering Invitational where they beat Chadron, Scottsbluff, and Torrington.  They also won the Alliance Invitational with victories over Mitchell, Torrington, and Alliance. 

October 18:

Watchorn Scores 1000th Career Kill

Leyton senior Madelyn Watchorn hit the 1000th kill of her high school career against Paxton on Homecoming Night in Dalton. She entered the "3K Club" with over 1000 career kills, service receptions, and digs in her four years as a varsity starter for Leyton.

November 6:

Sidney Takes District Title

Sidney's Lady Raider Volleyball team cruised through the regular season with a 30-and-3 record, earning a District Final at home and the number three seed in the Class B rankings. This set up Saturday's matchup against the number 14 seed Beatrice Lady Orange, a team much better than their 15-and-15 record. Sidney earned the straight set victory 25-20, 25-15 and 25-23 to punch their ticket to the State Tournament in Lincoln.

November 20:

Storm Football Makes Historic Playoff Run

After many seasons of futility, the Creek Valley Storm had a season for the ages, going undefeated in the nine game regular season and going deep into the playoffs, finally falling in the semi-finals to Harvard 50-to-20. Senior Patrick Hansen was outstanding in his senior season, and was named to the First Team 6 Man Football team at quarterback along with Tucker Graeff at Defensive Back and Oakley Hodges as Kicker.

December 18:

Peetz Cagers Off To Hot Start

Peetz's Bulldog Basketball team got off to a hot start early in the season, going 5-and-1 entering the holiday break, with their only loss against rival Haxtun in a very close contest. The Bulldogs are looking to return to their dominant position and make a State Title run, and coach Sean Fehringer has his team firing on all cylinders early in the season.