Making History
March 31, 2009 by Dani Krolak
Filed under Headline, News, Sports
As the final buzzer rang, signaling the end of the first round of the MSHSL State Tournament and the girls’ basketball season, it was apparent that the game held more meaning than the 58-62 loss displayed by the scoreboard. The March 18 game, held at the Target Center against the Centennial Cougars, was a historical moment for Buffalo Girls’ Basketball.
Sophomore Kendra Wycoff tries to bring the ball into play against the Centennial Cougars during the first round of the State Tournament on March 18. Photo by Matt Ebeling
The 2009 team became the first state competitors for girls’ basketball after their win against Elk River on March 13. Ending their season with a record of 16-14, the girls were the underdogs of the tournament.
“Even though we lost it was a great experience for everyone involved,” said Senior Apryl Schmitz. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The target center was huge and there were a ton of fans. It was really cool to see our school support us like that.”
With their season ending in a trip to the State Tournament, the girls exceeded the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the season.
“Our goal as a team was to go to state when we were seniors,” said Senior Danielle Goodfellow. “After we accomplished that goal it was amazing.It had been a dream of ours since we were little. I kept having to have people pinch me because I thought I was literally dreaming. It was the best feeling in the world.”
June will bring the graduating of 11 seniors, leaving seven remaining players to rise up to the challenge of next season. As the success of the 2009 season winds down, underclassmen continue to prepare for next season with hopes of the same success. “It was cool to be at state but loosing that game was one of the worst feelings,” said Junior Kristin Jeske. “But that feeling is going to make me work much harder during the off season.”
Cody Lings takes First Place at Junior Olympic Ski competition
- Junior Cody Ling took first place overall at the Junior Olympic Ski competition. Ling has been skiing for 15 years, and devotes five days a week to ski practice. Photos by Dan Hanson
“I completely zone out, and go into my own world. I focus on what I need to do, to put in a good run.”
Junior and Professional Skier Cody Ling competed in the Junior Olympic national ski competition for the fourth consecutive year. Ling finished first place in the overall slope style competition, which consists of two runs of jumps and rails.
“I had a pretty good first run, and after I was tied for first place,” said Ling. “My second run went a lot better, after the second round results I was in first place and really excited.”
Ling has been skiing since he was two years old, and often finds himself out of school and away from home during the season. He has to take independent study classes and online courses to maintain his school work, while balancing his skiing career and relationships.
“It’s fine to be away from home because I have lots of friends through skiing in Colorado,” said Ling. “Skiing is just a fun thing, it doesn’t rule my life. I make choices of what competitions and opportunities I take. But I’m ready to come back after the season.”
Ling’s success in the recent competition and this season has been a result of all the work he puts into skiing. Ling is often at ski parks practicing five days a week. He has the drive and desire to push himself to constantly improve.
“I’m motivated by just how I can keep moving up and forward with my skiing, and also placing well in more nation competitions,” said Ling. “There is always room for me to get better.”
His recent win has presented new opportunities for Ling, and has impressed his sponsors. He recently shot a commercial for Buck Hill, which will air in the fall, and will partake in other advertisements and shoots. Although this is a major win for Ling, he will go back to his ‘normal’ of practice, advertisements, and improving his skill.
“I’ll be doing private park shoots with Rage Films, and spending time at Mammoth in California, and Oregon this summer. I might be getting a coaching job,” said Ling.
Snow Again
Once again more snow has come for Wright County on Tuesday, March 31. Also the weather channel has reported that we are suppose to be expecting more snow for Wed. April 1st. The morning started out with snow, which we got about 2 inches, but soon after melted due to sleet rain. Roads were sleet in some areas, but nothing too severe.
On April 1st the snow was covering the parking lot in the early morning. Main roads were not bad at all, but in some spots were ice. No car crashes were reported and everyone made it to school safe. After school the snow had almost all either melted or turned to slush. This was no April fools.
One point ends season
Clock ticking away the seconds to the end of the Boys Basketball 8-AAAA sectional championship game. St. Cloud Tech down by 2 with 2.5 seconds left, shoot, score, game over. Heads hung low and a silence from the fan section as the boys watched their season come to an end March 19 at Hallenbeck Hall St. Cloud State University. The Bison had a 13 point lead (36-23) after the first half of the game, but that fell shortly during the second half. Tech senior Nick Jordan shot an outstanding 3 pointer to make the ending score 61-60.
“I couldn’t believe he made that shot,” said Senior Brock Korbel, “It’s a shot he would have made 1 out of 10 times and he was lucky to get it to fall. We had them where we wanted them, and our coach put us in the best position possible to win that basketball game.”
Although falling short of a point to continue in the MSHSL State tournament the boys had a successful season with a record of 23-6.
“Our last game was one of our top 3 performances” said Senior Dan Ngandali. “We did everything we could to try and beat an undefeated potentially state team. We just came up a little short. Our season was fun, we got to compete against top teams in state which made the competition tougher.”
