At one point this fall, Community School athletic director John Remington assessed the progress of the athletic teams at the Sun Valley independent school and realized there was a chance that every team could qualify for state tournaments.
Boys' and girls' soccer, cross country and volleyball were all in the mix. That's never happened before for the Cutthroats, and it's rare for a small Idaho school that depends on an enrollment of 118 for grades 9-12. There just aren't that many athletes to go around.
As it happened, it didn't happen in 2007 for the Cutthroats, who settled for three of the five full teams making state tournaments—while volleyball and girls' cross country just missed making the state grade.
Still, there was plenty of cause for celebration Saturday at the annual Fall Sports Banquet held in nexStage Theatre on Main St., Ketchum. As senior Caroline Fairchild said in her time on the stage, "Go Fish!" Here are award winners:
Boys' soccer
Sixteenth-year Cutthroat boys' soccer coach Richard Whitelaw said he was proud that 28 boys out of the 59 in the Upper School chose to play soccer this fall. He said, "There was a lot of tightness and closeness of the players this season and they were great ambassadors of the game."
This was the second year in a row that the Cutthroats defeated Wood River and also the second straight time Sun Valley has captured the State 3A consolation trophy, he said. Tri-captains Max Harris, Travis Stone and Connor Brown showed outstanding leadership and the future looks bright, the coach added.
"We should continue the tradition of excellence," said Whitelaw, whose team finished 17-1-1, unbeaten at home, outscoring opponents 84-22 with six shutouts on the season.
Making the High Desert Soccer Conference All-Star team were Connor Brown, Mac Whittington, Travis Stone, Alex Conn and Tanner Flanigan. Whittington was this year's Most Improved Player.
"Goal of the Year," went to Alex Conn, who provided the decider with a blast against Wood River Sept. 22 in Hailey.
The only Cutthroat to play every minute of every game, junior sweeper Conn also scored the 1,000th goal by a Cutthroat player under Whitelaw's leadership and was voted the team's state tournament MVP by his coaches.
Max Harris, who played 57 games and started 42, was Most Inspirational. "Factor Awards" went to Tanner Flanigan (24 goals season, 37 career) and Connor Brown (68 varsity starts, "a player who epitomizes Cutthroat soccer," Whitelaw said).
Whitelaw reserved much praise for a senior who never sought the limelight, Travis Stone. "Special players do special things, and Travis has been some player. Travis was above all a team player—and he was voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates for the second straight year," said Whitelaw.
With 34 goals, Stone was the team's top scorer for the second straight season. He was the top single-season scorer in the entire state. Stone leaves the school as the all-time state tournament scorer (11 goals). He scored 93 goals for his career in 71 starts, good for second place on the all-time list.
Cross country
Cross country co-coach Abi Holt, a 1995 Community School graduate, congratulated the Cutthroat thinclads for a fine season and said she and co-coach Rick Kapala were optimistic about next year's squad.
The Cutthroats had only one senior runner, state qualifier Marissa Dreyer, who shared the Most Improved honor with Max Durtschi.
Most Valuable runners were 2A/1A Fourth District champion Bronwen Raff, a junior who placed 21st at the State 2A/1A meet, and junior Sam Farnham (34th state).
Volleyball
With six seniors, all returning varsity players, The Community School volleyball team (10-10, 3-2 Northside tournament for fourth place) won five conference matches during the season and came close to qualifying for the State 1A tourney.
Assistant coach Kristyn Price Rudland handed out honors in place of sixth-year coach Reamy Goodwin, who was out of town. Goodwin said in remarks read by Rudland that "it was one of the best seasons in Community School volleyball history."
Senior Amaya Ingram made the All-Conference first team while seniors Khrystyne Inman and Caroline Fairchild were on the second team and senior Shawnee Brew made honorable mention in the Northside.
Winning MVP was Caroline Fairchild. Senior Jen Tormey was Most Inspirational and setter Khrystyne Inman was Most Improved. Rookie of the Year was sophomore libero Morgan Pintler.
Girls' soccer
It was quite a season for the Cutthroat girls, who set school records for victories (17-3-0), won all 10 of their home games, outscored opponents 104-9—another school record—and earned the school's seventh straight state tourney berth.
The Cutthroats also won their fourth consecutive High Desert Soccer Conference title and had an amazing 15 shutouts in 20 games. There were 14 different goal scorers.
Sixth-year coach Kelly Feldman said, "There are so many superlatives that define this team, but the one that stands out is character. It was a full crew of leaders. The whole team stepped up after the loss to Wood River, and after the loss of such an important player as Cody Curran."
Four-year starter Cody Curran (15 goals in just 12 games, 39 career) injured her knee in the annual Wood River clash and missed the final eight games of the season. She was named Most Inspirational in 2007, after having won MVP last fall. Cody was co-captain with Emily Eshman.
This year's MVP was senior Hannah Hennessy, who set a single-season school scoring record of 30 goals and ended up with 42 career goals, second on the all-time list. She scored three or more goals six times.
Making the High Desert Conference All-Star team were Hannah Hennessy, Erica Eshman, Emily Eshman, Cody Curran and Marin Shepardson. In all, the Cutthroat senior players accounted for 64 goals and 19 assists. "It was such a great group of seniors," Feldman said.
Co-winners of the Coaches Award were Emily Eshman and Jessie Curran (17 goals season, 26 career). Most Improved were juniors Mattie Griswold and Elizabeth Beesley.
Next year's captains are Marin Shepardson, Keller Gibson and Mattie Griswold.
Doing that rare ?mother-daughter who went to The Community School? thing at the State 3A girls? soccer tournament in Buhl Oct. 20 are, from left, Class of 2008 Hannah Hennessy?this year?s soccer MVP and all-time single-season goal scoring leader?and her mother Jackie Brown Hennessy, Community School Class of 1983.
