On Wednesday, April 8th, the NVHS Forensics Team attended the WKLL League Forensics Tournament.
We had Maddie Wilder, Trista Smith, Rene Horacek, Abby Samuelson, and Levi Black in attendance. Every kid made it into the final round, and all of them ended up leaving with a medal or a place!
With this last tournament, we now have 8 events to take to state with 4 participants this year! One of the students qualified for 4 events, but we can only take 3 per student.
We will head to McPherson the weekend of May 1st and 2nd!
April 23rd at 6:30 PM, we will host our annual Forensics Showcase. At this event, the community can come see the hard work our team has put in over the last few months. Thank you for all of your support!
We had Maddie Wilder, Trista Smith, Rene Horacek, Abby Samuelson, and Levi Black in attendance. Every kid made it into the final round, and all of them ended up leaving with a medal or a place!
With this last tournament, we now have 8 events to take to state with 4 participants this year! One of the students qualified for 4 events, but we can only take 3 per student.
We will head to McPherson the weekend of May 1st and 2nd!
April 23rd at 6:30 PM, we will host our annual Forensics Showcase. At this event, the community can come see the hard work our team has put in over the last few months. Thank you for all of your support!

On Monday, March 30, the NVHS Forensics team went to a tournament in Oberlin. Students that participated were Trista Smith, Junior and Rene Horacek, Sophomore. Trista broke finals in her Prose and with her Oration. Rene with her Poetry! Great Job, girls!
Then, on Tuesday, March 31, the NVHS Forensics team traveled to Phillipsburg for another tournament! Participants were Trista Smith, Maddie Wilder, both juniors, Rene Horacek, sophomore and Levi Black, Freshman.
Trista broke finals with her Oration and Prose.
Maddie and Trista broke Finals with their Duet.
Rene broke finals in extemporaneous speaking and serious solo.
Levi Black in Impromptu Speaking.
At this meet, we had 3 more events qualify for state! Rene with her solo, Levi in Impromptu, then Maddie and Trista with their duet! So we have 4 state championship qualifiers!
Then, on Tuesday, March 31, the NVHS Forensics team traveled to Phillipsburg for another tournament! Participants were Trista Smith, Maddie Wilder, both juniors, Rene Horacek, sophomore and Levi Black, Freshman.
Trista broke finals with her Oration and Prose.
Maddie and Trista broke Finals with their Duet.
Rene broke finals in extemporaneous speaking and serious solo.
Levi Black in Impromptu Speaking.
At this meet, we had 3 more events qualify for state! Rene with her solo, Levi in Impromptu, then Maddie and Trista with their duet! So we have 4 state championship qualifiers!

The Northern Valley Golf Team competed at the Smith Center Invitational on April 7th. It was a windy day for the 9 teams competing. The Huskies finished 6th as a team with a 386 total team score- the combined score of the top 4 scores from the team.
Individually- Conner David led the way with an 89- good for 11th place. Tait Thalheim shot a 96- good for 21st place in a crowded field. Gavin Thalheim had a big improvement from last week and recovered from a bad front-9 to pull out a 98 for 24th place. Owen Hammond made the biggest personal improvement- taking off 30 strokes from last week's meet in Oberlin to shoot a 103, putting him at 34th place but feeling much better about his game going forward. Audrey Mathews also saw a great improvement from last week with a 21-stroke improvement to shoot a 115 for 46th place. Clay Van Patten didn't shoot his best but kept fighting through the wind and some tough lies for a 129 putting him in 50th place.
The team overall did much better and looks to keep improving through the season. I'm proud of the resiliency and improvements they made from last week.
The next meets for the Huskies are as follows- Varsity at Osborne on April 14th, JV at Grinnell on April 14th, and JV at Oxford, NE on April 16th.
Individually- Conner David led the way with an 89- good for 11th place. Tait Thalheim shot a 96- good for 21st place in a crowded field. Gavin Thalheim had a big improvement from last week and recovered from a bad front-9 to pull out a 98 for 24th place. Owen Hammond made the biggest personal improvement- taking off 30 strokes from last week's meet in Oberlin to shoot a 103, putting him at 34th place but feeling much better about his game going forward. Audrey Mathews also saw a great improvement from last week with a 21-stroke improvement to shoot a 115 for 46th place. Clay Van Patten didn't shoot his best but kept fighting through the wind and some tough lies for a 129 putting him in 50th place.
The team overall did much better and looks to keep improving through the season. I'm proud of the resiliency and improvements they made from last week.
The next meets for the Huskies are as follows- Varsity at Osborne on April 14th, JV at Grinnell on April 14th, and JV at Oxford, NE on April 16th.






