With the exception of golf which gets underway this week, the Star Valley High School (SVHS) sports programs will officially begin their 2025 campaigns with football, volleyball and cross-country starting new chapters for their programs. Here’s a look at how each one of them enters a new season.
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Football
Riding a 21-game winning streak and capping the school’s first three-peat since the 1960’s, the Braves are in virtually uncharted waters as they open up the year. There are a lot of faces who graduated such as record-setting receiver, Bryson Nield, Wyoming Cowboy lineman, Cooper Lawson and prolific dual-threat quarterback Smith McClure. Not to mention linebacker and running back Grant Thomson and a bevy of other all-state selections. But the cupboard is not bare. Perhaps the deepest returning positions will be that of receiver where the team returns two of their top three statistical leaders from last season. Cooper Lancaster finished with nearly 500 yards receiving and six touchdowns before going down to injury during the post-season. Roman Erickson returns for his junior season after a breakout sophomore campaign where he finished with over 400 yards and five touchdowns. In addition, Zack Thompson and Travis Thomson look to be part of that corps as well. The backfield is somewhat light on experience but poised to be deep with Eli Matatia returning for his senior season along with Kyan Watson. Nathan Haderlie and Dylan Hirschi were both prolific for the junior varsity a year ago as well. At quarterback, Phoenixx Hovey takes over duties after completing 15 passes for 173 yards and a pair of scores a year ago in relief. Ryan Talbot will be a returning stalwart on both the offensive and defensive lines. The last time the Star Valley team was trying to top the standings four years in a row was in 1968 when the team went 6-2-1 in Lew Monsen’s final season.
Volleyball
The Lady Braves finished (17-20) a year ago and (3-3) in the 4A Southwest and qualified for the 4A state tournament for the seventh consecutive season since moving to Wyoming’s largest classification. It extended a streak of trips to Casper for the culminating event to a current run of ten dating back to 2015. However, the girls will be looking to not only qualify but win some matches in the final weekend. The last hardware came in the form of the consolation trophy in 2020. Kalin Schwab is entering his first year as head coach, taking over for Suni Brown who stepped down after two seasons at the helm. The team will miss the graduation of Shaylah Frazier but has a large group of players eligible to return such as Hallie Hokanson, Andy Christiansen, Maya Allred, Atlee Button, Charlee Neuenschwander, Avery England and Peyton Hokanson. The Lady Braves open up their season a long way from home on August 29-30 in Cheyenne before returning to the southwest for the Evanston Invite.
Cross-Country
The Braves capped off a three-peat in Wyoming’s 4A Class behind yet another individual championship from a local runner. Jase Burton led the pack which was full of teammates such as Habtamu Wetzel placed second and Colton Cranney who was third. It’s the eighth time in the last nine seasons a Star Valley runner has topped the boys state race in which they ran. Burton signed to run for Brigham Young University while Wetzel will be at the University of Wyoming. Cranney returns for his senior year to lead the program along with Brigham Hahn was finished 13th overall at state. Underclassmen, Luke Harris and Ben Hirschi qualified for the final race and will be back as well.
The Lady Braves return several runners from their sixth place finish as a team a year ago but the squad will have to replace their top two finishers from state in Alexis Angell and Macy Kennington. In addition, qualifiers Kaitlyn Bach and Kenna Merritt also departed via graduation. Kylee Linford and Carlee Angell both return for their junior years along with Kellsie Dunne who qualified for last year’s state race as a freshman.
SVHS cross-country will host an invitational on August 28 before hitting the road across the region. State will take place once again in Cheyenne on October 25.
