Wildwood Sports Update

Wildwood Cross-Country Team Running Away From the Rest

“I’m feeling pretty confident about it.” That’s what Cross-Country Coach, George Duryea, said about the Boys Middle School Cross Country team’s chances at winning the league this year.

Wildwood has had an incredibly successful start to the season in the three meets that have already happened! With three different athletes gunning for middle school records, they look primed to win a title this season.

How they’ve done this season so far: This year, the Wildwood Middle School Boys Cross Country team has finished 3rd, barely missing 2nd, 2nd just out of 1st, and 3rd this season at the Pacific Basin League Races so far! One team that’s been neck and neck with the boys team has been Geffen Academy. Geffen has just barely beaten Wildwood in every race of the season so far, but “If people continue improving the way they are, I’m feeling pretty confident,” said Coach George Duryea. “Our team has great spirit,” added Rhône Demers, an eighth-grader, on the team. On the girls’ side, Imogen Hayes and Savannah Hecker have been paving the way for the girls’ team, setting personal bests and league bests as 6th graders, the youngest ones out there!

Standouts: Some standouts this season have been 6th grader Asher Avishay and 8th grader Rhône Demers on the boys’ side, as well as 6th grader Imogen Hayes on the girls’ side. As an 8th grader, Rhône Demers is going for the middle school record in the 2-mile race after finishing 4th at the latest league meet in under 13 minutes! That’s equivalent to running a 6.5-minute mile, which is extremely fast. “I think that the record will always be in the back of my mind while I'm running and will motivate me to run faster,” says Rhône about his performance. He’s currently 9 seconds away from the Middle School record. Another standout performer is Asher Avishay who is in his 1st year of running but has played soccer for many years, a sport that includes running and endurance. Asher has placed in the top two amongst all 6th graders this season including two first-place finishes! He is now attempting to break the 6th grader record, a goal that coach George says he is very likely to achieve. “My goals have changed a lot from the start of the season to the end of the season. At the start of the season, my goal was just to have fun,” says Asher, “When I saw my place in the first race I started to think I could have a bigger goal. I wanted to get top ten in a race.” Asher also said that “it would be a great thing” to break the 6th-grade record. Imogen Hayes is a 6th grader for the girls’ team who is shattering records in her first year of running. She has finished first in all of her races this year, and has already broken the Middle School record as a 6th grader! That’s almost unheard of! Imogen also won Athlete of the Week at Wildwood and has a promising future ahead of her. “A personal goal I have for myself is to be able to get a time of 12 minutes or under,” says Imogen. She also said she was “quite taken aback” at breaking the middle school girls’ record.

Looking Forward: On Wednesday, November 3rd, Wildwood will race in the Pacific Basin League Finals for Boys and Girls. All of the previously mentioned runners will attempt to break the records and get Wildwood a title! Unfortunately, since the meet is during school, students can’t attend.

Words of Advice: A common theme amongst all of the runners is the fact that it’s their first year running cross-country competitively. They all commented on trying new things and the fact that you may surprise yourself. “If you don't think you'll be good at cross-country, I would at least try because you never know, you could end up breaking a record,” said Rhône.

Girls’ Volleyball Teams Find Success on the Court

In this article, you will find an overview of the 6th and 7th-grade girls’ volleyball teams. Read on to find out more!

6th Grade Girls’ Volleyball

How they’ve done this season: This season, the 6th-grade girls’ volleyball team has gotten off to a good start! With a team ranging from new to experienced players, they have excelled in league play and have already qualified for the playoffs, which will be in the first week of November. Coach Jennifer Martin says that the team morale is very high, and they even have their own chant. She also commented that the team is always cheering each other on and never putting each other down. “My team feels like family,” said Ava Pepin.

Standouts: Some standout players include Zari Spellman and Ava Pepin who have shown their skill and have helped lead the team this season. They’ve both shown tremendous ability in all aspects of their game. “Once I went through a couple of the practices, I started to enjoy it much more. We started playing games against other schools which feels scary and exciting at the same time…volleyball has become my favorite sport ever,” says Ava, “My personal goal in volleyball is to keep on playing, and playing, and playing, and playing, until I at least get up to high school, so I can join the junior varsity team.” Zari also won Athlete of the Week for her consistent serving ability! Coach Jenn talked about how every single player on the team has dramatically improved this season!

Key to Success: When we talked earlier this week, Coach Jenn emphasized that the girls had come such a long way over this season, but to go a step further, she wants them to get three touches when the ball is on their side of the net. She talked about how this could be key to getting them a championship in November!

Looking Forward: The team has already qualified for the playoffs and looks forward to a possible long postseason run! Their first match is on Monday, November 1st, and if they win, they will play in a semi-final match the day after. If they continue to win, they would find themselves in a winner-take-all match on Thursday, November 4th!

7th Grade Girls Volleyball

How they’ve done this season: The 7th-grade girls’ volleyball team has had a great season so far. With only two losses to Windward and Crossroads, the team is bonding and making this season unforgettable. “The spirit is amazing,” said Saty Denisof. “Everyone has each other's backs,” adds Coach Sarah Schemerhorn. A challenge that came up was the sheer size of the team. The team has 20 players, which is almost double the size of a usual volleyball team! But, explains Coach Sarah, that’s what makes the team camaraderie so strong.

Standouts: Some players that have notably improved over the season are Autumn Leblanc, Brianna Frias, Saty Denisof, and Sophia Weinberg. Throughout this season, they have improved on their platform passes, sets, and serves, which are all fundamental skills in the game of volleyball.

