photo credit: Mackenzie Carder
With winter sports coming quickly, such as, Wrestling, bowling, basketball, hockey, gymnastics and swimming are coming quick as tryouts are starting soon.
The girls wrestling team excelled as it earned its first state championship last year. There, they defeated Harrison 95-83, and they defeated Marysville. The team is hosting several home meets including the Citrus Duels on Dec. 14 and the Pioneer Classic on Jan. 12.
Sophomore Alanna Smith said that she has been working hard across the summer, so she is expecting to have a good season.
The bowling team got a new coach, Andrew Kicas, last year and currently hosted interest meetings. With his help, the boys bowling team placed 14th at the district tournament.
“They were really good last year. There were a lot of good players, but the majority were seniors. I had a good time playing,” Freshman Mitchell Booth said. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the boys basketball team won districts last year and had an unfortunate loss in the regional finals. “Expectations are high. We were 26-2 last season, and we have four of five of starting players,” Head Coach Anthony
Calo said.
The girls basketball team acquired a new coach for this season, Allen Eggleston.
The hockey team is skating into its new season with hopes that it will be the best one yet. Its first home opener is against one of its rivals, Olentangy Liberty, who they lost 3-1 to last year; that game is on Nov. With such a challenging lineup of opponents, including Berlin on Jan. 10 and Olentangy on Dec. 20, the boys won’t have much time to rest.
Senior Carter Whitt has already been practicing for weeks in order to prepare himself for the upcoming season. “I’ve been going to fall skates as well as watching old clips of my teammates and I and seeing what we could do better this year,” Whitt said.
The team also hopes to play well against their conference and make it as far as possible in the playoffs. The gymnastics team is looking to build off its solid seasonlast season in which it won the OCCs and
finished fourth in the district.
With most gymnastics practices being year-round, the girls are more prepared for their winter meets than ever.
“The team is going to do very well this season. We have all been working hard in the offseason to make big improvements, such as gaining new skills and perfecting old ones. Additionally, we have a couple of very strong new members joining our team, as well as some incredible returners,” Senior Natalie Rauzi said.
The girls’ senior night is at home against all Westerville schools, Watterson and Grove City on Jan. 27, and they are hoping for a big crowd of support. Both the boys’ and girls’ swim teams are looking at a somewhat difficult season for this year. The athletes are as strong as ever, but they did gain a new head coach, Beth Fenton, which will take some time to get used to throughout the season, according to senior Isabella De La Rosa. The team starts practice on Nov. 1 and will swim every weekday, except Wednesdays, after school from 3-5 pm.
“We also have a lot of other training and dual meets to prepare us for the bigger meets in January and February,” senior Ella Longhouse said.
