FALL SPORTS PREVIEW 2015
Page 2 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
FOOTBALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 VOLLEYBALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 TENNIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 BOYS SOCCER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 GIRLS SOCCER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 CROSS COUNTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 GIRLS GOLF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 MARCHING BAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 CHEERLEADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
All stories by Michael Zogg / Triplicate sports editor
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Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 3
FOOTBALL KICKS OF NEW ERA IN 2015 The start of the 2015 season has been littered with hurdles for the Del Norte football team. The dominos were set in motion by lightning strikes throughout the Gasquet Ranger District that started a rash of wildfires which called varsity head coach Ray Rook, also the Pelican Bay fire cheif, away from the team just as conditioning camp was getting underway. Rook resigned his position a few days later, on the day before the team was supposed to officially start practice. Eight days later, and 10 days before the season opener against Cardinal Newman, the Warriors were introduced to their new head coach – Lewis Nova — who is starting his third stint with the Del Norte football team after coaching from 1990-2000 and again from 2004-08. “I look at high school football as a privilege in life,” Nova said, explaining his approach to coaching high school football. “If you love the sport — you want to execute in it and you want to be good — than we are here to make you better. Just like in life you are going to be asked to do things and expected to do things. The results of what you do is how you decide if you were successful or not. We stress grades with our team — you are going to have the grades or you won’t be dressing down on Friday nights. We utilize those real important things along with something that they love.” For the players, it has been a bumpy ride as the new head coach took over at the seventh practice as the team was beginning to gel. “We got close as a team and then the coaching staff started falling apart,” said junior linebacker and running back Chee Shorty. “When we got coach Nova it was a big change and a lot of people are afraid of change, so some of the players didn’t
SCHEDULE AUG. 28th HOME Del Norte vs Cardinal Newman SEPT. 4th AWAY Del Norte at Ft. Bragg SEPT. 12th NEUTRAL (3 p.m.) (Autzen Stadium; Eugene, Oregon)
Del Norte vs Cottage Grove SEPT. 18th HOME Del Norte vs. McClymonds SEPT. 25th HOME Del Norte vs. McKinleyville OCT. 2nd HOME Del Norte vs. Fortuna OCT. 10th NEUTRAL (2 p.m.) (at McKinleyville)
Del Norte vs. Arcata OCT. 16th AWAY Del Norte at McKinleyville OCT. 30th HOME Del Norte vs. Eureka NOV. 6th AWAY Del Norte at Fortuna — Varsity games start at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
like it. It didn’t matter to me though, because a coach is a coach. They are going to teach you something.” Junior center and defensive tackle Eathan King remained optimistic the Warriors will be able to pull things together to have a successful season. “It has been pretty crazy, but with the team we have we should be able to do pretty well,” King said. “Coaches are coaches, but we are still running the same offense and same defense for the most part. I am just looking forward to a great season. I have heard that this coach is going to do great things so I am hoping he
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
Head coach Louis Nova took over as the head coach of the football team just 10 days before the season opener against Cardinal Newman on Aug. 28 but he hopes to have the team ready to go when the Warriors take Thunen Field on Friday. can lead our team to victory. I know some of the guys are bummed, but we are all here to play for each other as a team.” One of the first things about Nova as a coach that stood out to King was the intensity he brings to practices. “On the first day when he came to practice there wasn’t very much intensity with everything that was going on — but it picked up real quick,” King said. “I am excited about that. I like fast, strict and intense practices. We have been getting a lot done, we aren’t messing around and we go hard all the time.” Although several coaches initially
walked away from the program following Nova’s hiring, at least one coach returned and Nova has filled out the rest of the staff. “We are behind schedule — that is a given — but each day we are getting better,” Nova said. “We are putting more in and executing better. I pretty much have my staff set so right now we are focused on moving forward 100 percent.” With all the challenges this offseason, it is easy to forget the Warriors are the defending Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 champions and although they lose several key members of the 2014 team, they add a strong group
