This season, THS players are standing on the track, court, ice, mat, or the sidelines, all waiting for that starting whistle to begin their competitions. With the winter sports seasons starting, there is a numerous amount of sports that have begun. Captains of wrestling, basketball, track, cheer, and hockey, have set many personal and team goals for their team.
The Triton Voice decided to hear what some of them have to say about their teams performance so far, as well as goals they have had for the season.
Wrestling
The wrestling teams season starts right after Thanksgiving, with Coach Shawn McElligott wanting to get the quickest start to the season as possible. Coach Mac, along with senior team captains Nolan Merrill, Alex Sabino, and Sam Imlach, all do tremendous off season work in order to grow and better the team. The teams current record for dual meets is 7-1, only recently taking their first lost to Lynnfield/North Reading. Triton also competes in multiple tournaments throughout the season. Placing first in the Big Red Championship, seventh place at the Dan Balboni Classic, and 10th at the Brendan Grant Memorial Tournament. The girls also compete in their own tournaments placing 21st at the MA Girls Kick-off Classic, sixth at the Dan Balboni Classic, and 16th at the Brendan Grant Memorial Tournament.
All of the captains this year agreed that their main goal for the team is to win a CAL title, win a tournament overall, and send as many wrestlers as they can to the State Championships. Triton Wrestling has also gone 26 seasons winning a CAL title, so they have a big goal to make this year their 27th win. Individually, each captain has slightly different personal goals they wish to accomplish before their season is over.
“Personally I plan on placing at states and moving onto the All-States and New England tournaments.” said Sam Imlach.
The wrestling team has already accomplished an abundance of goals so far this year, and are heading into a very exciting and tournament filled portion of the season.
“We have a very strong team, and I was expecting to be 9-0 at this point but somethings just don’t go out way, especially against Lynnfield, but were only looking ahead to future opponents.” Sam Imlach
No matter what is thrown at them, the captains have stayed positive, reinforcing the team that there is still work to be done, and things to accomplish. Merrill and Sabino both agreed with one another that they hope to compete and place in the Sectional, State, and All-State Championships.
“This season I am trying to get my 100th win, place at States, possibly the All-State, but probably will just qualify.” says Nolan Merrill.
Hockey
This year, the Triton hockey team is composed of 22 varsity players. They all work hard after school everyday practicing from 3:00 to 4:00. The team is coached by Ryan Sheehan, Robert Hawkes, Kyle Mckendry, and Marc Bastarche. Team captains include Senior Luke Sulivan, Senior Josh Hersey, and Senior Connor Rumph. A big goal for them this year is to make it far in the playoffs as they have attempted in years passed but couldn’t fully get the job done. Sullivan believes that they are in a good spot right now with their record of 6-4-1, but have had some tough games that have since created some disconnection. However, he believes that once that is fixed they will be back on track to making their goals a reality.
“The boys are fired up for senior night after loosing two games,” said Sulivan. “Looking forward to getting back into the winning column and improve our record.”
On the other hand, Hersey has some stronger personal goal for himself this season. Last season he scored 18 goals, but this season he is aiming for over 25 to end his senior year. Thinking of his teammates, he also has some goals he hopes the team can accomplish this season, that they haven’t been able to in the past.
“A team goal for the season was to get a top 10 spot in the powers ranking and eventually get into the garden for a state championship,” says Hersey. “That’s been our goal as seniors for the last 4 years so why not save the best for last.”
Track
Track is a year-round sport that many students at Triton participate in. Both boys and girls track gets coached by Mr. Joseph Colbert, Tyler Colbert, Graham Eaton, and Lauretta Bailin. The boys team has 4 senior captains, Bradyn Lopes, Jack Lyman, Will Hight, Jonah Reminganti. The girls track team is run by senior captains Ava Burl and Alexa Bonasera, as well as junior captains Sarah Ewell and London Cole.
For the boys, this year their current record is 2-1. Their first meet against Pentucket ended in a 51-49 win for the vikings, their second meet against North Reading ended in a 53-47 loss, and finally Newburyport where they beat the Clipper 54-46. At the start of the year captain Bradyn Lopes had both team and personal goals for his team. Coming back from an injury, personally he was hoping ot get back to normal. He had team hopes to win the CALS and have a good amount of the team qualify for the state tournament. However, after seeing their performances at meets, his expectations have slightly changed.
