Senior Josh Littauer’s feet pound up the West stadium steps, just eight hours after weight training in the morning. The next day means open mat or maybe

a weekend tournament. Littauer, along with much of the returning varsity wrestling team, has participated in two-a-day practices every day since school began to prepare for the season. The Falcons hosted the Falcon Frenzy, a 26-team competition that is the largest wrestling tournament in the area, on Dec. 4-5. The team placed second overall and senior Brandon Harrison won the 119 lbs. division. “As individuals, many of us have vastly improved through weight training and extra off-season condition-ing and tournaments,” Harrison said. “So we’re definitely starting out this year better than we have in the past.”

It’s the news that nobody wants to hear from the North Carolina High

School Athletic Associa-tion— “Congratulations! Your school has been reclassified, just in time for your senior year. Your school got bigger, even if it

was just barely enough to bump it into a much more com-petitive division!”

All you seniors out there know what I’m talk-ing about. It happened to us. But here’s the thing; the conference grew and playoffs got more com-petitive, but with four conference titles, two regional championships, a state runner-up finish and a state title, it seems West athletes have risen to meet the tougher standards. First, I’d like to con-gratulate the women’s golf team and Kayla Sciupider on their 1A/2A/3A state championship titles. Al-though its post-conference play was unaffected by the reclassification, the team rose to the occasion and made West golf history. Volleyball, consider yourselves at the top of the state in the 3A public sec-tor. I could write an entire column on the Cardinal Gibbons “private school/public classification” situ-ation, but I’ll save it for another day. West proved that a strong program, dedication and hard work trump all but unfair re-cruiting. In cross country action, twin conference championships prove that while little has changed at the conference level from last year, the higher competition has increased dramatically. The girls placed 10th at state, but would have placed fifth in the 2A classification. Football had a stellar season, rising from nearly the bottom of the confer-ence last year to the top this season. Don’t ask me how the introduction of conference powerhouses Franklin and Tuscola mo-tivated the team to clinch what would have been the Western Athletic Confer-ence championship last year, but hey, it works. The remaining sports finished in the top half of the conference as well. further proving that the move to 3A has done little to affect the drive for suc-cess of Falcon athletes.

9

Ryan Duckett

Move to 3Anot a problemfor Falcons

The view up here

sportswingspan • december 11, 2009

Winter sports teams start seasons

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At the Falcon Frenzy tournament in December 2008, senior Jordan Heatherly (left) tries to escape his Polk County High opponent. The Falcons finished 5th in the tournament. Com-peting in a relay event, senior Niall Courtney (top right) participates in a home swim meet

at the Henderson County YMCA in January 2009. The men’s swim team finished in the top 10 at state. Defending an opposing player, senior Keenan Young (bottom right) plays against North last season. The Falcons basketball team went on to win the game, 68-40.

Returning Talent

Harrison, a returning state-competing wrestler, has high expectations for the season at the conference level. “As a team we expect to be conference champions,” Harrison said. The team has a current 5-0 record. The Falcons only lost three varsity wrestlers going into this year; graduates Jacob Tipton, Zac Beasley and 2009 state runner-up Micheal Williams. According to Harrison, several wrestlers have risen to take their place, including Littauer, state qualifying senior Allen Bice and junior Trae Hemphill, a transfer from Brevard. Hemphill, who placed fourth at the conference tournament last year, defeated number one seed Seth Stewart from Owen for the regional championship. “It was a big experience for me,” Hemphill said. “It just shows that what-ever you set your mind to you can do, as long as you work hard and get after it.”