Some mentors on the team who have stood out are Scarlet Mohajeri Azar and Charlotte Wenneker. Scarlet is now learning how to back-set and jump serve, which is much more advanced plays. “It’s helpful to learn from people that have played longer than me,” comments Saty.

Keys to success: Coach Sarah talked about the next steps for the team's formations. Currently, they are playing with 4 players that hit and spike the ball, and 2 players that set it, or a 4-2 formation. Sarah says that now they're practicing a 5-1 formation, where they have five players hitting and spiking the ball with just one setter. “This is going to allow a more offensive approach,” says Sarah.

Looking Forward: The team has already qualified for playoffs and will play its first game in the first week of November. Coach Sarah says she absolutely thinks that Wildwood could win a championship. It appears that Wildwood could face Windward in the championship, a team they have lost to in the last point. Things are looking good!

Q&A With Wildwood Swim

Ethan Dumper: How do you feel the spirit of the team is this year?

Cy Butler: I feel like it’s really big because we’re all cheering on each other and Rada, the swim coach, told us that she hasn’t taught other Wildwood classes to do that before. Devin Johnson: I feel like the team energy is super, we’re all hyped and cheering for each other. It’s just really great and we’re all getting better as a team.

ED: Do you feel a connection with your teammates?

CB: Yea. I would say so.

DJ: Because I feel like we’re all growing together.

CB: It’s a collective effort.

ED: How long have you been swimming?

CB: I’ve really just started this year.

DJ: I’ve started more formal training this year, but I started taking classes when I was three or four. I took swim lessons at the JCC.

ED: How have you grown this year?

DJ: First of all, Rada is a great swim coach. I feel I’ve really started to grow this year. We have a lane hierarchy system, (CB: Okay, just to be clear we are both in lane three.) Yes, I’m in lane three which is the 2nd best lane, and I started at the very back.

CB: I actually joined two weeks into the season, and I’m also in lane three.

ED: How have you performed in your meets?

DJ: I think that I have performed amazing and I crushed everyone else, and I was the best swimmer in the pool (CB: [Groans]). No of course not! I wasn’t great at all! I lost my goggles in the IM (combination of strokes). But, we were an awesome relay team, and we won!

CB: So far, I’ve at least gotten first place in the 25 freestyle every time, which is great, but I have to do butterfly, which I am not strong at. I am very good at sprinting (fast swimming) free, but not long-distance freestyle.

DJ: Even though he doesn't like butterfly, Rada still makes him do it which is why she is a great coach. She pushes us out of our comfort zone, and maybe Cy will be like “Oh my god I love butterfly!” or maybe not.

CB: We have to dive off the block.

DJ: I love diving. I have to say I’m one of the best divers on the team, (CB: Oh boy,) compared to Cy over here…

CB: Okay, so I’m okay at diving, I came in and I didn’t know how to dive, I was so bad at it, (DJ: You fell off the block) I did fall off, but now I actually can (dive), which I’m very proud of. But let me get to the point. Rada doesn’t let us not dive off the block. She’s a great learning coach.

DJ: But it’s a great thing she does that. If you do it, and you belly flop, we’ll know you know you did it wrong and you should change it.

Callum McKenzie: Practice makes perfect.

DJ: She’s helping us.

ED: So you two have talked about Rada very enthusiastically, many times now, is there anything else you want to say?

DJ: She’s just an amazing coach, that’s what I’m saying.

ED: Do you think she’s helped the team?

CB: Oh my god, 100 percent.

DJ: She’s helped bring the team together.

CB: Like I said, she’s pushed us out of our comfort zone, and if she hadn’t, I don’t think we would be where we are today.

DJ: She knows how we swim, and she was an Olympic athlete, she swam in the Olympics! She’s passing on her wisdom.

CB: [In a completely serious tone] She’s kind of like Kung Fu Panda.

DJ: Oh yeah and the turtle’s like Rada’s coach!

ED: That took an interesting turn.

CB: I’ll do it again. So there’s like the turtle dude…

ED: No, I got it I got it.

DJ: [Laughs]

CB: Kung Fu Panda; The Wildwood Version.

ED: So would you continue swimming next year?

CB: Absolutely, and it can be Kung Fu Panda 2! And this time I’ll be the leader!

DJ: Yea, wait what?! No! Rada is still the coach.

CB: Yes. I’ll be in 8th grade, I’ll be the Kung Fu Panda

DJ: You’re not going to be the Kung Fu Panda. I’m definitely going to do swim next year because I did Track and Field last year, and swim has made me stronger, and it’s like Kung Fu Panda.

CB: I’ll definitely do swim next year. I initially didn’t want to do it, but then I wanted a challenge and it helps me for Track because it makes my legs stronger. So they’re not stiff little Kung Fu Panda legs.

ED: What are you guys looking forward to in the season?

DJ: Well, we don’t have a lot of meets left. One more meet and then the FINALS, so it’s going to be scored, and that’s going to be the one that counts.

CB: I’m going to be sad when the season ends.

DJ: Yea me too.

ED: How do you think you’re going to perform in the finals?

CB: I think I’m going to do great. Blow everyone out in the 25 free.

DJ: The best person on our team is Koko, and she’s really good, and I think she is going to win stuff for us.

CB: Koko’s really good. And so is Callum.

ED: Callum? Anything you want to say?

Callum McKenzie: I just want to say that our swim team is so great, and we all work together and help each other out.