In the spring golfers miss more school than other sports because meets can take entire school days and are condensed later in the spring. When weather forces cancellations earlier in a season, some golfers can end up with events four out of five days in a school week.

This leaves the players to juggle the tasks of playing and study. Coach Paul Olson of the BHS Varsity Golf Team keeps great control of the players and makes sure that all assignments are up to date.

Senior John Russett has been playing high school golf since his freshman year and has always had trouble finishing out the year strong.

 Regarding the balance, Russett said, “I have played sports all of my life, and I never had to make sacrifices until I got to play High School golf, this has challenged me with making sure that my priorities are straight, and doing what is best for my educational future.”

Russett says that the fourth quarter of our school year is the hardest by far, because being a varsity golfer, means that you are missing anywhere from two to four days of school a week. This is all due to our harsh winters in Minnesota that can delay the start of the season weeks, and possibly months.

This sends Mississippi 8 in a spiral to make up the meets that are being missed and cramming them together, an example of this was May 14th, having two meets in one day. The team left BHS at 8:00 in the morning and got back at 7:45 at night.

Russett has been in school for a total of 13 days in May, leaving him the hardest home stretch of the school year left to come, and all other athletes are struggling to find a balance to keep their grades up and show up ready to play at any time.

Our Bison girls have done a good job this season, battling the loss of last years senior class. Their overall season record is a staggering 7-9.

Senior Jordan Zrust has been leading the way for the Bison. She is pitching tonight against Anoka who has a powerhouse of hitters, and dominated the Andover Huskies 14-1 last night.

Zrust said, ” Yeah Anoka has a good team, but if we work together like we have been doing, I think it will be a good game for both teams”.

The game was originally scheduled for 7:30 tonight, but due to incoming weather the game has been moved to 6:30 at Anoka High School. If you want to cheer the bison in one of their most anticipated games of the year, endeavor the weather and show support!

Play yesterday was 0-0 in the 3rd inning, and then in the fourth inning, North Branch snuck one run in, off of Bison errors, making it 1-0. Bison Quickly retaliated with four runs at the top of the fifth, making it 1-1.

Senior Sydney Schwartz took advantage of the loaded bases, and smacked the ball into center field, helping 3 Bison runners score, ending the game with a final score of 4-1.

This was a big win for the team, taking out the anticipated conference winners.

Regarding the win, Senior Jordan Zrust said, ” This was one of the games that we didn’t anticipate winning, but working together as a team, and taking advantage of our opportunities, helped us come out with a win”.

This win brings the Varsity Softball team’s record to 4-4, with many more games to come.

During practices, there are stations for hitting drivers, another station for long irons and short irons, and lastly a station for chipping and putting. Doing this for a long period of time, is hard since all of these players just want to get out on the course and play.

Some players have gotten the chance to hit balls over at Elmer’s golf range in Buffalo, go to other indoor facilities, and also the addition of Top Golf in Brooklyn Park.

Senior Golfer, John Russett, has been golfing for the Bison since his freshman year, working up to the varsity team in his Junior year. John has played multiple sports in his life, but golf has been the only one to stick, with his aggressive attitude for competition.

“Given the circumstances, all of us are pretty used to being indoors for the opening part of the year,” Russett said. “Luckily I have had the chance to go to down to Arizona and play a little bit. Even just having some exposure outside of the arena will help with the competition coming back”.

With the team hitting the course for the first time of the year, the Boys varsity team ended up taking second at the Pebble Creek Invite, with impressive scores around the board.

Having this struggle with recent snowstorm Wesley, it is easy to say that these players are eager to get out and play some holes. They have their first outdoor practice since the storm Monday April 15th.

Even though the season started with indoor practice, count on the Bison Boys golf team to make an impact out on the course this year!

The girls had just started their season in the Bison Activity Center here at Buffalo High School. During their 3:45 to 6:00 practices, the girls focus on hitting in the batting cages either from a machine or off of a tee. Also getting back into the habit of catching and fielding balls. Coach Brad Zrust also makes sure that these girls are conditioned to run the bases as fast as possible.

Last year Bison Girls Softball had an outstanding record of 16-2 which put them in second place in the Mississippi 8 conference, just behind North Branch.

At the beginning of every season, teams focus on getting the fundamentals of the sport, and this can help them in just preparing for the season overall. With seven out of the 13 players graduating in June, there is some bright light for these girls to go capture a title for the Bison.

Senior Jordan Zrust has been playing Varsity softball for the Bison for the last 2 years and has had a big impact for the team. Zrust takes practice very seriously and is trying to be a leader for the younger players that are joining this successful team.

“I think the relationships that we have with each other really help us to be successful on the field because we can trust each other and want the best for the team. Hopefully this year we can strengthen those relationships to fuel success for our team.”

Senior Sydney Schwartz has played Varsity softball for 2 years as well, she is committed to Valley City State University to play Softball for the Vikings. During her time for the Bison, she has been a versatile power that the Bison use in every single game. During her practices, she always gives 100% of her effort into improving her game.

“I hope that we all learn to work together, after losing a great class of players last year. This will be a rebuilding year for our program, and therefore us seniors are arranged to be positive role models on and off the field, and help these younger player develop.”

With all of the efforts that are going into making this season great, our Bison Girls Softball kicks off their season with a game here at Buffalo High School Bison Park 1 on Tuesday, April 2, against fellow Conference member, the Monticello Magic. 

Going into the 2019 season for the Bison Boys Baseball, there are a lot of exciting events that are highlighting the way for them, here at Buffalo High School. There are a variety of things that teams do to get in shape for the season, and the Bison Baseball team is getting an early start to doing just that.

For this season, the team has been training after school, in the night time, and getting better in any way possible. They take the initiative to work together as a group and lift in the Bison weight room on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday after school. The players also come to the school at nights and hit in the batting cages on Monday and Wednesday nights. With all of this work being done, they are getting an advantage that will prepare them for success early in the season.

Varsity Senior Kai Brisk, is very hopeful of the best for this season. He takes his time in practice very seriously, and is making sure that he is taking every step necessary in order to have a winning season.

“Our main goal is obviously to go to the state tournament, but that all starts with us working as a team to get in shape and practice together.”

In Mississippi 8 conference play last year, the team had an overall record of 7-6, putting them in a tie for fourth in the conference. This year, the team is really trying to bring it home in their last season of Mississippi 8 play.

Senior Cal James is also very excited for the upcoming season. Cal has played Varsity baseball since freshman year and is hoping to make this season like no other.

“Us seniors want to get the other players up and running, so that we can not only succeed as a team, but also grow as individuals, and that is why we have had so many good times together.”

The first scheduled game for Boys Baseball is on April 2nd, against the Monticello Magic at the Bison Ballpark. With the steps that these players are taking now, we can expect to have a fun spring watching our Bison have a home run of a season!

During the game, the junior all star, Jake Braccini netted six or the eight goals scored in this game. Braccini stated that this game meant a lot to him and his teammates.

“Personally it’s always fun to play St. Michael, either win or loss,” Braccini said, “but winning feels great, especially in your own rink.”

The last time that these two teams faced-off, was an intense battle that went all the way overtime, and in the closing minutes, junior Jake Braccini netted a very impressive backhand goal to win the first of two games for the Bison.

With the team winning the Conference title, it is just about time for sections, which means that our Boys hockey team will be taking on STMA one last time in the section tournament, for a potential spot in the state tournament.