It’s that time of year when high school seniors play in their final games. As senior nights are celebrated this week on the soccer grass, the track field, and baseball and softball diamonds, the Empire is highlighting the soon-to-be graduates at Thunder Mountain and Juneau-Douglas High Schools. Today, the series is kicked off with short stories about each of the four soccer senior classes.
DEDICATED COACHES
Like their boys counterpart, the bonds between senior teammates on the JDHS girls soccer team are strong. The team’s senior night on Tuesday was one of the last times the seniors will be able to play for their coaches Matt Dusenberry, Joann Quigg and Phil Subeldia.
Zoey Kriegmont said the commitment level from their coaching staff has made a difference in her high school career.
“The best part about the JD coaching staff is that they all care so immensely for each and every one of the players,” she said.
Senior Ally Lindley says playing for Dusenberry both in the club and high school setting has been a great treasure.
“It’s really nice having the same coach year-round,” Lindley said. “I have advanced so much as a player because of him. He keeps it serious on the field but everyone always has so much fun.”
Georgia Robinson enjoys the relationships she’s built with the different coaches.
“I’ve always appreciated that over the four years I’ve had a genuine relationship with all three coaches and that they really care about every player individually,” Robinson said. “But my favorite thing about playing for Matt, Jo and Phil is that they always make it a good time, always joking around and not taking things too seriously (most of the time.)”
JDHS Girls Soccer Seniors
Georgia Robinson, 18
4th year player
Ally Lindley, 18
4th year player
Erika Holst, 18
4th year player
Jessica Gregg
1st year player
Zoey Kriegmont, 18
3rd year player
Jade McCormick, 17
3rd year player
Bethany Bibb, 18
4th year player
Elissa Koyuk, 17
1st year player
‘A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT’
Thunder Mountain High School girls soccer team is celebrating their eight seniors Saturday before their final game of the season against Ketchikan. The seniors said the openness to welcoming new players to the team is one of the great qualities of the program.
Senior captain Anne Coogan surprised her friends when she went out for soccer freshman year with limited prior playing experience.
“Everyone was like, ‘You’re joining soccer? You’re a cheerleader though.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I want to try something new,’” Coogan said. “I’m really happy I decided to do it. It’s something totally different than cheer.”
Coogan said the coaches Kris Coffee and John Newell make sure everyone is having a good time on the team.
“Every season it’s a new group of kids and everyone’s so accepting compared to a lot of other teams,” she said.
Coogan’s fellow senior Elena Bryson echoed that sentiment about the team.
“I will miss our awesome team chemistry. We all get along well on and off the field, which created a welcoming environment,” Bryson said.
Senior Xan Dindinger, a team manager this season, joined the team as a freshman with her friends. Even though she and her friends were beginners their first year playing, they stuck it out as they found a team that was “loving and encouraging.”
“I wouldn’t want to be a part of any other team,” she said.
TMHS Girls Soccer Seniors
Allyson Strong, 18
4th year player
Elena Bryson, 18
4th year player
Kaden Reddekopp, 17
2nd year player
Xan Dindinger, 17
3rd year player/manager
Laura Walsh, 17
3rd year player
Augustina (Tina) Sanchez
1st year player
Kyong Rim Yi
4th year player
Anne Coogan, 18
4th year player
THE JESTERS
If you attended any home Juneau-Douglas High School boys soccer game this season, and you probably heard them. Camped along the sideline in camping chairs or seated on the grass, the JDHS boys soccer team yelling, “Ohhhh!!” any time a player slips the ball through a defender’s legs (known as a “nutmeg” in soccer lingo).
JDHS boys soccer coach Gary Lehnhart can pinpoint where these antics originate: his senior class.
“They don’t have a seriousness – that’s not who they are,” Lehnhart said. “They have a commitment, there’s no question. They’re committed to (the team). But they’re not that come to practice with that look on their face and, ‘Let’s get focused,’ they’re really a much more carefree group.”
The JDHS boys soccer seniors were honored on Wednesday night before their final regular season game against Thunder Mountain High School.
Many of the seniors including Ben Undurraga, JJ Mosher, Michael White, Sherrod Miller and Salar Peirovi have played on the same teams their entire childhoods.
When the Empire asked each of the seniors what they will miss about playing for the Crimson Bears, they all said a different version of the same thing.
“Playing with all my soccer club friends that have been with me since the beginning,” Miller said.
Undurraga said of playing with lifelong friends: “It doesn’t get much better than that,” and White said, “I will miss being with the boys and competing with them.”
The seniors head with the rest of the team to the state tournament for their last games with the Crimson Bears.
JDHS boys soccer seniors
Jaime Moreno
Adam Spiech
Chris Isaak
Marshall Shapland-Murray
Michael White
JJ Mosher
Sherrod Miller
Ben Carter
Ben Undurraga
Cahal Morehouse
Nick Heidersdorf
AN INTERNATIONAL SENIOR CLASS
The Thunder Mountain High School boys soccer team is graduating 11 players from its program this year. Three can say they played all four years with the team: Mahina Toutaiolepo, Harlem King and Kaiden Ward.
TMHS coach Josh Odum said, “Our boys have never had issues bringing new faces to the crowd.”
The team featured three foreign exchange students this year: Franco Vidal from Chile, Mahmoud Aisha from Palestine and Elias Schrodt from Germany. The Falcons are in Ketchikan this weekend for their final games of the season.
TMHS boys soccer
seniors
Bryan Bolanos
Chase Saviers
Kaiden Ward
Mahina Toutaiolepo
Franco Vidal
Harlem King
Martin Lopez
Sam Nolan
Elias Schrodt
Mahmoud Abu Aisha
JDHS seniors Jade McCormick, Georgia Robinson, Erika Holst, Ally Lindley, Zoey Kriegmont, Elissa Koyuk, Bethany Bibb. (Photo courtesy of Matt Dusenberry)
