24
nov. 9, 2016
tribal sports
Tumbling towards state
The varsity girls’ tennis team has a load of achievements under its rackets. The team finished its season with a record of 18-3, along with a Region 7-AAAA championship. The team’s top player and last year’s Lowcountry Player of the Year, junior Lily Conant, had high expectations going into playoffs this year. “We approached the game being confident. We felt pumped up. I feel like we had a real chance [to win],” Conant said. On Nov. 2, the team walked onto the court for the third round of playoffs after winning the first two rounds easily.. But the team lost the playoff match to Dutch Fork, 4-2, ending its chance to repeat as state champions. “I think we were prepared, just a little bit slow at the start. We just got beat by a better team. That’s what it pulled down to,” tennis Coach Eric Praedel said. “They [the team members] were disappointed, and rightfully so. We had the expectation of trying to go back to state. So, they were disappointed, but I think, overall they were satisfied with the way they played.” Not advancing to State was disappointing to Conant, but she remains optimistic for her senior year. “We were just all glad that we got as far as we did. We’ll approach next year with a lot of confidence because we have a real chance,” she said. Praedel agrees. “I think we’re going to have a really good team coming back next year,” Praedel said. “Hopefully, we’ll make a really deep run into the playoffs and make it back to the state championship.” --Paige Mistler
Claudia Ottinger // photo
Girls tennis falls short
The cheerleading team practices for two hours a day, four days a week. Their goal is to win State. They will be competing at Lowerstate on Nov. 12.
Cheer team hopes to advance to state Courtney Asbill staff writer From their place on the edge of the trimmed field, the Wando cheer team stands with the entire school into the fifth overtime of their last home game. “It was so exciting to be [representing] a school that has so much school spirit. It was insane, people were jumping from the Chop House onto the field,” senior co-captain Brandi Sanichar said. “Because I cheer on the sidelines, it made me so proud to be part of this school.” School and competitive cheer is not simply an outlet to exhibit school spirit, according to senior Brianna Cox. “Cheerleaders have strength, endurance,
flexibility and agility,” she said. “They are tough and have the resilience to keep going even through difficult situations.” This year, Wando cheer makes its way into qualifying at Lowerstate on Nov. 12. The stunts are bigger, the moves sharper, the competition tougher, but Head Coach Tyler Ann Smith is optimistic. “All of our stunts are a lot harder this year. We are a lot cleaner, and we have a lot of people who have come back so they know what to expect,” Smith said. The team has taken home first place in two competitions already and has placed well in several others. These cheerleaders train and practice for years to accomplish high level tumbling and stunting skills such as back handsprings, back tucks, fulls and basket tosses. “We practice eight hours a week, have a competition every weekend in the fall, and cheer at every home and away football and basketball game,” senior Mattie Garner said. “That’s six out
of seven days a week dedicated to cheer, so I’d say cheerleaders fit the definition of an athlete.” So while these athletes spend as much time working as with any other sport, it can be discouraging to cheerleaders when others look at them with skewed perceptions, according to senior captain Mackenzie Johnson. “The most annoying thing is when people label cheerleaders as ditzy and obnoxious because that is how they are shown in movies” she said. “We work really hard. The athletic ability needed in the sport of cheerleading today is much greater than it’s ever been.” This year holds the potential for the Wando Cheer Team to advance from Lower State to State, where, hopefully, they can place, which is the end goal for the team. “Skill-wise we are better than we ever have been before,” Smith said. “It kind of makes you stand up when almost the entire team can do a standing back tuck. That has never happened in Wando history before.”
Faces on the field
Cale Lewis
Lily Heinhold
Patrick Spychalski
Payton Engelking
Junior David Cale Lewis, quarterback for the varsity football team, won Moultrie News Player of the Week. “We’re in a region with some other good teams, some other private schools that have good records, and to be chosen out of the other guys that were nominated is pretty cool,” Lewis said.
Sophomore Lily Heinold was the top finisher at the Lowerstate meet for girls’ varsity cross country. “It was really exciting and I practiced really hard to get ready, but I was nervous from all the pressure. I was really happy about winning,” she said.
Junior Patrick Spychalski was the top finisher at the Lowerstate meet for boys’ varsity cross country. “I felt really good about it, I trained really hard after my injury and I was really happy that I won,” he said.
Senior Payton Engelking is a center and senior captain for the varsity football team. He was chosen for the North-South All-Star Football Game on Dec. 10 in Myrtle Beach. “It was pretty sweet, it was such an honor and it is going to be a rewarding experience,” he said.