the stentorian | ncssm
december 2005
Swim team to emphasize conditioning, sportsmanship
T he winter sport of swim
ming will be coached by
Chris Lemming and as
sistant coach Darcie Smith with
a heavy emphasis on sports
manship. Amanda Sadler said
that swimming is one of the
“best team building sports.”
A variety of events will be
featured on the swim team,
including freestyle and back-
stroke, archaically called the
crawl and back crawl. The
longest individual race will be a
graehng five himdred yard free
style. The longest relay race is
the four hundred yard freestyle
relay, in which each person
swims one hundred yards. The
shortest race is the fifty yard
freestyle, which is one lap down
and back in swim terms.
As Coach Lemming com
mented on the most popular
events, “the shortest is not
always the most exciting.”
Typically, relays in which the
times are very close evoke the
largest response from the other
swimmers.
At practice, there may be
as many as eight people in one
lane, as a place to swim includes
Time-Premium in Durham. The
pool that the team typically
practices at, Edison Johnson,
is within biking distance of
NCSSM. Workouts for swim
teams often occur in the morn
ing in order for other teams to
have time to work out.
Workouts are different for
every person. They are based
on the physical skills of each
person: stroke and the tech
nique, the length of the event,
endurance or sprinting require
ments for the event, breathing
pattern and ability, and finally
their skill level.
For the coaches, workouts are
all about variety. Coach Lem
ming said that the team “does
not repeat the same workout
twice in one season.” By mak
ing each practice different,
monotony is avoided and the
athletes have more fun.
In one practice, the swim
mers can go from two thousaixl
to over four thousand yards in
the time they have to exercise at
the complex. The sport is very'
physically demanding, result
ing in an entire-body workout.
Sprinters swim less yards in
shorter time intervals, while
long distance swimmers swim
longer sets.
After many laps in the pool.
Two Juniors Named All-
Conference for Soccer
BY TaMTF WtNST OW
T WO of NCSSM’s varsity
soccer players have been
named All-Conference
players for the Independent
3A Conference Area. They
were Steven Schlaefer and
Adam Askren, both juniors.
Schlaefer wore number 8
and played offense. One of
the center midfielders for the
team, he has played soccer for
a junior. Askren wore number
7 jersey and played both offen
sive and defensive positions.
When defending our goal he
was either sweeper or stopper,
and when trying to score against
the opposition, he also played
center midfielder, like Schlae
fer. Askren is from Clayton,
NC and has played soccer for
eleven years. This year, he
scored one goal for Science
and Math. He said. “1 really
enjoyed playing soccer because
it was not only fun, but was
also a good break from class.”
Steven Schlaefer
9 years and came to NCSSM
from West Carteret High School
in Atlantic Beach, North Caro
lina. As an offensive player,
he had several assists on goals,
and contributed to the overall
success ofthis year’s team. He
enjoyed the season, and thought
that it was made more success
ful because of the members of
his team. He also said, “1 feel
confident we will go far in the
state tournament next year.”
The other member of the
NCSSM soccer team that was
also deemed anAll-Conference
Player was Adam Askren, also
Adam Askren
The soccer team was 6-7-1
overall this year in their con
ference, with several games
going into overtime and one
into double overtime. There
were nine juniors on the team,
and eleven seniors. They were
coached by Henry Gallagher
Congratulations to Schlaefer,
Askren, and the rest of the 2005
NCSSM Varsity Soccer Team
for their soccer achievements.
swimmers travel to meets where
they can test their abilities
against other schools such as
Cary Academy, Ravenscroft,
and Durham School of the Arts.
Most of the meets this year will
be at Cary.
Meets take place at “schools
with pools,” as the saying goes.
Sirxie the water is located in a
relatively small, enclosed space,
frequent echoes of cheers make
the meets very noisy and ear-
sphtting.
Last year, cheers empted
as Heather Mohorn, a grand
senior, set the school record for
the one hundred meter freestyle.
The two hundred meter free
style relay team also broke the
school record. This year, there
are many prospective athletes
who are hopefuls to succeed
this season, including Amanda
Sadler and Molly Jones, who
were on the winning two hun
dred yard relay team last year,
and Mike Woods. Mike is pur
ported to have said “I told ya”
at a meet last season, in which
he swept away the competition
in the two hundred meter breast
stroke.
