Athletes prepare for the spring season by stressing the fundamentals of their respective sports and building their stamina

Girls’ golf

After losing key seniors last year, the girls’ golf team said they are focusing on rebuilding and improving upon last year’s fifth place conference standing.
According to head coach Bruce McLean, the team’s competitive goals this season are to finish in the top half of the conference and in the top four at sections.
“Replacing three seniors from last year will be the biggest challenge,” he said. “But, we have several good players and also several open positions for whoever steps up and is able to fill those positions.”
Senior captain Samantha Rempfer said she thinks improvement is possible and is most excited to help rebuild the team with a number of new players.
“We got a bunch of new girls this year, many who have never played golf before, and I am excited to welcome them and make them part of the team,” she said. “Captains Kelli Ferguson, Hannah Intveld and I will really need to step up and be leaders.”

Girls’ lacrosse

When sophomore Luiza Kieffer began training for lacrosse this spring, she found the team has placed renewed emphasis on fitness.
Senior captain Sarah Webb said the team currently runs every day after school and will continue to have fitness requirements to be on varsity such as running three consecutive miles and doing a 90-second plank.
“It forces everyone to be in good shape with the hope of getting them to play the whole game,” Webb said.
According to head coach Kyle Sweeney, the team will focus on training new line defenders this season.
“Our goal is to be conference champions like the past couple of years and focus playing our best no matter what the other team does,” she said.

Boys’ track and field

Although their team is small, the boys’ track and field team is working toward fast performances at sections and State.
Head coach Richard Keith said he will incorporate strength and technical training in the beginning of the season.
“We focus initially on running form and incorporate Olympic lifts two to three times per week,” he said.
Junior captain Nick Sokolowski said new members are welcomed as the team tries to gain more runners.
“We have to overcome our lack of upperclassmen by having younger runners fill those places,” he said. “As captain I would like to see some of the young runners develop racing strategy.”
Because of their small team, Keith said the coaching staff must be aware of athlete health and safety.
“Fewer numbers could be problematic due to normal injuries in the season,” he said. “As a staff we will have to pay greater attention to athlete workloads.”
While Sokolowski cited the Section 6AA meet as their toughest competition, he recognizes the benefits of a difficult meet.
“Although our team may not win the section, some individuals may place well enough to qualify for State,” he said.