Boys’ cross country finished their season third in the conference, which qualified the team for regionals.
Despite the losses of upperclassmen each new year brings, the male runners have stayed optimistic for next year.
“We have seniors graduating who were an important part of the team, but we have people who will step up next year and take their place,” freshman Christopher Keesor said. “It should be pretty similar.”
Girls’ cross country finished a solid season with a young team.
“We had a lot of seniors that ran last year but didn’t come out this year,” junior Brooks Holt said. “Next year, I’ll be the only senior on the team, which will probably be kind of stressful.”
Also optimistic, Holt talked up this year’s freshman, suggesting the team may see improvement next season.
“We have some good freshman that hopefully will come back out again as sophomores,” Holt said. “Hopefully we [will] get some new people that will do well as freshman next year.”
– By John Dunning
The varsity football team’s season ended after a 56-26 first round playoff loss to Northern Guilford. The Chargers finished 9-3 overall and third place in the conference with a 5-2 record. This year, the team had 25 seniors and was poised for a run, but fell short for the fourth year in a row.
“[It was] definitely not the way I wanted it to end; I felt we were better than we showed our last game,” senior Jack Dalton said.
Senior Kadarus Rone led the Chargers this year in receiving with 53 catches for 756 yards and six touchdowns. Junior Montel Goods led the Chargers on the ground with 166 carries for 625 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Ti Pinnix was 143 for 282 passing with a touchdown to interception ratio of 18 to 13. Defensively, Senior Elijah Washington led the team with 114 tackles. Senior Darius Cole had six interceptions for the Chargers. As a team, the Chargers scored a season total of 460 points and only gave up 184.
This year was head coach Bill Hall’s final year of coaching high school football.
“I’m sure four to five months down the road I’m going to look back and say, ‘Man, 9-3 in 3A is pretty good,’” Hall said. “Our losses were to three of the top five teams in the 3A; one of those teams would at least be playing for the state championship.”
Players are hopeful for next year with a new coach and new roles. The team will have to replace a lot of experience after losing 25 seniors.
“I look forward to a bigger role on the team and my senior year,” junior linebacker Conner Leinbach said.
– By Jacob Sipe
The girls’ golf team finished their season Oct. 28, placing second in the 3A conference. Senior Kyndal Hutchinson and junior Logan McClamroch attended the state tournament. Hutchinson finished with a score of 87-87, placing 25th in the state. McClamroch finished 91-89, placing 35th in state.
The team adapted well this season after shrinking in size to only three players.
“It made it more fun and made the team more close,” senior Karen Vanderford said. “We didn’t have to qualify to play, so it was fun.”
Hutchinson encouraged other students to participate in golf, as the team will only have one returning player next season.
“Definitely go out and try it,” Hutchinson said. “It’s not too challenging, it’s a lot of fun and it’s something to do. It gets you out, it gets you active and you make a lot of friends doing it.”
– By Becca Heilman
The varsity boys’ soccer team finished their season on Oct. 29. The team lost 2-0 in the first round of playoffs to Lee County and were eliminated from the tournament.
“At the beginning of the season, we just had the regular team struggles, but as the season progressed, we got the hang of it and started to play as a team and believe in each other,” senior Grant Whitaker said. “Unfortunately, we got an unlucky draw and did not get the seed we deserved.”
They finished third in their conference this season with a record of 9 wins and 5 losses. Overall, the team finished with a record of 10-9-1.
“The teammates and coaches will always have a special place in my heart,” Whitaker said. “This year, one of my favorite things I drew from soccer was how to be a good leader and how to earn a teams respect.”
The team had a total of 36 goals this season. Sophomore JR Goodwin led the team in scoring with 10 goals, and junior Angel Rosas led in assists with 9 this season. The team had many players make all conference.
– By Jamie Palermo
Girls’ tennis finished out their fall season on Oct 6. Although the team didn’t win as many games as last year, the new coach helped expand the program and make the practice atmosphere more serious.
“I feel like we improved a lot from last year even though we didn’t win as much,” sophomore Rachel Yanders said. “Our new coach has really put a positive impact on tennis, and we’re growing as a sport.”
This was coach John Delafield’s first time coaching tennis at Northwood, and according to the girls, his coaching methods were very different from the previous coach, social studies teacher Joseph Kiertekles. One player, who desired to remain anonymous, expressed how Delafield was much too serious. However, others enjoyed the push.
“I think coach Delafield is a lot more active; he’s trying to really boost the tennis program,” Yanders said.
They spent at least one day a week in the weight room, and spent a lot more time warming up and actually playing tennis, while in previous years, the atmosphere was much more relaxed.
Overall, the girls seemed to have a positive outlook on the season despite the new coach and new players.
“I feel like we did really well considering that it was a lot of freshman, and some of us had never played before,” freshman Tess Terll said. “I feel like we did very well as a team.”
– By Lilli Hoffman
The varsity volleyball team finished out their season with 7 wins and 12 losses in the regular season, according to maxpreps.com.
This past season was junior Palmer Bussey’s first year playing varsity volleyball.
“We’re a good team,” Bussey said. “Our record wasn’t that good, but we played well together.”
Junior Emma Johnson agreed.
“There were definitely some games where we disappointed [the coaches],” Johnson said, “But then there were other games where we really showed our strengths.”
This season, head coach Steven Thomas narrowed in on skills specific to the sport rather than general athleticism.
“We’re a really athletic team, and we already came being athletic, so we didn’t have to focus on conditioning as much,” Johnson said. “There were a lot of new people, and we focused more on skill work.”
Overall, both players were pleased with the team’s performance during the season.
“We definitely progressed a lot more from last season, which was nice to see,” Johnson said. “It was nice to see everyone come together. The coaches had a really great plan this year, and I think that we accomplished what we set out to do.”
– By Adrianne Cleven