Spring sports are finally here and each team is looking to bring home a state championship. Here’s what you need to know about this season.
Boys Soccer: Last season, the boys soccer team finished as the state runner-up and hopes to finish as the state champion this year. “With the experience of the returning players, we are hoping for another successful season,” said head coach John Brian. The team has a number of impact players including senior all-state player Ali Sodal and top goalkeeper junior Quinn Nelson. “This is the first time in a while that I can say we have consistent depth across a number of positions, said Brian in response to the vast number of returners. In order to win the state championship, the team will need to be more dangerous in the final third of the field and dictate the pace of the game.
Girls Soccer: After the loss of both the team’s top scorer and primary goalkeeper, the girls soccer team looks to improve on last season’s 15-4 record finishing in the top eight at state. Junior Summer Khalil and sophomores Michelle Xiao, Mary Novoa, and Kelsey Coziahr look to be the team’s impact players this season along with a large amount of returning starters. In order to continue further in the state tournament, head coach Nathan Moseley said, “We need to improve on how we’re attacking and how we’re keeping defenses on their heels and guessing what we’re gonna do.”
Girls Tennis: Finishing as the state champions last season, the team hopes to do it again this year. “We have high expectations with being a returning state championship team. We’re returning three out of the six people that played at state last year in addition to one other team member,” said head coach Kim Gradoville. Team leaders for this season include junior McKinney Harwood, who finished first in #1 doubles last season, senior Kate Slosburg, who finished in second place at #2 doubles, and sophomore Sydney Harlow, who finished third place at #1 singles). After losing half the team to graduation, they must unify as a team in order to win another championship.
Boys Golf: Finishing fifth in their district last year, the boys golf team hopes to improve this season and make the state tournament. Players to watch include senior Eric Jensen and junior Tom Stegman along with multiple promising newcomers. In order to make state, boys golf coach Brett Froendt says the the team needs to improve on their scoring and short game.
Boys Track & Field: Coming off of a rough last season, the boys track and field team is looking to have a lot of state qualifiers. Senior Craig Timmons will lead the team in sprints while senior Andrew McVea hopes to improve on his sixteenth place finish at state in the 3200 meter run. Following McVea, junior Stuart Willett will also be a long-distance leader coming off of his sixteenth place finish at state in the 1600 meter run. In the field, senior Josh Payne and junior Tom Young are predicted to lead the team in throwing. “I expect to have a team that is very competitive in all meets and strong in throws and distance races,” said head boys track coach Rick McKeever.
Girls Track & Field: After losing only two pivotal athletes off of last year’s team, the team this year has quite a bit of state experience. “We have a lot of young returning letter winners and quite a few sophomores who have seen state experience,” said head girls track coach Jon Preister. Leading the distance squad is senior Claire Cunningham and junior Catie Thull. Senior Olivia Baker and sophomore Hayley Krumwiede will lead the sprinters and jumpers both finishing in the top eleven of state long jump and top five of state triple jump last season. The squad hopes to improve on their fourteenth place finish at state last year and finish in the top five this season.
Baseball: With six to seven returning impact players, the baseball team is in high hopes. Coming off of a great summer, head coach Bob Greco has one thing the team will need to improve upon for this season, “The hardest thing to do is compete against really good…strikeout pitchers. The biggest thing for us is to find a way to score three or four runs against a pitcher like that because we have a couple kids who can pitch that way and we have to win that ball game.” After losing in the first round of the state championships to Millard West last season, the team hopes their experience this year will lead them to a top finish.
