Spring is around the corner, and with spring comes sports. This 2016 season is expecting greatness. Tryouts have ended and teams are being finalized. Freshman Ali Salehi says, “Although the winter season is coming to an end, I’m really excited for the spring season, and to see how Wilcox’s teams will do.”

Last year, the boy’s tennis team, coached by Mr. Muralt, had a record of six wins to six losses at SCVALS. The boys placed well with Aditya Sriram earning second place in singles and Daniel Huynh and Victor Chien making it to the doubles quarterfinals, placing fourth. The team also competed in one tournament in Fresno where they got second place. Dean Yuan, a senior on varsity, reflects on the previous season, “Last year, the tennis team was known as ‘Taiki and friends,’ a name that aptly describes the strong bonds of friendship that hold the team together. With Taiki’s graduation, the team has reformed as ‘Jay and friends’ under the leadership of freshman, Jay Feng.”

Additionally, Yuan thinks this season is a promising one, as he says, “I am looking forward to a strong season with Jay inspiring us from the forefront of the team. One challenge the team faces is maintaining our rigorous training while achieving the highest combined GPA of any athletic team on Wilcox. One of the things I enjoy about tennis is leaving it all on the court. As junior Daniel Huynh states, ‘toss the ball real high and swing for the stars.”

Although the boys and girls swim teams share the same pool, they have different experiences. Both teams felt a great improvement according to two sophomores, Lindsey Laughlin and Abed Musaffar. Laughlin explains the situation last year, “We were all relatively young and new so we didn’t have much experience, but we grew as a team and improved a lot. This year I’m looking forward to improving with my team and hopefully placing higher in champs at the end of the year. I know some of the varsity girls hope to finally make CCS this year.” The girl’s team has also lost eleven swimmers, but many new girls are ready to dive in their place.

The boy’s team is like a big family, and they enjoy having fun while working hard. Practicing in club helped a lot, as Musaffar explains their success is partial to club, “The team was built with great swimmers from multiple clubs with someone specializing in every stroke in some shape or form.”

The fields are where the girls’ softball team practices daily. Sophomore on varsity, Nicole Hamblin, told me that the team faced a lot of challenges. She says that it was not the best season, and the team was not very successful. The player regrets not working with her team, accounting that for the losses, “I think we should have worked on playing more as a team than playing against each other, because would’ve helped us play so much better and understanding each other as players.” JV baseball had an alike experience with knowing they are not fulfilling their potential, but they realized it early on. Current junior varsity captain Jarrett Chapman points out how he will change the team for the better, “Well last season was good we started off the season by losing the first two or three games, and that made us open our eyes and realize that we aren’t the best team out there. So this year, as a captain, I cannot let my team slack off. Especially on JV, our team is going on with only five sophomores which makes this season very exciting.”

The varsity baseball boys transformed into beasts on the field. Senior Miles Wolf is very enthusiastic about baseball, and explained their past season, “Wilcox has always had a strong baseball program. Two years ago, the ‘It’s a way of life’ year, we won CCS. Last year, the ‘UHHHH’ year, we won league and went deep into CCS. Every year, we are looking to win League and go deep into CCS. This year, we have a solid group of guys. Our biggest challenge will be coming together as a team since so many players will be first year Varsity starters. But, by working hard and trusting our system, our coaches and our teammates, we can expect to achieve high levels of success.” The team loves the support, and Wolf encourages everyone to come out and watch their games.

Wilcox track is always filled with amazing athletes, with a strong turn out. Senior Zahid Anjum, a varsity long distance runner, always pushes himself to do his best. He claims that everyone did very well in the past. Anjum has a different take on the so called “solo” sport, “People always say track in an individual sport because you win a race, jump, or throw on your own, but that’s not true. We win meets together and lose meets together.” The coach that inspires Anjum is coach Van Zant. He always finds this coach to be his friend, and accompanies him on car rides to meets, overall spending hours with him.

Wilcox’s spring sports teams are looking very promising, and all these teams share one thing in common. A love for the sport. We hope for a golden season, and go Chargers!