Winter Sports Preview 2013-2014

DOWNHILL SKIING

This season, both the boys’ and girls’ downhill skiing teams hope to become Division II State Champions. Boys’ co-captain Chris Stocken hopes to accomplish this goal by helping everyone to “develop as skiers and stay on their feet during states to get the fastest times.”

According to Stocken, there are several factors that will work to the Marauders’ favor this season. The Kennet team, last year’s state champion and historically one of Hanover’s toughest foes, has graduated several key players. This winter will probably have more early snow than last year, a factor that will allow the skiers to feel more prepared going into their first meet on December 19th at Crotched Mountain.

Key returning players this year are Chris Stocken, boys’ co-captain Mattson Rosenbaum, Conor Austin, Nathan Roth, Jack Fordy, girls’ co-captains Hailey Estes and Sophie Higgerson, Serena Higgerson, Sarah Kohl, Bevin McDevitt, and Addie Brendel. The team also features new skiers, including Davey Stocken, Alex Taylor Ruby Spitz, Taylor Clerkin, and Ryan Kynor. Stocken is confident that with the help of coaches Gabi Formankova and Joe Denny, the team is bound for victory.

“After finishing second to Kennet last year, the boys are coming into the season with the best lineup of talented skiers since the Hanover boys last claimed the championship a few years ago… and the girls have an improving core of talented skiers that look to compete neck and neck with Kennet,” says Stocken.

WINTER TRACK

Captains Lindsey White and Xavi Tchana have a straightforward but difficult goal for their teams this year; according to Tchana, they want everyone to “have a good time getting more in shape and accomplish that by practicing every day and working hard.” As always, one of the biggest challenges the team will face will be the winter weather. Running outside is often preferable to running in Levron, but too much snow on the roads makes this an impractical activity.

One of White’s more specific goals for the girls’ team is to win medals at states and Dartmouth relays with the help of key players Karina Lukovits and Meredith Ferneau. Tchana cites Joey Porter as one of the key players for the boys. With Coach Callanan’s trusted guidance, the teams will be ready to compete on their first meet on December 21st.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

This year’s cross country skiing team will be led by captains Sam Gurwitt, Tucker Cadow, Alexi Kim, and Sarah Haedrich and coaches Tom Masterson and Dan Haedrich. The captains hope that the team will become more unified this year, and they wish to accomplish this goal by organizing team dinners, bake sales, and fundraisers to get more team apparel so that everyone can get to know each other and feel a greater sense of community within the program. Their first competition will be at the end of January.

BOYS BASKETBALL

A harmonious boys’ basketball team will grace our gym’s floor this winter, according to captains Noah Huizenga and John Flory. Although the Marauders did graduate many talented players last year, the team is left with a solid foundation of returning players that ensures the team’s good chemistry.

“Having eight seniors is also great,” says Flory. “The leadership within the team is tremendous.”

Many of these seniors are captains in other sports; Huizenga is a three-sport captain, Evan Greenwald was a soccer captain, Ben Herndon-Miller will be a baseball captain, and Chris Washington will be a lacrosse captain.

“We really benefit from this leadership; we push each other in practice and are super supportive,” Flory says.

Many of the team’s leaders come from the soccer team, so they know what it takes to win a state championship. Huizenga and Flory hope that their experience along with the team’s chemistry will help them win the ultimate prize, a state championship.

“We plan on accomplishing that by getting consistent production from everyone on offense and by playing the best defense in the state,” says Huizenga.

For now, however, both captains along with Head Coach Winslow, Assistant Coach/JV Coach Vashel, and Reserve Coach Johnson are staying focused on preparing their team to kick off the season with a victory against Hollis-Brookline on December 14th. Their biggest challenge after that will be keeping up the focus throughout a long, four-month season.

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

Winning a state championship just isn’t enough anymore for the girls’ hockey team; they’ve done it too often and need to find another way to continue their “tradition of excellence” in addition to becoming New Hampshire champions yet again. This year’s captains Grace Tecca, Emily Acker, and Caroline Howell are looking forward to seeing how their team fares against an increased number of skilled teams from out of the region, and even some teams from out of the state. So far, the team has performed excellently, sweeping their pre-season tournament in Maine with the help of coaches John Dodds, Brian Drew, and Peter Perkins.

“This year in particular we are going to be looking to every player for strong play during each game,” says Grace Tecca. “The key players are going to be the ones who are able to bring up the level of play of those around them. We are excited to see who the key players become.”

Tecca’s confidence in each player is rooted in the strong team chemistry that comes from a large group of returning players who have already made an easy transition from play in the U14 division.

SWIMMING

Co-captain Valentina Sedlacek is adamant that everyone is a key player on the swim team this year. She and the other captains, Ziqi Wang, Jude Arbogast, and Ellie Cook know this to be true because this year’s swim team is much smaller, so more kids will have to step up and do more events at meets.

While a smaller team does present plenty of challenges, it does a larger coach staff and smaller team allows “more individualized coaching and focused training” according to Sedlacek.”

The team hopes to become the Division II state champions with the help of their coaches Ann Brechbuhl, Michelle Kainen, and John McIntire. Sedlacek hopes to accomplish this goal by having everyone “working hard, going to every practice, and having fun.” Their first competition will be at Colby-Sawyer on December 13th.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Girls’ basketball captains Molly Cornell and Holly Schlosser hope to achieve their ultimate goal of making it to the championships and beating Lebanon, and along the way they will also focus on meeting smaller goals, such as continuing their fast-paced game, out-rebounding their opponents, and staying focused every second.

“Every day in practice is meant to be ten times harder than game situations, more running, more pressure, so that by the time a game rolls around, we will have all experienced much worse, and welcome the speed of the game with open arms,” Cornell says when asked how her team will accomplish their goals.

The team will also need overcome certain obstacles in order to reach the championships, primarily their lack of focus. Their close-knit nature tends to create a relaxed practice atmosphere from time to time, so Cornell and Schlosser need to make sure that their team uses practice well so that they can be proud of their accomplishments at the end of the season. This lack of focus also pops up in their games.

“We have a knack of falling into spurts where we let the other team back in the game, and lose focus. This can be reversed by continuing our team’s philosophy of ‘playing the next play’ and taking a deep breath before we let the game spiral out of control,” Cornell says.

The team also has several advantages working in their favor. They have five returning seniors who bring leadership and experience to the team and a group that is in its entirety athletic, aggressive, and quick.

“What’s great about our team is that everybody contributes a specific necessity on the court. We have rebounders, sharpshooters, dribblers, and defenders, and I think we’ll all be key players in the coming games,” says Cornell.

Dan O’Rourke coaches varsity with assistant coach Gema Mayo-Prada, Al Flory coaches JV, and Rob Edson coaches reserve. Their first game is away at Hollis-Brookline on December 13th.