2006-2007 Fall Sports Preview

By Paul Harris-Hertel

The school year is just around the corner, which means that ETHS fall sports have already begun their training.  From football to girls golf, the RoundTable takes a look at all nine fall sports.

Football head coach Tony Johnson has two returning starters on offense and eight returning starters on defense and is hoping for a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

"I'd like to think the playoffs are a possibility," Johnson said.  "It would be a very big disappointment if we don't make the playoffs."

Johnson cautioned, however, that the conference will be tough this year.

"New Trier and Glenbrook South have their best teams in years, and Maine South is always strong," he explained.  "It will be a battle week in and week out, but we'll stack up just fine [against the rest of the conference]."

Key players include Northwestern-bound running back/defensive back Michael Bolden, tight end/defensive end Nickaro Golding, and running back/linebacker Kendale Farlow.  Ryan Roveda will start at quarterback and has a deep corps of receivers to throw to, including Brian Murphy, Deon Thompson, and Allante Terry.

The girls tennis team has eight players back from last season's team that finished third in conference.  This year, Head Coach Mindy Horne hopes to get at least second.

"We'll [compete] with Glenbrook South and Maine South for second place behind New Trier, who's always tough," Horne said.

Leading the eight returning players is senior Brigit Larson, who has been the team's top singles player every year of her high school career.  Larson has also made the state tournament all three years and finished 4-2 in singles matches in the state tournament last year.  Also returning are Meredith Nelson and Sarah Doyle, who Horne said could play #1 doubles.  Talented freshman Jane Hohman is also in the mix.  

The girls' first match was Aug. 22 against Oak Park-River Forest.

The girls cross country team hopes to repeat as conference champions and make a trip down state, and head coach Bill Albrecht believes the team can accomplish both of those things.

"We're in good shape," said Albrecht.  "We have a solid team coming back, including three All-Conference runners, two [of whom were] All-Regional runners."

Those three All-Conference runners are Natalie Finn, Katherine Page, and Gabi Zecker.  Finn and Page both made the All-Regional team.  They will be joined by twins Lexi and Lauren Delaney, and Annie Tarkington, who will finally be running cross country full time after giving up soccer. 

The team's first meet is Sept. 2 in the 15-team Hinsdale Invitational.

The boys cross country team is young, with only four runners returning from the team that finished second at last year's conference meet.  In fact, there is only one senior on this year's squad.  But head coach David Phillips is encouraged by what he has seen from his runners so far.

 "We're not favored to win conference, but we'll give it a run," Phillips said.  "So far, I'm very pleased with how they've worked.  In-house competition will drive this team and determine how far we go."

Senior captain Paul Finnegan will lead the way, along with juniors Sam Levon, Matt Darcy, Lars Kahlman and Scott Shepard.  There are seven runners on every cross country team sent to the postseason meets, and Phillips said the final two spots are up for grabs.
"Right now, there are five guys pushing for the last two spots," Phillips stated, driving home the importance of in-house competition.

Boys cross country begins their season Sept. 2 at the Hinsdale South Invitational.

Despite having said "we're rebuilding from ground zero," boys soccer coach Franz Calixte has high expectations for this year's team.

"I always have high expectations and want to go down state," Calixte said.  "We've been very good the last couple years, but we've ended up not winning sectionals."

If the team gets that far, it will have to do it without the full defensive line and the top two goal scorers from last year's squad.  Still, there is a good deal of talent back this year.  Defender David Pelsoci and goalkeeper Brian Schlesinger are both 3-year varsity players and David Singham is a 2-year varsity starter.  Midfielders Jovenal D'Haiti, Thomas Kauffman, and Nat Keller also return, as do forward         Marco Corona and defender Michael Solomon, who saw some playing time with the varsity last year as a sophomore.

The boys soccer team opens Aug. 25, when they host Libertyville, which Calixte said "should be a Top 10 team in the state."

Girls swimming and diving coach Kevin Auger believes his team will be one of the Top 10 teams in the state and could finish ahead of New Trier in conference for the first time in years.

"We have a very deep team," said Auger, noting that of the 15 girls who competed at the conference meet last year, 11 are back. 

"A lot of our depth is in the junior and sophomore classes," he added.

Top swimmers this year include Jenny Kruse in the 50-yard freestyle, Sophie Borchers in the 100 butterfly, and Grace Borchers in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.  However, Auger said the team does not have the big star usually necessary to win the state meet, so he believes the girls' placement at state will come down to "a matter of tenths and hundredths of seconds."

Girls swimming and diving opens their season against the third-, fourth- and fifth- ranked teams in the state, respectively.  Beginning Aug. 31, the team hosts Loyola, takes on Lake Forest at home, and then visits Barrington.

First-year girls volleyball coach Pam MacPherson is very confident in her team's chances based on what she has seen from her players so far.

"I expect us to be incredibly competitive, and I expect us to win conference," MacPherson said.  "We had 21 girls try out, and of the players we cut, all of them would have started on the [Glenbrook South] teams I played on in high school, and we won conference every year.  I don't know if the caliber of players all around the conference has gone up [since then], or if Evanston just has a lot of talent."

The team does have talent, including Emma Folz, who MacPherson called "the quarterback of the team," and key contributors Emily Brenner and Sydney Clarke.  It also has a great deal of experience.  There are seven seniors, four who played varsity last year and three who are coming up from JV.  It is that combination of skill and senior leadership that has MacPherson looking forward to her first year at ETHS.

The girls begin their season Aug. 29 at Northside Prep.

Boys golf coach John Willson is realistic in his expectations for the team's placement in a conference with New Trier and Glenbrook South.

"We want to be one of the top four teams [in conference]," Willson said.  "New Trier is always one of the top teams in the state, and GBS will be very strong."

However, Willson has bigger ambitions for the team's performance at state, saying he wants all six members of the postseason team to make the state cut.  He believes this can happen because of the commitment his players have made in the off-season. 

"I've had more kids do what it takes to go far in the season [by playing] during the summer than ever before," the coach said.

Last year Jack Wadden and Wonjae Sung made the state cut.  Both are back for their senior year.  Returning varsity players James Strzalka and Sean Bostrom should round out the top four. In most meets, it is the four lowest scores that determine a team's overall finish.

Boys golf is the only fall sport where competition has already begun.  Last Tuesday, the boys finished sixth at the Prairie Ridge Invitational.  Strzalka shot an 80 for the team's lowest score. 

Girls golf coach Karilyn Joyce bases her expectations for the team's performance in conference on the fact that most are beginners.

Joyce has high hopes for junior Liz Fitzsimmons, whom she expects to make it to state. "She's been playing all summer and has been shooting in the high 80s and low 90s," Joyce said of Fitzsimmons.