of juniors who helped lead the junior varsity team to an undefeated 10-0 record last season. The Warriors look to have a particularly strong offensive line heading into the season — that is the position Nova has taken over. “Our line looks really solid. We have a lot of big bodies, quick bodies and athletic bodies,” Nova said. “We don’t have as much depth in those other positions. We are utilizing scenarios where out fastest linemen may become a tight end and a tight end may become a running back or wide receiver. We are going See Football / Page 4
Page 4 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
FOOTBALL Continued from Page 3
to need to utilize all of our bodies as much as possible.” Behind the offensive line, the Warriors will have a brand new quarterback after the graduation of reigning HDN Big 5 MVP Steven Maready. Del Norte’s leading receiver from last season, senior Austin Healy, looks like he will start the season as Maready’s replacement. “Healy has got the first nod (at quarterback),” Nova said. “He is a great kid — an athletic kid that proved himself last year with the things that he did at wide receiver and special teams. When he has the ball he is going to be electrifying.” Junior Dayton Skeens, who quarterbacked the junior varsity team before moving up to the varsity as
a receiver mid season, said he is excited to catch passes from the former wideout. “I like it,” Skeens said. “We connect well, we know all the routes because we know what it is like to play both positions.” Currently the Warrior football team has just 24 players on the varsity roster, but coach Nova said interested students can still come out if they speak with him. En lieu of reinforcements, however, Nova said it will be important to have versatile players this year. “We are making sure that everybody is prepared and they all get playing time so if somebody does get banged up I can move somebody in to fill that spot,” Nova said. “Kids are going to have to be versatile in a couple different positions instead of just being comfortable in just one or two.”
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
Austin Healy (center) looks to be the No. 1 option to replace HDN Big 5 MVP Steven Maready at quarterback this year.
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Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 5
FOCUS ON ATTITUDE, FUNDAMENTALS The Del Norte volleyball team lost a lot of strong hitters and big bodies from last year’s Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 co-League championship. The Warriors second title shared with Arcata in two years. Head coach Debbie Lorenzi plans to lead the Warriors to another HDN title, however. “They know what my goal is,” Lorenzi said with a laugh. Lorenzi has over 20 HDN league titles as the Del Norte coach but this year’s team looks different from the previous two league champs. “We have to work really hard because we are not as tall as last year and we have a lot of new sophomores,” said senior Regin Loftin, preparing for her fourth varsity season. “We are young, so we have to work more as a team.” Lorenzi said this year’s squad of 11 girls is comprised of a freshman (Kaleya Sanchez), four sophomores, four juniors and two seniors. “It is a lot of young players, but we don’t tell them that they are young,” Lorenzi said. “We believe that we are at the varsity level — it doesn’t matter your age, you have to play at that level. So they get no breaks.” Even so, the Warriors have gone back to square one through the first week of practice. “We are going through the very basics, but I have seen big progress in five days,” Lorenzi said. “Fortunately, part of my team prepared very hard in the weightroom over the summer and that is paying off for those See Volleyball / Page 6
SCHEDULE AUG. 28th AWAY Hidden Valley Jamboree SEPT. 1st AWAY Del Norte at Gold Beach SEPT. 3rd AWAY Del Norte at Brookings SEPT. 5th AWAY Yreka Tournament SEPT. 8th HOME Del Norte vs. Illinois Valley SEPT. 10th HOME Del Norte vs. Gold Beach SEPT. 12th AWAY Del Norte at Hidden Valley SEPT. 14th HOME Del Norte vs. Brookings SEPT. 18-19 AWAY Anderson Tournament OCT. 1st HOME Del Norte vs. Eureka OCT. 6th AWAY Del Norte at Fortuna OCT. 8th AWAY Del Norte at Arcata OCT. 13th HOME Del Norte vs. McKinleyville OCT. 17th AWAY Marshfield Tournament OCT. 20th AWAY Del Norte at Eureka OCT. 22nd HOME Del Norte vs. Fortuna OCT. 27th Home Del Norte vs. Arcata OCT. 28th AWAY Del Norte at McKinleyville Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
Regin Loftin is one of two seniors on what looks to be a young Del Norte volleyball team this year.
— Varsity games begin at 6:30 p.m. excluding tournaments.
