It’s hard to believe that the spring sports season is really here, but the athletes are ready to go and waiting for the cold and snow to disappear. As we look back on the accomplishments of the 2017 season, Holy Family’s spring sports programs are looking to continue their streak of success. We sat down with each of the programs and asked them their hopes for the upcoming season.

BOYS GOLF: 

Led by senior co-captains Lincoln Cizek and Tyler Muschewske, boys golf is hopeful for the upcoming season. In 2015 the team placed third in the state tournament and in 2016 and 2017, the team achieved second place in the state tournament. The boys are thrilled to come out this season and work for number one. Cizek stated, “We are returning three guys and we have many guys that can fill the role of the three seniors we lost. We have high expectations and believe that we have the potential to win state.” Along with Cizek and Muschewske, there are a handful of other players that are ready to fill the open spots. Tyler addressed the team’s goals: “We should have a solid team this year. Hopefully, we can get some younger guys to step up and gain some experience before sections. I’m looking forward to a great year and hopefully finishing on top.”

GIRLS GOLF: 

The 2018 girls golf team is led by senior Madeline O’Brien and junior Mya Braun. Last year the team ended content with their performance at sections, but with many returners, they are excited to start working towards state. “We want to expand our program and improve our game this upcoming season. Additionally, we want to focus on developing our younger players due to the abundance of upperclassman on the team,” stated Madeline. The team has begun practice indoors, but can’t wait until they can begin playing on a real course.  

BOYS LACROSSE: 

This year, boys lacrosse team is led by Michael Furlong, Blake Muschewske, and Nikolai Charchenko.  The team’s goal is to demonstrate continuous improvement throughout the course of the 2018 season. The captains are proud to lead the team towards success this year and to continue developing the boys lacrosse program at HF. As Blake stated, “We are a young team with potential.” They are all excited to get on the field and start working. 

GIRLS LACROSSE: 

Captains Mary New, Molly Kalb, and Leigh Steiner are looking to improve upon last year’s immense success both on and off the field. Girls lacrosse is extremely diverse in a variety of aspects. The girls especially pride themselves on their offensive fire power with senior midielders Molly Garin (31 goals), senior midfielder Mary New (15 goals), senior midfielder Molly Kalb (19 goals), and junior midfielder Brielle Bornhorst (15 goals) helping contribute to the team’s output. Defensively, junior defenders Salome Greene, Anna Vakulskas, and goaltender Bella Dervin hope to build off previous year’s d-line success of stopping over 50 percent of incoming shots. “We’re excited for the season ahead of us and expecting success because of the strong group of experienced girls,” said Mary New. Additionally, Molly Kalb commented on her feelings about the season: “I’m really excited for the season to start it’s always a good time with a really fun group of girls and coaches. We have lots of talent this year and the potential to win some big games.” 

TRACK AND FIELD: 

Led by senior captains Emma Terris, Gracie Lund, Kevin Schepers and Joe Olsen, Holy Family’s track and field program is thrilled to lead the team this season through rigorous workouts in high hopes of getting a large number of athletes to the state meet. Last year the girls 4×100 meter relay received all–conference, and the girls 4×200 meter relay made it to state, placing fourth. Emily Willenbring qualified in the open 200 and long jump. “This season we have a lot of depth on the team. We have returners and we have a lot of underclassmen and new runners as well. Everyone is willing to try new events and within the sprints group, there are high expectations and aspirations. HF track has sent athletes to the state meet for 14 years and I have no doubt this year will be no different,” said Gracie Lund. 

BASEBALL: 

Captains Brady Richter and Chris Thedinga are very excited for the start of the baseball season and just returned from a very productive trip to Florida. Looking to follow last year’s impressive season, Richter sounds upbeat as he describes the current state of the team: “I think the general mood among the players and coaches is very positive right now. I think our main goal is to continue our success from last season and compete for state again. We are all looking forward to the weather getting warmer so we can get outside and actually get a feel for how we play together. It all starts during spring break down in Florida where we will get a good grasp on how good we can potentially be. We have a lot of young talent this year so it’s important that the returning players step up and lead the way. Overall, I think we are all looking forward to how this season plays out. It should be really interesting but if we all mesh well together on and off the field I think we will be pretty solid this year.” 

SOFTBALL: 

The weather hasn’t kept this team down, as the girls softball team have already started practicing together in the gym. “Our goal for the season is to give it our all every game and to have a good team dynamic. We have started practicing in the gym because of the weather, so our practices are limited. We have a lot of young players on the team, which brings excitement to practices. Overall, we are looking forward to a fun season together!” said captain Shea Thompson. Shea and co-captain Ellie Larson are looking forward to a fun and productive season. 

BOYS TENNIS: 

Following the loss of many of the strong tennis players of last year, one might think that the attitude of the boys team would be negative, but both captains John and Joe Simon are positive looking into the season. Joe Simon stated his hopes with a new set of incoming players: “This year, no one knows what to expect out of the tennis team. There are a lot of new members, including seniors, which makes the goal of the season to just win as many matches as possible, and as for the new tennis players, to have fun and get better at tennis. This year will be more relaxed than other years due to the number of new members to the team, more about having fun. As for practices and matches, the courts are covered in snow, so we will be practicing indoors this week and the first two matches have been canceled.” Coach TJ Garin is looking to find a perfect balance and lineup for the team. John Simon said, “The team is working hard right now to prepare for the matches early in the season, despite the challenges presented by the uncharacteristic spring weather. Our team will hopefully grow deeper as the season progresses and we are hoping to win as many matches as we can before going into sections.”

TRAP: 

As the trap season approaches, the team is hopeful about the season and looking to help individuals achieve their personal goals. Member Walter Treat stated, “Well, we want to shoot well and get more perfect 25s while we do so. Hopefully, we’ll do well at the Championship in Alexandria. Practice was supposed to start on Tuesday, April 3 but was cancelled by the snow day. Overall, our team is hopeful for the coming season. We’ll have a great season for sure.”

This week’s schedule (week of 4/16) can be found HERE.