I’ve been participating and covering Lewiston Bengal sports since I was a sophomore, and now that I’m senior I must say that the 2016-2017 was my favorite year to do the job.
  Lewiston High School teams have experienced a roller coaster of emotions to say the least. During the 2016-2017 school year LHS saw some tremendous athletes rise up.
  Austin Byrer won Gatorade National Runner of the Year and a nomination for the North Idaho Cross Country award at the all-North Idaho sports awards event.
  Riley Way also made an impact on Lewiston athletics this year, being nominated for the Lewiston Tribune’s Prep Athlete of the Week for each of the three sports he participated in (football, basketball, baseball). Way committed to LCSC to play baseball.
Other graduating seniors signed to continue athletics in college in a ceremony at LHS May 22.
Football
  Beginning with the football season, the Bengals got off to a hot start defeating the Highland Rams for the first time in school’s history in a game Aug. 26 at the Ford Idaho Center. They also defeated Couer d’Alene in the pouring rain by a score of 55-51.
  Quarterback Colton Richardson seemed like he couldn’t be stopped in the regular season throwing over 5,000 yards with only two interceptions, earning him the nomination for athlete of the year for North Idaho.
  Richardson wasn’t short of receivers to throw the ball to. Alex Light earned first team all state honors as a wide receiver after breaking 10,000 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns. Fellow receiver Way got picked for second team all-state as well.  Kicker Lane Grant was also picked for second team all-state honors.
Cross Country
  The Bengals Cross country team was led by Byrer and during that season he was named Gatorade Runner of the Year. In the state competition Byrer earned first place as an individual junior Joey Perez also placed high at ninth overall. The Bengals took fifth overall as a team at state.
Volleyball
Hannah Lien is going to play volleyball for the LCSC Warriors next fall after Lewiston’s volleyball team earned its place in the state tournament. The ladies losing their first game to Timberline but were able to go all the way to state through the back door, beating Boise and Lake City. They ended up playing the team they started the tournament against in the third- and fourth-place games. Unfortunately the Bengals fell to them again in the third-place game.  
Basketball
  In basketball the Bengals showed flares of potential all the way through the season and the varsity boys placed third at state. This was the first time the Bengals placed at state for basketball since the boys won the title in 2008.
  The team showed great working chemistry with most of the starting five players having played together since childhood, when they first developed a love for basketball.
  LCSC basketball commit Trystan Bradley earned second team all-state in basketball as well. Fellow player Keeshawn Clarke will be playing for Walla Walla Community college to continue his sports career.  
  The girls basketball team fell short of making the playoffs but did get a victory during an intense Golden Throne rivalry event against Clarkston High School. The Lady Bengals earned a “four-peat” in January and took home the golden toilet.
Wrestling
  As for the wrestlers, in the winter time 12 traveled to state, two more than last year.
  Kyle Cook, junior, placed sixth in the 170-pound weight class. The Bengal wrestlers will have six returning state competitors next year.
Track and Field
  For track the Bengals ran very well, with the boys placing sixth overall as a team. Byrer continued to prove he’s one of the best athletes in this year’s senior class. Earlier in the season he beat the school’s longtime record for the 1,600 event. Byrer ran it in 4:13, only four seconds shy of an overall state record. Byrer placed fifth overall in the 800-meter event at state, placing second in the 1,600 and becoming a state champion in the 3,200-meter. Perez placed third in the 3200 for the Bengals as well. Unfortunately, no lady Bengal runners placed in the top 5 in their events at state.
Baseball
   Baseball is producing the most college athletes of any sports teams for Lewiston with five kids taking the game to the next level: Jackson Fuller, Jaden Phillips, Colton Sottlemyre, Riley Way and Luke White.    
     In baseball this season the varsity team came in with high hopes, and earned itself the third seed overall in the first game of the state tournament it played against Capital High School in May. In this game the boys had a 2-0 lead at the top of the seventh inning. However a couple of walks, a costly error and loaded bases made the score 6-2 at the end of the top of the seventh, which became the end result of the game.
  The Bengals then went on to beat Madison in dominant fashion, 10-4. This advanced the Bengals to play in the third- and fourth-place game in which they lost to district rival Couer d’ Alene by a score of 5-2.
Softball
The Bengals softball team had their fair share of struggles this year, only being able to capture three victories on the season and missing the state tournament. However catcher Brynann Carpenter will continue her career at Walla Walla Community College.  
Tennis
In tennis this year, Gavin Hewett went to state as an individual. He did not place but will play tennis at Spokane Community College. Six Lewiston players entered the state tournament in May, but fell short of placing. However, Madelyn Parkey will continue her tennis career at Whitworth College.  
Golf
For the boys team, only one golfer participated in the state tournament, which was Ben Trigsted. He fell short of placing at the tournament shooting a total score of 162. As for the girls, they unfortunately didn’t bring anyone to the state tournament.