PEEBLES HIGH SCHOOL- FALL SP[ORTS 2025

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

VOLLEYBALL

The Peebles Lady Indians will have their third coach in three seasons, stepping up from junior high to the varsity level is Mariah Page. The Lady Indians went 9-14 in 2014 and with a nice mix of veterans and underclassmen and they will be looking to improve on that mark. As of press time, the Peebles girls stood at 2-4 with victories over county rivals West Union and Manchester and losses to Western Latham, North Adams, Portsmouth Clay and Fayetteville.

The Lady Indians’ 2025 roster includes a trio of seniors who will all be major contributors to the team’s success- Kaelyn Musser, Aiva Brumley and Ella Richards. Richards has been sidelined in the early going with an injury suffered in practice but Brumley and Musser have been solid at the net. The roster also included three juniors- Reece Davis, Addison Puckett and Alyssa Smalley, and a quartet of sophomores- Paysen Shiveley, Kendall Myers, Amryn Carroll and Aubrey Sturgill. Thus far in 2025, Carroll is one of the team leaders in kills and digs, with Myers and Smalley among the digs leaders.

Peebles teams have moved back down to the small school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and besides the normal grind of the SHAC, the Lady Indians will have non-conference games ahead with Minford (Sept. 3), Piketon (Sept. 8), Eastern Pike (Sept. 15), Northwest (Sept. 22), Clermont Northeaster (Sept. 27) and Paint Valley (Oct. 8).

BOYS SOCCER

Head coach Stone Crothers, in his sixth season, returns with a roster boasting seven seniors, but sill young in the coach’s eyes. The Indians are off to a 3-1 start with wins over Greenfield McLain, West Union and Whiteoak. The only blemish thus far on the Peebles ledger was a 2-0 loss to perennial conference power Lynchburg.

From the Coach:

“This is my sixth year as the head coach for Peebles and my eighth overall as a part of the coaching staff,” said Coach Crothers. “We had eight seniors graduate and the biggest losses were Hayden Browning, who was our defensive captain, Alexavier Scott, who never stopped working hard all game and Carson Puckett ,who helped control our midfield. Our top returning players are Connor Gross, who was our leading scorer last year, Colyn Sims, who is a very creative player and our ‘do it all’ kind of guy and Wyatt Stepp, who now leads our defense. Another important player for us will be Chase shoemaker at the defensive mid-spot and his work ethic in the middle of the field.”

“Our biggest strength in my opinion is our work ethic on the field, trying to make it difficult for teams to score. Our biggest weakness is definitely experience. Most of the squad this year are first year players so there’s some growing pains that we had to go through in preseason but they get better and better everyday.”

“We don’t really have any goals or expectations right now, just to take games one at a time and to try and win as many as we can and grow as a team. A winning season is what every coach wants so anything above that would be great.”

The 2025 Peebles boys soccer roster includes: Seniors Grady Myers, Paxton Ryan, Colyn Sims, Brody Smith, Wyatt Stepp, Wyatt Smart and Uriah Adkins; Juniors Chase Shoemaker and Connor Gross; Sophomores Bryce Hawkins, Jack Fitzgerald and Lucas Krieger; and Freshmen Holden Crum and Caleb Phipps.

GIRLS SOCCER

Back for her fourth season a the helm of the Lady Indians girls soccer program is Kierra Wagner, bring to the pitch a roster of six seniors plus some new faces that she is hoping blend together to produce a successful season. The Lady Indians finished 4-10-1 in 2024 and are off to a 1-2 start this fall with the lone win coming in a 6-0 shutout of Piketon.

From the Coach:

“We lost some key players from last year’s team, Lainee Barr and Lydia Maddox,” says Coach Wagner. “This year we have lots of players to look out for. As a team we have talent spread out pretty equally and some new faces too.”

“I think our weakness as a team is reverting back to our play styles our first year with a soccer team. Sometimes we lack the confidence we should have seeing how far we have come in the last few years. I think our biggest strength is how close we are as a team, how well we communicate and work together.”

“This season our goal is the same as it has been in years past, we are looking to continually improve each season, and improve our record. We hope to have a winning regular season record and do well in tournaments. This is my fourth year as head coach at Peebles, my very first group of freshman are seniors this year!”

The 2025 Peebles girls soccer roster includes: Seniors Aiva Brumley, Bria Brown, Aleah Purcell, Kiera Scott, Kamryn Gibson and Hylae Shields; Juniors Kyndal Alonso, Lily Howard, Reese Davis, Rayna Beckham and Harley McCleese; Sophomores Paysen Shiveley and Kendall Myers; and Freshmen Willow Bohl, Katie Meyers, Brooklyn Staggs and Izabella Hawkins.

BOYS GOLF

Michael Walls is back as the head coach of the Peebles boys golf squad, with a young team that has just one senior, boding well for building for future seasons. The Indians placed third in the Adams County Cup tournament, with sophomore Calen Vogler making All-County, coming off an All-Conference season in 2024.

From the Coach:

“This year’s team is still a young team overall, with over half the team being freshman and sophomores,” said Coach Walls. “This year’s leaders will include sophomore Calen Vogler who made the SHAC All-League Team as a freshman last year, as well as senior Daniel Clark, sophomore Cooper Meade and freshman Gage Bennington who have all helped to majorly improve our team scoring average from last season.”

This year we hope to compete and be one of the top five teams in scoring average in the highly competitive SHAC golf league and hope to qualify for the district tournament by being one of the top five teams at the Sectional Golf Tournament in September. We also feel like several of our golfers have a chance to compete to make the All-Conference team this season.”

So many of our golfers have improved a lot from last year and even throughout the season already this year. We are really looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish both as individuals and as a team throughout the course of this season and for many of them the next several seasons.”

The 2025 Peebles boys golf roster includes: Senior Daniel Clark; Juniors Andy McFarland and Connor Gross; Sophomores Cooper Meade, Kole Koenig, Calen Vogler and Liam Farahay; and Freshmen Gage Bennington and Sterling Chamblin.

GIRLS GOLF

Angela Koenig Smiley takes the helm in 2025 as the leader of the Peebles girls golf program with a roster that is top heavy with juniors and seniors. Koenig will be assisted by Kyle Smalley.

From the Coach:

“Our goals for the girls this season are to keep them improving individually, which will then translate into them improving as a team.”

“It’s been amazing to see the growth they have already achieved and the support they give each other is even better. Of course our biggest goal would be to move past the sectional tournament and performing well in all our conference matches plus the conference tournament. “

The 2025 Peebles girls golf roster includes: Seniors Madee Koenig, Lily Trantoe and Shaelin Trantow; Juniors Alyssa Smalley, Addison Puckett and Isabella Niswander; and freshman Aaliyah Cooper.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Amanda Myers returns to coach the Peebles cross-country teams, but unfortunately has found it a struggle this fall to find available runners, so much so that the Indians will not field a girls team.

From the Coach:

“Unfortunately, at PHS, we are having trouble recruiting runners for cross country. I guess running three miles every Saturday morning isn’t as enticing as the other fall sports.”

“We do not have any high school girls running this year and we only have three high school boys. Our boys team is led by senior Grady Myers. Grady has had some medical issues throughout high school that have greatly affected his running performance however, we are hoping that he stays healthy and has a great senior season.”

“Returning from last season, we have junior Alex Dees and sophomore Calen Vogler. Alex works hard and has improved each year. Calen is a talented runner who will do well this year. Grady and Calen both participate in other fall sports, so they will have a very busy fall season. All three of our runners have set goals for themselves this season and they will all work hard to achieve their goals.”