Sandusky Fall Sports Preview
Sandusky Varsity Football
Last Year’s Record (league) 1-4 (overall) 3-6
Key returning athletes: Carter Krause-SR—3 year varsity player
Tyler Franzel-SR—3 year varsity player
Nick Leen-SR—3 year varsity player
Danny Tovar-JR—3 year varsity player
Jackson Reinke-JR—2 year varsity player
Lukas Franzel-SR—2 year varsity player
Dawsen Brown-SR—2 year varsity player
Ean Viscogliosi-SR—2 year varsity player
Ethan Viscogliosi-SR—2 year varsity player
Nathan Flanagan-SR—2 year varsity player
Tyler Bush-JR—2 year varsity player
Bryce Kiley-SO—2 year varsity player
Comments on returning players:
Carter Krause: “Carter has worked hard the last two seasons in the weight room improving his strength, explosiveness and speed. That work ethic can make him an impact player for us on both sides of the ball.”
Tyler Franzel: “I’m really looking forward to seeing Tyler put together a complete season as one of our top players on both sides of the ball. His leadership and playmaking ability are difference makers for our team.”
Nick Leen: “Nick is our top offensive and defensive lineman, who has improved tremendously in each of his 3 seasons in our program. He has embraced being the leader of those groups and is primed to have a great senior season.”
Lost to graduation:
Kyle Guibord, Kory Lambson, Mitchell Davis, Brenden Long
New athletes to the team: Chase Green-SO-RB/DB
Alex Bays-JR-RB/DL
Nate Ball-JR-RB/DB
Jackson Pallas-JR-TE/DB
Jacob McKenney-JR-OL/DL
Carter Maschke-JR-OL/DL
Hunter Badger-JR-TE/DL
Joseph Nix-JR-OL/DL
Cameron Black-SO-OL/DL
Comments about your team’s strengths/weaknesses and any goals for the season:
We have good numbers in our program and great competition amongst players for positions on both sides of the ball. We need to stay healthy (unlike last season) and continue to improve each week.
Outlook for your league – Where do you see you team fitting in?
Our league will be competitive as usual, with the defending champion, Ubly, the favorite. Harbor Beach is young and will be tough as usual. Marlette is going to be very improved and could be the dark horse for the league championship. Memphis has a new coaching staff and will be much improved.
I expect this season to be a great test for our players and coaching staff. If we can stay healthy and continue to improve week by week, then we will have the ability to compete with every opponent.
Sandusky Varsity Volleyball
Head Coach: Rachel Anderson
Last Year’s Record (league) 5-9 (overall) 15-18.
Key returning athletes & Comments on returning players – Adalee Kaufman- 12th grade, middle hitter, captain, great team leader; Alexis Gough – 12th grade, libero. captain, always hustling and ready to play; Grace Guibord- 11th grade, setter, progressively getting better, excited to see her lead our offense.
Lost to graduation: Olivia Stone, Lilah Feehan, Sarah Lean, Nicole Brown, Courtney Shoemaker
New athletes to the team: (please include grade) – Gracie Dale, 11th, outside hitter; Ryleigh Moore, 9th, middle hitter; Maggie Keinath, 10th, outside hitter; Elle Jacobson, 11th, DS
Comments about your team’s strengths/weaknesses and any goals for the season: We have a small group this year so everyone defiantly has a role to play. I think just knowing your needed and will be used almost every game gets everyone excited about volleyball. Everyone being involved makes for a more positive/happy environment. I think our biggest strength this year will be our older girls leading in a positive way.. Helping everyone to become more confident in their skills and abilities. Our team goal is to learn and grow together as a team. Build good team chemistry!
Outlook for your league – Where do you see you team fitting in? This year will be fun. I think we’ll do good as long as we are all working together as a whole. Having the same goals, same mindset, and positive attitudes. Like every year were hoping to be at the top!
Sandusky Equestrian Team
Sandusky Varsity Tennis
Head Coach: Matt Dickendesher
Assistant Coaches: Dorothy Conklin-Ross, John Guttowsky
2022 record: 9-1-1, 3rd place in regional 28
Key returning players: Only five varsity players from last season’s regional lineup return to this year’s squad, but five others with playing experience are also back. Former doubles regional champions (2021) in Carson Shampo, Gabe Drabant and Christian Shuart will look to move into singles, with last year’s 4 singles Emma Minard the only returner with singles experience. Carson Shuart could move up to 1 doubles in his third year on the team. Juniors Zachary Scribner and Abbey Thorp, along with sophomores Jacob Pink, Colson Eason and Finn Nugent will also look to make an impact on the varsity squad.
