The River Valley High School spring sports season officially kicked off on April 19—with a later start and a shorter season than usual due to COVID-19.
“The spring season will be very busy with the delayed start and shortened overall season. I think everyone is excited about the start, about being outside, and hopefully warmer weather. Within our Operations Agreements, you’ll notice that there will be situations in some sports
where student-athletes don’t have to mask during portions of competition. We’re not restricting the number of spectators, but all spectators must wear a mask,” said district Activities Director Jaime Hegland.
Valley Sentinel reached out to the coaches of RVHS spring sports with questions regarding the upcoming season and how COVID-19 has affected their teams. Below are their responses so far. Valley Sentinel will provide updates in print and online as we hear back from coaches.
Valley Sentinel: Did you have any comments or quotes as we start out the season? What should the community be looking forward to while watching this season? Any breakout athletes to watch? Should we expect to see any River Valley athletes at State contests this spring sports season? What are you most excited about regarding this season? What are some of your goals for the season?
Matt Snow: The RV golf team is excited to return to play after no season in 2020. The 2021 season looks to be a great year to rebuild and grow with a great group of students. This season’s roster includes 23 boys and 1 girl. The varsity team will be led by returning varsity golfer, Eli Johnson (Junior). The other varsity players starting the season will be sophomores Ashton Price and Jackson Thier, junior Conner Fields, and senior, Luke Snow.
One area that we are excited about is the growth in numbers of the golf program.
Some of our goals for the season include competing for the conference championship as well as qualifying for Sectionals as a team. In addition, we look forward to the continued growth of our younger players.
VS: How has COVID affected your season so far? How do you anticipate COVID affecting the season as it progresses?
MS: COVID continues to shape our high school student experience, however, as an outdoor sport, there are not too many modifications.
Golf Results
April 23rd – Reedsburg Invitational
Eli Johnson – 86
Ashton Price- 99
Jackson Thier – 106
Connor Fields – 101
Luke Snow – 111
April 24th – Dodge-Point Invitational
Team – 5th Place
Eli Johnson – 83
Ashton Price – 95
Luke Snow – 97 -2nd place Medalist in Flight
Jackson Thier – 98
Connor Fields – 103
Valley Sentinel: Did you have any comments or quotes as we start out the season?
Jane Briehl: We are excited to be back on the field! Our student athletes are working extremely hard and have set some great goals for the season. We scrimmaged both Horicon and Belmont on Saturday. Both of these teams are perennial power houses. It was fun to see how our kids would stack up against them.
VS: What should the community be looking forward to while watching this season?
JB: Our ladies are working hard every night and are aiming to improve with every night we come out and play.
VS: Any breakout athletes to watch? Should we expect to see any River Valley athletes at State contests this spring sports season? What are you most excited about regarding this season?
JB: Not only do we have a great group of softball players, we have great young ladies on this team. We are so excited to be able to spend time with them every day this spring. They help to make us better coaches and our goal is to not only teach softball skills and strategies to them, but to also help them learn some life skills.
VS: What are some of your goals for the season?
JB: Our main goal is to work hard and give 100% every night we come to practice so that it will transfer over into the games we play. We feel like if that happens, anything is possible with this team. We will focus on one game at a time in hopes to accomplish some other tangible team goals.
