Tremont Mail

Spartan Night Introduces Winter Teams

Friday night was Spartan Night at Olympia High School for a winter sports preview to parents and spectators. To begin the night, the pep band played the National Anthem. Directly after, cheer and dance performed the school song. All teams were dressed in uniform for team, individual, and senior banner pictures. Then, Mike Castleman, Olympia High School's Athletic Director, recognized the speech team. These students were responsible for announcing all individual players and teams for the winter sports season. The night finished with various scrimmages of boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, and wrestling. 

Girls’ basketball came out very strong in their scrimmage and played well. With only three seniors, this team of girls has not played much together yet. Each year, more and more girls have decided to play basketball. Starting a few years ago, girls’ basketball was able to begin three levels of play, varsity, JV, and freshmen. Some girls do have to dress multiple levels, though. The head coach is Courtney Hoffman with two new assistants this year, Kendra Peifer and Oren Baran. Maggie McNalis and Finley Hoffman also help with stats as student coaches. The first game will be Monday, November 15, at the Clinton Turkey Tassel Tournament. 

The boys’ basketball team also has a lot of players this year. The boys have another week of practice as they look forward to their first game. The head coach is Tom Garriott. This year, the team has seven seniors, most of which are just returning to play for their senior season. 

The varsity dance team has a total of 15 girls, including two seniors, one of which is a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands. Coach Emily Weyl has expanded the program with many new and returning members. They perform on the sidelines during the boys’ pre-game warm-up and give a show at halftime. 

The basketball cheerleading team has a total of 16 girls (8 varsity and 6 junior varsity). They also have three foreign exchange students, two are from Germany and the other one is from Spain. Coach Hunter Lang teaches the girls many different routines which they perform on the sidelines during the boys’ games and in-between quarters. 

Wrestling has been working hard with conditioning and strength training. The boys are constantly working up a sweat while having intense practices. This will only benefit the team in the long run. The wrestling team has five seniors this year. Their first matches will be at the Illini Bluffs tournament on November 27. 

Winter sports are officially underway. To follow the teams, schedules can be found on the Olympia website on the activities page of 8 to 18. Good luck, Spartans!