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Thronburg, Rogers and Bushnell Selected for Events
The Wyoming Coaches Association’s all-star week kicked off Wednesday night in Casper. The event will culminate Saturday with a series of North-South all-star contests in volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball.
An all-star golf competition is also taking place with golfers shooting rounds at each of the Casper-area courses during the weekend.
Representing Powell High School this summer will be Olivia Rogers (volleyball), Leslie Thronburg (girls basketball) and Zane Bushnell (golf).
“Leslie is a great kid and this is a great honor for her,” said Powell High School girls’ basketball coach Luke Danforth. “She’s a kid that just loves to play the game of basketball and it is hard to imagine her not doing well in that sort of venue.”
Danforth noted Thronburg brings a lot of quickness and athleticism to the floor for the North all-star squad. This is the third summer a member of the Panthers’ basketball roster has been chosen to participate in the WCA all-star girls’ basketball game.
“I think it will be fun for her to play with the caliber of athletes she’s going to be alongside in Casper,” Danforth said. “It should help her as she transitions to playing in college this winter.”
Thronburg has signed a letter of intent to continue playing basketball in Powell as a member of the Northwest College Trappers next season.
Thronburg isn’t the only Powell High School grad playing this weekend who will wear a Trapper uniform when classes resume in the fall. Olivia Rogers, a member of the Trappers’ volleyball roster for the fall, was selected as a member of the North all-star team in that sport.
“If you look at Olivia’s stats, for 3A ball, she had the most kills in the state,” said Trapper head coach Shaun Pohlman. “From what I understand, she played a lot of middle at high school. So= if you’re getting that sort of production from the middle, you’ve got to be doing something right.”
The Trappers’ new head coach said he’s had some opportunity to work with Rogers over the summer to see her skills firsthand.
One of the things that stands out about her is her vision,” Pohlman said. “She has some pretty decent vision and knows when to go left or right to get around a block. That’s not the case with every freshman entering the realm of college volleyball.”
Pohlman will be paying particular attention to the WCA all-star event on Saturday. In addition to Rogers, the volleyball competition will also feature Trapper signees Rebecca Downs of Glenrock and Carly Meyer of Gillette. Both will line up alongside Rogers as members of the North all-star squad.
“The great thing about Olivia is that she knows and has accepted the challenge of a higher level of play,” Pohlman said. “She’s worked hard to increase her strength and power. She’s a kid that’s going to come in and give an opportunity like this everything she has.”
Powell’s final selection for this summer’s WCA events is golfer Zane Bushnell, who becomes the second Panther in as many years selected to compete.
“I feel pretty honored that the coaches nominated me to play in this,” Bushnell said of the golfing event, which began Wednesday evening and features a round daily at each of the Casper-area 18-hole layouts. “I’m pretty excited to play with kids that I’ve been able to play with throughout my high school career and who I get along with.”
Unlike the Panthers’ other two all-star selections, Bushnell has no immediate plans to continue his playing career at the college level. Instead, he’ll be attending the Red McComb’s School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, beginning this fall.
If I’m able to play a lot this next year, I might try out for the team down there, but I’ll have to improve my game quite a bit,” Bushnell said. For now, he’s just considering this week as one event in a sport he’s grown to love.
“To me, it just feels like my last high school tournament,” Bushnell said. “I’m pretty excited to play the courses down there. I’ve heard Three Crowns is pretty challenging, so just having the opportunity to play with kids I like and have gotten along with is pretty special.”
Selections for each of the sports are made by a committee of coaches, who select the 10 best available competitors from each half of the state who were members of last spring’s graduating class. Committee members also ensure that each of Wyoming’s four high school classifications are represented on the teams. All-star games on Saturday begin at 2 p.m. with the North-South volleyball clash. Girls basketball takes the floor at 4 p.m. with opening tip of the boys’ basketball all-star game slated for 6 p.m.