Katherine Kelly, Managing Editor
Just as students are back in school and getting into the swing of things, sports are starting back up. The school offers six fall sports: football, fall cheer, boys tennis, volleyball, boys cross country and girls cross country.
The football team is off to a bumpy start, losing their first few games: 68-0, 55-7, 66-0 and 17-7. Even so, running back and defensive tackle sophomore Richard Rivas-Gutierrez has a positive outlook on the rest of the season.
“We got some new players that are eligible [to play this season], and they’re going to make a huge difference,” Rivas-Gutierrez said. “We are changing the defense a little bit as well, so that will help.”
Fall cheer has 25 participants and a new coach, chemistry and physics teacher Elizabeth Gleb. The squad’s captains are seniors Amelia Wilke and Presley Roggenbuck.
“Coach Gleb has been so organized, proactive, and interested in our team,” Wilke said. “She’s really dedicated to bettering the cheer program as a whole. It’s been really great to see how much the team has progressed because of this, even in just two months.”
The girls soccer team is currently ranked third out of five teams in the Nisqually League overall standings (which includes points from non-league play). At this point in the season, they have six wins, four losses and one tie, including non-league play. In official league play they have two wins and three losses. With 15 girls this year, compared to the roughly 20 from last year, the team is down in numbers. Despite this, the girls are hoping to recreate last year’s success this season.
“We have a super strong defense this year, even though we lost eight seniors last year,” junior Anna Riggs said. “We have a lot of talent up front, and a super solid defense line in the back.”
“We have super supportive captains,” Riggs said. “[They are] Lizzy Sutherland, Emme Osborne, Dalia Aladin and Paris Crispin.”
Sutherland, Osborne and Crispin are all seniors, while Aladin is a junior.
Volleyball is off to a solid start, winning a tournament on Sep. 16 in Ocean Shores. In the overall standings, the team has five wins under their belt, with three losses. In conference games, the team has one win and one loss. The volleyball team has 18 players, 10 on varsity and 8 on junior varsity.
Boys tennis is also off to a smooth start, with two wins and one loss in the conference and three wins and one loss overall so far this season. The team is currently ranked second out of five teams in Nisqually League.
There have been six cross country meets so far, on September 12, 19, 30, respectively. In the first meet, the boys pulled out with the second place title. The girls team has not had enough runners to count for points during meets, making them inactive score-wise.
Boys and girls cross country have both been dwindling in numbers. The girls cross country team has only six runners. Even worse, they have struggled with injuries so far this season, further cutting down on the number of participants they can bring to meets. The leading girl for time is freshman Ella Yarkin, followed by junior Lucy Boyle. Yarkin broke 22 minutes on her most recent 5,000 meter event.
The boys cross country team is quite strong this year, with senior Gianno Waller leading the team in times, followed closely by sophomore Cole Parks. Waller broke 19 minutes on his most recent 5,000 meter event on September 19.