“We are most likely not going to win the CAL anymore, so its to just win the CAL meet outside of our record,” states Lopes. “But, I think we are exceeding expectations as individuals.”
Other team captain William Hight also shared his own goals for not only his own record, but for the team as well. He agrees with Lopes, wanting to win the CAL Championship meet. Additionally he hopes to have more athletes play at the State relays and set a school record for the 4×200. Personally, he hopes on becoming a better captain for his team, after not competing in the previous spring season. Overall, he has high hopes for himself and teammates.
“We are exceeding expectations in a lot of events and have a promising season ahead of us.” said Hight.
Heading into the girls side of it, they share the same record as the boys, 2-1. They have beat Pentucket 57-43, North Reading 53-47, but ended up loosing against Newbutyport, 20-70. Senior captain for the girls team, Ava Burl, shares goals that not only better herself as an athlete, but will better the team as a whole. In past seasons, she says they have struggled with keeping the team motivated, especially after a tough loss, and wants to work on keeping a more positive attitude.
“We focused on celebrating the small victories, like personal and season bests,” says Burl. “As these moments help boost confidence and motivate the team to keep pushing forward.”
Since the start, Burl has always been passionate about running. A big personal goal for her is to end her senior year sharing that passion with the younger athletes, while also preparing herself for the collegiate level.
“I want to pass down the excitement and love for track to the next generation of runners and help inspire them to enjoy the sport as much as I have.” said Burl.
Burl hopes to leave a forever lasting impact on the Triton Track and Field team, not even with her own performances, but by leading the team to remain positive and supportive of each other in the future. Along with her, junior captain London Cole also shares some goals she has for the team. Cole wants a season where each person on the team feels they are apart of a family, always setting new personal records and trying their hardest.
All captains have many overlapping goals, personally and for the team. Both wanting the best for themselves, but more so for their teammates.
Cheer
The cheer team started with tryouts on December 16th right before winter break. Having all of winter break to practice cheers to get ready for their first basketball game on January 3rd. A small team was made up this year with a total of 5 girls. Junior captain Cassidy Beebe, and Sophomore captain Kaylin Cook, have great hopes for improvement with their team for the season. From team bonding to tumbling goals, the winter cheer team has goals set for the season.
“Winter cheer is definitely different than fall, with a much smaller team. For winter my biggest skill goal for the team is to get stunts going so we can do them at basketball games.” states Beebe. “I also just genuinely want everyone to have a great bond with each other since it is such a small team and shorter season.”
Winter season differs strongly from the fall season. In comparison, the fall cheerleading team had 20 athletes on the game team, 10 of those on the competition team in addition to games. However, no matter how big or small a team is each teammate is there for each other and has goals to improve their skills.
Basketball
Last but not least, the boys and girls basketball team. Both having 13 varsity players, led by amazing senior captains. For the boys team, they have Charlie Mollineaux, Jason Holscher, and Liam Friis. The girls team is ran by Ashley Jones, and Margaret Welch.
The boys basketball team has 3 different coaches who have all helped them get where they are today, coach Mike Trovato, Danielle Perkins, and Mark Pierce. Currently they have a solid record of 6 wins and 4 losses. As captain, Charlie Mollineaux has set goals for his team in order to help himself and them succeed. He has hopes that they will win 10 season games, and make it into the playoffs. Since the beginning of the season, those goals have remained the same. Doing better than he thought they would be doing, Mollineux keeps his hopes high for the team and supports them through the season.
Additionally, the girls team is also coached by 3 different coaches, Gregg Dollas, Jack McCarthy, and Papa D. They have a current record of 4 wins and 7 losses. Senior, Ashley Jones, shares how she as a captain helps herself and the team throughout the season. She is always aware of what everyone around her is capable of and provides motivation in order to keep morale high.
“When it comes to being a captain I just want make sure everyone felt included and they had a purpose of the team.” said Jones.
In past years on the team, Jones has felt as though some of the younger players have been excluded which outs the team in a bad mindset. So with that, she tries her hardest to always reach out to others and create close relationships with everyone. In order to support the team, Jones has been putting in work to better her offense and becoming a stronger asset to the team.
Overall, both teams have put in immense effort to achieve what they have so far.
