All fall Watauga Sports Win in Their Conference

The Watauga Varsity Women's Volleyball team pauses for a moment of silence during a match.

As the weather gets colder, fall sports end and winter sports begin. However, as the regular season comes to a close, the playoffs are just beginning. Watauga High School is a sports powerhouse year in and year out. This year is no exception. Volleyball, football, women’s tennis, men’s soccer, and both men's and women's cross country teams won conference championships. Additionally individual athletes from the school did exceptionally well, including a golfer from the women’s team.

“Making it to the final four was an amazing opportunity,” said senior Brelyn Sturgill. “Seeing all the love and support from our community was so awesome.”

Sturgill helped the Watauga Volleyball Team dominate on the court, going undefeated in conference and making it to the playoffs. The girls secured the western region, entering the final four, in a playoff victory against TC Roberson. Unfortunately Watauga’s outstanding playoff run came to an end against Ardrey Kell.

“The [cross country] season went super well this year and it was amazing to get back to a normal season after last year,” said senior Sophie Beach. “I always get an overwhelming sense of accomplishment knowing that we get to run with some of the fastest teams in the state and then realizing that we are also up there with those great teams.”

The Women's Cross Country team is undoubtedly a great team. They had an outstanding season, once again, winning conference and qualifying for regionals where they got second place. Then Beach, along with the rest of the team, continued on to states where they placed 11th overall.

“[The football team] had some struggles in the beginning,” said senior Luke Johnson. “But we developed as a team after every week of competition that we played.”

The Watauga Varsity Football Team started off strong shutting out TC Roberson in week 1, a team they had lost to the previous year; however, they had a shaky couple of games following the early victory. They then went on a 7 game win streak, winning their conference for the fourth year in a row. However, they were knocked out of the playoffs by Cuthbertson in the first week of the postseason, following yet another exciting season.

“The soccer season was overall very positive,” said Micah Duvall. “We responded to a huge roster change very well and overcame many challenges as a team.”

The Men's Soccer Team had a great season ending 12-7-4. They won their conference, making it to the playoffs where they lost to Hickory Ridge. Many individual athletes from other fall sports including tennis and golf also stood out this season, making it to regionals.

“This past tennis season, the other conference teams were no match for Watauga,” said senior Jillian Russert. “We worked together, and the reward paid off when we made it to regionals. I thought every single player performed incredibly and committed their time to make the most out of the year.”

The Watauga Women’s Tennis Team had another great season, going undefeated in conference yet again. Winning conference is not easy to do. However the Men's Cross Country team is another Watauga team that wins year in and year out.

“Overall, we had a great season. Both men and womens teams won conference and kept up our winning streak,” said senior cross country runner Axel Albu. “The conversations the team would have during easy runs was definitely my favorite part.”

While the team may have fun conversations on leisurely runs, they also know how to focus. The Men's Cross Country Team has won conference for 16 consecutive years. This is no easy feat and demonstrates how dominant the cross country team really is. In addition to dominant teams, Watauga had many dominant athletes.

Senior golfer Bethany Critcher has played for Watauga throughout her high school career and consistently qualified for regionals.

“It was very nerve wracking going to regionals,” said Critcher. “I went sophomore year and qualified last year so I knew what to expect, but I was still nervous to go. I think that it was a great way to end my senior year.”

Watauga wrapped up another successful fall season. With conference wins in every sport, this high school remains a powerhouse. Now Watauga moves into the winter sports including basketball, indoor track, swim, and wrestling where we hope for great seasons all around.