The head coach, Chris Lem
ming, fias been .swimming since
age six. In addition to being
on the swim team, he was a
lifeguard at age sixteen and has
taught private lessons. Before
coming to NCSSM, he served
as an assistant coach for five
years, helping with the New
Wave Club, and as a head coach
for a high school prep group. By
coaching both small and large
groups. Coach Lemming has the
experience to lead a successful
NCSSM team.
Darcie Smith, the assistant
coach, also grew up in the water.
She attended Science and Math
and swam both years while she
was here. She continued her
career in college for four years.
She began to coach the swim
team nine years ago, starting
as the head coach for seven
years, and working as the as
sistant coach for the last couple
of years.
Ultimate strategy huddle at halftime in 20-19 win against Jordan High School
Ultimate team wins first two
N cssm has a new fad
at its fingertips—Ulti
mate Frisbee. One of
the byproducts of this fad has
been the emerging powerhouse
in the Ultimate Frisbee Team.
The team, sponsored by Mike
Fliss, is reemerging under the
captainship of Wendell Wilson
as a local powerhouse in the
Ultimate scene. With its vic
tories over Jordan High School
(20-19) and Durham School of
the Arts (10-9), the team has
certainly established a strong
reputatioa
The team had to work very
hard to achieve this dominance.
Says Team Captain Wendell,
“Most of the team members
were complete nOObs when we
started. We’ve had to train long
and hard in order to achieve
this level of competition.” The
team has high hopes: we hope to
reach the Eastern High School
Championship, the highest
caliber tournament available to
high school teams. Through bu
reaucratic obstacles, of course,
the team might just have to
settle on hopes of dominating
the Terminus Tournament in
March, the premier tournament
in the Soutteast.
“We’ve got hard-core play
ers on the team,” says handler
Matt Ball. “We play in all sorts
of weather: hot and humid, cold
and rainy, mild and simny; I per
sonally prefer cold and rainy—it
adds mud to the game. I hope to
get snow one day—we’d surely
be out there.” This all-weather
policy allows the team to get the
maximum playing time. It must
fight the encroaching early sun
set, limiting afternoon practices
to an hour. “We play at every
opportunity we get,” explains
the Captain.
Practices can be very gru
eling—the cafeteria workers
always recognize the end of
Frisbee practice when a group
of tired, sweaty, and muddy
teenagers trod in, always com
plete with the black team Adi
das bag. Some team members
even wear cleats inside. After
practice, even PFM food tastes
good.
“Ultimate can be a very tiring
sport. I do it for the exercise;
in fact, it’s my only form of ex
ercise,” confesses senior Benji
Reinhardt. “When I don’t go,
not only do I not get my exer
cise, but I also feel very guilty.”
Ultimate Frisbee, quite frankly,
is very addicting.
Testament to this can be seen
with the large number of people
playing Frisbee around canqrus.
From early morning to lunch to
after-school to dinner to study
hour to happy half, one is sure to
find people tossing the ubiqui
tous disc. But why is this sport
catching on so quickly?
Captain Wilson attributes it
to the elegance and simplicity
of the sport. “It’s very easy
to learn and start, but there’s
an art to it—a finesse and skill
that takes years to develop. I’ve
played forever, and still have
plenty on which to improve.
And it’s so easy to get a game
going. All you need is some
empty space, disc, and a bunch
of people.”
The team has plenty of room
for improvement. And it’s
still looking for more people.
“We’ve dwindled down to a
very hard core of around six
players, and we’d love to have
more people!” So to all you
disc-throwers, try and go to a
practice! Pick-up games, which
are more friendly and open,
are held Monday, Wednes
day, and Friday at 4:30 on the
IM Field. More competitive
training sessions are held on
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday,
and Surxiay.
Check out the NCSSM
Ultimate website (http://nev-
erland.ncssm.edu/ultimate) for
more information about the
team philosophy, practices,
and schedule. Ultimate is also
a fun and interesting game to
watch—so go out and support
your very own Ultimate Team
during games,— times will be
posted duly on Ataglance.
And for those who’d like to
improve your skills, Wendell
has one time-old adage: Prac
tice, practice, practice.