After one of the most successful seasons in school history last year, the Bulldog Fall sports teams are hoping to carry on the success from last year.

“I am looking forward to the new season,” Activities Director Gary Stevanus said.”I hope to have the same success we had last year.”

Last year, seven Bulldog teams won 4A state trophies, three of them being championships. Winning titles were boys cross country, wrestling and girls track. Other trophy teams were girls cross country third, volleyball second, girls basketball second and boys track third.

The 2015-16 teams have been practicing hard and are ready to go.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

The boys cross country team returns to another season after two straight state titles and hoping for another one this year. The team is led by senior George Letner who placed fifth at the state meet at Wamego last year.

“We should be pretty good again this year, because we have 5 of our top 7 runners returning with some new incoming talent,” senior Phillip Carroll said. “We have been doing lots of longer runs getting up to around 10 miles with a few harder workouts to get us ready for Anderson County, and in the longer run State.”

The state top 20 returners are George Letner (5th State), Dakota Helm (10th State) and Nevin Dunn (16th State)

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

The girls cross country team is returning eight seniors to its team this year. Last year the team won a third place trophy at state, led by senior Addie Dick who placed 12th at the state.

“We have all been putting in a lot of work this summer, and all of the seniors work very well together to help build a great team with some new people,” senior Addie Dick said. “We have been doing some very hard timed trials just to figure out the teams, and we are all putting a lot of effort into those.”

The state top 20 returners are Addie Dick (12th State) and Mackenzie Russell (16th State)

26 years as head coach, Mike Spielman is excited for the upcoming season,

“We are set up for a good season, because we have good, hard working seniors who have helped the underclassmen over the summer,” Spielman said. “Our main goal this year is to go into the Big 3 ‘League, Regionals, and State’ as a very strong team.”

BOYS SOCCER

The boys soccer team went 11-2-1 last year when they fell to DeSoto in the State tournament by a score of 1-0. Returning many seniors to the roster this year, led by senior Brenden Owings.

“We have a new coach this year this, and he has really brought the team together and we also have new freshmen talent on the team,” junior Caleb Othick said. “DeSoto is our biggest rival, and we lost to them in the State tournament so we hope to get a victory against them this year.”

The team is led by a new head coach, Science teacher Andrew Ising,

“We have been working on team play, as in offense and defense and playing within the system,” Ising said. “We have a lot of talent and hope to do well in the season this year.”

FOOTBALL

The football team had a record of 7-3 last year when they fell to Fort Scott in the playoffs. The football team did not lose too many seniors, but some significant losses in talent.

Mike Berg, who has been the head coach for 19 years will be leading the bulldog team again this year,

“We have been working a lot on being mentally tough, and getting in shape for the season. We will have a very solid line this year, and the seniors will help us a lot,” senior Joel Katzer said.

“Our first game will be a very big/important game against Basehor, and then we will need to work hard to make it to the play offs and do well,” senior Jake Katzer said.

“As a whole, this group is similar to the 2014 class. They always show up and work hard. We may not be as talented but we have the passion,” Assistant coach Paul Musselman said.

VOLLEYBALL

The girls volleyball team was the runner-up at state last year. They lost a few seniors last year that contributed to their height, but are working hard to make up for that loss this year.

“I think we will have a good season because we always work hard in practice and we are a scrappy team,” senior Emma Burnett said. “We have very good senior leadership, which leads to good team bonding.”

“The BIT is a big tournament for us, because we see big competition. Also sub-state is a very challenging tournament,” Burnett said.

GIRLS TENNIS

The Tennis team is hoping to have big improvement this year all together.

“I have really liked being a part of the tennis team because it has really given me a sense of where I belong.” Bailey Rice said. “We had a pretty good record last year and I hope to better that this year.”

“I am very excited for this year in Tennis because it is my senior year.” Natalie Bostwick said. “I have really enjoyed playing tennis because it has helped me get to know a lot of the girls in the school and I have became very good friends with a few of them.