Winter Sports Recap

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This Winter sports season we have seen teams start with undefeated records and phenomenal streaks while others had a hard time finding their tempo, or just caught on too late. Arguably, there is more of an individual aspect to winter sports, because the season includes sports like track and wrestling where you don’t necessarily need to advance with your team to go further into the postseason. This was the case for a few individuals who broke school records this year and tried to represent their team as far into the postseason as they could go. For indoor track this year the boys and girls teams worked for placement in the Western Mass and State rankings, but not everyone can place. For those who did, they surely put on a show for us here in West Side. Natalie Armstrong placed 7th in the state for the long jump event, and she set a school record in the process. Boys Indoor Track came out on top this year in all of Western Wass, with their best event being the 55 meter hurdles which saw that Richard Darkwa and Chris Caron take number three and fourth places in the tournament. These are three of the multiple standout performances from the track program which as a whole had an amazing winning season. Boys basketball finished with nine wins and eleven losses, not necessarily a winning record that doesn’t take away from the team’s work ethic to strive to be the best they could all season. With senior captains Zack Hall and Sharon Fowler on their way out, it will be interesting to see what the team does next year without them. Girls basketball had an 11-11 record which didn’t allow them to see the postseason but just like the boys’ team don’t let the final record fool you. This is a particularly young team that has enough talent to boast their next season into the playoffs. West Side’s hockey team showed us real promise and flashes of what they can do in the early season. The team finished nine and eleven, again not postseason worthy, but that doesn’t meant they can’t pick up where they left off next year. Even with a few senior captains graduating like Danny O’Toole and Joey Paier, this team can certainly have their younger players on the roster step up to fill these voids. Now last but certainly not least West Springfield’s wrestling team is a team which has seen some low attendance at meets in its time and not much exposure to their classmates. None of this mattered though as the team had a phenomenal season. They set the Division 1 record for most single season wins at 30-7-1 while having one of the top individuals on their team Josh Bergeron have a 52-8 record as a senior and captain, while the team as a whole finished top 12 in the state. There weren’t many storybook seasons this year but these guys put up one of the best performances the school has seen in all its years of having the program.

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The West Springfield High School winter sports season is reaching its halfway point and the teams here have been firing off on all cylinders. Each team has anticipated this time of the year since the start of school. Boys winter track is on fire this year with an outstanding record of 4-0. With a coach serving his fifth year with the team, you can tell he really does a great job when it comes down to pushing the team. When they faced Athol High School, they rose to the occasion and won 80-15 while their next meet was won by eighty plus points. In the two other meets, they won by over 49 points. With the boys winter track team #1 in the league, be sure to watch because they are sure to lead a great season!

Girls winter track has been having amazing season. With a record of 4-0, they are clearly putting in the work it takes to have an advantage over their opponents. Their first meet against Athol was won by sixty plus points. In the next three meets, the girls team still had an advantage over the others and come out on top. Girls track is #1 in their league, so be sure to catch a glimpse of this years motivated track team.

The West Side Hockey team is off to a great start in their season, holding a record of 3-3 and residing in 6th place in both the Berry Division and the overall Western Massachusetts rankings. Senior captain Joey Paier leads the team with 12 points while assistant captains senior Chris Bowers and junior Shane Wilkinson trail him with 9 and 8 points. In their recent match against Taconic on December 28, the Terriers tallied up a season high of 11 goals and only allowed 2. Along with their goalscorers, the Terriers have a stellar defensive line to back them up including senior captain Danny O’Toole, juniors Chris Baker and Camden Smith and freshman Eric Stone.

With a new coach to guide the girls through the season, the girls basketball team has taken on the season with a 4-3 record. An outstanding first game took place against Westfield with a substantial 67-30 win. The team had great team chemistry that led them to the huge win, and Daesia Andrews and Angie Czeremcha each scored a quarter of the team’s points. However, they went on to lose three of their next four games, which all came down to the wire. All of their team losses have been against ranked teams and were very competitive games. The team is very young, mostly consisting of underclassmen and has only two seniors. Nonetheless the future of the team looks very promising with all the talent and strengths that each player brings to the court.

Boys varsity basketball is also starting out with a great season. After a strong start, they won against Palmer in double overtime. They were undefeated in their next four games but then unfortunately hit rough water when their next two games came out with tough losses. With a close game played between West Side and Holyoke, they did their best but came out with a loss and a score of 66-48. Captains Sharon Fowler, Jon Lozada, and Zach Hall are leading the team in the right direction.