Winter Sports Preview

By Paul Harris-Hertel

Despite last week's unseasonably warm weather, practices for high school winter sports have begun. With the new season just around the corner, the RoundTable takes a look at the winter sports teams.

Girls Basketball

Girls basketball head coach Steve Wool said that even though his team has a lot of first-time varsity players, it should not be taken lightly.

"We're a very young team," said Wool. "This is the first time we've moved up a freshman in my six years here, and we've also got two sophomores who will play big roles."

With such a young team, Wool believes the leadership of his seniors will play a huge role in determining the success of the squad this year.

"Kelly Byrdsong, Candice Belcher, and Anna Johnson have shown great leadership and have made my job a lot easier," Wool explained.

Junior power forward Kim Davis is the only returning starter from last year's 23-7 team that finished third in the conference and advanced to the sectionals. Wool predicted a bright future for Davis "if she continues to work hard."

The team's youth will not be the only obstacle it has to overcome. The Kits also lack the size of some of the area's top teams.

"We're very small, [so] it's going to be difficult to defend bigger teams," said Wool. "We'll have to use our quickness and our smarts to overcome that."

Wool added that he has been encouraged by the girls' work ethic and chemistry in the first week of practice. And while he would not predict where his team would finish in conference, he said that most teams in the area, with the exception of New Trier, are evenly matched.

"New Trier will be tough," said Wool. "[But] if New Trier stumbles, the rest of the teams in the area could have a shot."

Boys Basketball

The boys basketball team looks to improve over last season, when they finished in a tie for second in the conference. Head coach Bobby Locke believes his team is poised to make a big leap forward in his second year at the helm.

"I'm very optimistic about our potential," Locke said. "The kids are starting to buy into what I have to offer. The comfort level is there. The kids believe in me, and I believe in them."

Ten players return from last year's squad, so the Kits should be very deep. The team has both length and size, with several players from 6'3" to 6'5". Locke has emphasized versatility, saying he wants players to be able to play two or even three different positions.

While the team has a talented junior class, Locke expects his seniors to determine the Kits' success this year. Among those seniors is point guard Deon Thompson, who will be the team's floor leader.

"[Thompson] emerged this summer as a team leader," said Locke. "He's a great student, a great kid, and he's well-respected by all his teammates."

Other top seniors include 6'5" forward Eric Hilbring, whom his coach described as "very strong, a good shooter, and good in the post," and 6'4" swingman Dvrce Brown.

"Dvrce is very athletic and an unbelievable scorer," Locke said. "He worked very hard to improve in the offseason."

Locke added that 6'3" senior Dipanjot Singh will help the team with his shooting ability and willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team win.

The boys open their season on Nov. 20 in the Lane Tech Thanksgiving Tournament, where they will start by taking on the host team.

Boys Swimming

The boys swimming team will be "rebuilding a little bit," says head coach Kevin Auger.

"We've lost some really good seniors the last couple of years," Auger admitted. "But I think we're going to have some good individual performers at the state level. We're looking to get six guys qualified for state."

One of those qualifiers could be senior Ben Terry, whose best events are the 200- and 500-yard freestyle, though Auger mentioned Terry is also strong in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.

Other top swimmers include senior breaststrokers Tommy Grossinger and Ben Vogel, who were both state qualifiers last year, and junior Ben McBratney, whose versatility could have him race in any number of events.

The conference will be tough this year, Auger said, as New Trier is favored to win state and Glenbrook South is ranked third.

Therefore, he figures Evanston probably will repeat its third-place conference finish of last season. Auger predicted his team would have a performance at the state meet similar to last year's group, which placed 16th.

The boys open their season on Dec. 1 at Fenwick. Auger expects that match "to be tough. Fenwick was third in the state last year and they're returning everybody."

Gymnastics

Normally, girls gymnastics head coach Chester Jones does not have to cut anybody. But so many girls came out for the team this year that he had no choice.

"It broke my heart to have to make cuts, but we don't have room for 35 girls on the team," said Jones.

As it stands, the team has 28 gymnasts, the majority of them newcomers. Jones hopes the infusion of new blood can help the team improve on last year's third-place conference finish.

"We just got through preseason conditioning, and they all got through that pretty good," Jones said optimistically.

Despite all the new team members, Jones will turn to some familiar faces at the top of his lineup. Senior sisters Emma and Naomi Katz will "be my powerhouses," Jones stated.

