by: Rubee Stillwagon
With Fall sports in full swing, there is a lot that can be touched on. Student-athletes work hard to obtain good grades while also staying involved in their sport, and most of them keep a healthy balance.
Fall sports include girls’ soccer, girls’ cross-country, football, volleyball, golf, girls’ tennis, boys’ soccer and boys’ cross-country.
Girls’ Soccer
“Our team has been stuck in a tough section for the past year,” junior Lauryn Swierczynski said. “For our in-section games, the scores were the majority not in our favor and some game’s scores looked like 0-5. But for non-section games, we have had more success; we’re able to win most of those games.”
As Swierczynski said, the in-section games have been tough for the girls’ soccer team. They are in a section with bigger schools that have a larger student body to make up their teams. With the out-of-section games, it can be more fair due to the schools being the same size or even smaller. Although the girls have been working hard and things have been tough, they continue to show good team morale and build each other up.
“The Carr sisters, Olivia Smith, Kayla Ramer and Alice Wilkinson, they all communicate and work well together,” Swierczynski said. “They never give up when we are losing.”
Taylor Carr, Brianna Carr, Olivia Smith, Kayla Ramer and Alice Wilkinson are leaders on the field and guide the team to success. Sometimes all a team needs is people to bring up the team’s energy and make sure everyone is in good spirits. Just that can show improvement on the field.
“Our team has shown improvement even if our scores don’t show it,” Swierczynski said. Next year we have hope that we’re going to have more success.”
Girls’ Cross Country
Many of the girls on the cross-country team have set new personal records and have improved from their previous times.
“I think personal PRs motivate the team or if we need to pass a certain person to win,” senior Alaina Blend said.
On September 9th at an invitational at White Oak Park with about 50 other schools, members of the team had great results. The team placed 8th out of 25 and senior Ashlan Price placed 25th out of 181 individuals.
“People like Ashlan and Ella are motivators on the team and us seniors in general like to stay positive and keep [our] energy up,” Blend said.
Price and Henry show true leadership due to their constant effort to motivate their teammates. With a sport that is as physically and mentally demanding as cross-country, even the smallest things can get athletes back in the right mindset.
“Overall, XC can be very mentally and physically challenging, but it’s super rewarding and I’d recommend it to anyone,” Blend said. “Our team has made so much improvement throughout the years.”
Football
The GS football team along with Head Coach Mr. Tyler George, have been working to get the results they hope for.
Golden Lions’ getting ready to play the Ligonier Valley Rams.
Photo by: Ava Hardaway
“When our leaders are encouraging everyone to work harder and be excited to be at practice, that’s when we get the most work done,” junior Azreal Franklin said. “When we’re all excited and the energy is there, our chemistry is unmatched.”
This football season, Coach George decided that having 4 “team leaders” from each grade level would be beneficial to the team. These players come in to help with things coaches can’t see. Sometimes a player needs their teammate to talk to so they can get an answer from someone with a similar viewpoint. These select players show leadership skills, especially when it comes to boosting their teammates’ morale.
“I think we have trouble keeping each other motivated and staying positive when it matters most,” Franklin said.
The team is looking more confident and ready for the rest of the season. With their first win against Ligonier Valley, these players continue to show more improvement. Although scores from the game against Deer Lakes, East Alleghany and Mt. Pleasant games were not what the team wanted, they still showed immense skill.
“In my opinion, Julian, Keegan, Ayden, Adam, Brady and I are leaders who take specific roles that no one else does better,” Franklin said.
Not only do these players lead their team off the field, but they have also been recognized for having good skills on the field. Senior Julian Stevens was named player of the game for the Hempfield game, with 3 receptions, 66 receiving yards and 1 touchdown. Junior Brady Smith was a player in the running for Pennsylvania’s High School Football Player of the Week after the Ligonier Valley game. Smith rushed for 164 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.
“The scores aren’t what we want them to be, but I think when we get some momentum and start playing how we are really capable, we’ll start to see some good results,” Franklin said.
Volleyball
The volleyball team has faced its fair share of challenges, but varsity player Julie Elias has no doubt in her mind that they will make a comeback.
“So far, our season hasn’t been the exact way I pictured it,” Elias said. “We all walked in confident and ready to go at the start, anticipating a great season. However, we have all had some setbacks. But I have no doubt we will come back better than ever.”
Although the scores haven’t been what they wanted, the team has been showing improvement on the court. The team’s blocks and hitters have been showing impressive skill. With spikes and blocks at the net, these individuals have gotten their team’s scores up on many occasions.
“Grace Hayden, Anna Shevchik, Katie Shea and I all try our best to be the leaders of our team,” she said. “Teammates and coaches having high and positive energy on the court is great motivation too.”
