Girls Soccer:

As the Wenatchee girls soccer players took their places on the field after halftime during their match Sept. 23 against West Valley, the student section quickly noticed that the 2-0 score on the scoreboard wasn’t the only thing wrong with this picture. Instead of senior Ashton Blanksma in the box, freshman Allie Rader was now playing goalie.

“[Blanksma] was having tunnel vision, so she went to the hospital. She was advised not to play because of her head, so she’s staying home until she gets better and can play safely,” senior Ali Sealby said.

Despite missing Blanksma for the majority of this week’s games, the Wenatchee girls soccer team overwhelmed Eisenhower 4-0 on Sept. 25, coming back from their hard 4-0 loss against West Valley to put them at fourth in the league.

Junior Jessie Martin played goalie during the match against Eisenhower, a game that brought back the team’s previous confidence.

“We had a better second half with nice passes together that built our momentum. We worked it like we did the end of the Eastmont game. We just need to get that routine for the first half,” Coach John Springer said.

From nearly 40 yards back, Rader scored the night’s first goal, with sophomore Sophia Garrison scoring two goals and freshman Allie Flynn scoring the final goal for an end score of 4-0.

“We made a lot of shots to goal, but we need to focus on shooting to score rather than just shooting,” senior Tessa Britt said, looking ahead to the team’s next match against Davis on Sept. 30.

-Kiana Wilson, Opinion Editor

Football:

The Wenatchee Panthers came into Friday night’s game with a 2-1 record facing off against the undefeated Davis Pirates. After a hard-fought defensive game, the Panthers escaped with a 19-12 victory over the Pirates.

Senior Chase Resch helped the Panthers get out to a hot start with a monster kickoff return that put them inside the Davis 30-yard line. Later on that drive, senior Cory Leenders powered into the end zone for a Panther touchdown. Leenders ended the game with 73 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Leenders also had an interception that helped seal the Panthers victory.

Junior quarterback Brandon Graves ended the game 8-for-15 with 104 yards through the air.

Next week the Panthers travel to Sunnyside to face off against the Grizzlies. Pre-game begins at 6:45 p.m. on 94.7 FM Z-country.

-Sean Kelley, Staff Reporter

Girls Swim:

On Sept. 27, the undefeated Panther swim team annihilated the Eastmont Wildcats 131-53. Junior Ali Brandt dominated the diving section as she placed first with a score of 296.05, which was a new school dive record. In the 200-yard free relay, sophomore Jessica Wierzbicki, sophomore Isabelle Dressel, junior Tori Peterson, and sophomore Jordan Hartley teamed up to accumulate a state qualifying time of 1:43.60.

On Sept. 23, the Wenatchee swim team crushed Moses Lake 114-69. In the 200 medley relay, junior Kayli Elwyn, Dressel, Wierzbicki, and Hartley finished first with a time of 1:56.72. The 200 individual medley was a competitive battle where Elwyn finished first, only .09 milliseconds ahead of a Moses Lake swimmer. The team is well on their way to having many swimmers compete at State.

The Panthers now prepare to face Eisenhower in an away meet on Sept. 30.

-Lexi Rivera, Staff Reporter

Cross Country

This past weekend the varsity boys and girls cross country went down to Portland Meadows, Oregon and raced at Nike Pre-Nationals. The team took 13th overall out of 24 other teams. Senior Cole Christman placed seventh out of 175 other runners with the time of 15:39.29. Senior Austen Lane took 21 out of 175 runners with the time of 15:57.56. The girls varsity team took 12 out of 26 other teams. Senior Raquel Thody placed 32 out of 173 with the time of 21:03.69. Senior Lindsey Wapato came in close behind placing 42 out of 173 with the time of 21:24.61.

The remaining runners traveled to the Bellevue Invite. Junior Carson Dillard was the top Wenatchee runner with a time of 18:02.79, followed by junior Ethan Knutson with a time of 18.16.81. Junior McCaleb Eifert was the first girls runner with a time of 22:27.05, followed by freshman Hallie Johnson, who ran a 22:47.93.

-Kirsten Walker, Staff Reporter

Volleyball:

It’s been rough week away from home for the Panthers. On Sept. 23, West Valley defeated the Panthers 3-0, and on Sept. 25, Eisenhower defeated them 3-1.

A rough start to the season can be expected after such a huge change in the program. Coach Emily McLean just gained the role of head coach this season and most of the varsity squad had just moved up to varsity this year, but hopes are still high among the players in regards to the communication and chemistry errors they have experienced early on.

“Our team dynamic was simply off this week, but now we’re going to work together as a one, stay energized, and stay focused on getting one game closer to State,” senior Kendall Still said. “Christa Dietrich has really helped though, she’s one of the leaders that really stand out. She’s been encouraging and executing as well as anyone could.”

-Daniel Arndt, Staff Reporter