Bears recognize fall sports participants

An up and down season for many of Bonduel High School’s fall sports teams has come to an end.

The athletic department on Monday held a banquet in the school commons to recognize the outstanding athletes of the five fall sports.

The Bonduel football team finished 8-3 after a loss to Southern Door in the Level 2 playoffs. With many standout athletes on both sides of the ball, head coach James Westrich had a difficult time narrowing down the selections, but ultimately chose Blake Stoss as the team’s most valuable player.

“Usually there is a distinct player at each spot, but three or four names are coming up at every spot. That kind of represents our team this year,” Westrich said. ” A lot of good kids; a lot of good leaders.”

Elijah Mastey earned the team’s top defensive player award, with sophomore Jordan Boldt taking home the award for special teams play.

The scout team award was split between Josh Richter and Jonathan Ballestad, and Jacob Banker was recognized as the most improved player. Eric Bergsbaken earned the top lineman plaque, with Preston Robaidek being recognized as a utility player for all the positions he filled on the team.

Banker, Boldt and Richter would be returners to next year’s team.

“It just seems like we’ve been losing a lot of talent every year. Last year, we lost a lot. We had to come back with eight new starters on offense and seven on defense. Our kids are used to that, they understand there are positions to be taken,” Westrich said. “I really hope we can develop more competition, fighting for those spots.

“I said, ‘Don’t assume the job is yours or somebody else’s. Go earn it. Go fight for it.’ We’ve got a lot of young talent coming up. We had a good JV season, a lot of underclassmen playing on the varsity level also, so we are losing a lot of good seniors, but we’ve got a lot of talent coming back.”

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

A winning record was little consolation for head coach Kim Bodoh this season. Inconsistent play made for a roller-coaster season for a team that advanced to the sectional semifinal and lost to conference foe Wittenberg-Birnamwood.

Bodoh said she based her awards more on in-depth statistics than pure numbers. Junior Kailee Pedersen was named the team’s most valuable hitter, and senior Hayley Pues was the most valuable blocker. Setter Miranda Schmidt took home two awards: most valuable setter and most valuable server. Libero Danee Collier was recognized as the most valuable passer.

Senior Nicole Hoppe earned the Coaches Award.

GIRLS GOLF

The Bears could not advance out of their home regional, but the season could be considered a success under first-year head coach Taylor McAdams.

Jessie LaBerge grabbed the Most Improved Player award. The lone senior on the team, Danielle Lautenbach,was named the most valuable player. Lautenbach also earned an award for being the team’s captain.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Bonduel freshman Jared Wondra placed in a majority of his races and posted the fastest time for the boys cross-country team all year. He was rewarded with the Most Valuable Player award. Senior Josh Schill was honored for being the team captain. Freshman Colin Ewing dropped significant time over the course of the season, earning himself the Most Improved Runner award.

Sophomore Ashlyn Schnell took home the Most Valuable Runner award for the girls squad. Kaylee Rynish was honored for being the team captain. Arianna Factor was named the most improved runner.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Senior Clare Martell earned the Bonduel Most Valuable Swimmer award for the combined Shawano/Bonduel swim team. Martell also received recognition for being the 2015 Bay Conference Swimmer of the Year. She will travel to Madison on Saturday to compete in her fourth consecutive state meet.