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SPORTS TALK

By goodNewsBanner On May 23, 2024 · Add Comment · In Sports News

with Michael Betteridge

Catoctin High School spring sports began with some pretty big news. With the retirement of Athletic Director Keith Bruck, who moved up north to take over at Fairfield, Catoctin began the search process for a new athletic director.

Since WTHU arrived on the sports scene in 2008, Catoctin High School has had three great athletic directors: Tom Sherald, Kevin McMullen, and Keith Bruck.

Sherald was a local guy all the way and Kevin McMullen was, too. Keith Bruck worked at Catoctin for 22 years, with his eye on the job all the way back to when he was assistant athletic director for eleven years, and finally landed his dream job as athletic director for the past six years. All three of these guys were local products.

Now, Catoctin has gone all the way to Waldorf, Maryland, to find its next athletic director: Brett Campbell. Campbell, the former head basketball coach of the St. Charles Trojans, guided his team all the way to the 3A State Championship at College Park this past March, where they lost by three points to Northeast. Coach Campbell and his family have moved to Thurmont, and we welcome him into our Cougars family! A special shout-out to Coach Rich who stood in as temporary athletic director during the search process. Thanks, Coach Mike!

Spring sports are finished at Catoctin, so let’s put a ribbon on a great season.

Baseball

What can you say about Coach Franklin and his guys. Year after year, game after game, they always “bring it.” Sitting atop the dugout, over and over again, I would smile while I listened to Coach Franklin “coaching up” his players. At times, he would laugh, at times he was stern, but he never let his players off the hook without a smile and a twinkle in his eye when he spoke to them. Every player on that team knew that Coach Franklin and his staff had their backs.

Catoctin had some exciting bats this year. Brayden Grable batted .392 on the season, followed by Bryont Green at .340. Castellow provided some clutch hitting, along with Jake Bell, Garrett Worth, Gavin Watkins, and Patrick Morlan. Last year, the team to beat was Clear Spring. This year, Brunswick ended the Cougars season in the regionals.

Softball

We couldn’t help but wonder what this team would have been with Taylor Smith in the circle, but between the Cougars amazing bats and some pretty awesome pitching from Aubrey Courtney and Kassidy Kreitz, the pain of Taylor’s injury faded into the distance.

Catoctin softball led all categories in county softball at the plate. Bralyn West had an amazing season! She led the county in hitting, with a .679 batting average and 6 homers. Meghan Gray led the county in home runs with 10 and RBIs with 34. Kassidy Kreitz had 7 homers and 31 RBIs, second place in the county. Courtney and Kreitz took on the role in the circle to overpower opponents for a combined 15 wins. That is not too shabby for the smallest high school in Frederick County to lead in all those categories. The Lady Cougars battled all the way to the regionals, where they ended the season against Liberty.

Lacrosse

Catoctin boys and girls pulled the No. 3 seed in the brackets, where they both lost to Middletown—the boys in the semis, and the girls in the regional finals.

Track and Field

The Catoctin boys track team won their meet at Fort Hill in the regionals with some notable standouts.

Senior Furious Trammel captured first in the 400 meter dash, the Triple Jump, the Long Jump, and in the 4×400 meter relay with teammates Ronald Etzler, Gavin Sheetz, and Dennis Lease. Gavin Sheetz placed second in the 110 meter hurdles and third in the 300 meter hurdles. Gabriel Riling won the 1600 and 3200 meter runs and placed second in the 800 meter run. Dennis Lease won the 800 meter run.

The Catoctin girls track team finished eighth in their meet with a fourth place show in the 4×800 meter relay run by teammates Olivia Baker, Katelyn Bell, Anjiston Casne, and Keira Taylor.

Tennis

Finishing in the playoff brackets in singles for the boys was Zach Kerr and for the girls was Grace Bell. In boys doubles: Daniel Martin and Jackson Starliper; girls doubles: Anessa Stauffer and Lillian Holden; and in mixed doubles: Elliana Mucker and Magnus Moore.

To the Catoctin spring sports seniors, Brayden Grable, Bryont Green, Anthony Kinnamont, Patrick Morlan, David Shipton, Gavin Watkins, Garrett Worth, Charles Dougherty, Randy Hall, Alexander Hauk, Ben Krauss, Haydn Matthews, Vince Reaver, McKenna Gisrael, Malin Grongstad, Allison Kelly, Abbey Shaffer, Anessa Stauffer, Bryce Bowers, Santiago Canadas Fraga, RJ Etzler, Wayne Ferson, Anthony Kinnamount, Dennis Lease, Timothy McCarthy, Gabriel Riling, David Stitely, Furious Trammel, Meghan Gray, and Reagan Miller: Thanks for all you have done for Catoctin sports during your high school careers. May your new journey be even more successful!

Catoctin Athletes Take the Next Step

By goodNewsBanner On May 26, 2022 · Add Comment · In Sports News

BLAIR GARRETT

Nine Catoctin High School (CHS) seniors officially signed on to further their education while playing sports at the next level. All nine athletes excelled in their sports, helping to propel each of their teams and teammates to be better every day. CHS held a signing day ceremony to let the head coaches share with the athletes’ friends and families what kind of competitor and person they’ve seen each player blossom into.

Few people in a high school athlete’s life see the growth and development that a coach does. The students who go on to compete in college are among the most driven and dedicated to keep improving each day, and a good coach takes notice of that. Each one of these athletes has put an exceptional amount of time into their craft. Putting in the hours on the fields, courts, tracks, and in the gym, coupled with a good attitude, can take you a long way, and each one of these student-athletes has demonstrated that day after day.

Football: Wyatt Davis has committed to play at Shippensburg University in the fall, and the Raiders will be lucky to have him. Davis played defensive end and tackle for Catoctin and was a driving force on the defensive line.

Track and Field: Jenna Zentz is taking her talents to Towson University, where she will look to continue her successes on the track. Zentz ran a variety of events for the Cougars, including relays and 100- through 800-meter races.

Baseball: A pair of star athletes, Noland Kinna and Dalton Williams, have signed their letters of intent to play ball in college, and both have meant a tremendous deal to CHS during their time playing there. Kinna, a commit to the College of Southern Maryland, was involved in a myriad of school programs, and he became a key piece to Catoctin’s back-to-back great seasons. Williams will go on to play at High Point University. Both players were part of the state championship winning season in 2021, helping CHS grab its second championship title.

Softball: Catoctin softball’s Kara Watkins and Avery Sickeri have been integral in the team’s phenomenal season. From start to finish, the Cougars have been dominant, with Watkins and Sickeri helping the team capture the Central Maryland Conference Championship en route to a 17-2 season. Watkins is set to join Shenandoah University’s softball team, while Sickeri looks to make waves at West Chester University.

Girls Basketball: With a talent-packed lineup and a lot of hard work, seniors Emma Wivell and Emily Williams helped push Catoctin to the state finals in the team’s 23-3 season. The seniors had great individual accomplishments as well, with Wivell making the Maryland Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) 1st team, and Williams making the MBCA 2nd team. Wivell has committed to Salisbury University while Williams has committed to Shenandoah University.

Boys Basketball: Though the team had a rocky season, Catoctin’s Ryan Burke played a key role in the successes the boys had over the course of the season. Burke, a shooting guard, plans to play next season with Hagerstown Community College, and will look to make an impact just as he did with the Cougars.

Congratulations to all graduating seniors and to the student athletes who put in years of effort to take their careers to the next step.