The spring season is nearly here, and although the vice of winter still is lingering on, its seasonal sports are preparing to begin their season regardless of the freezing weather. With tryouts for sports like outdoor track and field, lacrosse, baseball and tennis beginning March 1st, the next few months are shaping up to be exciting for new and returning players alike.
For many spring athletes, preparation for the playing season began months ago with the initiation of pre-season workouts and practices, many of which were considered optional but nonetheless were almost necessary to attend to improve teams’ performance for tryouts and official games. The lacrosse team, led by Coach Richter and Coach McCullo, is no exception to this. Pre-season workouts were hosted on a bi-weekly basis, starting early December, that nearly every player, returning or otherwise, attended. Following the success of last year’s pre-season program, which was credited for the team’s success in last year’s playoffs, the team is looking to continue their momentum with these preparations in hopes of a Region or State Championship win.
“All we need to do is work and have faith that it will pay off,” stated senior goalie Ian Murphy. “It worked last year and I have no doubt in my mind that we will see similar results this year as long as we keep at it.”
The baseball team, managed by Coach Molnar, has also done their fair share of preparation for the upcoming season, with many of its players putting in the extra hours to better their chances for success.
“We’ve had informal batting cage sessions twice a week, and I know more than a handful of others who are putting in their own time in between,” expressed senior Anthony Angarita. “Because of that, I have no doubt that the team will perform great during the actual season.”
Unlike the other teams, the outdoor track and field team, guided by Coach Miller and Coach Lee, hasn’t had much mandatory pre-season preparation for the spring season, but for good reason.
“We technically haven’t had a lot of pre-season practices,” mentioned senior Sofia Delisa-Hughes, “but that’s because a lot of our runners did indoor track for the winter and were busy with that.”
With much of their time being dedicated to practices and games for the indoor league, they are in optimal condition for the upcoming season, and are confident in their performance as a team.
“We’re hoping to continue building up the momentum the team had during indoor track for the spring season. I’ve broken a lot of personal PR’s during that time and so have many other players, and I plan to keep that going during the next few months,” affirmed Delisa-Hughes.
The tennis team, supervised by Coach Dingman, hasn’t had team mandated practices yet, but many of the players have been training and playing on their own initiative.
“We haven’t done any pre-season prep together,” divulged senior Felipe Gabriel, “but I know that a lot of the players have been playing and training on their own time. I think our season will go really well, since we have good players coming back and a lot of senior players from the other schools have graduated.”
Whether mandatory or optional, the extra practices and time that the players spend in pursuit of self-improvement will without a doubt bear fruit in their future athletic careers; and it’s the dedication and the efforts of the players put into their sport when no one else is watching that will truly decide their performance for the season in both the upcoming tryouts and the official games.