By: Rachel Frederick

As the school year starts up, fall sports have also come into action. Soccer, cross country, volleyball, and cheerleading are all in season and continuing to fight their way toward victory. Each sport starts their crash weeks before school begins, which is usually every athlete’s least favorite week of all sports. Although the week is painful for most, it does benefit each athlete and the team in the end.

Fall sports are a difficult time to push through, with missing school and the six-hour practices before the school year starts, but all teams learn to work through every possible obstacle that gets in the way. The Squire sat down and spoke with senior cross-country runner, Lindsay Finch, senior volleyball player Emiley Wheeler, and senior soccer player Caroline Smelko to see how each girl feels individually about her current seasons.

Cross country is the sport where there is no time for slacking. Every runner has to run to the best of their ability on each meet day, with no room for tripping, slipping, or bad days. When asked about who the Lady Knights’ toughest competition will be, Finch says, “For the girls it is definitely Seneca, since we are always so close in times.” The cross-country team faces some difficult competition, but they always make sure to run as hard as they know how.

The team has many returning runners that help them greatly, along with some new additions that will help get to that front line faster. Although they have some great strengths that benefit them, one major weakness is that they do not leave their comfort zone as often as preferred. Finch’s main expectations for the season consist of pushing it hard at practice and on meet days, along with improving times each time she goes out, since this is her last year. Their season so far is going well; in the region, they have a win under the belt and that is always something to celebrate. Along with this season going well, they have a few new members and upcoming freshman who are huge helps with continuing the great season the team is trying to build.

Soccer is a very competitive and physical sport, so players have to go out each game and play their absolute best. The Squire next asked Smelko about how the soccer season looks so far and she shared, “Our season is looking very promising. Right now, we are sitting with a 6-2-2 record, which is a great step in the direction we want to go.” The soccer team is hoping to beat Iroquois this year, due to them being their top region competitor and having difficulty in the past with them.

Smelko hopes to win their region this year, and strongly believes that especially with the team they have this year, it is achievable. When asked about their top strengths, Smelko states, “A big strength we have this year is the comradery amongst the team, it really helps us work together to move the ball up the field.” The only downfall on the team this year is that they do not come out and play hard at the start of the game, it takes a team a while to get into the momentum. The biggest change that Smelko thinks is most beneficial is the change of the defense from a diamond to a flat back, which she feels really helps push the team’s momentum forward.

Volleyball has been doing pretty well this season according to senior, Emiley Wheeler. Even through the injuries and ineligibles, they are always going out and playing their best. Wheeler explains that she “expects to go to playoffs and go through a couple rounds of it.” With these goals, hopefully the girls push themselves for every match in order to accomplish them.

The cheer team played a big role in all of the homecoming events such as the pep rally, spirit week, and the homecoming game. They worked on a dance to perform during the pep rally and before the kick off of the homecoming football game where they did amazing! They love cheering on the Knights and getting to enjoy this season with them, whether they win or lose.

Thank you, Lindsay, Caroline, and Emiley, for sitting down and expressing how you feel about the current seasons and sharing your teams’ goals. The Squire wishes the best of luck to all of these ladies and their teams. Hopefully everyone is able to make at least one game and support the Lady Knights! They put in all the time and effort to make sure on each game or meet day they have results in their best performances. The Squire is always so proud of the Knights, no matter what the outcome is, and cannot wait to see what amazing things each sport pulls off this year!