By Lainey Novacek Posted June 8, 2023
The athlete of the year for the 2022-2023 school year is Jordan Bills. He has been a Buckaroo athlete since 2019 and has played football, basketball, and baseball. During his 9th-grade year, Bills was on the frosh teams for basketball and football, but after quarantine his sophomore year, he returned and showed that he belonged on varsity and tried out for baseball.
“My family had all played sports, so it felt weird for me not to play,” said Bills. “After I tried sports, I fell in love with them.”
Bills has been on the varsity teams for baseball, basketball, and football since his junior year. His coaches have watched him grow over the years. They are all very proud of how much he has improved during his time at Lowry. Bills is also a perfect leader because of his positive attitude.
“Jordan has been a leader the entire year and does everything with a smile,” said the varsity baseball coach, Jamie Walton. “He comes to the yard daily with a positive attitude and a ‘can’t lose’ mentality.”
During his sophomore year, the Covid-19 virus hit the United States. This virus caused Lowry to close in the spring for the remainder of the year. Even though Bills was not at Lowry, he would still attend every sports event he could and kept up with his teammates.
“During the quarantine year, I did what I did every other year,” said Bills. “I took school seriously, played many sports, and hung out with my friends.”
When Bills was younger, he did not enjoy sports. Once he entered Winnemucca Junior high school, during his 7th-grade year, he decided he’d try out sports.
“When I was younger, I did not like sports,” said Bills. “It wasn’t until my 7th-grade year where I really started to fall in love with playing sports.”
Bills loves all of the sports that he plays and can not pick a favorite. He loves each of them for different reasons.
“Picking a favorite sport for me is impossible because I love football, basketball, and baseball for different reasons,” said Bills. “In football, I love avoiding tacklers and relying on my team under the Friday night lights, I love the finesse side of basketball and draining a 3-pointer in a close game, and nothing feels better than playing center field and diving for a baseball that is hit in the gap and getting appreciated by my teammates.”
Bills’ coaches all say he possesses the qualities of a great leader. They can all count on him and will miss him after he graduates.
“Coaches will agree with me that Jordan possesses these qualities that give you a piece of mind knowing you can count on him when he steps on the field or court,” said head varsity football coach Taua Cabatbat. “Jordan’s leadership qualities and athletic abilities will be missed here at Lowry High School.”