Page 6 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
VOLEYBALL Continued from Page 5
girls. Out attitude is good and our willingness to learn and listen is good.” But volleyball is a tricky sport, especially when you are playing with new girls at the varsity level, Lorenzi says. “We still have to learn how to play with six in a small area, and it is very tough to do,” she said. “You have to have an upbeat attitude all the time. You have to encourage each other and get each other going. That is what they have to learn still.” Lorenzi said through the first week of practice, she awarded the girls practice shirts for displaying the attitude on the court she was looking for and they all got their
Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson
The Warriors bring four key contributors back from last season’s co-HDN Big 5 title, their second shared title in a row. shirts by last Thursday. “Nobody got a practice shirt until they started showing the attitude,” Lorenzi said. “Then they all started
to understand what I was talking about and they started working on that attitude. It is not about skill, it is about attitude.”
The Warriors are also shorter than last season, though they hope to make up for that with defense. Del Norte returns setter Payten
Healy along with defensive specialists Maddison Smedley and Shauna Naffah. Claire Smith returns to center for the Warriors and Loftin played all the way around last year. “We had a lot of good communication last year and we know what we need to do to win the league,” Loftin said of the five returning players. “So we are trying to tell that to the rest of the team.” With the added emphasis on defense, Loftin said the Warriors have been preparing for longer rallies and games with more conditioning. “We have to stay in our squat for a long time, so we have been doing that a lot,” Loftin said. “We have also been running a lot and we stay in shape lifting twice a week.” The Warriors open the season with a trip to Hidden Valley today and Friday for a varsity only tournament.
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Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 7
GIRLS PUT IN WORK OVER SUMMER
Although Samuel Escobar retired from teaching at the end of the 2014-15 school year, he couldn’t stay away from the Del Norte campus for long. Escobar is back for his second season as the girls tennis coach in 2015 and he has assembled a bit of a staff to help him share the load. “I will take the responsibility of being there for most of the practices and taking them to their tennis matches, but we are going to have a team coaching approach. Jane Rumiano has been with us all summer long and Bettsy Eninger is going to join us as well. She grew up with tennis
similar to Jane. She has played competitively and knows a lot of drill and techniques. She has a really easy way of teaching the kids that the kids are open to.� Escobar said Rumiano has taken the lead on teaching the girls tennis skills while Escobar, a track and field coach at heart, is in charge of conditioning. “We have 16 kids and when we have multiple different skill levels, it is hard to just have one coach for everybody,� Escobar said. “Having three coaches there on a regular basis has definitely been helpful.� The tennis team kicks off the fall season with 16 girls on the roster, including 10 girls returning from last year and six newcomers. Escobar was impressed with the attendance at team workouts throughout See Tennis / Page 8
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
Senior Olivia Jeffcoat will be one of the Warriors top three players this season.
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Page 8 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
TENNIS
Continued from Page 7
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
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the summer. “The girls have been out there every single week throughout the summer,” Escobar said. “This group of kids is definitely dedicated, they are passionate about tennis. We still need to work on their skill though.” Although the Warriors return 10 players from last year, they will be without their top two players from last season — Jordan Babich and Debbie Yang — who both now graduated. Del Norte also loses Alexis Wright to graduation and two more underclassmen who decided to focus on school this fall, Escobar said. Escobar said he expects senior Raili Makela to take over as the team’s top player this season. “Raili Makela will be competitive because she is a natural go-get-up type athlete,” Escobar said. “She is aggressive and knows tennis well. She will be our number one player.” The battle for the No. 2 and No. 3 spots looks to be a little too close to call in the preseason between senior Olivia Jeffcoat and sophomore Bailee Drown. “We are still determining who our number two player is going to be, but it will either be Olivia Jeffcoat or Bailee Drown,” Escobar said. “Both of them have some experience from
last year. One of them will be the second half of our top doubles team with Raili, but we aren’t sure who will be the better combination yet.” After the top three players, there is a bit of an experience gap but Escobar said there should be plenty of players to fill the final three varsity singles spots. “We have a good core of mid-level kids that will move around between the No. 4 and No. 7 spots,” Escobar said. “They are Savannah Bollinger, Salina Xiong, Castly Thao, Kavi Memmer. Those four girls will be getting a lot of playing time but we are still waiting to see where they end up. They try hard, but we still have to work on their skills.” Most of the rest of the girls are fairly new to the sport, Escobar said, but he is happy they have decided to try it out. “We are just hoping that the new girls continue playing and they will get better,” he said. Escobar said the Warriors would be hardpressed to win the league this year, but he expects to have a solid season. “I think we will be right in the middle of the league competitively,” he said. “We are not going to win all of our matches, and we won’t lose them all either.” Del Norte’s season starts Sept. 5 with three straight matches on the road but the Warriors end the season with six of their last eight regular season matches at home.
