We've all heard of multi-sport athletes, but rarely has one been so dominant in several sports on the same weekend. Last weekend, Sacred Heart High School's Preston Liebrecht was an impact player on both the soccer and football teams. Even more impressive was the fact that he took part in both sports in a playoff game on the same day - one in Humboldt and one in Yorkton.
Liebrecht helped guide the Saints soccer team to qualify for the Saskatchewan High School Athletics 2A Boys Soccer Championships in Regina this weekend with a 14-goal performance.
The Saints defeated Moosomin 9-1 on Friday night, then followed that up with a 14-1 win over Notre Dame Saturday morning. Having qualified for the provincial championships, Liebrecht made the quick trip back to Yorkton to suit up for the Saints football team, as they hosted the Melville Cobras in East Central playoff action. Liebrecht led the Saints offensive attack with 5 touchdowns, including a 40 yard rumble on the first offensive play of the game for the Saints.
He followed that up with touchdown runs of 52 yards, 51 yards, 21 yards, and 5 yards. In total, Liebrecht led the Saints with 17 rushes for 247 yards to guide the Saints to their first playoff win in over two decades.
"We have several athletes who play several sports - both in school and in the community" commented Saints head coach Trent Senger.
"We try to arrange our practice and game schedules to accommodate multi-sport athletes. For example, we hold our football practices in the mornings, and most of our games on Thursdays to allow the guys who play soccer, volleyball, and hockey the time after school and on weekends to be a part of other teams. We try to work together as coaches, but once we get to playoffs, it becomes really difficult to schedule."
With both the Saints boys soccer and football teams advancing next weekend, multi-sport athletes like Liebrecht will have to once again be ready for a busy weekend.
"The soccer team plays in Regina, and the football team goes to Maple Creek, so we're kind of in the same direction, but again could run into a problem for guys getting to both events. On top of that, there are some guys who play on our volleyball team, and they have their home tournament this weekend, so some might end up playing volleyball Friday afternoon, soccer Saturday morning, and football Saturday afternoon" said Senger. The Saints football team will leave Friday night, stay in Swift Current, then travel to Maple Creek Saturday morning. Anyone interested in a fan bus should contact the Sacred Heart Main Office at 783-3128. For fans not able to attend the game in person, the game will be broadcast live on GX94 radio.
