Athlete Spotlight: Lexi Weilert

For this edition of the Athlete Spotlight, we head to the small town of Verdigris, Oklahoma, home of the Cardinals. Lexi Weilert is a senior and has played both volleyball and basketball all four years of high school. 

She has played both guard and post positions in basketball, while playing outside hitter for the volleyball squad. 

In her four years, Lexi has racked up a few awards. She was named to the Coweta Volleyball Tournament All-Tournament Team in both her Freshman and Sophomore years. She also brought home the Defensive Most Valuable Player award in basketball her Junior season. 

In her final season on the Verdigris basketball team, they have won the Chouteau Invitational Tournament and won the Consolation Championship in the Locust Grove Tournament. In post-season play, they defeated Morris 65-15 to claim the District Championship and advance to play Tahlequah-Sequoyah in Regionals.

The District Championship game was Lexi’s last home game as a Lady Cardinal. She found the evening to be a little tougher than she was planning. 

“It took me awhile to realize that soon i would be playing my very last game, in front of my town on my home floor,” she said. “It was so bittersweet and was a lot tougher than I thought it was gonna be. It was really hard, harder than I anticipated because basketball has been my life ever since I can remember and having to finally hang up my jersey and say goodbye to my best friends and teammates”. 

For Lexi and her teammates, there have been a lot of exciting moments on the court. Her most memorable moment is when they defeated Cascia Hall 36-34 in to win teh Chouteau Invitational Championship. “It was really cool to beat them when no one thought we could”, she said. 

Mike Buntin, the head coach of the Verdigris girls basketball team, knows that Lexi is a key to the team’s success. “Lexi’s greatest strength is her athleticism”, he said. “She is one of the fastest and strongest players I’ve ever coached.  She had been a guard for us throughout her career.  However due to injury we approached her about moving to the post.  She has thrived since the position change.  She’s able to use her athleticism to her benefit.  She is one of the keys to our season.  We are extremely difficult to beat when she’s aggressive by getting baskets in transition by outrunning the opposition and outworking her opponent for offensive rebounds”.

Lexi is also involved in quite a few activities off the court as well. She is a member of the yearbook staff, student council, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She attends Harvest Baptist Church in Verdigirs where she is a volunteer teacher of the 3-5 year olds. She is also a part of United Student Ministries, the youth ministry of the church.

In her spare time, Lexi enjoys hanging out with her boyfriend and her friends, spending summers at the lake, go hiking, play with puppies at the animal shelter, and spend time with her family. 

After graduation, Lexi plans to go to the University of Central Oklahoma and obtiain a degree in sports medicine. She wants to become either an athletic trainer or a pysical therapist. She also wants to travel the world and eventually get married and start a family. 

“One of the things I’ll miss the most is definitely all the time spent with my teammates and coaches”, Lexi said. “Those people are my family on and off the floor. Something that i think is so special about our team is we always have a special bond no other teams seem to have, we have each other’s backs and I know they’d do anything for me, and i’d do anything for them. I’ll definitely miss them, hanging out with them, bus rides to games, everything. i love them more than anything”.