Fall sports hit the area this week

Football got their season going this past Friday night, and the girls' golf team hit the course for their first meet of the season last Monday.

That leaves the volleyball and cross country seasons to make their debut for the 2023-24 school year, one which promises to be an exciting one for area athletes.

Carrington

The Cardinal football team started Coach Kyle Smith's eighth year at the helm this past Friday night with a home game against Bottineau, and travel on the road this upcoming week to the heart of America to take on the Rugby Panthers on August 25 at 7 p.m.

CHS went 3-5 last season, and hope to make the strides necessary to compete for a playoff spot in the always-tough 11B - Region 2. The Cards are co-oped with Pingree-Buchanan in the sport.

The volleyball team, coached by Megan Trautman, begins their season in Harvey on Tuesday, August 29, when they play the HWC Hornets in varsity/JV/C-squad action starting at 5 p.m.

Two days after that, they host the Thompson Tommies in the East Gym in what may be a preview of a future conference matchup when and if a three-division system for that sport is approved.

Trautman's team finished with a 26-9 record last season, falling in five sets to two-time defending Class B champion Linton-HMB in the Region 3 finals.

Coach Josh Kerbaugh's boys' and girls' cross country teams will hit the course for their first run of the fall on Saturday, August 26, when they run at Parkhurst Recreation Area north of Jamestown beginning at 10 a.m. Parkhurst will also be the site of the state meet on October 27.

The girls' golf team, coached by Wayne Shipman, started their season at Fargo Country Club on August 14 (see related article).

HWC

Harvey-Wells County could be one of the darkhorse contenders for a playoff spot in 11B - Region 2 football this season, and also finished last year with a 3-5 record.

Coach Bret Dockter's grid charges got their season started at L.C. Loerch Field on Friday against Rugby, and take the field for their second game of the season this Friday evening when they travel to region favorites Langdon/Edmore/Munich.

The Hornet volleyball team finished at 7-15 last season, and enter another year of Super Region 4 play under Coach Kristi Fike.

Carrington will be their first opponent in Harvey on August 29.

Griggs/Midkota

After a 6-17 season on the volleyball court, the Titans get their season started on Tuesday, August 29, when they face the Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder in Pingree. Action starts with junior high at 3:30 p.m., followed by C-squad, junior varsity and varsity matches.

Carissa Mehus returns to the sidelines for her second season at G-M, after missing much of the first campaign with health-related issues. Presley Paintner served as acting coach in Mehus's absence.

A young Griggs/Midkota football team in 2022 is trying to take the next step towards contendership in the newly-expanded 9B - Region 1, following a season in which they finished at 2-6 for the fall.

Head Coach Ryan Dockter begins his second year coaching the Titans, who started last Friday with a home game against Hatton/Northwood, and travel to face Wyndmere/Lidgerwood on Friday in Wyndmere.

M-P-B

Another respectable effort for the Thunder at the nets resulted in a 23-12 overall record for veteran head Coach Jacie Connell's program. M-P-B advanced to the Region 3 tournament as an automatic qualifier out of District 6, where they fell to Oakes to finish their season.

The Thunder will start their season on Saturday, August 26, at the very-challenging Northern Cass Tournament. Their first regular season match comes against Griggs/Midkota on Tuesday, August 29, in Pingree for A-B-C-junior high play. Two nights later, the team travels to Edgeley to take on the E-K-M Rebels for four matches starting at 4:30 p.m.

The M-P-B cross country team is led once again by Tammy Heinrich, and is expected to be one of the teams competing at Parkhurst on August 26.