Wildcats compete in fall activities

Parker Flint, Blake McClung, and Dean Fafatas

December 6, 2025

Wildcats huddle before a play.

With the fall sports season ending, here’s a full review on every fall sport at RCHS. Throughout these excerpts the Prowler would like to recognize and individually highlight any team or individual awards. This also applies to the Journalism and Photojournalism programs that also compete under the Virginia High School Sports League, and received their awards for last year’s work this October.

Golf

Golf capped off an undefeated district play season by capturing the Shenandoah District Championship back in September. Wildcats then placed fifth in the Regional tournament under first year head coach and RCHS alumnus Garret Huffman.

Davis Welsh tees off for a match at ironwood (Claire Sigler)

Senior Harrison Tanner shares how he thought the season went.

“Going undefeated and winning the district championship was an amazing experience. I wished we had capitalized more during the region tournament but overall had a great season,” Tanner said.

Shenandoah District Coach of the year: Garret Huffman

All-District first team: Joseph Vargas, Dean Fafatas, Harrison Tanner

All-District Second team: Davis Welsh

Team Captains: Dean Fafatas and Harrison Tanner

Cheer

Wildcats cheer placed 3rd at the district championship and moved onto regions where they concluded their season with a 6th place finish.

Senior Willow Rogers shares how she thought the cheer season went.

“I think the cheer season was great. Of course we did not go as far as we would have liked but throughout the year we really came together as a team. I am so thankful to have finished my senior year with these girls and would not have wanted to cheer with anyone else. Overall an amazing year,” Rogers said.

Gabby Brown, Willow Rogers, and Lillian Brown received first team all district. Riley McDaniel and Emma Mines were 2nd team all district. Riley McDaniel and Lillian Ballard both were 1st team all region. Emma Mines and Willow Rodgers were 2nd team all region.

Cross Country

Wildcats cross country went undefeated in the district races, and won the district championship. Leif Guse placed second, Trenten Cash placed ninth, Tyler Ludtke placed third, Blake McClung placed seventh, Grant Swenty placed sixth, Samuel Eastwood placed fourth respectively. The team placed 2nd in the state championship.

Senior Trenton Cash shared what his goals were for the season and how he achieved them.

“This season our goal was to do as well as we could at states. We trained hard all season and worked as hard as we could; we’ve come a long way from last season. We hope to win the state championship next year,” Cash said.

Wildcats cross country gets ready to run (Alice Gresham)

All district: Tyler Ludtke, Trent Cash, Sammy Eastwood, Blake McClung, Grant Swenty, and Leif Guse, all received the first team all district award.

All region: Blake McClung, Sammy Eastwood, Leif Guse

Team placed 2nd in region

Team placed 2nd in states

Football

The Wildcats football team, with new head coach Zacahery Rhodenizer, had

Senior captain Price Lunsford shares how he felt the season went.

“[This year was] definitely a learning curve with a new coach and a new program, it was hard to get into a good groove during the season against hard competition,” Lunsford said.

Second Team All District awards

Aiden Myers – wide receiver; defensive back

Andrew Kelly – all purpose

Tyler Woods – punter

Prowler

The RCHS Prowler competed in the VHSL media championship on Oct. 25 at Rocktown High School. Seniors Claire Sigler and Brody Viney-Kirkpatrick and sophomore Gus Daigneau all participated in Write-Off competitions and placed in their respective categories. Daigneau finished second in sports writing, Sigler finished second in feature writing, and Viney-Kirkpatrick finished third in editorial writing. The wildcats also received Trophy Class in categories Newspaper and Online News. They also received First Class for Broadcasting.

Senior Editor-in-Chief of the Prowler and the Trivium Claire Sigler was at the championship to receive the awards and shared with us how the event went.

“The three of us didn’t know we would be participating in the Write-Off competition until the morning of the event. Mrs. Holton mentioned it to us and we all thought it would be a fun way to expand our writing abilities. None of us expected to walk away with individual awards. It was super cool to be able to accept Trophy Class awards for last year’s staff and get to meet other Editor-in-Chiefs from other schools’ publications,” Sigler said.

Trivium

The Trivium received Trophy Class for their 2024-2025 Yearbook, “Everything’s Been Building Up to This.”

Senior creative director Annalee Penny’s thoughts on the past year.

“It was definitely lots of scrambling at the end of the year, but everyone’s perseverance showed through and we made an amazing yearbook,” Penny said.

The trivium received trophy class for their year book this October.

Volleyball

The volleyball team had a good season under second year head coach Gabe Wagner finishing the season 10-10.

Senior Maisen McKemy thought the season went.

“It was interesting to say the least. It didn’t go the way we had planned. There were some things that should’ve been changed that never went into effect which made the season a little tough. In the end I’m glad I stuck it out and ended my high school career with some of my best friends,” McKemy said.

