Bobcat Boys Basketball Seniors And Parents Honored On Senior Night, Along With Wildcats 4×100 Relay State Champs
Photos courtesy of Katie Kiehl – Above: Bobcat Seniors (L-R) Quinn O’Neil, Wyatt Watterson, Mason Burford, Jonas Wilshire, Nathan Frederick, Hayden Weber and Luke Rouse
The Clarion Area Bobcats Boys Basketball held Senior Night to honor the Senior players, and their Parents on Wednesday, February 11th, at halftime of the Junior Varsity game with the A-C Valley Falcons.
Another special treat took place during the ceremony, with Clarion Area honoring the Central Clarion Wildcats’ 2025 PIAA Class-AA State Champion 4×100 Relay Team, as they unvield their State Championship Banner, which will be on permanent display in the Clarion Area gym. Another permanent banner for the relay team was recently unveild at the Winter Sports Kickoff night at Clarion-Limestone and is on display at their gym.
On hand for the unveiling, were relay team members Mason Burford, a Bobcat Basketball senior, Ben Lambert, Brody Beggs and Wildcat Track and Field head coach and A-C Valley Boys Basketball head coach Jess Quinn, who shared comments during the ceremony. Jase Ferguson wasn’t available to attend, but was at the unveiling at C-L.
The unveiling was scheduled for this particular night so that coach Quinn could be present.
Jonas Wilshire was escorted by his parents Melanie and Bud and his little sister Margot.
Luke is being escorted by his mother Amy Rouze.
Hayden’s parents Krista and Lee gave him his escourt.
Wyatt with his folks, Debbra and Matt Watterson.
Nathan with his parents Teresa and Darren Frederick.
Mason is escourted by his parents Laura and Brian Burford.
Bobcat head coach Sam Heeter said this about the seniors,
“It’s been such a joy getting to watch this group grow up throughout high school.
“I got to know these kids as their teacher when they were in just 7th grade. This group means a lot to me, and they’re such great human beings.
“Truly, there hasn’t been a day all season that I haven’t thought about them being done soon.
“I’ll be sad to see them go, but I’ll be so excited to see what kind of adults they become.”
The order the boys ran in on the historic run was Ben, Jase Ferguson, Brody and Mason Burford.
Coach Quinn shared,
“I cannot fully express the pride and admiration that I have for these boys. They set a goal in January to be standing atop the podium at Shippensburg, and worked extremely hard to make that goal a reality. They believed in each other, and in reaching that goal, running through countless handoffs to get it just right, to be perfect.
“We got to states and in the preliminary round, the boys didn’t run their best race. Their time, 43.33 seconds, which was not a good time for them, but good enough to make the finals on Saturday. They said to me, ‘Coach, our handoffs were terrible. But don’t worry, we got this. All we needed to do was make the finals. We’ll fix it tomorrow, you’ll see.’ I was like, ‘okay.’ What does a coach say to that? When they know what happened and know exactly what to do to fix it… that’s when you know they ‘got this.’
“The day of the race came. I sat alone at the top of the stands, praying for the release of the full potential of each of these boys. For the first time all year, I watched a full 400m Relay race. Boy did I pick a good one to watch!
“I saw Ben EXPLODE out of the blocks faster than I had ever seen him run. He was determined to grab that spot, the lead for the rest of his team. I watched Jase THUNDER down the back stretch, gaining on the outside lane and keeping all others at bay. I witnessed the best curve run I had ever seen. (That’s saying something, because Brody’s grandpa was my track coach and he had me run the third leg, that curve.)
“But I saw Brody come out from behind a large white tent that blocked my view of his handoff from Jase, but it didn’t matter. What I saw was simply AMAZING. He was way out ahead of everyone! Finally, I saw an absolutely seamless handoff from Brody to Mason. I jumped as soon as I saw it. I screamed and scared the life out of the lady sitting in front of me. I apologized to her and told her, ‘THOSE ARE MY BOYS!’ I put both hands in the air and ran down the bleachers.
“Just like that, they were STATE CHAMPIONS! 42.48 seconds. That is something that nobody can ever take from them; the moment that a goal, a dream, became a reality. It took tremendous dedication, incredible effort, and an amazing belief that it could be accomplished.
“The announcer from PCN said, ‘OH, OUTSIDE HEAT! OUTSIDE HEAT, IT’S CENTRAL CLARION!!!’ I will never forget that moment, those words. Thank you boys for taking me along on this journey!
“I will forever be indebted to you. CONGRATULATIONS BOYS!”
(Congratulations to the Bobcat Seniors and Parents and the 4×100 Relay Team!!!! Thanks to Katie Kiehl for her great photos!!!!)