Hey Huskies!! Here are the order of events for the HS Track Meet in Norton on Thursday 4.9.26. Go Big Green!


It was a great day to be outside! The Northern Valley Middle School schedules one afternoon a year as their Clean-up Day, where students and faculty are divided into groups to complete specific jobs, including trimming trees, cleaning flower beds, raking leaves, cleaning the bus barn, building a picnic table, picking up acorns, spreading mulch on the playground, and painting softball lines. It is a great opportunity to work with students outside of the classroom and enjoy the fresh air.








The Northern Valley FFA Chapter Banquet is coming up on April 25th at 6 PM in the big gym. If you plan on attending, RSVP by April 16th to the office at 785-669-2445

Sports Physicals are due Thursday to Mrs. Thalheim or Friday 8a.m. -12 p.m. to the High School office. If you have questions, let Mrs. Thalheim know.

WKLL POWERLIFTING – 2026
Coach Cole;
The Huskies traveled to Rexford to compete in the 2nd annual WKLL Powerlifting meet on April 6 and had a bittersweet morning. NV would anticipate 25 lifters competing in the event, but would come up with 22 able to lift. The girls that competed were freshmen, Kaylee Miller and Brielle Britton (who would do bench only with a hip injury). Sophomore, Andrea Meraz. Seniors, Kathryn Speer and Brooke Preston (who would do bench press only with an ankle injury.) The boys that competed were freshmen, Aaron Horacek, Bryson Wilder, Levi Black, Jeremiah Kirkland, Jaden Johns, and Cash Compton. Sophomores, Lucas Hansen, Zane Brown, Griffin McKinney, Tait Thalheim, and Ty Miller. Junior, Conner David. Seniors, Gavin Thalheim, Owen Hammond, Maverick Rogers, Clay Van Patten, and Ayden Keith. The athletes arrived at 9:30 am and measured their squat depth, warmed up, and began competition at 10:00 am. Bench and Hang Clean went very well for each athlete, but Squat was tough. Many Huskies were unable to touch the horizontal band for squat. It was a result of us not practicing that type of depth in weights class, and also starting their first attempt with too high of weight. Nonetheless, this was a learning opportunity for the students and myself in preparation for next year’s season. Overall I was very happy that all the HS P.E. students were able to go to the meet and compete. Powerlifting has provided us with an added boost of motivation in the weight room, as we look forward to testing our strength against other league schools!
The Husky Boys were WKLL POWERLIFTING CHAMPIONS!!!
The Husky Girls ended in 4th place out of 5 teams.
TEAM SCORING
BOYS
1. Northern Valley – 275 points
2. Golden Plains – 254 points
3. Wheatland – 140 points
4. Cheylin – 124 points
5. Logan – 76 points
6. Western Plains – 51 points
7. Triplains – 38 points
8. Brewster – 18 points
GIRLS
1. Golden Plains – 185 points
2. Cheylin – 124 points
3. Wheatland – 82 points
4. Northern Valley – 43 points
5. Triplains – 30 points
Individual Results and placing are below;
GIRLS (Bench, Squat, Clean)
Brielle Britton (132) – 65 lbs (6th), 0 lbs, 0 lbs 1 point
Andrea Meraz (132) – 100 lbs (3rd), 0 lbs, 105 lbs (4th) 10 points
Brooke Preston (140) – 100 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 0 lbs 10 points
Kathryn Speer (156) – 0 lbs, 0 lbs, 105 lbs (1st) 10 points
Kaylee Miller (PWT) – 75 lbs (4th), 125 lbs (4th), 80 lbs (4th) 12 points
Ty Miller (114) – 95 lbs (2nd), 135 lbs (2nd), 95 lbs (2nd) 24 points
Jaden Johns (132) – 100 lbs (6th), 140 lbs (6th), 100 lbs (5th) 4 points
Bryson Wilder (132) – 105 lbs (5th), 155 lbs (2nd), 135 lbs (2nd) 18 points
Cash Compton (132) – 135 lbs (3rd), 175 lbs (1st), 115 lbs (4th) 20 points
Levi Black (148) – 145 lbs (3rd), 225 lbs (3rd), 130 lbs (4th) 16 points
Tait Thalheim (148) – 170 lbs (1st), 235 lbs (2nd), 170 lbs (2nd) 26 points
Maverick Rogers (148) – 140 lbs (4th), 0 lbs, 155 lbs (3rd) 10 points
Lucas Hansen (156) – 195 lbs (3rd), 225 lbs (5th), 225 lbs (1st) 18 points
Conner David (156) – 130 lbs, 0 lbs, 175 lbs (6th) 1 point
Zane Brown (165) – 190 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 195 lbs (1st) 20 points
Jeremiah Kirkland (173) – 185 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 165 lbs (2nd) 18 points