The coach added that junior Claire Hopcock, who competed in some varsity meets last year, will also be a top all-around gymnast. That leaves the team one gymnast short of the four it needs to field an all-around varsity squad for each meet.

"We're desperately looking for that last one," said Jones.

The girls gymnastics team opens its season Nov. 28 at home against Niles North.

Wrestling

Senior Angel Sierra, right, and opponant wrestle at practice.

The wrestling team has finished in the top three in conference the last two years, but head coach Rudy Salinas said the team is "shooting for the top" this year.

"I expect us to do very well in conference," said Salinas. "New Trier and Maine South are in our way, but you've got to beat the best to be the best."

Seven wrestlers return from the team that finished second to New Trier by two points at the regionals last year. Leading the way will be two-time All-Conference senior Angel Sierra, who will wrestle at 103 pounds. Fellow senior Kyle Coulter finished fourth at last year's regionals and will wrestle at either 112 or 119 pounds, and senior Gerard Harris, third at the regionals last year, will wrestle in the 130-pound weight class. The depth behind those three senior captains gives Salinas reason to be hopeful.

"We've got a good junior crew that has been wrestling for a year," Salinas said. "Last year, I think you could have said we were weaker at some positions, but this year we should be strong from top to bottom."

The wrestling team begins its season at home on Nov. 22, when they will take on Lane Tech and Gordon Tech. Salinas called the meet "a good early test," especially because Lane has 11 returning wrestlers from a team that won its regional. Salinas, however, is looking forward to the season opener for another reason.

"I was the coach at Lane until 2000," he explained. "The coaching staff there [is made up of] my former wrestlers, so I know that team will be well-coached."

Sports photos by Claire Bryant

Girls Volleyball Falls One Win Short of Going Downstate

By Paul Harris-Hertel

The ETHS girls volleyball team huddles at last Monday's supersectional match against New Trier.

The Evanston Township High School girls volleyball team pushed New Trier to a deciding third game before losing in last Monday's supersectional, as the Trevians won 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 before a rowdy, vocal crowd in Evanston.

Despite their rivals' getting the spot in the state quarterfinals the Kits badly wanted, Evanston gave their neighbors to the north a better fight than they did during the regular season match, which New Trier won in two games. Wildkit head coach Pam MacPherson believed the earlier meeting helped her team, and added that the Kits' reserves came up big in the rivals' second match and almost gave Evanston the win.

"We'd seen them before, and we knew what they were doing," MacPherson said. "We had some girls come off the bench tonight and step up, and it would have been our game if we'd had our big hitters in [at the end].

"Emma Folz came out and gave great leadership tonight," MacPherson continued. "And Adrienne Wuellner was where she needed to be defensively all night."

When the match first got underway, there was no indication it would end up as closely contested as it did. New Trier scored the first five points and led the first game 21-12 before MacPherson called timeout. Evanston's Sydney Clark responded with an ace, drawing a loud cheer from the home crowd, but their joy was short-lived as the Trevians held on for the first-game victory.

The tables were turned in the second game, as the Wildkits jumped out to a 16-9 lead, winning several points behind strong serving from Clark, Elora Ditton and Jane Handel. The Trevians fought back, cutting Evanston's lead to four before finally succumbing.

Unlike in the first two games, neither team took control early in the rubber game, which featured five lead changes and 14 ties. When New Trier took a 22-19 lead into a timeout late in the match, it represented their largest lead of the final frame to that point. Although Evanston scored twice out of the timeout to cut the Trevians lead to one, New Trier held the Kits off with three straight points that catapulted the visitors into the state quarterfinals.

Folz had 24 assists for Evanston, while Clark and Handel tied for the team lead with nine kills apiece. Emily Brenner led the Kits with six blocks.

Although clearly stung by the tough loss, MacPherson reflected on her first year at ETHS and said she was very pleased with the growth and commitment the team showed throughout the season.

"This was a year of progression, and everyone improved," MacPherson said. "They came to practice ready to work every day. If you would have seen us at the beginning of the year, you would never have thought we'd be playing to go downstate.

"We lacked focus and energy early in the year," she admitted. "But as you can see from that last game, they put their hearts out there, and that's all you can ask of them."

Photo by Paul Harris-Hertel

Team Evanston Boys U11 - Blue Scores

The Team Evanston boy's U-11 Blue soccer team fell 1-4 to the McHenry Vipers in recent play. Joe Carr scored the single goal.

The goalies were Eric Remington, Sam Spiwak, Saves: Remington 5; Spiwak 5. The current record is 6-1-1.