Catoctin sports: mid-winter update

Mia Ferraro
CHS Class of 22

(2/2022) A new year brings new beginnings, some say. Catoctin athletes, however, have been changing and growing all throughout the season. There’s nothing new about new beginnings for athletes whose focus has always been on improving themselves. Consequently, the Catoctin Cougars entered January with the same winning attitude and emerged as triumphant as ever. Whether it’s the girls basketball team’s lengthy winning streak, the unified bocce team’s county championship, the indoor track teams’ numerous seasonal and personal records, or a victory of another kind -- each team has something to celebrate.

Having carried into the new year with an undefeated status, the CHS girls basketball team was met with plenty of recognition after their first game of the year on Jan. 4. The Cougars defeated Governor Thomas Johnson High School 57-41, during which CHS senior Emily Williams led the team with 18 points and contributed eight assists and seven rebounds. Williams’ performance at this game was acknowledged in the Frederick News-Post as she was announced Athlete of the Week for the week of Dec. 29 to Jan. 4.

Also announced in the first week of January was Williams’ success in leading the county’s high school girls basketball players in assists, with 29 in only seven games: an average of 4.1 assists per game. CHS senior Emma Wivell was also included on the list with 13 assists, making an average of 1.9 per game. Both athletes made the leaderboard in rebounds, with Wivell having made 55 total: an average of 7.9 rebounds. Williams made 40 rebounds, contributing an average of 5.7 per game. The two Cougars were also recognized in county standings for points scored by individuals. Wivell earned 107 points total within seven games, making an average of 15.3 points per game. Williams earned a 12.1 average with 85 points total. CHS freshman Taylor Smith also made the list with a total of 81 points, earning an 11.6 average per game.

The Cougars kept up the hard work, winning at the next game 61-40 on Jan. 11 against Walkersville High School. Wivell led the team with 16 points. Williams made 15 points, four steals, and eight rebounds. Smith also contributed five points. The team went on to compete against Class 2A team Williamsport Wildcats on Jan. 14. The Cougars ultimately prevailed over the previously-undefeated Wildcats, bringing home a CHS victory of 71-57. Wivell led both teams with 29 points, also contributing nine rebounds, five steals, and four assists. Smith had a personal record of 19 points, and added three steals. Afterward, Smith was named Athlete of the Week by the Frederick News-Post for the week of Jan. 12-18. The team would proceed to lose their next game to Middletown High School by only three points (46-43), making it their first defeat after a streak of nine victories, before their last two scheduled games of the month.

The CHS unified bocce team concluded their regular season (3-4) on Jan. 19 by bringing home the gold in the county championship tournament. The champions faced off against Brunswick High School in the first match. CHS senior Dominic McKenny and freshman Jayden Myers each scored a point for the Cougars in the first frame. Brunswick retaliated with one point in the second frame, which Myers and junior Siddah Robbins answered with one point each. In the third, freshman Lucas Phelan scored once, sealing the Cougars’ winning score of 5-1. Myers scored the first point in the next match against Walkersville High School, and Phelan scored again in the second frame. McKenny and sophomore Johnny Wastler each scored once, and yielded only one point to Walkersville. CHS won 4-1, earning the first place title in Frederick County.

After defeating Smithsburg 39-36 on Jan. 5 with three pins, three forfeits, and one decision, the CHS wrestling team went on later that week to attend the Wrestling Hub Cup Tournament. The Cougars placed 7th of 16 competing schools. CHS junior Braden Bell took second place, freshman Lucas Reeder took third, and junior Nathan Kovalcik and freshman Jacob Bell both took fifth. Sophomore Evan Burd took sixth place, junior Daynin McLain took seventh, and freshman Brady Davis took eighth. After one following loss of 46-33, the team competed at the 2022 Rebel Duals over the weekend on Jan. 14 and 15. The Cougars placed fifth out of nine schools. Braden Bell took first place individually in the tournament; Reeder and Kovalcik both took third.

The CHS indoor track teams attended the Dwight Scott Varsity Invitational hosted by Hagerstown Community College on Jan. 8. The boys and girls teams both placed 13th out of 19 competing teams overall with 13 scored events. At this invitational, the boys team set 12 personal records, and the girls team set six. In the boys 55-meter dash, CHS junior Brody Buffington took first place out of 37 participants, setting a personal record of 6.46 seconds. Sophomore Jenna Conley finished in eighth of 19 runners in the girls 3200-meter run, with a season best time of 12 minutes, 43.48 seconds. Senior Wyatt Davis finished in 10th place out of 28 participants in boys shot put with 36 feet, 10 inches.

The boys team set a season best in the 4x200-meter relay, finishing in ninth place out of 16 competing schools with one minute, 44.45 seconds. In the girls 4x200-meter relay, CHS took 10th place of 17 with a time of 2:04.17. Setting another season record, the boys finished in seventh place out of 17 schools in the 4x400-meter relay with 3:57.46. The girls team took 10th of 13 in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:51.93.

The boys team then went on to compete at the Kutztown Golden Bear High School Invitational at Kutztown University on Jan. 15, at which CHS set 13 personal records. Buffington finished in first place out of 67 runners in the preliminary 55-meter dash with 6.56 seconds. He then placed first in the 55-meter dash finals with a personal record of 6.38. Buffington also took fourth place out of 39 participants in shot put with a personal best distance of 44 feet, 8.5 inches. CHS freshman Ethan Robeson (35-6.00) finished in ninth. Senior Garrett Sullivan took first place out of 10 participants in the high jump with a personal record of 5 feet, 8 inches -- now holding the highest score in the county. He also finished 15th out of 64 runners in the 400-meter dash with a personal best of 58.22 seconds. Junior Alex Contreras set two personal records, taking eighth place (4:49.82) out of 17 runners in the 1600-meter run, as well as 15th (2:12.79) of 59 in the 800-meter run. The team set a season record of 1:40.94 in the 4x200-meter relay, coming in third place of 23 teams.

The Cougars are scheduled to conclude their regular winter season by the end of the fourth week of February and, as always, they have their sights set on playoffs. Spring sports begin March 1, and registration is available now. You can register online through the FCPS website under "Athletics."