By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
The individual play of local athletes in the three fall sports that recently wrapped up for the Whippets – football, soccer and volleyball – has resulted in several Whitewater High School students being named to the Rock Valley South All-Conference teams.
The WHS football team had a disappointing season, finishing with one victory, a 25-0 shutout of Parkview. That lone highlight came on the heels of a tough beginning to the season, with the team being outscored by a high margin.
Their play on the field improved in the second half of the season, yet the Whippets were unable to put those improvements together simultaneously in any given contest.
The record is one thing but that in no way takes away from the accomplishment of some individual Whippet players and their efforts on the field, week in and week out.
Josh Nast made the first team all-conference for his booming punts, one of the bright spots for the team throughout the season.
Running back John Saylor and wide receiver Bryan Parker both received second team all-conference honors. Saylor, for his part, ran for 458 yards on 94 carries, good for a 4.9-yard per carry average and three touchdowns.
Parker had a tougher go of it, catching 18 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown. Whitewater employed three different starting quarterbacks during the season, each throwing more than 35 passes in all but winding up low on the number of completions.
Defensively, Juan Tovar made second team all-conference at linebacker. Tovar had more than 70 tackles on defense this season and regularly was a player the Whippets could depend on consistently.
Jordan Peterson, Peter McCrea and Tyler Hill all made honorable mention list for the Whippets in the RVC South all conference list.
Seven soccer stars
The Whitewater High School boys soccer team had a great season, going 11-5-4 before being stunned early in the regional tournament by Saint Anthony, falling 4-1 and ending a promising run.
From Sept. 2 through Oct. 2, the Whippets were on fire, going 9-1-3 and routinely routing their competition. The Rock Valley South all-conference lists support the team’s successful season with four players being named to the first team.
Mark Cuevas, Jacob Haeft, Chamath Gunawardena and Ashton Caputo all earned top honors, and fittingly enough, they are all WHS seniors.
Alonzo Banda, also a senior, made the second team list while senior Keagan Stoneworth and Jake Riemer, the only non-senior to make the all conference list, received Honorable Mention.
Six seniors who have played their last soccer game for the Whippets could mark a tough transition for the team next season though the roster was strong from top to bottom this year.
Two for volleyball
The Whippets volleyball season overall was an effort in patience, but it may have been one that will pay off in the future as the Whippets started making some noise toward the end of the season.
A good effort in a few late season tournaments coupled with a victory against Parkview and a stunning first round playoff win against Delavan nearly gave the team enough momentum to take down Big Foot in round two. Alas, the girls fell in the fifth set against the Chiefs, and now there is little to do but wonder what could have been had this team found its rhythm a bit sooner and look forward to what next season has in store.
For their efforts on the court, Kailey Reynolds and Myriama Smith-Traore both made the honorable mention list of the all-conference team. Reynolds is a senior, but Traore is just a sophomore, giving reason for optimism for the Whippets volleyball program going forward.
