2015 Fall Sports Previews | Part I
Published 11:52 am Tuesday, September 1, 2015
This week, the Reporter takes a look at four of the eight prep teams representing Mercer Island this fall. Look for part two next week.
FOOTBALL
Coach: Brett Ogata
Last season: Mercer Island finished fourth in the 2014 3A/2A KingCo standings, with a 3-3 league record and 5-5 overall.
Strengths: “Definitely teamwork,” Ogata said. “The seniors are doing a great job of bringing this team together, and the underclassmen are really following their lead. When the going gets tough, I know these guys are going to hang together and play through it.”
Needs to improve: Experience, depth. Senior quarterback Anthony Scalzo suffered a season-ending injury before the start of the year.
“We lost a lot of depth with Anthony getting hurt,” Ogata said. “We’ve got to work on our second- and third-string guys and make sure they’re getting ready to go. Our top-line guys are pretty ready to go, but our second- and third-string guys, we need to get ready.”
“We’re going to be relying on a bunch of underclassmen because our senior numbers are small,” said Griffin Kane.
Goals: “Just winning every day that we’re out here in practice,” said Jordano Mark. “Whether it’s just winning the day, or winning the rep, or winning the drill, you’ve got to win at practice every single day.”
“Coaches have put a big emphasis on finishing every rep, finishing every play and coming in with a new mindset every rep,” said Jackson Caputo.
Captains/key athletes: Eric Kim, Andy Bliss, Jordano Mark, Cole Northrop, Griffin Kane, Jackson Caputo, Jonny Osman, Joe Williams.
Games to watch: Bellevue, Sept. 18; @ Juanita, Sept. 25; @ Bothell, Oct. 22.
Girls swim captains from left: Julie Baker, Esther Choe, Jacque Li and Sabrina Kwan (Joe Livarchik/Mercer Island Reporter).
GIRLS SWIM AND DIVE
Coach: Chris Conroy (First year)
Number of athletes: 60
Last season: Won KingCo, second at district tournament, second at state tournament to Lakeside.
Strengths: “Just watching the girls swim this first week, they’re really refined for high school athletes. You can tell they’ve been taught a lot of really good skills,” Conroy said of taking over for former coach Chauntelle Johnson, whose teams won five state titles in six seasons. “It’s a daunting task to follow in such big shoes, but it’s something I’m excited about.”
“Even though we lost a lot of fast people last year, there are fast people at every grade level,” said Julie Baker.
Area of focus: “We are still kind of getting to know some of the freshmen and seeing what they’re capable of and seeing how they fit into the team,” Conroy said.
Goals: “I really want to help create a culture of positivity and encouragement where everybody on the team is accountable for each other’s success,” Conroy said. “Just create a very tight culture and well-bonded team.”
“A lot of it has to do with the team aspect, respecting each other and helping each other achieve our goals as a team and individually,” said Jacque Li.
Captains: Sabrina Kwan, Julie Baker, Jacque Li, Esther Choe.
Other key athletes: Hadley Michaels, Maeve Murdoch, Ellie Williams, Alex Williams, Sammy Edwards.
Meet to watch: Skyline, Oct. 13.
Boys tennis captains from left: Caden Conder, Jake Bethards and Ben Bethards (Joe Livarchik/Mercer Island Reporter).
BOYS TENNIS
Coach: Ryan Pang
Last season: Second in KingCo, edged Bellevue by one point to win fifth-straight 3A state title.
Strengths: “Our depth is really strong,” said Jake Bethards. “Most other teams have one or two really good players, but we’re really solid 1 through 10.”
Needs to improve: Experience. Lost 13 athletes, including all state tournament qualifiers.
“All the freshmen are competitive and eager to learn,” Pang said. “Hopefully it’s going to help, because there are a lot of freshmen that will be on varsity this year.
“We also need to work on our focus and make sure we come in day in and day out, try to work on something and not get complacent.”
Goals: “Our goal is to win KingCo,” Pang said.
Captains: Caden Conder, Jake Bethards, Ben Bethards.
Meet to watch: @ Newport, Sept. 28; @ Bellevue, Oct. 8. Mercer Island lost the KingCo title to Bellevue last season in the final match of conference play.
“The winner of KingCo in the regular season gets four entries into both the singles and doubles postseason tournaments, as opposed to three if we finish second,” Pang said.
Cross country captains from left: Cece Rosenman, Ella Green, Alexa Bauman, Elly McMillan, Ben Vandenbosch, Tiger McBurney and Ben Stoops (Contributed Photo).
CROSS COUNTRY
Coach: Erica Hill
Assistant: Chris Twombley
Last season: Boys sixth at state tournament, girls eighth.
Strengths: Leadership, experience, depth.
“These guys all ran at state last year,” Hill said. “They’ve got that experience, they know what it’s like. They’ve ran at big meets. You’ve got Alexa [Bauman] and Cece [Rosenman] who have run at the state meet three years in a row. There’s just some great experience and athleticism there.”
“Every year, one area I think we’re the strongest is the friendship and camaraderie,” said Tiger McBurney. “We train together in the offseason. Everyone knows how everyone runs, which is really helpful for race days.”
Area of focus: Training and health.
Goals: Returning both the girls and boys teams to the state tournament.
Captains: Alexa Bauman, Elly McMillan, Ella Green, Cece Rosenman, Ben Vandenbosch, Tiger McBurney, Ben Stoops.
Other key athletes: Chloe Michaels, Mary Rose Vu, Kayla Lee, Nate Benson, Noah Talerman.
Meet to watch: Bellevue Invite, Sept. 26.
