Fans Turn Out To Celebrate Neillsville Girls Basketball
Sunday, March 23rd, 2014 -- 8:45 PM
Fans of Neillsville girls basketball turned out on Sunday night to celebrate the accomplishments of this years team, including their 2nd place finish in the Division 3 State Championship.The 8 seniors were introduced first and they included:
Sammie Larrabee
Katelyn Crothers
Jenny Lindner
Sierra Bethea
Taylor Gleisner
Wendy Barth
Faith Schmidt
Molly Attoe
Their accomplishments in their 4 years included a record of 105 wins and 3 losses, 4 Cloverbelt Conference Championships, 4 Regional Titles, 3 Sectional Titles, 3 straight trips to State, a State Championship and a State Runner-up trophy.
The rest of the 2013-14 Lady Warriors were then introduced:
Chelsea Opelt - junior
Krisana Zoromski - junior
Allison Pfeiffer - junior
Taylor Henchen - junior
Dani Pfeiffer - sophomore
Averill Voigt - junior
Sydney Miller - junior
The 3 coaches were introduced bringing in the hardware won by this years team:
Freshman coach - Jena Ehlen brought in the Cloverbelt Conference Championship Trophy.
JV coach - Jamie Kuhn brought in the Regional and Sectional Title Plaques
Head coach - John Gaier brought in the Division 3 State Runner-up, Silver Ball Trophy.
It was also noted that this year's freshman and JV teams were unbeaten and the overall record of the girls program this year was 67-1.
One person that was not mentioned and should have been was Neillsville athletic trainer Aaron Wanish who is always available at practices and at all games for all the Warrior athletic events. Thank you Aaron for all your work with our athletes.
Coach Gaier then got up and spoke to the crowd. He first said that no one should ever say that any of the players did something wrong in the state championship or should have done something better. He said they left their hearts and souls on the floor trying to represent all of us and he is tremendously proud of them for that.
He thanked family members, coaches, younger players, volunteers, fans, the band, local media, community business members and most of all the players for a great season.
Coach Gaier said he was very proud to see the mighty N on the scoreboard at the Resch Center in Green Bay following the highlights before the introductions on Saturday.
He said the definition of a champion is showing up for work, dedication, sacrifice, servanthood, passion, selflessness - putting we before me and being the right kind of person even when no one is looking.
The seniors then each got up and thanked the fans, coaches and family for their support over the years and also told some stories from their experiences at State this year. They also told the crowd what their future plans are after high school.
Those in attendance were then allowed to take pictures with the girls, coaches and the various trophies and plaques that were on display.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.