Unless you have been living in seclusion – or Kansas City – there is a good chance you are aware that the Red Demons are traveling to Riverfront Stadium in Wichita to take on the Garden City Buffaloes on Saturday night in the 85th annual Hatchet Game. And while the game provides DCHS the opportunity to showcase Red Demon Football, The Pride of Southwest Kansas, and its outstanding cheer and dance squads, this week also shines a spotlight on every fall program.
Lady Demon Tennis
Last Friday, at the 6A KSHSAA Regional in Garden City, the Lady Demons finished third overall in the eight team tournament. The team had just wrapped up a busy week in which they finished third as a team at the Western Athletic Conference Meet, held at Preston Courts. Flaminia Lepri, who finished 2nd at WAC, avenged a previous loss earlier in the week to win the Regional singles title in three sets (2-6, 6- 2, 6-3). America Gamez finished in sixth place in singles to qualify for the 6A State Tournament as did the doubles team of Karen Lopez and Emily Estevane. Lopez and Estevane were also WAC runners-up in #2 doubles. All four qualifiers will compete this Friday in Wichita, the second year in a row that the 6A State Meet will be at Wichita Riverside Tennis Complex.
Lady Demon Golf
Ashlyn Armstrong continued her outstanding senior season on Monday finishing as the Regional runner-up shooting an 86 at Southwind Country Club in Garden City. The team also finished second with a 432 qualifying them for the 6A State Tournament next Monday at the Salina Municipal Golf Course. The top six teams and twelve individuals (not on top six teams) will qualify for Day two of the tournament. Armstrong earned First Team All-Conference for her regular season efforts, while Riley Kippes and Payton Dunn earned Second Team honors.
Volleyball
The Lady Demon volleyball program finished the regular season at Garden City last Thursday with a three- set loss to Ulysses and a hard fought loss to Garden City. Dodge City will be competing in the WAC Tournament this Saturday at Liberal. Hays is the defending WAC Champions with their only loss in last season’s tournament coming at the hands of the Lady Demons. Post-season seeding for volleyball will be next week at the conclusion of the conference tournament weekend.
Red Demon Cross Country
The Red Demon Cross Country team will compete in the WAC Championships this Thursday at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City. Dodge City finished second last year at Mariah Hills and will be looking to dethrone defending champion Garden City.
The Red Demon Cross Country team is fresh off a winning performance at the Salina Invitational last Saturday. The Red Demons were led by David Ultreras who won the meet with a time of 16:20, followed by Danny Lamas who was second at 16:35. The Red Demons placed six runners in the Top 10 at Salina (Angel Vazquez, Brandon Juarez, Mathew Banuelos and Eddie Salinas).
Lady Demon Cross Country
The Lady Demons also finished as WAC runner-up last year and will be looking to continue their past success at the Western Athletic Conference meet. The Lady Demons are coming off a third place finish at the Salina Invitational.
Top performers for Dodge City were Alex Gere – 8th (20:50) and Teressa Martinez – 15th (21:10). The KSHSAA 6A Regional Cross Country Meet will be hosted by Wichita East next Saturday in Augusta at Four Mile Creek Resort. This course was the site of the 6A State Championship meets the past two years. The top three teams will qualify to the 6A State Meet at Rim Rock Farm, home course to the Kansas University Cross Country team.
Red Demon Soccer
Championships begin in October for the Red Demon Soccer program. With a possible seven home games (if you include playoffs), the schedule is full of opportunities for the Red Demons to begin their march to the 6A Final Four, to be held at Stryker Stadium in Wichita the first weekend of November.
The spotlight could not shine any brighter on the Red Demon Soccer program as they defeated Great Bend on Tuesday night to secure their eighth WAC title in the past nine seasons. Dodge City has won 30-straight WAC contests, dating back to 2019. The number-one ranked Red Demons are currently undefeated at 13-0 and face the number-three team in 5A, Blue Valley Southwest, on Friday night in Kansas City. The two programs combined have won a state championship every year since 2016. Dodge City has won two state titles (2016, 2020) while BVSW has four state titles (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021). The Red Demons will play Shawnee Mission South on Saturday before returning home to play Liberal in the regular season finale. The first round of Regional Playoffs will begin on October 25 at Memorial Stadium.
