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SEASON A decrease in sports participation numbers due to the opening of Liberty in 2017 has led to a rise in multisport athletes at West High.
BY CAROLINE CHANDLER & HANAH KITAMOTO
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t was the golden era of West High athletics. From 2010 to 2014, ‘Dynasty High’ won 19 state championships across 10 different sports, including seven in the 2011-2012 season alone. In 2015, the ICCSD voted to open a High School, forever changing the landscape of one of
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the state’s most accomplished athletic programs. After one high school turned into two, the impact on West was not entirely positive. “We have fewer students in the building, which means that we have fewer students to draw from,” said West High athletic director Craig Huegel. Declined student numbers in the classroom also affected numbers in the athletic fields. With less athletes on every team, the remaining athletes have to perform an increasing amount of tasks within the team. With the football team needing athletes for both offense and defense, many players find themselves doing both, where they used to specialize in one. On the other hand, having less enrollments can open doors for some athletes. “If there are fewer enrollments, there’s also more opportunities to participate on the varsity team,” said head swim coach Byron Butler. Along with being able to participate on a varsity team, the athletes will get more coaching from the head coaches, who could provide them with better feedback. Head boys track and field coach Travis Craig has noticed a difference between athletes who
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A KI D I S LI KE A SALAD —J UST ON E I NG R E DI E NT I S PLE NTY BLAN D. HOWEVE R , AS YOU ADD EACH I NG R E DI E NT, EACH E N HANCES TH E E NTI R E SALAD WITHOUT BE I NG E NTI R E LY BLE N DE D O R LOSI NG ITS I N DIVI DUAL VALU E .” -TR AVI S CR AIG, BOYS TR ACK AN D FI ELD COACH