Melina Monlux, Staff Reporter
Originally published November 23, 2016

Girls Basketball

A young girl’s basketball team is well prepared to take on the challenge of the new season. After losing four seniors and another upper classman to injury, the team has no misconceptions about this season being a walk in the park. “I think since we lost one of our best seniors last year, we will probably have some trouble with things,” sophomore Kate Rutledge said. Rutledge and three other freshmen made the varsity team last year, and will be key in the coming years. Still, they make for a young team, as do the two freshmen who are also prospects for the varsity team. “I think this year will definitely be a growing year for us,” Rutledge said.  “But that’s OK.” Regardless, the girls basketball team is going into the season well prepared after weight lifting, off season practices and tournament play. “We are really looking to be more aggressive this year with full court presses and running a lot of fast breaks,” Rutledge said.  “Honestly though, I’m most looking forward to seeing the team grow together this year.”

Boys Basketball

After coming off a losing record in a difficult conference this past season, boys basketball is looking to this season for improvement. “There were a lot of things that played into our losing record last year,” senior Shay Curcuruto said, “but if everyone is close and together, I believe this year we will have more success.” In the offseason, the team has been preparing with weight trainings, fall league play and camps over the summer, as well as some team bonding. “I think the season will go much better this year […] we have been very close all off-season playing together, and it’s been really fun.” The team lost a few seniors, yet are still hopeful that they can do well. “Our goal will probably be to improve over last year and just be competitive in every game,” Curcuruto said. But despite their hopes for a better luck this season, the boys know there is more to the game than a record. “Wins and loses aren’t the most important thing. Winning is fun, but just playing and having fun in every game is more important,” Curcuruto said.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is ready to return full force this year. Last season, the team finished second in the Metro League and went to state as a team. “[State] was a highlight,” junior Amirah Karam said. “It’s the first time that Ballard [gymnastics] has ever gone to state as a team and not just individually.”   Despite the excitement and success, the team did experience a few disappointments. “Last season we didn’t ever beat Holy Names,” Karam said. “We really wanted to beat them at least once.” This year, the team is ready to experience similar success. “We have a lot of freshmen who just stopped doing club gymnastics. I think it’s going to be a really good season, probably better than last year, because so much of our team are former club gymnasts.”They are looking forward to another winning season, and hope to finish first in the league this year, beating Holy Names out along the way.

Boys Swimming

Last season, the swim team had a fairly even record, winning about as many meets as they lost. This season, they’re hoping for a winning record. “I think the season is going to go great this year,” junior Frank Greekas said.  “We have a lot of guys that have actually done swim that are freshmen coming in, so I think it’s going to go really good.”

The team has a bright future with the incoming class, but that doesn’t mean they don’t also want to focus on the now. “Last year, we had one guy go to state and we had five or six guys go to districts,” Greekas said. “This year, my goal is probably to get all the kids on the team going to Metro finals, and […] at least one guy going to state like last year.”

Regardless of the incoming talent, achieving this and the winning record may be difficult. “Ten or eleven swimmers won’t be returning this year,” Greekas said, “so we lost a lot of guys.” Swim hopes to persevere in spite of this, and have been working hard in the offseason to prepare. “We have been swimming at the pool for about an hour each day,” Greekas said.

Wrestling

For wrestling, commitment proved to be the greatest struggle last season. “There was just a lack of people in general by the end of the season, because we started with a lot, but quite a few people dropped out,” sophomore Jeremy Miyake said. This year, the team is hoping to turn that around. “My goal this year is to have at least ten people still on the team at the end of the season,” Miyake said. Things look promising thus far, with a large incoming group of freshmen, and a commitment in the offseason. “A lot of the team members from last season have been conditioning in the offseason to prepare, and we had a meeting to get everything together,” Miyake said. The drop of through the season could be attributed to the intensity of the sport, but for some, this is the best part. “My favorite part about the sport is the intensity, and how you really get out what you put in,” Miyake said.