Owen Hammond (181) – 210 lbs (2nd), 315 lbs (3rd), 240 lbs (1st) 24 points
Gavin Thalheim (198) – 225 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 275 lbs (1st) 20 points
Griffin McKinney (220) – 195 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 200 lbs (1st) 20 points
Ayden Keith (220) – 0 lbs, 205 lbs (2nd), 0 lbs 8 points
Aaron Horacek (PWT) – 185 lbs (4th), 0 lbs, 190 lbs (2nd) 12 points
Clay Van Patten (PWT) – 180 lbs (5th), 0 lbs, 175 lbs (3rd) 8 points
Coach Cole;
The Huskies traveled to Rexford to compete in the 2nd annual WKLL Powerlifting meet on April 6 and had a bittersweet morning. NV would anticipate 25 lifters competing in the event, but would come up with 22 able to lift. The girls that competed were freshmen, Kaylee Miller and Brielle Britton (who would do bench only with a hip injury). Sophomore, Andrea Meraz. Seniors, Kathryn Speer and Brooke Preston (who would do bench press only with an ankle injury.) The boys that competed were freshmen, Aaron Horacek, Bryson Wilder, Levi Black, Jeremiah Kirkland, Jaden Johns, and Cash Compton. Sophomores, Lucas Hansen, Zane Brown, Griffin McKinney, Tait Thalheim, and Ty Miller. Junior, Conner David. Seniors, Gavin Thalheim, Owen Hammond, Maverick Rogers, Clay Van Patten, and Ayden Keith. The athletes arrived at 9:30 am and measured their squat depth, warmed up, and began competition at 10:00 am. Bench and Hang Clean went very well for each athlete, but Squat was tough. Many Huskies were unable to touch the horizontal band for squat. It was a result of us not practicing that type of depth in weights class, and also starting their first attempt with too high of weight. Nonetheless, this was a learning opportunity for the students and myself in preparation for next year’s season. Overall I was very happy that all the HS P.E. students were able to go to the meet and compete. Powerlifting has provided us with an added boost of motivation in the weight room, as we look forward to testing our strength against other league schools!
The Husky Boys were WKLL POWERLIFTING CHAMPIONS!!!
The Husky Girls ended in 4th place out of 5 teams.
TEAM SCORING
BOYS
1. Northern Valley – 275 points
2. Golden Plains – 254 points
3. Wheatland – 140 points
4. Cheylin – 124 points
5. Logan – 76 points
6. Western Plains – 51 points
7. Triplains – 38 points
8. Brewster – 18 points
GIRLS
1. Golden Plains – 185 points
2. Cheylin – 124 points
3. Wheatland – 82 points
4. Northern Valley – 43 points
5. Triplains – 30 points
Individual Results and placing are below;
GIRLS (Bench, Squat, Clean)
Brielle Britton (132) – 65 lbs (6th), 0 lbs, 0 lbs 1 point
Andrea Meraz (132) – 100 lbs (3rd), 0 lbs, 105 lbs (4th) 10 points
Brooke Preston (140) – 100 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 0 lbs 10 points
Kathryn Speer (156) – 0 lbs, 0 lbs, 105 lbs (1st) 10 points
Kaylee Miller (PWT) – 75 lbs (4th), 125 lbs (4th), 80 lbs (4th) 12 points
Ty Miller (114) – 95 lbs (2nd), 135 lbs (2nd), 95 lbs (2nd) 24 points
Jaden Johns (132) – 100 lbs (6th), 140 lbs (6th), 100 lbs (5th) 4 points
Bryson Wilder (132) – 105 lbs (5th), 155 lbs (2nd), 135 lbs (2nd) 18 points
Cash Compton (132) – 135 lbs (3rd), 175 lbs (1st), 115 lbs (4th) 20 points
Levi Black (148) – 145 lbs (3rd), 225 lbs (3rd), 130 lbs (4th) 16 points
Tait Thalheim (148) – 170 lbs (1st), 235 lbs (2nd), 170 lbs (2nd) 26 points
Maverick Rogers (148) – 140 lbs (4th), 0 lbs, 155 lbs (3rd) 10 points
Lucas Hansen (156) – 195 lbs (3rd), 225 lbs (5th), 225 lbs (1st) 18 points
Conner David (156) – 130 lbs, 0 lbs, 175 lbs (6th) 1 point
Zane Brown (165) – 190 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 195 lbs (1st) 20 points
Jeremiah Kirkland (173) – 185 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 165 lbs (2nd) 18 points
Owen Hammond (181) – 210 lbs (2nd), 315 lbs (3rd), 240 lbs (1st) 24 points
Gavin Thalheim (198) – 225 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 275 lbs (1st) 20 points
Griffin McKinney (220) – 195 lbs (1st), 0 lbs, 200 lbs (1st) 20 points
Ayden Keith (220) – 0 lbs, 205 lbs (2nd), 0 lbs 8 points
Aaron Horacek (PWT) – 185 lbs (4th), 0 lbs, 190 lbs (2nd) 12 points
Clay Van Patten (PWT) – 180 lbs (5th), 0 lbs, 175 lbs (3rd) 8 points

