As the snow starts to melt and the sun starts to peek through the clouds above our school, the springtime athletes have been putting in their hard work to have an amazing season.

Every spring season our school has seven sports that students are able to compete in. These include track, baseball, girls and boys lacrosse, boys tennis, girls soccer, and badminton. All these sports have a wide variety of skill sets and training routines but all have one thing in common, our warrior spirit. Many athletes have been saying they have big goals in mind as well as being excited for their 2024 seasons.

“I’ve been getting in the weight room,” said baseball player Jackson Hatfield. “I’ve also been going to my facility and hitting every day as well as going to all the McHenry stuff after school.”

With baseball players getting excited about their first season on their new field, girls soccer are taking the time to welcome back an old teammate. Junior Emily Taylor explains how she has been getting back onto the field.

“I just got off of a knee injury with my ACL,” said Taylor. “It’s been a lot of getting ready to go back mentally and physically. I’m excited to do the workouts and going back to practice. I was off for the whole club duration for winter so I’m eager.”

Sophomore Ava Micklinghoff talks about how the team has been preparing for this season.

“We have been preparing this upcoming season by going to school lifting with Coach Beerbower,” said Micklinghoff. “Before we go there we will typically run or do ball work in the hallways. Along with open gyms once a week.”

Girls and boys track brought home first place and second place on Friday, many athletes said that they were very excited to be competing so early. Even though the seasons started, trying new things is always encouraged.

“Something I’m looking forward to this season is by trying long jump,” said sophomore Mackenzie Grieve. “Which is very new to me, and seeing how I can improve throughout the season with this new event will be exciting.”

On the other side of the track team we have the boys that also killed it at their first indoor meet last Friday. Junior Caleb Caldwell talks about how he prepared it.

“I’ve been preparing by eating healthy, staying active and working out,” said Caldwell. “I’m going to train extra hard and I intend on going to every meet and every practice and put 110% of my effort into it.”

Boys tennis is also coming up soon so grab your rackets and head onto the courts. Coach Kyle Funkhouser talks about his plans for this season.

“A lot of the guys don’t start until they’re in high school,“ said Funkhouser. “Unlike basketball and baseball where the guys have been playing their whole lives. We spend a lot of our time learning the basics first. We’ve got two very solid players coming back, elite players, so I’m excited to see what they can do. We got a lot of young sophomores too, looking to see their growth from last year.”

We wish all of the spring athletes an amazing season this year. Keep working hard, remember that it pays off. Make sure to go support the warriors at any of our springtime games.