lage 4
may
00
Kickin’
balls
emily warren
It’s time for NCSSM
Women’s soccer. The team
has been practicing since mid
February and now they are
ready to show the world what
they’re made of. The season
began on March 21 with a
game against Durham Acad
emy. The team has a hard sea
son ahead of them, but the
athletes are
looking forward
to a spring filled
with good com
petition.
“I’m
excited; I think
we have poten
tial and we’re
going to have
fun,” said team
captain Senior
Claire Logsdon.
Valerie
Daniel coaches
the team; it is
ner second year
as the head
coach of the
lady Unis. She
herself played
soccer
throughout
high school and
played on the
varsity team at
Boston College
for four years. She has found
that playing in a conference is
a big challenge, but she knows
that there is nowhere to go but
up.
The 16 girls on the
team had never played soccer
together before. The con
sensus is that the team is im
proving and will continue to
do so throughout the season.
“At first we did not
know how to play together,
but I think we’re learning to
co-operate and to function as
a team” said Junior Erin
Enstice.
The team has won
one game against conference
rival Cary Academy (4-2).
Daniel feels that the team will
be even stronger when it plays
the other conference teams for
the second time.
The team is lead by
co-captains Claire Logsdon
and Kimmy Jemigan. They
are the mental as well as physi
cal leaders of the team. Daniel
said she “has high expecta
tions of her seniors and hopies
that they will motivate them
selves and the juniors to strive
for success on the field.”
The Unis had their first
home game on March 28,
against St. Mary’s. Although
they held their opponents
scoreless for the entire first
half, the Saints managed to
defeat the Unis in the second
half. NCSSM’s Goalie, Jun
ior Nicole Peterson made
some wonderful saves.
As the season
Joy Loudermeit puts on her game Jace bejore
the home game against Cardinal Gibbons.
progresses, the team will put
what it learns from practice
into action during the games.
Every day after school at four
o’clock, the team begins to
warm up on the muddy ath
letic field. They practice un
til five thirty or six, and then
the muddy girls troop into
PFM.
Daniel is disap
pointed that she has already
lost some crucial players to
academics and injuries this
early in the season.
“It’s really fruitrat
ing to sit on the side line when
you know you could be on
the field, helping the team,
but all you can do is cheer.”
said Junior Nidhi Thapar who
pulled a muscle in her thigh.
As long as they can
field a team the soccer girls
will be out on the field kick
ing butt. Daniel said, “they
really play with heart, my
goal is to make all of them
share my excitement about
soccer.” Come out and watch
them play. It is an exciting
way to spend a beautiful
spring afternoon.
“Batter Up!”
katie watlington
Baseball season is in
full swing this year at NCSSM.
With a new conference and a
new assistant coach, the sea
son is looking very promising
for the Unis. Their first game
was March 2, but the team
had been practicing for much
longer than that.
“Practice consists
of batting practice, stealing
practice, and a lot of drills,”
said Junior Sean Grafton. Try
outs for the team began Feb
ruary 14, but pre-season
workouts had been going on
two and half months prior to
tryouts. The optional team
workouts were only a couple
of days a week and consisted
of weightlifting and throwing.
The regular season
does not end until the final
game May 6. The conference
playoffs begin May 9.
“I think we will make
it to states,” said Junior Mark
Baglia.
Hopes are very high
for the 14 team members and
two coaches this year.
“I think the team this
year is better than last years
team. We havb got a lot of
potential, and it is up to us to
realize it now,” said Senior Philip
Bosse. Bosse is captain of the
team this year, playing the posi
tion of pitcher and first base.
Phillip Bosse stands guard at firtst base against
at a home game against cardinal Gibbons.
“This year is one of the
stronger teams that have been
at Science and Math and 1 am
confident that this year will be a
great season for the Unis,” said
head coach, Mike Charlton.
This is Coach Charlton’s second
year coaching for NCSSM. He
has a lot of baseball experience, managers!
including playing at NC State.
In addition to Coach
Charlton, the team is coached
by assistant
coach Justin
Tye. This is his
first year coach
ing for the Unis
with his experi
ence coming
from years of
Little League
and high
school base
ball.
“Baseball is a
great game.
Unfortunately
it is losing
popularity
among today’s
youth. 1 am
happy to be a
part of keeping
the tradition
alive for our
students here at NCSSM. The
crowd matters, too. I hope to
see the stands full for all of
our games,” said Coach Tye.
Nothing gets a base
ball game going like a good
crowd, so come out and sup
port the team, coaches and
UNI’S:
Too quick to catch
amitaravapalli
The NCSSM track
team is starting to make winning
a habit. The season started off
in late February with wins from
Word of God and Trinity High
School. The team continues to
rack up victories; their most re
cent win is over Cary Academy.
Two experienced
coaches, Frank Davis aiid
Russell Blunt train the team.
Blunt used to coach Hillside and
the Durham Striders, and Davis
is currently with the Durham
Striders track club.
“I strongly believe that
our track coaches are the best
two coaches in the state,” said
Junior Ravi Agarval. Agarval
participates in shot put and the
discus event; he looks forward
to qualifying for states next year.
Members of the team
practice every weekday at Riv
erside High School from 4:00 till
6:00pm. Each of the athletes
tries to focus on their specific
event. Students participate in a
total of 18 events, including dis
cus, shot put, high jump, 3200
meter run, 400 meter run, and
many other events. The team’s
record is three wins and three
losses. Their toughest matches
were against the Durham School
of the Arts and Durham
Acadamy. They have two
meets left against Ravenscroft
and Cary Acadamy before the
Conference and States meets.
“The rising seniors
show a lot of potential. We have
a lot of people with talent who
could really do several events
competitively. It’s all about find
ing you niche,” said Junior
Michael Lam. The team antici
pates some of their players to
qualify for state and have the
potential to compete with the
best runners of the state.
“The only really big
problem that we’re having on
the team now is dedication, we
have nearly 60 people on the
roster, but hardly 20 show up
for practice” said Senior Justin
Mitchell. Students on the team
have a hard time balancing aca
demics as well keeping up with
track’s demanding regimen.
“We’d be able to
smoke the competition if every
one would just suck it up and
come out to the practices,” said
Junior Michael Lam.
NCSSM’s biggest
competition is Cardinal Gib
bons. Gibbons has a strong
long-distance team that will
match up well against the Uni
distance team. NCSSM track
team has not run against Gib
bons yet, but they will surely
meet in the conference tourna
ment. “We ran against them in
cross country, and they looked
really strong; I look forward to
the competition” said Senior
Justin McCollum.
The track team contin
ues to win victories. The only
thing missing is support from
the NCSSM community. We
need more people to represent
the NCSSM track team, so get
out there and cheer them on!