The Northern Valley Husky golf team had their first meet of the season at the Oberlin Varsity Invitational. The Huskies brought some experience with Conner David and Audrey Mathews returning from last season. Clay Van Patten returns after a season off to participate in track. Gavin Thalheim, Owen Hammond, and Tait Thalheim are all new to high school golf and had their first ever meet while dual-sporting with track as well this season.
The Huskies had some success early on with many good holes on the front-9. As the day went on, the Huskies faced some challenges and didn't finish as well as they started. Conner David had the best finish of the team with a 7th place finish while shooting an 88. The next best finish was Tait Thalheim with a 16th place finish shooting a 99. Gavin Thalheim took a couple bad holes towards the end that led to him finishing with a 112 in 28th place. Clay Van Patten shot a 123 for 33rd, Owen Hammond shot a 133 for 35th and Audrey Mathews finished with a 136 for 36th place.
Overall, we had some mixed results and successes. It's good to field a full team again after only having 3 golfers last season. I think the squad will continue to improve as they gain experience. The varsity squad will travel to Smith Center on April 7th.
Images-
Conner David and his 7th-place medal
Conner David
Gavin Thalheim
Owen Hammond
Clay Van Patten
Tait Thalheim
Audrey Mathews
The Huskies had some success early on with many good holes on the front-9. As the day went on, the Huskies faced some challenges and didn't finish as well as they started. Conner David had the best finish of the team with a 7th place finish while shooting an 88. The next best finish was Tait Thalheim with a 16th place finish shooting a 99. Gavin Thalheim took a couple bad holes towards the end that led to him finishing with a 112 in 28th place. Clay Van Patten shot a 123 for 33rd, Owen Hammond shot a 133 for 35th and Audrey Mathews finished with a 136 for 36th place.
Overall, we had some mixed results and successes. It's good to field a full team again after only having 3 golfers last season. I think the squad will continue to improve as they gain experience. The varsity squad will travel to Smith Center on April 7th.
Images-
Conner David and his 7th-place medal
Conner David
Gavin Thalheim
Owen Hammond
Clay Van Patten
Tait Thalheim
Audrey Mathews







