By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
This week, ACGC’s and Panorama’s golf and track and field teams have been competing for bragging rights within the West Central Activities Conference. One thing I have learned since covering sports for the two schools is that the competition level within the WCAC is no joke.
During the interviews for our various sports guides, I used to ask each coach what the competition level was like this year within the conference. Every single one, across each sport, boys and girls, always produced a similar response that boils down to, everyone’s good, all the time. So, when the conference meets roll around, it is typically a good litmus test for these teams on how they will perform come the postseason.
Track and field
ACGC boys track and field has not quite reached the height of last season’s state runner-up season yet, but there have been some solid moments. One of the team’s best performances at state came from their shuttle hurdle relay squad. The revamped group won at the conference meet and looks like they are on pace to return to state this year. Preston Kent has been excellent in the distance runs, earning third at the conference meet, and could join them.
The ACGC girls track team has seen solid performances from Cadence Petersen in the hurdling events. Plus, Cayden Boals picked up a silver medal in the shot put and has been throwing well all season.
The Panorama girls track team under Greg Thompson has made it a habit to send events to the state meet. Star distance runner Kylie Rochholz has been slowly but surely returning from an injury and ramping up her involvement. She earned two bronze medals at the conference meet in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs, signaling a return to form. Not to mention, Emma Walker’s performances in the shot put and discus (bronze at conference meet) have been solid this year.
As for the Panorama boys, Syler Shaffer has been excellent in the 400-meter hurdles this year and continued to impress, earning silver at the conference meet. Another standout for the boys has been Reed Draper in the long jump, who took home gold at the conference meet. Draper has been leaping like a fish out of water all season and looks primed for a run at state this year.
Golf
The ACGC boys golf team is led by Sayer Bireline-Huss. He is among some of the best young golfers in the conference and continues to show that week-in and week-out, including at the conference meet where he placed 21st out of 65 golfers.
The Charger girls team has also put together some solid scores this season, including a win in their first meet of the season. They haven’t quite returned to that form since then but are still consistently shoot well as a squad. A DQ kept them out of placing at the conference meet, but the 399 they shot would have put them at fifth place, finishing in the top-half of the WCAC.
The Panorama boys golf team has qualified for the state meet the last two seasons. Losing their best golfer from last season to transfer stung, but the team is still scoring well. Brayden Galvan has been doing his best to pick up the slack by medaling at the conference meet. The team placed fourth, just two strokes shy of third place.
The Panorama girls golf team is being led by some young golfers with three of their best scores normally coming from freshmen like Anabel Pudenz, Alyssa Stanley and Avery Ambrose. Add in some solid juniors, and the future looks bright for this team after an eighth-place finish at the conference meet.
Soccer
There’s no dedicated conference meet for soccer, but if there was, the Panorama girls soccer team would have a great shot at winning it. The girls are 9-1 this season and are technically leading the four-team WCAC. They slightly edge No. 3 Des Moines Christian, which is 9-1-1. It still surprises me the girls haven’t snuck into the top 15 thus far. They face No. 3 DM-C next week on Monday and then No. 9 Tri-Center (7-3-1) the next day. It will show how good the girls stack up against some of the best talent in 1A.
Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.