Buffington named 2019 Louisburg Sports Zone Female Athlete of the Year

Not many athletes had the opportunity to experience the success Carson Buffington did during the 2018-19 school year.

Buffington found herself in two state championship matches and was a team captain in all three seasons. The 2019 Louisburg High School graduate played at a high level in all the sports she competed in and did so with the respect of her teammates of coaches.

Those are just a few of the reasons why Buffington was chosen as the 2019 Louisburg Sports Zone Female Athlete of the Year.

The award, which is in its second year, is to recognize an outstanding LHS student athlete. Louisburg Sports Zone asked the head coaches at LHS to submit nominations and those nominations were then organized and submitted back to the coaches for a vote.

The coaches then submitted their top three choices and the number of votes were added up, which decided the winner.

Buffington began her memorable senior year on the volleyball court as she helped the Lady Cats to a state runner-up finish for the second consecutive season. She was an outside hitter on the 2018 squad, which was a position she had to learn on the fly.

She spent the last two seasons as the team’s starting setter and Buffington made the move to the front line – which gave her team the best chance to win.

Along with her state runner-up finish, Buffington also earned second team All-Frontier League honors and was named to the Greater Kansas City Volleyball Coaches Association Senior All-Star match.

“Carson was a great leader again this past season and played a vital role on the team,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “She handled transitioning to a new position with a lot of grace and was bound and determined to learn the ins/outs of being a hitter, than a setter. She previously ran our offense as the setter for two years. But as with each new season, new players are added to the mix and the possibility of changing positions/rosters arises.

“I was very proud of how she ‘handed’ over the reins of the offense to two freshmen and how she encouraged and pushed them every day in practice. She was a great role model. Carson added a lot of emotional energy when we needed it and made huge plays at important times throughout matches.”

Buffington was also a big part of the Lady Cat basketball team this past season, despite finishing short of a state tournament. She earned all-league and all-state honorable mention honors after she averaged eight points, seven rebounds and three steals per game.

She currently holds a school record with 864 career rebounds and was an all-league player for her entire four year stint with the Louisburg basketball team.

“Carson is one of the hardest working players that I have worked with coaching basketball, boys or girls,” Louisburg girls basketball coach Shawn Lowry said. “She never took a day off and always led by example. Carson was relentless as a player and was always the first one on the floor for a loose ball.  As good an athlete, she is an even better young woman with great character, integrity, unselfishness and passion.”

Buffington might have had her most successful season, both team-wise and individually, in the spring as the Wildcats’ starting goalkeeper on the Louisburg girls’ soccer team.

For the second year in a row, the Wildcats were the Class 4-1A state runner-up and Buffington was a big reason why. She started all 20 games and set school records in shutouts (13), saves in a season (115), goals against average (.952) and wins (17).

With all that success, Buffington was named the Class 4-1A Goalkeeper of the Year by the Kansas Soccer Coaches Association.

“Carson in her first year as the starting goalkeeper was unbelievable,” Louisburg girls soccer coach Kyle Conley said. “She kept us in a lot of games and even won us a few. Carson is in her third year ever playing soccer as well. She started her sophomore year and has grown so much. She is a gifted three sport athlete and it shows in her ability to play goalkeeper. She has a fantastic attitude and work ethic.” 

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