The Bison put up a fight throughout the entire game. Senior Brooks Beilke, and Junior Brent Kettenacker were leading scores with totals of 14 points each. Coming in with 9 points each Seniors Brady Matzke, and Korbel. Tech Senior Nate Wolters had a total of 32 points as their leading scorer. With a tough competition throughout their season the boys took pride in their goals and achievements.
“We had a successful season and accomplished a lot of goals we set for ourselves we exceeded alot of peoples expectations for us this year,” said Korbel.
With next year in mind, the team will be loosing 6 seniors and is hoping the underclassmen will take charge. The Bison varsity line-up consists of 9 juniors, and 1 sophomore for this years roster, with high expectations for next years underclassmen to excel.
“We won conference and made a run in section. We wish we could’ve gone farther but, its a great accomplishment,” said Kettenacker. “Next year we are going to get a bunch of JV and returning players to step up.”
Student Care Committee spreading cheer with random acts of kindness
March 19, 2009 by lrosso
Filed under Activities, Features, Headline
Students scour the lunchroom, looking under chairs for treats on Halloween. Around Christmas-time students write down their wishes and drop them into the wish-box, hoping for them to come true. Three days later, a few are granted. The yearbook staff is in a frenzy towards the end of the year, rushing to get things done. Just when things couldn’t get anymore stressful, cookies are dropped off at the hectic room to lighten the mood.
Photo by Monica Shoberg
These random acts of kindness are made possible by a small group of ten girls. They’re members of the Student Care Committee, a Buffalo High School organization. A majority of BHS students either have never heard of the Student Care Committee, or don’t know what they do.
“It’s not just a stupid little group,” said SCC member Sophomore Cherise Beggs. “It means so much to the people who are in it to just do something nice and put a smile on someone’s face.”
With an inconsistent number of members, the Student Care Committee is open to anyone who would like to join.
“We really could use more people,” said SCC group leader Sophomore Kayla Elsenpeter. “Anyone can join, and it’s totally worth it. You feel so good about yourself knowing you’ve made other people happy.”
The Student Care Committee meets every Wednesday in Lynn Andrews’s room. All you have to do to join is show up to a meeting, ready to make the world a better place.
2009 Mississippi 8 Lifting Competition
March 17, 2009 by srymanowski
Filed under News
On March 12th 2009 the 5th annual Mississippi 8 lifting competition was held at Buffalo High School. There were 117 lifters total coming from five different schools: Buffalo, Monticello, St.Michael, Rogers and Princeton. Monticello High School won the title as a team with 92 points. Buffalo came in a close second with 88 points. Princeton took third, Rogers took fourth and STMA took fifth.
“It’s an exciting competition,” said Weight Lifting Coach Troy Hanson, ” people get to showcase their hard work by putting their body to the test.”
Not many people are even aware that this competition goes on. But the people who participate take it very seriously. Many of the people who have been training for the competition have been training for a long time.
“I’ve been training for the competition since the beginning of tenth grade.” said Junior Joey Verdugo. “I lift at home and at school six times a week.”
For males and females there are different classes. For females there are three different levels that start at level one, level two, and level three. For males there are eight different weights that start at 132, 148, 157, 165, 181, 198, 215, and heavyweight. Medals were awarded to the top three plcaes in each weight class.
Senior Brian Witzany placed first in his weight class and broke three mississippi 8 records in bench, clean and his total score. He had been training hard all year, these awards are defiantly deserved.
”Some people thought I was obsessed with lifting so much just for the looks. But this something I really wanted.” Says Witzany.” Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe dedicated.”
-Samantha Rymanowski and Sara Larson
Spain Trip Draws Closer
March 17, 2009 by cfox
Filed under Activities, Features
The school year is about to start it’s fourth and final quarter of the year. Some students are studying up for finals or making their last preparations for College, but 16 Spanish students are packing their bags for their summer trip. On June 13th, Spanish speaking students from language levels Two to Four will be boarding a plain and leaving for Spain.
As a language trip the students will mainly be traveling to develope and modify their current knowledge of the spanish language by staying with a host family.
“The students will learn so much about the People of Spain.” says Spanish Teacher, Nancy Eiynck. “Not only about the language but of the culture and their daily lives!”
The students will visit historical sights such as the Roman Aqueducts, a Gothic Cathedral, and the Alhambra Palace (to name a few). They will travel around the country to the cities of Madrid (population of 6 million plus), Toledo, and Granada, as well as the famous beaches of La Costa del Sol.
“I participated in a student exchange during high school to Spain.” states Spanish Teacher and Coordinator for the Spain Trip, Daryl Boeckers, “I quickly learned to appreciate the people and how connected Spain is to Europe.”
June 13th is drawing closer and Senor Boeckers and Senora Eiynck, as they are called by their students, have been putting the final touches on their plans. Even The second largest Art Museum in Europe, El Museo Prado, is on their list of travels.
“Mostly, I think it will be fun to actually look and experience all of the things that we have studied in class.” says Eiynck
All that is left to do is wait for school to pass and the summer months to come. While some students are relaxing at home, or spending a sunny day at the beach, 16 students will be stepping into a world that they have never experienced before.
