Lynx pride rides high in Rapid
By:
Jill Meier & Jamie Hult, Journal staff
Makenzie Smith and Shanley Zahn pucker up for the cheer team’s back-to-back state championships. Jamie Hult/BV Journal
Senior Haley Waterfall talks about her 6-year journey to winning a cross country state title. Jamie Hult/BV Journal
Coaches from three Lady Lynx athletic programs hold the state championship hardware their teams won Saturday in Rapid City. (From left) Cross country coaches Tony Thoreson and Larry Beesley guided the Lady Lynx to the program’s first-ever Class AA state title. Dance coach Tracy Kuhn’s team claimed the runner-up trophy for a second consecutive year, and cheer coaches Mariah Koch and Katee Lane led their squad to a repeat state title. Jill Meier/BV Journal
Girls’ XC, cheer teams are state champs on same day, in same city
Saturday was a historic day for Brandon Valley Lynx athletics and fans.
Within a few hours and a few miles of one another in Rapid City, the Lady Lynx cross country and competitive cheer teams each captured state championships. The cross country win was a first for the program – boys and girls alike – while the cheer team brought home back-to-back state titles.
On Sunday both programs were recognized at a welcome home celebration, alongside the Lady Lynx dance team, which secured runner-up honors for the second consecutive year.
“It was a historic weekend at Brandon Valley – wow!” said Randy Marso, BV’s activities director. “Our Lynx pride meter was off the chart. Never before has Brandon Valley had two teams win a state championship on the same day, and a runner-up title. This is a celebration of Lady Lynx athletics.”
Emotions were visible as cross country coach Larry Beesley, who’s been at the helm of the program since 1987, said Saturday’s win culminated a six-year journey for the team’s senior leadership.
“Their beliefs in themselves and commitment to each other made this possible,” Beesley said. “It was a special weekend for these girls and is something they won’t ever forget.”
Senior captain Haylee Waterfall said running the 5,000-meter course was “easier to run than to give a speech.” She thanked coaches Beesley and Tony Thoreson for encouraging them “to go the extra mile,” and gave credit to their parents and Booster Club parents for continual support.
Waterfall also shared a comment by eighth-grader Kylie Foss from the celebratory bus ride home. “Kylie said she would’ve been happy with second place, but first-place was ‘pretty cool.’”
With his “Lynx pride meter already overflowing” from the girls’ cross country team winning the top prize, Marso – who admitted to having a “nervous feeling” since he opened his eyes Saturday morning – was elated to learn the dance team had won two of their three divisions. Even better, BV had finally topped Sioux Falls Washington in pom for the first time this season.
Dance team coach Tracy Kuhn said she was excited to bring home the runner-up trophy.
“When we started the season, we thought this was going to be a rebuilding year,” she said, noting one senior and one freshman on the roster. “It was honestly the best day yesterday to be a Lynx.”
Besides their trio of winning performances on the floor, Kuhn said the girls are winners in other ways, too.
She told how a stranger approached her after the competition. The man complimented the team on the sportsmanship they displayed by standing up and clapping each time a winning team was announced.
“This showed the goodness of our team and the Lynx way,” Kuhn said.
Senior dance captain Haley Stengel told how the team is “like family.”
“I’ve been part of amazing things in this gym, but nothing compares to being a family on and off the court,” she said.
Emotions were already running high early in the week for cheer team coach Katee Lane.
“There was nothing like the feeling when they said O’Gorman was the runner-up,” she said. “And quite honestly, it hasn’t hit me yet that we won last year, so this will take a while.”
Lane, too, thanked the cheer team parents, Booster Club and of course, the girls.
“I can’t talk too much about you or I will cry,” said the sixth-year head coach.
She closed out her address with an inspiring quote: “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to is.”
Cheer team captain Shanley Zahn thanked parents for their constant support and traveling miles and hours for a 2-minute, 30-second routine.
BVHS principal Dr. Gregg Talcott told the athletes they did their school and families proud – even if they hadn’t brought home any trophies.
“The hardware’s nice – we’re not sending it back,” he joked.
Talcott talked about being a former girls’ team coach and the sisterhood that comes from all the workouts, bus rides, stories and memories. For coaches, he said, it’s about making a difference in athletes’ lives and the relationships – some of which last years.
“I had seven seniors,” Talcott said, “and I got seven wedding invitations and 21 birth announcements.”
The births, he added, came several years later.
Marso marveled at the congratulatory display of Styrofoam cups on a fence behind the high school, which he saw several men working on Sunday afternoon. Marso assumed the men were cross country, cheer or dance dads; he later learned it was the work of BVHS football coaches.
Marso said he’d watched these athletes in many practices and meets over the years.
“None of these are limelight sports, but I wish people could see how hard they work,” he said. “You’re not in the limelight, but you do as much or more as any athlete at Brandon Valley.”
The 2017 state championship banners are already on order for display in the high school gym, Marso added.
“We’ll add three more, and we’ll just keep going,” he said.
