By Roshan Chandrakumar ’17, Sports Section Editor
A new school year also means it’s time for fall sports. Many teams experienced great success last year and hope to build on that.
A year after sending both the boys’ and girls’ team to Regionals, the cross country team has similar hopes. The departure of a few seniors leaves a gap that will be filled by underclassmen. Senior captain Grace Pettengill said that “both teams are hoping to make it to Regionals this year. We have a lot of returning sophomores and new freshmen who will help us. We are looking forward to dropping time throughout the season.”
The boys’ golf team returns 5 of 6 starters on a team that made Districts last season. Bringing back the top 4 scorers of the previous season the team has high expectations. Already they have shot the lowest team 9 and 18 hole scores for CCDS golf in the last two years. Junior John Pettengill is looking beyond that, adding “our team is off to a great start. But our best golf is yet to come and I’m optimistic that we can improve on our early success with great rounds later in the season into our conference tournament and the postseason.” On the other side, the girls’ team fields a very inexperienced side having graduated six seniors and returning only two varsity players. This year looks to be a rebuilding one for them.
After losing a very talented group of seniors along with long-time head coach Mr. Dunn, the football team is being doubted by some. Senior quarterback Cam Davis along with senior running backs Bryce Flannigan and Jalen Mundy will look to take on the offense. Returning starter and Captain Myles Jackson ’17 believes the team has a lot to look forward to. “I’m really excited and ready for the upcoming season. We’ve got a strong senior class prepared to leave their mark at CCDS. The players and the coaches alike are ready to shock a lot of people this year,” Jackson answered on the expectations of the season.
The girls’ tennis team has a good mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen that will contribute to a successful season. After having sent a doubles team to Districts last season the girls will look for similar success. The girls play Summit Country day on August 24th at the Summit Athletic Complex. The girls’ volleyball team lost only a few seniors and return many of its varsity players. With a good mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen the team will work towards a good season. They open the season on August 24th against Reading High School.
After reaching the Regional Semifinals last year the girls’ soccer team hopes to go even further this year. After losing only two seniors the team is very promising and another good incoming class of freshmen provides great depth for an already strong team. “We have a deep bench so a lot of girls will have an opportunity to make an impact on the outcome of the season. We are a close team with a strong bond on and off the field. We hope to go farther than we have ever gone and as a team we are confident in pursuing our goal to win state,” said senior captain Deidre Mohan on the team’s goals this season.
The boys’ soccer team is coming off a postseason run that went to the Regional Finals. Despite graduating 7 seniors the team still has high expectations. Already having good showings in their two preseason tournaments, the team is hoping for success similar to that of previous seasons. Senior captain Nicholas Krammer added “we have a strong group of upperclassmen to lead the way but the underclassmen have had an instant impact. It’ll be fun to work and develop as a unit. Even though the odds are against us we believe we can make another deep postseason run.”