Matt ThielkeSports Editor

Kevin RobinsonAsst. Sports Editor

Camen RoyseAsst. Sports Editor

Lindsey ForeEntertainment Editor

Record:5-0

Record:1-3

Wrestlers host Falcon Frenzy tournamentRyan Duckett

Senior Editor

Finishing last season with a record of 6-17 and losing in the playoffs to Bandys High, the Lady Falcon basket-

ball team is looking to improve under new head coach Robbie Lowrance. His goal is to help the team become more competitive “Our goal for this season is to com-pete with the other teams,” Lowrance said. “That should be our goal every game.” With the new coach, many new changes were made, beginning with prac-tices. The team runs more during practic-es in order to prepare for games. “Definitely one of the big differences

Women’s basketball team gets new coachthis year are the practices. They are much tougher and we run a whole lot more,” se-nior Summer Kremer said. “We are trying to build up more of a running game and a fast break type of offense instead of set-ting up at half-court each time we have possession.” The team has experience with four seniors: Kremer, Alex Stewart, Kaitlyn Bur-ton and Meredith Foster. “The senior girls are hungry for a good solid winning season,” Lowrance said. “They are working much harder and taking it seriously when we practice.” The Lady Falcons’ next game will be away against North tonight.

Record:1-3

Swimmers set goalto repeat success

Men’s basketball team returns 3 starters

After top 10 finishes at state for the men’s and wom-en’s teams last winter, the swim teams move into the new season with a tougher 3A schedule.

“The competition has increased since we have moved up to 3A, and we’re now competing against Tus-cola,” junior Krista Van Giesen said. “Although we lost a lot of seniors last year, the women’s team is shaping up very nicely. There are a few promising freshmen, and the returning swimmers are very talented as well.” Senior Niall Courtney said the men’s team has large numbers, which works out to their advantage. “We have a really good return rate from last year,” Courtney said. “We almost thought we were going to have cuts this year, but we kept everyone and are working to help them swim better. Numbers can help us at meets.” Courtney is also impressed by the enthusiasm of the men’s team. “We’re really spirited. Most of the teams don’t cheer for the other swimmers on their team, but we always have people at the end of the lane cheering each other on,” Courtney said. “We always do team cheers, and our team is very close.” With no returning seniors on the women’s team, the team must rely on the junior class. Van Giesen and fellow swimmer Katie King are captains as juniors, and the two look to lead the women’s team into a new season. “So far everyone seems to be getting along and work-ing well together,” Van Giesen said. “I hope that we have another successful season.” The swim teams have placed first in both of their meets this season. Their next meet is Dec. 12 at Skyland Recreational Center.

Indoor track conditions athletes for spring season

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Last month the indoor track and field team started the season with some new underclassman talent and sev-eral seasoned returners.

“What we do is pretty much basic running and lift-ing except it’s a lot colder outside,” junior Chase Andrews said. “We don’t have the same events as outdoor track. I can’t do discus like I do in outdoor track, so I do shot-put instead.” Although indoor track and field team members don’t have as many event options as outdoor track, the winter season still serves an important purpose for warming up for spring sports. Team members practice every day from 3:30 to 5 p.m. to improve endurance and to maintain

skills they will need for the outdoor track season. “It’s pretty much getting ready for outdoor track. It’s similar to spring workouts for football,” Andrews said. “I do it to stay in shape for the offseason.” For sprinters like senior Delfino Islas, workouts are a little different. “My workout consists of 15 minute abdominal work-outs and then a lot of sprinting and running,” Islas said. “I do indoor track mainly to get faster and stay in shape after soccer season.” The first meet of the season was Dec. 9 and the sec-ond meet is Dec. 16. All meets are held at Polk County High. The Polk County Polar Bear Championship meet will be held Jan. 26 and for those that qualify for it, the state meet will be held Feb. 7 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

After a long run in the postseason conference tournament last winter, the men’s basketball team looks to

improve on last season’s record. With the loss of only two of last year’s starters, the team hopes to do just that. “We have a lot of good shooters this year,” junior Kevin Thomas said. “Almost everyone can shoot threes consistently and drive to the basket.” Thomas is a returning all-conference and all-area player and looks to lead the team again this season. “Kevin is a great shooter and our of-fense works through him,” senior Matt

Roberts said. “If he is on, we’re hard to stop.” The team is currently 1-3 and will be playing at North tonight. The players hope to build momentum for conference play. “We’re playing well right now,” senior Colby Thelen said. “All the other teams know we are going to be a tough win.” West has only two new opponents in conference play, Tuscola and Franklin. Last year, the Falcons beat Tuscola twice, sending a message to the new teams. “It was huge to beat them twice,” Thelen said. “We wanted them to know that next season they are not play-ing in a joke conference and that we are for real.”