Fall Sports Right Around the Corner for Lincoln County Teams

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Lincoln?s Elijah Harr gets the tackle during a win over Needles last October. The Lynx will be playing for a third consecutive league title this season.

As the seniors prepare for their final year of high school sports competitions, the thoughts of how well will this year?s teams do will likely be in their minds, at least to some degree. That is likely common with every senior class.

A slate of new coaches at Lincoln County High this year will seek to improve the fortunes of the Lynx in the always tough 2A Southern league throughout the new seasons.

Raymond Wadsworth will step in as head football coach. Former head coach Rich Ottley will stay on as the offensive coordinator, although he will be teaching at C.O. Bastian in Caliente.

Lynx football, as the two-time defending 2A Southern League champion has done very well going 19-3, state runner-up in 2015 and state semi-finalist in 2016, losing both times to Yerington.

Volleyball will be coached by math teacher Chantel Holt as long time coach Ken Thornock has also moved over to C.O. Bastian. The Lady Lynx are coming off a 20-16 record last year. The team was 11-5 in league play and fell to The Meadows in the Southern League semifinals.

For Pahranagat Valley, the volleyball girls have an impressive tradition to try to keep alive. The dominant Lady Panthers have appeared in the 1A state championship game for a record 22 years in a row, winning it 17 times, including last year over Owyhee.

Veteran coach Ginger Whipple likely begins her 37th year coaching, maybe more. Ginger herself admits she doesn?t really know how long it has been. Nonetheless, she certainly has to be one of the longest tenured volleyball coaches in state history, a definite candidate for future honors in the NIAA Hall of Fame.

The 1A Southern League adds a new team to the conference this season, Liberty Baptist in Las Vegas, located on West Lake Mead between North Rainbow and Torrey Pines.

The Panther football team sets the counter back to 0-0, to begin with a clean slate having lost the championship game last year, breaking their already established state and national records for 8-man teams of 104 consecutive wins. Coach Brett Hansen appears to have a solid, veteran squad returning and a bright future.

So what does the sport’s future hold for the fine student athletes in the class of 2018 at both schools? Only time will tell. Go and watch yourself and find out.