While the school year and athletic season have come to an end, the work hasn’t stopped for Camp Verde junior track and field athlete and volleyball player Ashlee Bueler.
Bueler has continued to work, both on athletics and academics, to help keep herself sharp for when life gets back to normal.
“I’ve been doing online classes. Getting to Facetime with my teachers has really helped,” she said. “And I’m working out at home, trying to do as much as I can. I have a weight class and that’s helped with exercises. I’m trying to help myself do what I can with sports for the future when this is all over.”
The Cowboys had one track and field meet prior to schools throughout Arizona being shut down for the balance of the school year. In that meet, Bueler finished first in both the discus and javelin throws. Coming into the year, Bueler had two firm goals, qualifying for state and recording a 100 foot throw in the discus [her current best throw in competition
is 89 feet, 8 inches]. Those will again be Bueler’s goals as she heads into her senior season.
Track and field is not Bueler’s only sport at Camp Verde. She also plays on the volleyball team. The team that took the floor in the fall of 2019 had a number of seniors on it. As a returning senior, Bueler knows that she’ll be looked upon as a team leader, which is a role she takes seriously.
“The club volleyball season has helped me become more of a team leader,” she said. “I’ve improved a lot. To carry that into the next school season would be great.”
“We had a lot of seniors last year,” Bueler added. “I’m looking forward to getting some new girls on varsity and nurturing them — teaching them about how varsity is — and building up the program like we do every year.”
Away from school, Bueler is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and does volunteer work with her church. Being a member of LDS is also a part of her post high school plan.
Following her graduation next spring, Bueler hopes to attend college for one year. After that, her plan is to go on her LDS mission for a year-and-a-half. When she returns, Bueler plans on returning to school to graduate. While the destinatioof her mission is something she’ll be assigned, Bueler does hope that she’ll go to a place where she can continue practicing one of the skills she’s most enjoyed developing while in school.
“I would like to go to a Spanish speaking country,” she said. “I really liked learning Spanish in school. It would be really fun to learn more and continue on that.”
Being a two-sport athlete, sports take up a lot of Bueler’s time. But regardless of what she accomplishes
as a senior in sports, her legacy at Camp Verde will be defined by more than athletics.
“I’m ranked first in my class at school,” Bueler said. “I love school and learning. My goal is to be the valedictorian.”
