Baseball:

The Westside Baseball team has just come up with their teams and has begun their pre-season preparations and Coach Robert Greco has a positive outlook going into the season.

“You know it’s a lot of the same stuff we do it’s just so much nicer to do it outside, we’ve been very fortunate to be able to go to Elkhorn Training camp and be able to go out to a very nice place, we don’t get to do a full infield or fly balls but there are always things you can work on inside,” Greco said.

Greco feels very fortunate to be able to do what the team is doing and feels it is a much better situation than what other schools have.

“The goal is always to win state and that is the goal we set every year, we try to work towards that goal it’s just not a superficial phrase, we really try to gage everything we do in practice toward and what we talk about towards achieving that goal,” Greco said.

The Warriors will begin their season on Saturday, March 15th against Lincoln Northeast and Lincoln Southwest.

Golf:

As spring approached the boys golf returned to the links in the less than ideal early spring conditions, as they were forced to start late due to the weather,

“There was no way to complete tryouts [in March],” said returning boys golf coach Brett Froendt.

As the snow piled on, the team’s schedule was heavily delayed. But that did not stop the boys golf team from training early before tryouts in many different ways.

“We are going to indoor hitting centers and practicing short game in the blue gym on some mornings, as well as holding rules meetings and mental training,” said Froendt.

Coach Froendt expected a lot out of his top golfers including Grant Jabenis, whom he believes to be Westside’s best, as well as some key returning players, and new freshman golfers,

“Grant Jabenis is one of the best golfers in the State, we expect him to win tourneys and finish high at state,  sophomore Jacob Hellman also expects to have a year where he should be a multi-tourney medalist, and Kolby Brown may be a freshman who has a shot to play varsity immediately based upon his summer tourney performances,” Froendt said.

For evaluating players, the coaches started with analyzing the swing indoors, says Junior Gabriel Snow,

“Since tryouts were delayed the coaches have been picking in choosing us based on the quality of our swing, we won’t be able to have full evaluations until the golf courses open up,” said Snow.

“In the meantime, we are hitting with nets and reviewing course etiquette,” Snow said.

The team hoped that their preseason training could translate into their season’s success in the spring.

Track:

As the winter sports begin to wrap up, the attention turns to spring sports. While some players may still be in session for those winter sports, most start focusing on their spring athletics. Preseason practice started the first week after winter break for track. The athletes have continued to condition and practice for their first meet. With the season approaching so quickly, many players have set goals for the season as a team and as an individual. Senior Dylan Packett is one runner that has high expectations for this season.

“I think I can speak for everyone on the track team that our big picture would be to win state. My goals for this season are to get better every day and to win state for the 4×1,” Packett said.

As the new season begins, the players are constantly working to get better. Depending on what you choose to do in track, the conditioning and training mostly consist of fo running long distances or short sprints to keep in shape.

“A few key players for track this year are Avante Dickerson, Darian Sokpa, and Tyson Guzman. There are many athletes that can have an impact on the team. There are also some freshman coming in that can definitely have a great impact for the team,” Packett said.

There are many different events you can participate in for track. While the season may start in March, it can go all the way up to May 18th if you can make state.

“I believe we will overall do pretty good this year. I think I can make it to state for the 4×1 and maybe the triple jump as well,” Packett said.

Tennis:

Last season, the Westside girls tennis team had an impressive showing at state as Steph Lund, Elisabeth Sadler, Hannah Bargas, Charlotte Simon, Meredith Matz, and Anna Schmillen all qualified for the tournament. Lund and Sadler competed in the singles matches, while Bargas with Matz and Simon with Schmillen competed in doubles. With three of the six state qualifiers graduated, sophomore Anna Schmillen said that the team hopes to continue their past successes with a younger team.

“We lost a lot of great seniors but I feel like we’re going to be a young great team this year,” Schmillen said.

The team hopes to replicate their success from last season by working together and competing in practice.

“[We will] work hard at practice, work with our coaches, and try to make it to districts and do well at districts,” Schmillen said.

The team will start their season at home on March 19 against Elkhorn South. They will look to finish their season at the Harry & Gail Koch Family Tennis Center on May 16 and 17 in the NSAA Girls Tennis Championships.

Girls Soccer:

The Varsity Girls Soccer team looks to beat out recent years success with a statement year of their own. After ending the regular season last year twelve and four the team lost an opening round match in the playoffs to Lincoln Southwest to end their season. This year the team starts off with two powerhouses in Millard North and Marian. These early matchups will be big for the top 3 spots in Class A and could push the team to a contender for the state championship. The year has a lot of promise and Freshman Zoe Sundermeier feels a great connection between her and her team.

“We already talk a lot off the field and then on the field we are always communicating and trying to help each other out,” she said.

Even with a good outlook, the extreme cold that has lingered into early spring this year has affected the team.

“We haven’t got as much time out on the field with the cold,” Freshman Naomi Choquette said.

“We’ve had to play in indoor places that we’re not used to. With the smaller places that we’ve gone to. it’ll be hard to transition,” she said.

With or without the cold the Warriors look to be a contender in Class A. New faces to the team and a strong schedule out of the gate can help determine their success and make this 2019 season a special one.

Boys Soccer:

Spring is right around the corner which means that the Warrior boys soccer team is soon to start their season. Coming off of a great year last year where the Warriors went to the state championship game, Westside is looking to repeat success. Junior Jack Bush was on the successful team last year and he says he is excited about the young talent that is on the team and the chemistry that the entire squad has.

“We have a lot of young talent, we have a lot of underclassmen that I feel are going to help with the team. We brought up some new players so I feel like we will be a strong unit. We work well together and we all have a good friendship and were all one big family,” Bush said.

Bush isn’t only excited about the things his team has he also says his team wishes to do big things season, such as a state championship.

“We want to win state, we’ve been there two years in a row and both times came up short so this year were really pushing for it. We want to finish the season strong and we want to get that championship,” Bush said.

Senior Ethan Goldner is another member of the team who has high aspirations for this year. Goldner says he is excited for his final season as a Warrior and is especially excited for the game against arch-rival Creighton Prep.

“I’m probably most excited for Prep because it’s always fun to play against them and lots of guys from my club are on their team. But every game is important so we just have to take them one at a time,” Goldner said.