“Senor” Boeckers states, “The Kids will have a truly authentic experience in Spain, speaking with me, with the Spanish and their host families in Spanish. They will find out that it is much different than they anticipate.”
Buffalo Mock Trial places seventh in State
On Tuesday morning March 10 the Buffalo Mock Trial team left the High School to compete in the State tournament, held in Duluth, MN. Participating team members included Senior Jacob Westman, Senior Micheal Chenowith, Junior Lindy Jensen, Junior Graham Wyatt, Junior Kenzie Haight, Junior Dan Comstock, Sophomore Colm Macnab, Sophomore Micheal Porttin, Sophomore Kassi Williams, Freshman Beth Macnab, and Freshman Zach Marrandino. Coach Mrs. Raymond and Coach Mr. Ronken instrumentally helped guide the team to State.
Buffalo Mock Trial left the High School at 7:45 on March 10, arriving at Duluth around 11:30. They had until 4:00 to get settled and ready for their first trial against Visitation High School.
“You could feel the tension, when we got there we were treated to a lunch and I didn’t really want to eat anything for fear of it coming back up during the trial, said Chenowith. I’m glad I didn’t too, my nerves were crazy during the actual trial, I was pretty nervous, but I’m glad how it all turned out.”
Buffalo began their trial at 4:00 against Visitation, a High School for girls only.
“You know, the trial was amazing, we had new theories and new ideas come at us that had never been heard before and we did excellent, we stayed on our feet and we fought strong, says Westman. I couldn’t have been happier with our performance.”
Buffalo dropped the first ballot by a total of four points and was paired with Canby High School for the next round. Buffalo came out victorious with a 20 point lead over Canby. During both trials Graham Wyatt suffered a severe illness that caused his voice to become hoarse and his face pale.
“He did exceptionally well for being so sick, his performance was amazing, he delivered his closing and examinations perfectly, says Raymond.”
Buffalo competed against Lakeville North in the round before determining who advanced to the final competition, Buffalo’s opening was delivered by Westman, followed by witnesses Chenowith, Macnab, and Jensen, closing arguments were delivered by Wyatt.
“The performances this year at State were the best they had ever been. I was so proud of our performance in each round, I can’t wait for next year, says Raymond.”
Buffalo lost to Lakeville North by one point. Receiving a ballot with Buffalo winning by three and another ballot with Buffalo losing by four.
“It’s a point. But that’s all that matters is that one point, I would have rather lost by 20 points than by one, because that way we wouldn’t have to think about all of the “what ifs,” says Wyatt. Overall though, I’m so happy with what we did this year and how much we achieved, I’m excited for next year now.”
Buffalo Mock Trial had a of 20-0 record in the normal season and including regionals, altogether if you add the Bison’s Mock Trial record for the last three years they are 59-1.
“I have high hopes for next year, says Raymond. With us only losing two seniors this year and 10/12 spots still closed up for returning members who only leave the two remaining seats for new members, I wouldn’t be surprised at some interesting results next year.”
Track and Field Season Begins
On Monday March 9, 2009 the Bison Track and Field season began. The team met after school on Monday to have a meeting about the upcoming season and to discuss the goals of the team. After the meeting the team had it’s first practice.
There were many returning faces to the Track and Field team this year but there were also a lot of new freshman. The team is looking very strong this year with many athletes returning as seniors. The coaches hope for the best and would like to send as many athletes as possible to the State Track meet. Senior Zach Mellon is a key member of the Track and Field team and has his fair share of state appearances. Zach is one of the team’s captains and will try to motivate the team to do their best.
The team’s coaches have a very bright outlook for the season and will really whip the athletes into shape. The coaches have a lot of experience and they really know what they are talking about. Bison Track and Field is very lucky to have such a good coaching staff.
With the start of track also comes some nervousness. When asked if they were nervous sophomore Caleb Stumpfl said, “It’s my first year and I’m a little nervous, but really I’m excited to do it.” Caleb is one of the many new faces to the program.
The coaches hope for the best and the athletes prepare themselves for some extremely tough workouts. The Bison Track and Field season has begun and their first home meet is scheduled for Thursday April 9, 2009. It will surely be a show for all ages so do not miss it.
Boys’ Swimmers Participate at State Meet
The state swim meet took place on March 7 and 8 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
For the first time in Buffalo High School’s history two boys swimmers advanced to the state meet. The semi-final round took place on March 7, and the finals on March 8.
Senior Nathan Engfer swam the 100 Butterfly, finishing 12th overall with a personal best time of 53.35 seconds. The top 8 swimmers continued on to the final round of state. Engfer swam again on the 8th for the consolation title, but again placed 12th with a time of 53.55 seconds.
Freshman J.D. O’Donnell finished 24th overall in the 500 free-style race, with 5:01.36.
“Going to state was a new experience, there was really nothing to be upset about,” said Engfer. “We had a lot of fun and we did really well.”