SCHEDULE SEPT. 5th AWAY Del Norte at St. Bernards SEPT. 8th AWAY Del Norte at McKinleyville SEPT. 12th AWAY Del Norte at Eureka SEPT. 15th HOME Del Norte vs. Arcata SEPT. 19th HOME Del Norte vs. North Coast Preperatory Academy SEPT. 22rd AWAY Del Norte at Fortuna SEPT. 29th HOME Del Norte vs St. Bernards OCT. 3rd HOME Del Norte vs. McKinleyville OCT 6th HOME Del Norte vs. Eureka OCT. 10th AWAY Del Norte at Arcata OCT 13th HOME Del Norte vs. North Coast Preperatory Academy OCT. 17th HOME Del Norte vs. Fortuna OCT. 24th AWAY HDN Singles at Eureka OCT. 30th AWAY HDN Doubles at Eureka NOV. 10,12,14 AWAY NCS Team Championships NOV. 17-18 AWAY NCS Singles and Doubles — Games start at 4 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays.
Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 9
TEAM HAS CHANCE TO GROW TOGETHER SCHEDULE SEPT. 9th AWAY Del Norte at Arcata SEPT. 16th HOME Del Norte vs. Ferndale SEPT. 19th AWAY Del Norte at McKinleyville SEPT. 23rd HOME Del Norte vs. Eureka SEPT. 26th AWAY Del Norte at St. Bernard’s (Eureka) SEPT. 30th AWAY Del Norteat South Fork OCT. 3rd AWAY Del Norte at Fortuna OCT. 7th HOME Del Norte vs. Arcata OCT. 10th AWAY Del Norte at Ferndale OCT. 14th HOME Del Norte vs. McKinleyville OCT. 17th AWAY Del Norte at Eureka OCT. 21nd HOME Del Norte vs St. Bernard’s OCT. 24th HOME Del Norte vs. South Fork OCT. 28th HOME Del Norte vs. Fortuna
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
Tyler Reynolds (left) and Jorge Landeros (right) battle for the ball during a preseason scrimmage.
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— Boys games begin at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 11 a.m. on Saturdays
on Sept. 9. The boys and girls teams will travel together for games again this year with the boys playing the early games at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and 11 a.m. on Saturdays.
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Graduation hit the Del Norte boys soccer program hard last season leaving the Warriors looking at a rebuilding season in 2015, according to head coach David Sanyaolu. Luckily, Sanyaolu has eager young talent ready to do just that. “This year is going to be rebuilding because a lot of players graduated last year. This year I am happy that we have six freshmen,” Sanyaolu said. “If we can retain a lot of them we can build them together. Last year we had a lot of seniors that we were able to build together and most of them were with me for four years. I am really excited about the prospect of working with these freshmen.” Throughout the early weeks of practice the team has been working a lot on proper mechanics to get the youngsters up to speed. “We are working on ball control, some short passes, just the basics right now,” said senior forward Francisco Raya. “I think people look good right now. We need to improve still but once the season gets started everyone will get better.” Through the first couple days, Sanyaolu said he was pleased with how the younger players looked in practice. “The have a good attitude, which is good because they are freshmen and they are willing to learn,” Sanyaolu said. “Most of them are open minded and receptive to new ideas.” Although the Warriors are young, Sanyaolu believes they can still be successful, but the most important thing about 2015 will be preparing for the future of the team. “We are going to aim high, but we have to be cognizant of the fact that we are rebuilding,” Sanyaoly said. “Hopefully we can get some good wins, but most importantly is the development of this group through the years. I want to see these kids grow and develop into complete players over the next four years.” The Warriors start the season quickly with a trip to defending Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 league champion Arcata up first for Del Norte
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Page 10 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
GIRLS EXCITED ABOUT TURNOUT
