As autumn comes to a close with leaves piling on the ground, so does the fall sports season. Although the fun fall socials such as football and volleyball are ending, a new chapter of sports is beginning. Accompanying the cold weather comes a number of sports including basketball, bowling, cheerleading, platinum dance, boys swimming and wrestling.
This year’s teams are filled with many talented athletes. The boys’ basketball program is split into three separate teams: freshman, sophomore and varsity. The three different levels are coached by Ryan Pillow, Brett Ahlgren and Steve Hillman. Senior member of the varsity team, Max Royer, said “We have good coaches and they really push us towards our goal, which this year is to make it to state. The team itself is very good this year compared to last year and I think we have a good chance of beating our biggest competition.” With the previous season ending after a loss in the first round of the playoffs, the boys’ basketball team has the aspiration to top last year’s results.
The girls’ basketball program is oriented similarly to the boys’ basketball program in terms of being split into three teams: freshman, junior varsity and varsity. Sophie Haarhues, Marci Hill and Jennifer Goetz are the head coaches in the girls’ basketball program. Many expect the team to perform well this season as many of last year’s stars are returning to play again this year. “With everyone returning from last season, we are hoping to have a successful season. This season means a lot to us and we want to accomplish things we haven’t before,” said senior Rory Donahue.
Another sport, off the courts and on the lanes, is bowling. Since Liz Moritz’s retirement as head coach last year, the position has since been replaced by Pat Meyer. Bowling has been at PV for more than 13 years and continues to grow as it attracts many students of assorted skill levels. Bowling itself is a very versatile sport that can either be played for fun or competitively. This year, the PV bowlers want to surpass what they achieved last year, which was qualifying for state, and plan on achieving their goals through practice and hard work.
Competing on the mats this season is the wrestling team. The past couple of years have been quite successful in producing multiple state qualifiers, and this year’s team doesn’t seem like they’re going to stop that streak. Junior Shelby Lee said, “ It’s a very tiring sport and involves a lot of technique and concentration especially at meets. This year’s team has a lot of good members from last year.” Spartan wrestling fans are excited to see what this season has in store.
Team spirit is shown through the energy of various girls participating in cheerleading. Although the sport continues for half of the school year, starting in fall and ending in the winter, there are multiple tryouts for the different sports seasons- bringing familiar, as well as new faces. In the fall, cheer is devoted mainly to football, but during winter, the cheerleaders are split into two teams. After tryouts last Wednesday, the official posting for the teams, handpicked by coach Megan Ramirez, was released Thursday morning selecting 24 cheerleaders for the basketball team and 12 for the wrestling team.
Cheer isn’t the only PV winter sport that includes a routine, so does the Platinum Dance Team. Coached by Katie Rokusek, Platinum’s season is by far the longest, with the season beginning in May and ending in February. Throughout the long season, Platinum practices in order to perfect two dances to compete at state which is the first week of December. After state, they join the cheerleaders in supporting the basketball team and end their season with a performance during halftime at the basketball state tournament.
On the other end of the spectrum, boys swimming also begins in the winter. With nine practices a week, swimming takes the lead for the most dedication towards a schedule; forcing boys out of bed by 5 a.m. three times a week with more practice after school five times a week as well as practice on Saturdays, boys swimming is quite intense. The team this year is the largest it has ever been, with over 45 members. The bigger question is how coach Stacey Zapolski is able to govern them. Junior, Dominik Gnad, says “ I think the team this year is going to be better compared to last year; Stacy is a really good coach and knows how to improve everyone through the swim sets.”
This winter season, many PV sports are preparing to take action, so bundle up and come support all of the teams this season.
