Women’s basketball season starts with success

The varsity women’s basketball team has started the season with a record of 3-0 as of Dec. 4.

As a young team, consisting of six sophomores and one freshman, the team has to rely on the upperclassmen for leadership and guidance.

“I’m expecting great things for this season. Our team did not really gel last year because we were weak in many areas. This year should be better because we have top notch leadership and great chemistry,” sophomore guard and captain Savannah Simmons said.

Simmons looks to improve as an effective leader and help her team have a better season. Simmons’ father, Craig Simmons, is the women’s varsity basketball team’s head coach.

“We are young this year, with 7 players being underclassmen, but the two captains [sophomore] Savannah [Simmons] and [senior] Mikenzhie [Smith] are going to have to be great leaders and carry the inexperienced players,” Craig Simmons said.

Senior guard Mikenzhie Smith wants to grow as a leader this season. “I want to be a good leader and help build chemistry with teammates,” Smith said.

According to Craig Simmons, “a player this season who has improved is sophomore guard Cassidy Kupchinskas. She has stepped up her game from last year improving on both her ball handling and her shot.”

The season is still just starting, and there are still more than 20 games left in the season.

“This season is looking really good for us as we are packed with talent and have a whole new system. The leadership we have is terrific and will hopefully lead us to another championship,” Savannah Simmons said.

Mike Moxley is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com. 

Women’s indoor track prepares for season

The women’s indoor track season has just begun, but the team has high expectations for the season. According to head coach Robert Torres, the team usually finishes in fourth or fifth place in the IAAM, and he expects the team to live up to those expectations again this year.

Maryvale is the team to beat this year, even though McDonough won the conference championship last year.

“We have a pretty good team, we have really good distance runners, [junior] Adria [Pirozzi] and [sophomore] Rosemary [Gillam] are super fast, and we have two of the best hurdlers in the league [seniors Kristen Isoldi and Holly Driver]. Charlotte Haggerty is super fast as well,” Torres said.

The team has a handful of runners returning this year. Some of these runners have been ranked in the top ten runners of their event in the IAAM in previous years. Junior Charlotte Haggerty, for example, was ranked seventh in the IAAM 55 meter dash runners for the 2014-2015 season.

Senior Holly Driver was also awarded for her achievements in hurdles and high jump. She was also named one of the indoor track and field All Conference athletes in 2015.

“We have a chance to do really well this year seeing as we have a large number of strong runners,” junior distance runner Adria Pirozzi said.

Grace Mottley is a News Editor for the Patriot and jcpatriot.com.