After starting the 2014 with just nine girls and scrambling to find new players, the 2015 squad already has plenty with 23 girls on the roster for the first week of practice. “We are going through some true tryouts this year,” said head coach Clar Byers. “It has been a lot better than starting off with nine players last year.” The Warriors have a good mix of ages on the team with five seniors and four juniors to go along with nine sophomores and six incoming freshmen. “I am very happy to see the turnout. The athletic department has been seeing numbers dwindling in a lot of sports but this year we have a good turnout,” Byers said. “We have maybe gotten the word out a little bit more, but we always try to get the word out,” he said. “I
think it is just because there is more interest this year. We have six new sophomores and five new freshmen, so there is a lot of new blood. That gives the team opportunity to continue to grow if they stick with the program. It is always nice to see larger numbers in the lower grades.” Although the girls team mainly focused on conditioning through the first few days of practice, the Warriors were optimistic. “The conditioning has started out really well this year. I don’t think we were that well conditioned last year at the beginning of the season,” said sophomore defender Kes-e-loh McQuillen. “Last year we had a few players that were fast, but this year we have more people that are able to run longer distances. That is good because we should have more midfielders that
are able to run back and forth.” More speed and endurance through the midfield will hopefully result in more possession and ultimately more chances to score. “We have a lot of speed and hopefully some girls that are good at ball control,” said senior goalkeeper Katie Aguirre. “Hopefully we can keep the ball on the offensive side of the field instead of defense.” Del Norte is planning on counting on its defense, however, at least early in the year with most of the defense who ended the season last year returning. “We are really close,” Aguirre said of the returning defenders. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we know when we need to help out and when not to.” “Our defense will See Soccer / Page 11
Del Norte Triplicate /Michael Zogg
Goalkeeper Katie Aguirre will be back in between the pipes for Del Norte this season. The Warriors return much of their defense from last season and expect that to be a strength this year.
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Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 11
SOCCER Continued from Page 10
probably be our strength,” McQuillen said. “I still haven’t seen a lot of the players yet so we will see how far and how strong their kick is. I am excited to see what the season brings.” Offensively, Del Norte will need to replace their top goal scorer — Maddie Critz, who moved to forward from defense midway through the 2014 season and sparked a scoring barrage for the Warriors. Del Norte will also be missing its top distributor, Sabrina Gonzalez, to graduation. Although they team hadn’t done much ball handling as of last Tuesday, Byers said several of the newcomers have expressed inter-
est in playing forward. “We are seeing a lot of athletic girls. Once we are done with conditioning we will see how their skills are and what we will look like as a team,” Byers said. “I know a lot of these girls have come from the rec leagues, so there should be some soccer skills there. We will just see if we can pull it together and play together.” Byers said this year’s squad has enough players to put together a junior varsity team, though there are not many JV teams in the area to play against. Byers said he is looking into scheduling some exhibition games against the Brookings-Harbor junior varsity squad however. Despite the large turnout this year, Byers said he is always hap-
py to welcome more players who are interested. “Even though we have had a good turnout, new players are always welcome,” Byers said. “Every year there seems to be someone who didn’t hear about it and some people are still on vacation.” Some of the best Warriors soccer players, according to Byers, have been athletes who were previously cut from another fall sport. “I usually talk to the coaches of other sports that make cuts like the volleyball team,” Byers said. “Some of our best players have actually come to us after being cut from the volleyball team.” Del Norte season kicks off on the first week of school with a trip to Cave Junction to face Illinois Valley on Sept. 3.
