SALINA, Kan.—
The 2012-2013 sports slate will begin for the North CentralActivities Association on Nov. 25 when the Salina Sacred Heart Lady
Knights tennis team hosts its annual tennis invitational. The Ellsworth
Lady Bearcats and Beloit Lady Trojans tennis teams will also be in
competition on the 25th in Salina.
Each of the seven NCAA schools will begin their football seasons the
following Friday night with Russell playing at Minneapolis, Republic
County playing at Southeast of Saline being the NCAA showdowns on opening
night. Sacred Heart will play host to Hutchinson Trinity while Beloit will
play at Concordia on the opening night of football.
Sacred Heart
The Knight football team is entering into its third season with Bruce
Graber as its head coach and the Knights are coming off a 6-4 campaign in
2011 which saw Sacred Heart qualify for the playoffs but fall in the
opening round. "We have some returning depth everywhere but up front,"
Graber said of this year's team. "We will have to find the right
combination up front very quickly." The Knights open the 2012 season by
hosting Hutchinson Trinity on Aug. 31. The Lady Knight tennis team will
open its season on Aug. 25 when they play host to the annual Sacred Heart
Invitational. The Lady Knight volleyball team will open its season on
Sept. 4 when it plays host to Minneapolis. The Sacred Heart cross
country teams will open their seasons on Aug. 30 when they run in the
Abilene Invitational.
Minneapolis
Football: The Lion football team went 3-6 in 2011 and will open the 2012
season on Aug. 31 when they play host to Russell. The Lady Lion
volleyball team will begin its 2012 season on Aug. 30 when they play host
to Hesston and Hutchinson Trinity in a triangular. The Minneapolis cross
country teams will begin their seasons Aug. 30 when they run at Lincoln.
The Minneapolis girls' golf team will begin its 2012 season on Aug. 28
when they play at Concordia.
Southeast of Saline
The Trojan football team went 8-2 in 2011 and lost 42-29 to Garden Plain
in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs. This season the Trojans
will begin their 2012 trek by playing host to NCAA rival Republic County
on Aug. 31. "We will be young but return some linemen from last year,"
Southeast of Saline head coach Mitch Gebhart said. "We need to have a
positive start to the season so the young guys have some success." The
Lady Trojan volleyball team is coming off a 19-14 season, which was their
fourth under head coach Kristy Rodriguez. The Lady Trojans will open this
season with a triangular at Clay Center with Minneapolis on Aug. 28. The
Southeast of Saline cross country teams will open the 2012 season when
they run at the Abilene Invitational on Aug. 30 "Our girls' team will need
to improve from week to week and our 4-7 runners will have to get stronger
and pack together," Trojan coach Wade Caselman said. "The boys team
returns our top 12 runners from last year and any of them could battle for
avarsity spot. Hard work and conditioning will be crucial.".
Russell
The Russell High School football team is coming off a 2-7 season in 2011
and will look to get back on track on Aug. 31 when they open the season at
NCAA rival Minneapolis. The Lady Bronco volleyball team will begin its
2012 season Aug. 28 when they play at Beloit. The Russell cross country
teams will begin their 2012 trek when they run at the Hoisington meet on
Sept. 1. The Russell Lady Bronco tennis team will begin its 2012 season
on Aug. 25 when they play at Wakeeney. The Russell girls' golf team will
open its 2012 season at the Concordia Invitational on Aug. 28.
Beloit
The Trojan football team enters the 2012 NCAA campaign with a couple of
different streaks they are looking to protect. Beloit has won the NCAA
title two years in a row and is riding a 14-game NCAA winning streak along
with qualifying for the playoffs in five straight years. The Trojans have
done this under the guidance of Greg Koenig, who is entering his seventh
season at the helm of the Trojan gridders. In all Beloit posted a 9-3
record a year ago and came one win shy of playing for a state
championship. This season Beloit opens its season at Concordia on Aug. 31
and will open NCAA play two weeks later when they play host to Russell on
Sept. 14. The Lady Trojan volleyball team is coming off a 16-17 season
in 2011 under 8-year head coach Sylvia Ludwig. The Beloit volleyball team
will open its season Aug. 28 when they play host to Russell.
Cross Country: opens at Concordia on Aug. 30
Girls Tennis: opens at Sacred Heart on Aug. 25
Ellsworth
The Bearcats football team is looking to new coach Tyler Hampton in 2012.
Hampton takes over a team which posted a 6-4 record, and went 2-1 in
district play to qualify for the playoffs but dropped its playoff opener.
"Our athletes are going to have a challenge in front of them learning new
systemas in every phase of the game," Hampto said. The Bearcats open the
2012 season on the road at Larned Aug. 31. The Lady Bearcat volleyball
team is coming off a 16-20 campaign which saw them fall in the second
round of the sub-state but Ellsworth only lost one senior from that squad.
"We look forward to a lot of experience coming back," Ellsworth volleyball
coach Amy Johnson said. The Lady Bearcats open the season Aug. 28 when
they play at Republic County. The Lady Bearcat tennis team is coming off
a season that saw it finish 19th at the state tournament and has six
returning starters from that squad, including Rachel Herzog, who enters
her junior season after qualifying for state last year as a sophomore and
posting a 26-7 record. "I look for Rachel Herzog to establish herself as
one of the top players in that this season," Ellsworth coach Eric Anderson
said. The Lady Bearcats begin the 2012 campaign Aug. 25th at the Sacred
Heart (Salina) Invitational. The Ellsworth cross country teams will open
their 2012 seasons on Aug. 30 when they run at Concordia.
Republic County
The Republic County Buffalo football team is coming off back-to-back
sluggish seasons as they went 1-8 in 2010 and went without a win, 0-8, in
2011. This year Republic County will look to turn things around on Aug. 31
when they open the season at Southeast of Saline. The Lady Buffaloe
volleyball team opens the season at home on Aug. 28 against Ellsworth.
The Republic County cross country teams will open on Sept. 6 when they
cross the state line and run in a meet in Fairbury, Neb.
