This past school year brought about numerous successes for Osceola students. We had Conference and District championships, State Champions, new record holders. We wanted to take just a moment to congratulate and recognize those students that achieved at the highest levels this year.
Looking back to the fall of 2023, the football team, with 4 Seniors went out and won the programs 5th consecutive District Title. This year's team is looking to improve upon last year's finish and also go for a 6th consecutive District Championship. Kale Gustafson was the standout performer, although not the only one. He was recognized as an All-State player on the Gridiron by multiple publications.
The Volleyball team had a couple of new school record holders with Emersyn Prososki breaking the single-season assists record and Eastyn Kropatsch breaking the single-season blocks record. Emersyn and Eastyn will both be returning for the 2024-2025 year.
Moving to the winter, again, Kale Gustafson was a standout on the hardwood as well. Kale and Kelby (Neujahr) were recognized as one of the top duos in class D2. Kale became the school record holder for career points, career rebounds, single-season rebounds. He was an all-state performer for multiple publications. Kale also became the 4th high school basketball player in state history to record 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Kale ended up falling just a little short of the state record for career rebounds. Kelby will return as a leader of the next group of basketball players for the Bulldogs. Brayden Santos became the single-game and single-season record holder for 3 pointers made. The boys basketball team also won their 3rd CRC Championship in the past 4 years.
The girls basketball team had a new record holder for career assists. Rori Wieseman is now the Osceola record holder for the number of assists in a career. Rori leaves the program after being a 4-year starter.
Our Cheer and Dance teams had another successful year bringing home some championships. The Dazzlers were named the Class C1/C2/D State Champions in Tumbling and State Runners-Up in Class D Game Day routine. They also faired well on the dance side of the competition by winning a State title in Class D Pom routine.
Still in winter activities, the speech team had several participants worth recognizing. Three people qualified for the State Competition in 4 different events. All three participants medaled. Braylon Peterson finished 6th in Extemporaneous Speaking, while Hayden Lavaley and Matt DeMers were both named State Champions. Hayden repeated as the State Champion in Serious Prose and won his first State Championship in Poetry, making him a 3-Time State Champion in Speech. Matt took home the title in Entertainment. He also participated in the State's Championship showcase where one performer out of all the State Champions for each event was selected to perform their piece on television.
We had a student receive the prestigious recognition as a Believers and Achievers recipient. This is a highly touted award only earned by a handful of Seniors every year. Hayden Lavaley was named a recipient of this award that was presented to him at the State Speech Championships.
Academically, we had one student that needs recognition for his achievement on the State ACT Assessment. Liam White scored a 34, a perfect score is a 36. Liam will be the 7th Osceola student since 2006 to score a 34 or higher and that will place him as a Gold recipient on the Osceola ACT Achievement board.
Moving to the Spring season, the defending Girls State Champion Track Team took a young group to the State Meet. They had a lot of great experience this year. Janna Roberts was the standout for this group at the state level, finishing as the Class D State Pole Vault Champion. The girls 4x100 Meter team also placed 4th. That team consisted of Janna Roberts, Savanna Boden, Camryn Peterson, Alexis Burritt. The girls track team returns all participants from the 2023-2024 squad. Kelby Neujahr was the only male participant at the State Meet where he placed 7th in Pole Vault. This year's girls track team was also recognized by the Nebraska Coaches Association for Excellence in Academic Achievement.
All-in-all, 2023-2024 was a successful year for Osceola Activities and the individuals that participated in them. We look forward to celebrating the successes of those that continue to pursue excellence here at Osceola Public Schools.