Athletics in Full Swing!

Though school may have started only a little over a month ago, sports at Grace are in full swing. We have a lot going on with our many sports teams, each team working hard in practice each week and playing competitively in games and matches. The current fall sports are soccer, volleyball, cross-country, and tennis. With the fall season coming to a close shortly, here’s a recap on how each team is doing at this point in the season.

Varsity Cross Country

The Varsity Cross Country team has been killing it this season! The team, coached by Coach Holmes, with 21 runners, trains and practices every day, running hard and preparing for races. The work is paying off, as the cross country runners have been improving so much, and beating their miles by the minutes. Some runners have even been placing in the Top 5 and Top 7 at meets! The team as a whole is getting close to catching Top 3 teams in the league, a huge accomplishment that the team is very proud of. Camille Segre-Lawrence ‘18, a member of the Cross-Country team since she was a freshman says about the season, “The season is going great! We’ve had a lot of changes this year, but it doesn’t seem to matter! The races are hard, but we work even harder.” The season is winding down but the team’s strategy for the last days of the season, Camille explains, is “to have positive vibes. When we have negative energy, you can see that in our running. Grace spirit = Great mile times!”

Varsity Girls Tennis

The Girls Varsity Tennis team has had a very productive season so far, currently with three wins and two losses. The tennis team, coached by Ms. Jackson, and consisting of 16 girls, is extremely dedicated, and they give it their all in every practice and match.  Not only is the team working well on the court, but off the court as well. Louise Starr ‘18 explains, “Being apart of the tennis team is a great way to get to know girls in other grades that otherwise I would not have the chance to talk to as much. We give advice on teachers to one another and help the freshmen on the team navigate starting a new school and what to expect.” The team has won some very tough matches, and lost some, but the support and spirit of the team has never wavered. The season is ending, but the team plans to play even harder. Louise says, “The team’s strategy for the last part of the season has been pretty offensive and we’ve been trying to win as many games as possible to make it to the playoffs. Ms. Jackson has taught us to never back down even when another team questions us during a match.”

Girls Varsity Soccer

The Girls Varsity soccer team has had an amazing season this year. Coached by Coach Mayra and Coach Robinson, the team has grown a lot of the beginning of the season to now, suffering some hard losses, but winning as well, while keeping spirit up. This is also the first season that the team had enough people throughout the entire season, and having a full team finally was a great experience. With only two games left in the season, Jane Platt ‘18 shares that, “the team is about having fun and we hope to finish the season strong.” In addition, she says, “we look forward to next year when the team will be even stronger.”

Boys Varsity Soccer

The Boys Varsity Soccer Team has had a very competitive season this year. Right now with four wins, six losses, and one tie, the team of 21 is looking to finish out the season strong. Led by Coach Carl, the team has been consistent. Jack Pickard ‘18 shares that the team has good some good wins, but sometimes “had difficulty with chemistry and struggled to finish games.” On Monday, the team has their last game, facing off against Avenues. This is a big game to finish the season with, as last year the team beat Avenues in the finals to win the Championship. Jack explains that the team’s strategy is to “play smart, play collected, and play to feet.”

JV Boys Soccer

The Boys Junior Varsity Soccer Team has had a great season, though it has been bit of a challenging one. Coached by Coach Case and Coach Ferny, the team, consisting of 19 boys, has been busy every week practicing after school and playing in games, but so far, they have fell just short of victory this season. Nathan McCarthy ‘19 said despite the fact they haven’t been winning games, the team has still been “working hard, and is aiming to work together more as one team.” The season is coming to a close this week with the last game coming up. Nathan explained that the team’s strategy is to “hold the defense together and play more as a team,” as believes that this game is “one they could win.”

Girls Varsity Volleyball

The Girls Varsity volleyball has had an impressive season this year, with three wins and three losses. Coached by Coach Ning and Coach Jay, the team of 16 girls has undergone some change this season. With the Class of 2016 graduating this year, it has impacted the team very much, as  5 of the starting players last year were seniors. Despite this, Gigi Diserio ‘18, explains that “it was a big change, but the team adapted very well.” The team has two games left to compete in, and their strategy, Gigi says, is to “work together as a team and communicate on the court.”

Girls Junior Varsity Volleyball

The Junior Girls Volleyball team has had a really good season this fall. Coached by Coach Chris and Coach Joy, the team of 14 girls, has had a solid season with two wins and six losses. Practicing every day has resulted in huge improvement of the team from the beginning of the season to now. Ava Grosso ‘20 shares, “It is not only nice learning a new sport, but it is fun meeting new people, especially as a freshman at a new school.” With three games left, Ava adds that the team’s main goal is to “communicate, and have more team spirit during games.”