Second team all district: Senior McKenzie McCormick

Marching Band

The Marching Wildcats had a successful season. Sophomore Jacob Barney comments on their success.

“We have improved since last year and if we continue in this direction we can place higher, this year we had a good season,” Barney said.

The Marching ‘Cats competed in three competitions this year. In the most recent competition at the Blue Ridge Festival of Bands at Wiliam Byrd,they placed fourth.

Drum Major: Kadence Salins

Wildcats marching band performing at half time (Ella Cate Brown)

About the Contributors

Parker Flint, Reporter

Sophomore Parker Flint is a first-year Prowler reporter who is thrilled to keep you in the know. In addition to the Prowler, Flint is actively involved in Rockbridge athletics. In the fall you can find him competing with the golf team at the local country club, on the court during basketball season, and on the field for lacrosse. On Saturday nights he spends his time racing at the local dirt track. When he’s not involved in sports he enjoys hanging out with his friends and family. While on the Prowler, Flint hopes to use his writing skills to provide top notch sports coverage.

Blake McClung, Reporter

Blake McClung is a junior at Rockbridge Country High School. This is his first year of journalism and is excited for the new opportunities that it will bring. Blake runs cross country and track for Rockbridge Country High School and East Coast Elite track club. Blake runs year round and plans to continue his running career into college.

Dean Fafatas, Reporter

Dean Fafatas is a senior reporter for The Prowler. This will be his first year in journalism, and he couldn’t be more excited. In his free time, Fafatas likes to hang out with friends or watch movies. Fafatas also participates in three sports: golf, indoor track, and soccer. Some of his interests are hiking, traveling, and watching sports. Fafatas is in two clubs Y-street and Outing club. He likes these clubs because of what they do and the people in them. Dean is on the sophomore class council as treasurer. Dean is hoping to learn how to use new technology and how to write articles at a higher level.

Addie Brown, Reporter

Sophomore Addie Brown is a first year journalism reporter. She joined the class to get to know people and get more experience taking pictures. She is excited to get more involved in the school and attend more school events to take pictures for the Prowler. During her free time, she likes going to the race track, playing her guitar, and taking pictures. She also loves her shoes having over 20 pairs of all different kinds. Once she graduates, she hopes to attend school to pursue a profession in the medical field. Brown also has an older sister Ella Cate Brown on the journalism staff and she is one of the reasons she is taking the class. Brown is excited to see what comes next and see the difference she can make.

Ella Cate Brown, Media Editor-in-Chief

Media Editor-in-Chief Ella Cate Brown is very excited to write some awesome articles this year. She has Type one Diabetes and is very proud and open about it. She spends her free time dancing in the Senior Company at The Rockbridge Ballet where she spends most of her afternoons working hard. When she’s not dancing, she likes to spend her time either at the racetrack or helping her brother work on his racecar. Brown also enjoys hanging out at Cookout and getting late night oreo milkshakes. After high school she wants to become an engineer, but only after she finds a way to make her pancreas work again.

Maeve McGrath, Reporter

Sophomore Maeve McGrath is a first year Reporter on the Prowler. McGrath is excited to be a reporter and learn more about writing and interviewing. Maeve loves to write and to talk to people, so journalism was a perfect pick! McGrath will play for the Rockbridge girls lacrosse team for the third year and enjoys helping out with the younger LexLax teams. While she isn’t playing lacrosse, you might find McGrath taking photographs with her Canon camera, painting with water colors, shopping, or listening to Fleetwood Mac. McGrath loves to spend time with friends, take walks, and be creative. Maeve is so excited to be a part of the Prowler team!

Alice Gresham, Reporter

Senior Alice Gresham is a first year reporter for the Prowler. She joined journalism because she heard that it was a super fun class and would have joined earlier if it had fit in her schedule. When not at school, Gresham is probably either getting lost on a hike, watching the sunset, or doing something with Young Life. Gresham has been a part of many of the RCHS sports teams, but this year is focusing on swim both in the fall and winter seasons. She also has a passion for traveling, and loves going places with cool nature and wildlife.

Claire Sigler, Print Editor-in-Chief

Claire Sigler is a senior at Rockbridge County High School. This is her third year as a member of The Prowler, and she is thrilled to be stepping into the role of Editor-in-Chief. Sigler is ecstatic to continue her work with the school’s newspaper and is ready to dive even deeper into its creation. She can often be found sipping one too many chai lattes, enjoying a good movie, or photographing anything and everything. As a dedicated dancer, she spends most of her time as a senior company member at The Rockbridge Ballet, training in a range of styles including pointe, ballet, tap, jazz, and modern. After high school, Sigler plans to expand her passion for design by growing her marketing skills, combining creativity with strategy to make ideas a reality.

THE PROWLER

Wildcats compete in fall activities

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