Fall sports provide undefined opportunities when entering a new season for whom young teams nothing is certain except one thing, thoughts of a state title.

The arrival of fall sports is the first sign of the coming school year. Neenah is apart of the Fox Valley Association Conference with 10 teams from Fond du Lac to Hortonville. 

According to the FVA website, members of the conference currently hold 103 out of the 141 current state titles.  Clearly, it is one of the most competitive conferences in the state. This fall season Neenah won three conference titles, three sectional titles, one state runner up and one state championship. 

Boys’ soccer

Boy’s soccer was conference champions, sectional champions and runners up in the state tournament. The team was undefeated in conference play and have an overall record of 18-2-2. The team had four people make first team all conference, one person make second team all conference, one person make honorable mention and senior Thomas Priest was named FVA conference player of the year on the FVA website. 

“At the beginning of the season nobody thought we were going to end up where we did. It felt good to prove all those people wrong,” Logan Pagel, junior, said.

Girls’ swim and dive

Girls’ swim and dive as a team finished second in the conference standings with five girls making first team all conference, three girls making second team all conference and three girls with honorable mention. Individually senior diver Av Osero was undefeated this season winning conference, sectionals and her fourth consecutive state diving title.

“My success motivate my teammates to push themselves further; it was like a friendly competition at every practice,” Osero said. 

Senior Claire Eisele qualified for state in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle finishing seventh in both events. Senior Kara Cowell qualified in the 200 metre breaststroke and finished eight. The team also had two relays qualify for state this season. The 200 meter medley finished 15 and the 200 meter free relay finished 18.

Girls’ tennis team

The girls’ tennis team was conference and sectional champions. They were 8-0 for the regular season and had 9 girls make first team all conference. 

“Our season was really beneficial and will have a lot to build off of for next year,” senior Leah Herbeck said. 

Football

The football team finished with an overall record of 5-6 after advancing to the second round of the playoffs according to the teams website. The team had eight members make first team all conference and nine members make second team all conference. Along with that senior Sam Young was named FVA South Division defensive back of the year, all named on the FVA website.

Senior Jacob Kaszuba said, “The wins and losses didn’t represent who we are as a team,” when reflecting on the season.

Boys’ cross-country

Boys’ cross-country as a team finished fifth at the conference meet and eight at the sectional meet. There were two runners that were named first team all conference named on the FVA website. Junior Trenton Bauer qualified for the state meet after finishing fourth at the sectional meet. Bauer capped off his season by finishing 30 at the state meet. 

“It was a very good season on a team level, we had very good comradery and was very positive,” Bauer said.

Girls’ cross-country

Girls’ cross-country finished sixth at the conference meet and sixth at the sectional meet according to the teams website. The team had one runner make second team all conference and one runner with conference honorable mention named on the FVA website.

“Throughout the whole season we kept a good spirit and environment,” Maddy Thayer, junior, said.

Girls’ volleyball 

Girls’ volleyball finished the season with a record of 15-28 and finished fifth in the conference with a 4-5 record in conference play shown on the FVA website. 

Two girls made second team all conference. “Overall our team chemistry was really good this year,” senior Lauren Schmitz said about the dynamic of her team.

Boys’ volleyball

Boys’ volleyball finished 6th in the conference with an overall record of 8-18 and 3 of the boys made all conference honors according to the FVA website.

“We had a very athletic team this year and had one of the biggest front rows in the conference,” junior Brady Frost said.

Girls’ golf team

The girls’ golf team finished the season sixth in the conference standings with a record of 4-5. Two members of the team were given all conference honors. 

“The biggest takeaway for this season is that our teammates are way more important than the sport itself,” Kylee Miller, senior, said.