Odessa-Harrington co-op mid-year

Odessa School Board Chairman Ed Deife opened the meeting with a quorum of the co-op board present. Representing the Odessa board were Deife, Travis Wagner, Marcus Horak, Karma Henry and Joe Schlomer. Linda Mielke represented the Harrington board. Also present were Harrington administrators Mike Perry (superintendent) and Jacob Bang (principal), as well as Odessa administrators Suellen White (superintendent) and Ken Schutz (principal).

Athletic director for the co-operative activities program, Darin Reppe, reported on the fall and winter sports seasons.

Football

Junior high football had 22 participants, and the team ended up with a 1-5 season record.

High school football had 20 participants. Their win-loss record was 8-4, and they went to the state semi-finals and came in third. The team won a WIAA Distinguished Scholastic Award with a combined 3.15 grade-point average (GPA).

Titan players named to the NE-1B 8-man-football All-Opponent Team were Jacob DeWulf, Gabe Henneman, Jared King, Brett Larmer, Markus Smith and Cade Weber.

Volleyball

Junior-high volleyball had 21 participants and fielded both a varsity and junior-varsity program. The varsity had an 8-4 record and the JV a 3-7 record.

High school volleyball had 16 participants and a 12-10 record. They went to the state tournament where they won a seventh-place trophy. The team also received a WIAA Outstanding Scholastic Award for its combined 3.628 GPA.

Only one Titan girl was named to the Bi-County 1B All Opponent Volleyball Team: Chelsea Fisher.

Girls basketball

The JH girls basketball season ended in December. They had a season record of 5-5 for the varsity and of 2-8 for the JV. There were 16 participants.

High school girls basketball has 14 participants, with five 8th-grade girls playing up, as allowed by the WIAA. The are rotated onto the bench for as many games as possible with the 14-player limitation imposed by WIAA.

Banners & trophies

Reppe asked the board members to consider how to proceed with official banners and trophies awarded to the various teams. The decision of the board was for each school to choose whatever size or configuration of banner best suited its display capabilities in its home gym. Since only one trophy is typically awarded to a given team, the school board members agreed that another identical trophy would be purchased, so that each school could display it in its own trophy case.

Boys basketball

Junior-high boys basketball begins playing this month, with 20 participants awaiting the first game scheduled for January 19.

In high-school boys basketball, 21 participants have signed up for the current season. League play ends this month, with district, regional and state events to follow in February.

Finances

At this time the co-op has spent $3,933 on uniforms, $5,283 on supplies, $11,260 on officials, $1,551 on fees, $4,404 on state tournaments and $1,761 on miscellaneous for a total of $28,192, not including coaches’ salaries or transportation costs. Revenue for fall and winter sports to date is $13,252.

Accolades

Schutz representing the administrations of both schools commended Darin Reppe for his work in organizing and implementing the co-op and the sports schedules. He also congratulated Reppe for his selection as Athletic Director of the Year by his peers. White recognized the outstanding performance of the high-school fall teams for winning state trophies and at the same time achieving recognition for their academic success.

Spring sports

A sports survey was conducted to determine interest in spring sports. Based on the results, all sports will be offered unless the actual turnout for a team sport is fewer than 12 for a team sport or fewer than 5 for an individual sport.

Co-op agreement

Board members discussed and approved revisions to the co-op agreement. The revisions call for an annual review of the agreement, removal of language needed for establishing the co-op but no longer needed, adding language clarifying the scheduling of practices and games and putting in writing the agreement to hold all but one of the home football games in Odessa and, in exchange, hold an extra basketball game in Harrington.

A revision to the agreement moving the summer meeting to the second Wednesday in June was also approved.

The next meeting between the joint Odessa and Harrington school boards will be held June 13 at 7 p.m.