Stellar Knights, Eagles Named All-Frontier

Twenty All-Frontier League sports honorees personified the scope of athletic success this fall by Valley schools in five sports.

East Valley High won Frontier League volleyball, and girls and boys cross country titles, and finished second in football and third in soccer.

EV’s female harriers won their third straight state cross country championship, while the boys placed sixth. Both the volleyball and football teams also participated in state playoffs.

Representative of the cross country champions and also offering a glimpse into the future were two runners who finished among the district top seven.

Third-placer Cara Smith and fifth placer Ann Marie Adams led the team this year and both are just juniors.

From the unbeaten league and district champion volleyball team were Frontier most valuable player Deb Asbury, an outside hitter, and middle blocker Christy Grochowski. Both are juniors, also.

A quartet of football players made the All-Frontier team, including senior Paul Shogren both at offensive center and as a defensive lineman.

Senior Tristan Beeman came home to EV after two years at Rogers and led the league in rushing.

Trevor Eastman moved from backup quarterback to wide receiver and he, too, had an all-league year, second in pass catches, yardage and touchdowns.

What Chuck Van Note gave away in size, he made up for with ferocity as a senior All-Frontier linebacker.

West Valley didn’t have the same level of team success as the Knights, but individually they starred. A dozen Eagles earned all-league designation.

Two of them, football players Ty Gregorak and Ryan Stockton proved the value of staying power. Both were rare four-year starters in a sport that usually rewards size and maturity.

From his freshman year, Gregorak was WV’s leading tackler as a linebacker. Over the years he played tight end and quarterback on offense. This year he became the center of college recruiters’ attention.

Stockton, a lineman who butted heads with older and bigger athletes early on, dished it out his senior year and was named All-Frontier both on offense and defense.

The future was unveiled in sophomore Chris Hilsabeck, named to the All-Frontier team as a defensive back. He also started in the offensive backfield.

Seniors Clayton Holmes and Jessica Riehle and sophomores Sean McLachlan and Jessica Ferguson were All-Frontier cross country runners.

Riehle was a four-year state qualifier and former state champion whose final run was marred by injury and disappointment. Ferguson came from nowhere to place sixth in district and qualify for state.

Holmes and McLachlan finished second and third in the district meet, although neither finished as high in state as they had the year before.

Soccer teammates and Frontier League most valuable players Cindy Simpson on defense and Dawn Salfer on offense were reason enough for WV to finish second in league but win the district playoffs to qualify for state.

Having all-league keeper Stacey Roberts in net and junior Gabby McClintock at midfield didn’t hurt.

Also honored as an All-Frontier athlete was WV junior volleyball player Chantelle Frost.

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