According to Elias, these players show leadership on and off the court, which can benefit a team more than anything else. Head Coach Mrs. Rachel Brannigan also incorporates team bonding exercises into their season to help the team grow closer and motivate each other.
“I plan on coming back ready and prepared for the second half of our in-section games and putting forth all my effort,” Elias said. “My teammates and I have nothing but the highest hopes and expectations for each other throughout the entire year, in and out of season.”
The varsity volleyball team faces the Latrobe Wildcats.
Photo by: Emma Helmick
Golf
The golf season has come to an end for the year, but not without the team showing improvement.
“Facing teams that could score much lower than us was sort of demoralizing,” sophomore Ian Smith said. “There was also the challenge of 5 out of 6 of the varsity guys playing hockey, so sometimes schedules conflicted.”
Although the team faced these challenges, they were still able to come out of the season with decent scores. One of the best scores of the season was 48, from Ian, which is 13 over par for the course the team was on.
“Team leaders included Mike Kingerski, Noah Outly, Hunter Webb and Grant Smith,” Ian said.
These senior leaders show skill on the golf course but also when trying to balance other sports and activities. Outly, Webb and Kingerski all play hockey and are in the middle of preseason games right now. With the golf and hockey schedules overlapping, these athletes put the hard work in to contribute to both teams.
“Overall, our team faces challenges and needs consistency, but we are doing our best,” Ian said.
Girls’ Tennis
The girls’ tennis team has had a strong season so far. Their results on the court truly show their hard work and determination.
“I think the entire team would agree that in terms of both what the score looks like, and the quality of play that was exhibited, our match against Armstrong was one of our best,” senior Aryana Galdo said. “I think at the end of it, everyone felt like it was a truly earned win.”
Although there are a lot of returning players, there is also a group of new faces who are working just as hard to improve and help their team. Seniors Jade Mazzoni and Juliana Stabile advanced to the quarterfinals of the section singles tournament. Stabile was the No. 6 seed and Mazzoni had a 10-3 upset win over the 8 seed in the 8-9 matchup.
“Technically, we don’t have any assigned team captains, but I think at different points everyone has a place whenever it comes to leadership,” Galdo said. “Whether that comes in the form of encouraging the team or assisting other players, or anything else.”
For a sport like tennis that is so individualized, at certain points, it’s important for the whole team to lead. Although there isn’t much they can do to help each other in the moment of being stuck on the court, they can step up and encourage and help each other at times like practice and before and after matches.
“We’re in a good spot to end our season, and I’m really hopeful for next year and how these girls form the team from this point forward,” she said.
Boys’ Soccer
The boys’ soccer team has been working hard to improve their scores and move their team in the right direction.
“Any team will always need improvement,” sophomore Tobyn Anderson said. “Some more so than others, but our biggest problems are selfish plays and communication. It messes up how we can truly play, but once we fix that, it will be better for all of us.”
Soccer is very much a team sport. Communicating and working together is the key to the best results. As this team continues to put in the hard work and improve, it’s important to keep these key fundamentals in mind.
“Some things we are good at are moving the ball up field for a chance to attack, set pieces, which include corner kicks, free kicks and goal kicks,” Anderson said.
Being able to get out of tough places and get the ball back to where they want is a skill that could help this team. This can truly help the team in situations where players are crowding their goal. Diverting everyone’s attention to the other side of the field can give the players and the goalie time to recover.
“As for scores, they could always be better,” he said. “We let in more than I think we should’ve, but the score doesn’t always reflect how we play.”
Boys’ Cross Country
Last, but not least, the boys’ cross-country team is showing improvement this season. Through impressive times and much more, this team continues to amaze.
“Our team is definitely good at pursuing a goal,” junior Nick Reinhart said. “If we go into a meet with the mindset that we are going to win, every runner will push to their hardest extent to accomplish what we are there to do.”
Setting a goal can often help people push themselves to do better. With a sport like cross country, a goal can be beneficial. These boys continue to show that they are pushing themselves to achieve these goals and their times support that.
“I personally think Owen Noel has taken a leadership position on the team and continues to strive hard in practice,” Reinhart said. “With the amount he has improved from last season, there is no doubt that he will continue to work hard to accomplish success.”
Noel has truly stuck out this season. His best time is 17:07 at the Red White and Blue Invitational at White Oak Park, where he got 18th out of 196 individuals. Overall, he continues to show great leadership and skill and is someone his team can look up to.
“We can see our team improving, especially the younger runners and it seems like we could possibly have some more success in the future,” Reinhart said.
Overall, the fall sports teams are looking great this season. Some scores may not show what teams want them to, but it will help prepare these student-athletes and help them improve.
“Overall, we have had a pretty good fall season,” GS Athletic Director Mr. Frank Sundry said. “Our student-athletes and coaches are working extremely hard to improve and compete.”
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