Largim Zhuta
Staff Writer
One hundred fifteen students of the Kayhi music department set sail to Juneau for Music Fest last night. The three-day festival will commence Thursday morning and will be hosted by Juneau-Douglas High School.
The regions tournament for Southeast Alaska high school music departments — minus the competition — was canceled for Kayhi due to the unavailability of a ferry. But through the efforts of the community, they managed to make it possible.
“The community went crazy. Lots of people came up with lots of solutions and called their legislators,” said Trina Purcell, head of the Choral Department at Kayhi. “Then they [the ferry system management] took the LeConte offline in Haines and brought it down here just for us.”
The ferry system was able to iron out the problems of what one would assume to be a logistics nightmare to transport the Kayhi Music Fest kids.
For seniors like McKenzie Thomas and Sarah Kuharich, this will be their last Music Fest.
“It was pretty rough almost having Music Fest not happen. You get super excited about the last one. You try to do everything you possibly can to make it the best,” said Thomas. “Having it get canceled kind of put a damper on it — I took it pretty hard, but that’s not a problem anymore.”
At the festival, clinics are offered where students attend a music class to learn something they wouldn’t necessarily learn at school. Some of the ones offered this year will be polka class, swing dancing, and acapella workshop.
Kuharich has always looked forward to the clinics, and this year is no exception.
“My absolute favorites clinics are the dance ones,” said Kuharich. “They’ve had swing dancing clinics the past few years. Everyone is excited for those.”
While it may be the region’s tournament for music, it certainly is different, competition wise. The rivalries don’t exist as much.
“No one is going to call someone out for being from JD or Kayhi,” said Thomas. “It’s a healthier version of regions. Everyone supports everyone.”
There is a certain bittersweetness to be had with the finale of any high school activity.
“It’s been such amazing part of my high school experience, and to have it come to an end is a little heartbreaking,” said Kuharich. “But we have an amazing group of kids this year, and I’m excited to perform with them at my last Music Fest.”
Lady Kings Fall to JD
The Lady Kings lost the first game of the season Friday 8-0 and the second on Saturday 9-0.
Junior Olivia Kinunen has been on varsity for three years and knew the Bears were a tough team to beat.
“Juneau has always been super good, so we knew the games were going to be super difficult,” said Kinunen. “We definitely didn’t play very well the beginning of the first game, but stepped it up at the half and continued to do the same in the second game.”
Kings go 2-2 in Sitka
The Kayhi baseball team went 2-2 at the pre season invitational in Sitka. The Kings trailed defending state champion Sitka 7-6 until the top of the 7th inning Thursday, until junior Wyatt Barajas hit a go ahead 3-run homerun.
The Kings dominated Thunder Mountain 10-0 Friday, but the bats quieted down for the Kings in the final day of the invitational. Kayhi fell short in the last inning to Juneau Douglas 1-0. Wrapping up the weekend, the Kings lost to the Dimond Lynx 2-1.
Kayhi Boys Soccer drops first game in WA
Keri Thomas & Brittany Slick
Staff Writers
Kayhi boys soccer lost 5-2 to the Clarkston Bantoms last night.
The Kings trailed 2-1 at halftime, the lone goal coming from midfielder Max Collins. The Bantoms took control in the second half, outscoring the Kings 3-1. Henning Pankow contributed the last goal for Kayhi.
Senior defender Dawson Daniels said the terrain caught the Kings off-guard.
“We didn’t play to our full potential,” said Daniels. “We weren’t used to playing on a grass field and I felt like we weren’t ready for that change.”
Daniels said the team will be focusing on improving some small things before their next game.
“We want to be communicating more,” said Daniels. “Getting to the ball first and moving on and off the ball.”
The Kings will play the Ferris Saxons today at 3 p.m.
Lady Kings Battle JD
The Kayhi girls soccer team will be kicking off the 2018 season this weekend in Juneau against the Juneau-Douglas Bears.
The Lady Kings finished last year with a record of 2-12, 0-8. Kayhi will be looking to improve off of that record this season.
Senior Sydney Nichols said she is looking forward to her last year of high school soccer.
“I am excited to see what happens this season,” said Nichols. “Last year we played our first game of the season without practicing outside of the gym. Luckily this year we have gotten to practice on the field since tryouts so it has been a better start to the season than past years.”
The JD girls finished 3rd at state last year and have won 3 consecutive region titles. The top 2 goal scorers for the Bears are on the roster again this year which will be a handful for Kayhi as the Lady Kings graduated four starters on defense.
Kings to Sitka
The Kayhi baseball team will take on defending state champion Sitka tonight at 6 p.m. to kick off the weekend. The Kings will play Friday at 3 against Thunder Mountain. Finishing up the weekend Kayhi will battle Juneau Douglas at 9 a.m. and Dimond at 12 p.m.
Senior Kody Malouf said this weekend will be a good opportunity to see their opponents.
“It’s real nice because we get to have a good look at our competition for the region before the games actually matter,” said Malouf. “We get to play a lot more loose and try new things as far as lineups and strategies, it’s all really about feeling the other teams out and using what we learn later in the year.”
Games will be broadcasted by KTKN
AM930
106.7
http://www.kgbsd.org/live
Baseball goes 1-3 in Arizona
The Kayhi baseball team went 1-3 in the Pride Classic tournament in Arizona. The Kings opened the tournament with a 19-3 win over Baker, Oregon Thursday.
Junior Liam Kiffer said that inconsistent pitching led the Kings.
“I think our pitching was the biggest difference in why we were able to win,” said Kiffer. “They weren’t able to throw strikes consistently and we were able to. We also had clutch hits with runners in scoring position. It was really fun to start off the year with the win.”
The bats quieted a bit in the final two days of the tournament and Kayhi went 0-3.
The Kings 6-3 lost to Standley Lake (CO), 10-7 to Cleveland (OR), 13-6 to Grant (OR).
Senior captain Michael Starr said the pre season games are beneficial.
“There was a lot of team bonding that will hopefully translate into working as a team, and that’s one of the most crucial parts of winning baseball games, said Starr. “The trip gave us a look at our lineup for the season and gave us the opportunity to work out some kinks.”
