Even beyond yearbooks and record books, student-athletes from Lloydminster Comprehensive High School’s class of 2025 left their mark as Barons or elsewhere in athletic circles.
Read more: Twins eye big picture as season opens
With their graduation just days away, 16 senior Barons have confirmed their immediate sporting pursuits, which in most cases are in concert with their post-secondary studies.
As the school saluted them Thursday (June 12), representatives from that student group returned the favour, thanking the Barons and LCHS in general for shaping them into respectful and goal-oriented young men and women.
FOOTBALL GRADUATES OFF TO B.C.
“I’ll take so many memories from the Barons,” said Julian Tepper, graduating to the Okanagan Sun of the Canadian Junior Football League’s British Columbia conference.
“It’s been such a great experience, especially with all the coaching and all the friends I’ve met along the way.”
One of those friends, fellow LCHS senior Mason Byford, has also landed
a berth on the Sun, who are based in Kelowna, B.C.
They’ve been football teammates since peewee, including three high school years with the senior Barons.
“Playing with and being a Baron is a lot more than (wins and losses),” said Tepper, 18. “As a Baron, you learn a lot more about life skills, as well as being a leader and being a great teammate on and off the field. Always representing your school in a good way. You can’t be out doing bad things when you’re a Baron. You have to be respectful and be responsible.
“It’s a very important part of it. I’m so thankful I’ve had the opportunity to be a Baron.”
Tepper and Byford didn’t necessarily plan on playing with the same junior team, but they’re pleased that’s how the recruitment and tryout process evolved.
Tepper said Byford was likely headed to the Edmonton Wildcats, at least before an Okanagan coach invited the Barons’ duo to the Sun’s spring camp.
“We both did well at the spring camp and we both made the team,” he said. “We both thought it would be a great place to play and it was an awesome program, so we both felt like it would be a great fit. It’s awesome to have a friend going there as well. It’s pretty sweet. We didn’t plan on going there together. It’s just a huge bonus, to be honest with you.”
A similar scenario has unfolded for two other graduating Barons also bound for Canadian junior football in British Columbia. Chance
Littlewolfe and Kaden Malekoff have been recruited to the Langley Rams.
With training camps at the junior level beginning soon, it’s a quick turnaround for high school seniors.
Tepper leaves for Kelowna early in July, a few days after his Lloyd Comp graduation. For the coming school year, he plans to work and focus on football full time. Afterward, he might begin his post-secondary studies at UBC Okanagan, or closer to home at the University of Saskatchewan, “depending on how much I like it out there (in B.C.).”
The six-foot-two, 220-pound Tepper is pencilled in at his customary position, defensive end, but he might also have a shot at playing linebacker with Okanagan.
“Most likely defensive end, but I might switch over to linebacker, depending on what the coaches think,” he said.
Tepper and Byford will also adapt to living with Kelowna billets — and the long bus trips synonymous with the B.C. conference. An early road trip takes the Sun all the way up to Prince George.
SOFTBALL PITCHER BOUND FOR NCAA
Multi-sport athlete Katherine Thiessen played three years of senior high school volleyball at Lloyd Comp, and she also represented the Barons in track and field.
Outside of school athletics, Thiessen has stood out even more. She’s a competitive softball pitcher on her way to play NCAA Division 1 with the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions in the Southland Conference.
This spring and summer season, the 18-year-old right-hander and designated hitter plays with the River City Hornets of Edmonton in the provincial U19 women’s league.
Thiessen committed to the Louisiana school during her Grade 11 year. Collegiate scouts’ interest in her goes back even earlier.
“I started my recruiting process probably in Grade 9,” she said. “You can’t receive offers until Sept. 1 of Grade 11. I honestly wasn’t planning on committing right away, but then the offer came in January when I was in Grade 11, and everything just seemed perfect. It seemed like the perfect school. I really liked the coach. I waited a bit, just to see, but I think I committed in March of my Grade 11 year.”
She tailored her Lloyd Comp studies to lighten the load in her senior year and enable her to play elite-level softball in Edmonton.
In the process, her high school years taught her the importance of time management, especially for student-athletes with busy schedules and limited time to multi-task.
“I kind of kept my Grade 12 year open,” Thiessen said. “I didn’t take a spare until this year. That way, it’s just easier for me to manage.
“But, yeah, I have to manage work, school, sports, working out, all that, plus school sports. It’s just about scheduling your time, scheduling your day. It just makes everything a little bit easier.”
Now stepping up to the NCAA plate, Thiessen anticipates a new culture of sorts off the field as she experiences Louisiana life on the Hammond campus and beyond.
“We’re just 45 minutes from New Orleans, so they’re very much invested in their culture — Cajun culture, their French and all that,” she said. “Even my coach, he’s very proud to be where he’s from. A very proud United States citizen.
“It’s going to be an adjustment, but I think it will be really cool to kind of learn how they live down there.”
Thiessen showed her durability and versatility during this spring’s track and field season, in which she competed in the four-event quadrathlon and placed sixth in the senior girls’ division at the Saskatchewan provincials in Moose Jaw.
Read more: Bedwell right at home in Lloyd rodeo
