As the days grow shorter many people feel less energetic and are more inclined to spend their free time somewhere warm and bright.
There are those, however, who ignore the cold and dark and pursue athletic achievement even if it involves practicing late into the evening and in the cold. The winter sports athletes do just that and then some as they prepare for a season where all teams are expected to excel.
The boys’ and girls’ basketball teams are looking to bounce back after losses in the district playoffs last year. The boys were upset in the first round of the district playoffs to Thomas Jefferson and the girls fell in the finals to James Madison. Despite the early end to the season the boys team is reloaded after the loss of eight seniors.
“I’m hoping we’re going to have a pretty good season,” freshman Chance Connor said. “I think we will do pretty well on all levels and I think we have a good chance to win the district this year.”
The girls’ basketball team is returning most of its regional qualifying roster after the loss of one senior from the past year.
“I think we are going to do well,” freshman Lindsey Daniels said “My expectations for the team are that we should all bond together for the whole season, and I think we could win every game from that. The biggest player I think may be Erica because she has good sportsmanship, and she is just really talented.”
The wrestling team brings back Josh Forrest as the Seahawks are one of the favorites to win the district tournament.
“I think our team all around is going to do pretty well,” sophomore Jonah Markowitz said. “It’s going to be a pretty big difference because we don’t have Ryan Forest anymore, we are going to be counting on Josh Forest a lot. We will have a pretty good varsity team with Josh Forest, and other people and I think we are going to do well and all around we are going to have a good season. We might not have any state championships, but hopefully Josh can go to states this year.”
Swim and dive are expected to perform well this year with many strong swimmers returning for both the boys and girls teams despite the loss of several upperclassmen.
“I don’t think that we will do as well as we did last year,” junior Sasha Avilov said. “We lost a lot of really fantastic swimmers last year who were a majority of the state’s team but we have some new fast swimmers like John Hughs and Sabrina Groves.”
Indoor track has always been a good team with sophomore Andrew McCool and senior Rashaan Jones expected to lead the team to another strong season.
“I think the team will do amazing this year,” freshman Noah Summers said. “We have a good setup, and all the players are phenomenal and hard workers. The coaches are great, I think they will lead us to many victories.”