Spring sports are in full swing with a total of eight teams in season, making spring the largest and buisiest season for high school athletics. The teams include, baseball, boy’s swimming and diving, boy’s lacrosse, girl’s golf, girl’s lacrosse, girl’s soccer, girl’s tennis, and track and field. With unpredictable weather and a training room filled with athletes in need of tending, our Kadets have braced the elements of all sorts to produce impressive results thus far in their leagues.

The boy’s baseball team which heavily consists of eight seniors, is currently second in their league and in the top ten within the state. As regular league play is near its end, the team continues to practice with intensity in hopes of making a state run. According to senior, Ryan McCarthy, “Our biggest strength is our chemistry for sure, many of us have been playing together for years.” McCarthy who will be playing Division One Baseball at Santa Clara University next fall, continued saying, “Right now we are just trying to win every game in hopes of doing well in playoffs.” The biggest competition for the Kadets will be Lewis Palmer, a closely matched rival. Best of luck to the boys baseball team as the finish the remainder of their season and advance into playoffs!

The three-time consecutive state championship boy’s swimming and diving team takes on yet another year in hopes of winning a fourth state title. The team is also, heavily senior concentrated, working in the favor of the entire team as the senior want nothing more than to finish their last season with a trophy. Many of the swimmers have already received qualifying times for state, senior, Miles Coker adds, “Since a lot of us already have our times for state we are continuing to train and keep in the best shape possible so at state we can go all or nothing.” Additional senior Alan Kim comments, “We’re also working on fixing the small things so we can do well at state especially against teams like Cheyenne Mountain.” The boys continued to explain that Cheyenne Mountain is one of their biggest competitors, as they recently lossed in a close meet against Cheyenne and are now in second place in their league. Other than state, a few of the boys are looking to break national records; specifically, one of the relay teams including, Jack Dangremond, Hunter Doerr, Tommy Baker, and Caleb Hicks, are currently sitting at eighth in the nation for their relay time, but the boys are striving to break the record. With hopes for a fourth state swimming and diving title and a possible national record, the team is representing their school well and making us proud without a doubt!

The boy’s lacrosse team takes on their season facing a bit of adversity thus far. The team is still trying to find the right chemistry, while facing injuries, but has earned some successful results despite the challenges they’ve encountered. As the boys prepare for playoffs, senior, Ben Self, notes, “We really need to practice and focus on our defense, we’re really strong in our attack, but we need more support on the defensive end. We also need to make sure we play every quarter with full intensity, instead of playing three out of the four well. When we play our game we do well!” The boy’s who recently lossed a devastating 17-3 with a new goalie, and an injured key player, Jake Thornally, are ready to make a comeback and excel in playoffs. Good luck to the team and the road ahead of them!

The girl’s golf team is even stronger this year after receiving transfer, Sammie Weber, from rival school, Cheyenne Mountain. While attending Cheyenne, Sammie won two back-to-back 4A state girl’s golf titles. Now the senior leads the golf team, with another strong talent, Kelsey McKenna. The dynamic duo, along with the rest of the talented, determined team are practicing hard to do well at state. Best of luck to the girls as they finish out their season!

After winning the 4A girl’s lacrosse state championship just last year, the girls are fighting hard to earn positive results. With a new coach and a group of fresh, young players the team is adjusting to the changes the best they can. Senior captain, Maddy Jahelka, notes, “Team chemistry is something we need to work on a little more, we’re still getting to know each other better, but there is a lot of talent within the team.” As the team finishes out their season with a huge win against Chaparral and a close loss against major rival, Cherry Creek.

The girl’s soccer team is also making adjustments this season with a new coach, new team chemistry, and various injuries they’ve faced. Last year head coach, Nancy Sibley, resigned after coaching with the program for sixteen years and eleven years as head coach. Nancy, herself, was a Kadet and played for the 1993 girl’s soccer team that one a state title, and directed the program to the 2012 4A state title. She left the program is incredibly good hands, with the current boy’s head coach, girl’s junior varsity coach, and the Gazette’s 2014 Boy’s Soccer Coach of the Year recepient, Espen Hosoien. The girl’s varsity team endured a difficult this year as the heavily concentrated senior class suffered a loss of eight players unable to participate in the season due to injuries and other committments. This challenge resulted in a fairly young roster with little upperclassmen leadership, given these difficulties the team has done remarkably well. Senior, Lindsey Grandy, says, “Our defense is very strong, if we could just score more we could be a better contender.” Nonetheless, the girls have come a long way in such a short amount of time.

The girl’s tennis team embarks on their season with strong aspirations for notable finishes in league and state. The team finished with eleven wins and one loss during regular season and continues to put in the extra efforts in prepartation for the matches ahead. Senior, Lauren Agee, says, “Our biggest strengths are consistency and teammwork, even though tennis is generally an individual or partner sport, it’s important to support your team members.” The team’s only loss during league matches was against, Cheyenne Mountain, and they are looking to do well at state.

The track and field team, large in size and events, is finishing out their season while trying to qualify for state to better represent their school. Senior sprinter, Alex Davidson, comments, “Preparing for state we’re working hard on our relay teams, keeping a steady workout regime, working on qualifying our times, jumps, throwns, and ultimately, avoiding injuires.” With competition against strong and successful programs like Palmer Ridge and Pine Creek, the track and field team is staying focused to both qualify and perform successfully at state. Senior discus and shotput thrower, Nikol Podlacha, adds, “We’re dedicated on trying to improve as much as possible so we can place in the finals, earn new personal records, and do well at state. Working and refining our technique is an area of improvement.” There is a considerable amount of talent within the program to hopefully, propel the athletes far during state.

As the spring season comes to a close, we would like to wish all of our marvelous athletes good luck in the remainder of their season and journies to state!