Losses to graduation: Sandusky graduated six veterans: 1 singles Jonathan Wentzel, 2 singles Annie Ross, 3 singles Jackson Kartanys, 1 doubles Caleb Minard, 3 doubles Jacob Papp and 4 doubles Isabella Stoutenburg.
Top new prospects: The three freshmen (Addison Baumeister, David Carlson, and Brock Kaufman) have impressed early with all having a shot at varsity action. Rookie senior Isabelle Shuart should contribute as well.
Comments on this year’s team: Lots of changes for this year’s team, but that has made early practices exciting and competitive. The three fourth year seniors will have a lot asked of them, but should be ready for the challenge. We have several players from last year’s team who didn’t crack the final lineup ready to make their mark this season. The freshmen are promising, and the shift back to region 31, where we qualified for the state tournament in 2021 gives us a chance to make an impact in the postseason.
Comments on the league this season: As the only GTC school with a tennis squad, Sandusky remains without a league to play in. Regular season play sees the team face off twice with county rival Cros-Lex, along with duals against regional opponents Frankenmuth and Nouvel Catholic Central. Other events have the team facing Imlay City, Armada, Richmond, Almont, Yale. Bay City John Glenn, Marysville, Essexville-Garber, Alpena, Port Huron Northern, Romeo, L’Anse Creuse North and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. We also once again host the Sandusky Tennis Invitational, this year on August 25 with Bay City John Glenn, Yale and Cros-Lex competing.
Sandusky Varsity Girls Golf
Head Coach: Jaime Nicol
Assistant Coaches: Karole Mezo, Tim Wrathell
Key returning athletes: – Helena Long (12), Sophia Umbreit (12) Eva Long (10) – All golfed during the boy’s JV golf team in the spring. Now they will be competing against other girls’ teams from the area.
Comments on returning players: Looking at seniors Helena and Sophia to be leaders on the squad. Both have experience golfing against the boys during the spring season. Helena has been working on her chipping game and has a great touch on putting green. She’s been breaking 49 in practice and I know she has the ability to shave a few more strokes off her game. She’s always on the course working on her game. She’s definitely sets an example of a great leader for the team. Sophia can really get a hold of the ball. She’s got a great swing and she has been really improving on her confidence reading the greens and putting. She decided early on that she wasn’t playing volleyball this year and signed up right away to be on the girls golf team. Her excitement for the game and competition is contagious and she is constantly at the course working on her game. Eva Long (10) – Eva is dual sporting Cross Country and golf. She’s a great asset to the team. She’s not afraid to ask questions and is very coachable. She’s young and still learning but really enjoys golfing and she’s improving already.
New athletes to the team: (please include grade) – Ruby Trepkowski (11) – She’s going to really turn some heads. Ruby is an all-around athlete. All summer long she has been on the course. She’s actually part of the reason why the girls golf team was born. I had the pleasure of coaching Ruby for JV softball and she was always talking about going out golfing with her sister and friends. So we started throwing around the idea of a girls golf team. The rest is history. Ruby can really hit the ball hard off the tee – farther than any other girl I have seen her age. She’s got a great, smooth swing. She’s been really working hard on her patience on the greens and putting. Makenzie Kreger (11) – fairly new to golf. She was on the girls JV softball team and showed interest in golfing. She is a great athlete and catches on easily. Micayla Sopha (9) – also fairly new to golf. Coach Karole put it “She’s just a natural and is doing great.” Micayla catches on easily and is very coachable. She’s got a nice touch with the putter.
Comments about your team’s strengths/weaknesses and any goals for the season: Strengths: Our girl golfers are all really great athletes. They have a natural talent and easily catch on to instruction. Golfers Helena Long, Ruby Trepkowski, and Sophia Umbreit all have golf experience and will be the leaders on the team. Weaknesses: We are a little new to this. There will definitely be a learning curve. With our fairly new golfers – they also have to learn the rules of the game – scoring, penalties, relief rules, general ettiquette, etc. That will come with time.
Outlook for your league – Where do you see you team fitting in? We mostly play Caro, Cass City, and Bad Axe. They are all established teams who have been golfing for a couple of years. I’m hoping we can be right there competing with all the teams and I think we have that talent to do that. We are trying to golf in as many matches and invites as we possibly can. Our goals as coaches is to get them to play a variety of courses regardless of competing school’s division. We just want the girls to play a lot of golf, and get better for regional tournament.