Sports

For over 20 years, students from Valentine, Cody-Kilgore, Dunning, Thedford, Mullen and Hyannis have been hand-selected by school staff to participate in the capstone Sandhills Leadership experience hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. This program is open for youth in grades 10-12. The experience kicks off with a retreat day in the fall where youth are immersed in self-discovery and team- building. Traditionally, this retreat was held at the 4-H Camp in Halsey, but due to the Bovee Fire, it was re-located to the scenic Niobrara Valley in Valentine for 2023 and beyond. Following the retreat, youth meet regularly with Extension Staff to develop leadership philosophies and real-world skills.

UNL Extension in Cherry County offered the Marathon Kids program this summer to area youth. Over the month of July, the participants met from 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. most week-day mornings and diligently logged miles, working to complete a “marathon” over the course of the program (26.2 miles).

will be in Valentine September 15-17, 2023. “People like to come to our shoot,” said Shiloh Kid, “we expect 80 to 100 people because this is their last chance to earn points before the World Championships.” The event is being held at the Cherry County Fairgrounds, and the public is invited to attend.

The Lady Badgers traveled to Chadron, Tuesday, September 5 and earned second place out of seven teams. Individually, Kaetryn Bancroft placed 3rd with a 95; Tierney Miller, 112; Kaylee Hanson, 116; Joni Cox, 120; JoJo Jordan, 122; Rylee Wackler, 127; Marybelle Ward, 135; Grace Murphy, 140.

The Lady Badgers traveled to Winner, Thursday, August 31, where they took on the Lady Warriors and lost in three sets. Valentine - 12, 20, 18 = 0 Winner - 25, 25, 25 = 3 Kinsey Buechle was the leader in kills with 5, followed by Savannah Fullerton, Arianna Blume, and Kimber McGinley each with 3; Finley Mosner with 2, and Aubrey Benson with 1.

The Valentine Badgers got a win over Centura, Friday, September 1, 2023. With home field advantage, the Badgers won with a score of 14-6.

The Cowboys showed resilience in Friday, September 1 game against the Arthur County Wolves, after being down by nearly 30 points. Coach Ford and the Cowboys fought back in the second half to lead by two with one minute left in the game, but were not able to stop the Arthur County offense. The final score was

The Lady Badger Golf Team traveled to West Holt where they placed fourth out of 10 schools. Conditions for the team were hot and extremely windy. Kaetryn Bancroft medaled in third place with 88. Rounding out the scoring were Kaylee Hanson with 115, Jojo Jordan with 117, Tierney Miller with 122, and Joni Cox with 126. Their next meet will be Monday, September 11 at North Platte, and Tuesday, September 12 at Gothenburg. The team is pictured from L to R: JoJo Jordan, Joni Cox, Kaylee Hanson, Tierney Miller, and Kaetryn Bancroft.

The Valentine Cross Country Team traveled to Ainsworth, Thursday, August 31, 2023, for their meet held at the Ainsworth Municipal Golf Course. The temperature was in the mid to high 80s, winds were coming out of the south - southwest at 13 mph.

In preparation for the annual Chaduza Cook-off, Valentine Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Dean Jacobs, said he was aided with the help from Valentine Economic Development’s Mark Hagge, four VHS students and seventh and eighth grade students from VMS, on Thursday, August 24, 2023. Together, they cleaned up the park, trimmed bushes near the pavilion, and raked up litter and debris.