Hey Huskies!! Here is our weekly agenda for tomorrow! We hope you have had a great Easter Weekend and got outside to enjoy the lovely weather! We are down to the last two months of school! Let's finish strong!

Book Swap!

Here is your 2026-2027 high school cheer team!

Perschoool Screening on Thursday, April 2nd. Please contact Kenzi Sheley at the elementary school for an appointment at 785-669-2446

The zoo and more from the senior class trip







More pictures from the Senior class trip to Topeka









The Seniors along with Mr. Pugh and Mrs. Lowry headed to Topeka on March 25th and 26th. The class stopped at the World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City before heading down the road to Abilene to tour the Dwight D. Eisenhower Museum. The class continued on to Topeka and toured the Capitol, starting with a dome tour. The dome tour takes visitors to the top of the Capitol building and out to see for miles. Some of the Seniors were hesitant due to the heights, but all 8 made it to the top! The class then had a historical tour of the building and learned about many aspects of Kansas history.
Following the tours, the class went to Skyzone Trampoline Park and enjoyed trampoline tag, dunking basketballs, playing video games, climbing rock walls, and obstacle courses. Following all of that, the class ate at Texas Roadhouse before heading to the pool at the hotel.
Thursday morning the class started off with shopping around Topeka and Starbucks. The class then headed to the Topeka Zoo and enjoyed the beautiful day. The class split after Chick-Fil-A for lunch for more shopping for some and the golf driving range for the others. After a long couple of days, the class headed back to Almena fighting a nasty wind the whole way home. Overall, it was a very good educational and fun experience for all involved.
Following the tours, the class went to Skyzone Trampoline Park and enjoyed trampoline tag, dunking basketballs, playing video games, climbing rock walls, and obstacle courses. Following all of that, the class ate at Texas Roadhouse before heading to the pool at the hotel.
Thursday morning the class started off with shopping around Topeka and Starbucks. The class then headed to the Topeka Zoo and enjoyed the beautiful day. The class split after Chick-Fil-A for lunch for more shopping for some and the golf driving range for the others. After a long couple of days, the class headed back to Almena fighting a nasty wind the whole way home. Overall, it was a very good educational and fun experience for all involved.








Hey Huskies!! Here is your weekly agenda for next week 3.30.26. We hope you have a great weekend!! The end of the Spring Semester is supe busy. Please reach out with any questions!

Mr. Gebhard and Booster Rooster visited with 1st-4th grades a few weeks ago.




Third graders LOVED the Body Venture opportunity last week! Mrs. McKinney, the high school students, and her other helpers did an amazing job! Thank you to everyone that helped make this a success!










Scan the QR code for the complete article. Go Huskies!!

