Spring athletes kick off new season

With the start of the spring semester comes a whole new season for all new athletes as we trade out footballs for volleyballs and soccer balls for lacrosse sticks as a new wave of Wildcats take the field in their respective sports. These sports include Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Boys Baseball, Girls Softball, Boys Volleyball, Girls and Boys Tennis, and Track and Field and they all are filled with athletes rearing to go and make their mark in 2022. 

Coming off of a 13-7 season that ended in the district finals last year, the boys lacrosse team is looking to improve. According to the coaches and many players they feel that this is one of the strongest rosters that the school has had in years due to retaining many players from last year as well as making a few new additions to the rosters via transfers. They opened their season on February 15 vs. Saint Andrews, the defending 1A State Champions with a loss but were able to bounce back and beat Calvary Chrisitan two days after and now sit at 5-4.

“We took tough losses in our games vs. Saint Andrews, STA and Palo Verde (NV) but we have been able to piece together a lot of strong team wins so I see a lot of promise with this team for the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs,” captain David Parrish said.

Girls lacrosse looks to build upon their 8-3 2021 season that ended in a similar way in a defeat in the District finals vs. Saint Thomas Aquinas. They are also returning many players who are ambitious to make this season their year. They also opened their season on February 15, against Archbishop McCarthy walking away with an 18-8 win and winning the next two games on top of that jumping out to a 3-0 start and they now sit at 6-3 overall.

”We have had a very hot start to the season and we are looking to carry this momentum with us to have a strong year,” junior Zoe Savostinsky said.

The Baseball team had a successful season last year ending with a record of 18-10-1 after a loss to Taravella in the playoffs. They are confident in the team that they have this year after their fall season and they feel that they can have a lot of success if they work hard and get the job done. The first test of their season was on February 21 vs. Belen Jesuit where they were able to walk away with a hard fought 3-2 win and since then they have earned a record of 4-2.

“This year is my senior year so I’m really trying to just put it all out there and hopefully by the end of it we are on top,” senior Carlos D’Amato said.

The softball team also had a successful season last year that ended with a 14-9 loss to Palmetto High School. They also feel very good about this season and have since been able to mount a 5-3 record overall this year.

“I’m very happy to be playing varsity softball this year as a freshman and I hope that we can do great things this year with this team,” freshman Kennedy Butter.  

The boys volleyball team also had a strong 2021 season with an 11-5 record. This earned the team a playoff berth that resulted in a 3-0 win vs. American Heritage but a loss in the next match vs. Cypress Bay which ended the season. They opened up their season on February 28 with a win versus Coral Glades but have since then achieved an overall record of 1-5.

“We started off the season with a win and since then have posted some tough losses but we are looking to rebound and have a great rest of the season,” junior Cole Esterline said.

Transitioning over to another court for tennis, both teams were only able to play in two matches due to the circumstances of last year with the boys going 1-1 and the girls going 2-0. The boys team opened up their season on March 10 versus Cypress Bay and took a devastating loss 6-0.

“Our match versus Cypress Bay didn’t go the way we wanted it to but we will use it as a learning experience to move forward and get better the rest of the season,” junior Lucas Osber said.

The girls team on the other hand has already played four matches posting two wins versus Cooper City and West Broward while losing two other matches.

Last but not least the track & field team was able to have a lot of success last year and they are looking to repeat this this year.

“I am very excited for the season and can’t wait for the track to be finished so we can get back to training as usual,” junior captain Mistiann Verdier said.