SCHEDULE SEPT. 3 AWAY Del Norte at Illinois Valley
OCT. 7th HOME Del Norte vs. Arcata
SEPT. 9th AWAY Del Norte at Arcata
OCT. 10th AWAY Del Norte at Ferndale
SEPT. 16th HOME Del Norte vs. Ferndale
OCT. 14th HOME Del Norte vs. McKinleyville
SEPT. 19th AWAY Del Norte at McKinleyville
OCT. 17th AWAY Del Norte at Eureka
SEPT. 23rd HOME Del Norte vs. Eureka
OCT. 21nd HOME Del Norte vs St. Bernard’s
SEPT. 26th AWAY Del Norte at St. Bernard’s (Eureka)
OCT. 24th HOME Del Norte vs. South Fork
SEPT. 30th AWAY Del Norteat South Fork
OCT. 28th HOME Del Norte vs. Fortuna
OCT. 3rd AWAY Del Norte at Fortuna
— Girls games begin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 1 p.m. on Saturdays
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Page 12 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
BOYS AND GIRLS READY TO RUN The 2015 cross country program is a little bit lopsided with more than enough boys to field a full seven-runner team, but only one girl. Karlie Scott is the lone female runner on the team this year after earning a medal as the 14th-place finisher at the Humboldt-Del Norte League Championships in her first cross country season in 2014. “I want to get better from last year and hopefully white star, but it will be pretty difficult,� Scott said. “There aren’t a lot of people that run my pace in practice yet, because (the boys) are probably faster. Hopefully I can catch up to them.� The boys team loses two of its fastest runners from last season as Jesus Lara and Garrett Galea are not planning on competing this fall. The Warriors welcome back
Parker Thompson, Sebastian Fabricius, Nick Jacob, Steven Berry and Graeson Cameron to the boys squad. Assistant coach George Heartman said Thompson was the fastest boy through the first couple days of practices, but by the end of the first week freshman Braydon Henderson was the first runner back from the day’s jog. “This season the boys team is very similar to last year,� sophomore Steven Berry said. “We had a pretty good season last year actually with a few runners placing pretty high. We hope to do that again this year.� Berry said the team seems to be moving a little bit quicker through the early-season practices than he remembers from his freshman year. “Our conditioning looks pretty good com-
pared to last year,� he said. “Last year we had a slow start, but this year we are almost picking up where we left off.� The cross country team will kick off its season with a non-league meet in Brookings on Sept. 12 before kicking off the Humboldt-Del Norte schedule on Sept. 23 in McKinleyville.
SCHEDULE ď ś SEPT. 12th AWAY at Brookings ď ś SEPT. 23rd AWAY at McKinleyville ď ś SEPT. 30th AWAY at Eureka ď ś OCT. 7th AWAY at Fortuna
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Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 13
GIRLS GOLF FOCUSED ON GROWTH SCHEDULE SEPT. 11th AWAY at Benbow Golf Course SEPT. 17TH HOME at Del Norte Golf Course
Sept 21st AWAY at Big Foot Golf Course Sept 28th AWAY at Redwood Country Club OCT. 8th AWAY at Eureka Municipal Golf Course OCT. 15th AWAY at Baywood Golf Course OCT. 19th AWAY at Beau Pre Golf Course
ed players so I thought, ‘Why not?’” she said. “My cousin (Kyle Graves) sort of taught me how to hit, but that is pretty much all that I know so far.” On her first day of practice, Gilbert said Eckart was walking her through each of her clubs and explaining what situations to use them in. Fitzhugh is the team’s top returner after finishing fifth individually in the Humboldt-Del Norte last year and went on to take 10th place at the North Coast Section Division II meet. Eckart said she hopes to see Siera back in the top five in the HDN again this year. Gina Danna shaved 18 strokes off of her score last year, with a low score of 121. Eckart said she wants to see Danna chip away at that score further to reach into the 110s. “I think she is very capable of getting there,” Eckart said. “Each of the girls are setting personal goals and we are going to make concentrated efforts to achieve those throughout the year. It is really important for them to own it.” No matter what their end goals are, Eckart said the girls will need to work a lot on their short game throughout the season. “They yell at me and they don’t like it because they like to swing, but it is the short game that gets them those strokes back,” Eckart said. “I need to prove that to them this year.”
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
Senior Gina Danna is one of two returning girls golfers on a Del Norte team that is looking to grow.
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The girls golf team is growing and head coach Allison Eckart isn’t ready for that to stop. The Warriors return both players from last season’s team in seniors Sierra Fitzhugh and Gina Danna. As of practice on Monday, the team added freshman Sabannah Gilbert to the squad, bringing the total to three. Eckart said she there are two other girls who have shown interest in joining the team this season. “We are looking for young people,” Eckart said. “I had a really good experience with James Haban’s camp on Saturday. I met a sophomore that is interested in coming out for the team and I am really hoping it works out for her.” The goal for Eckart is to get at least five players to field a full team this year. It would be the first time the girls golf team has had a full varsity squad in at least four years. “We want to improve the number of girls that come out and the number of girls that are going to make this a lifelong sport,” Eckart said. “One of the beauties of golf is it is an individual sport and a lifelong skill. It improves confidence, it improves your demeanor and how you tackle a problem.” One of the challenges with recruiting players to the girls golf team is, with no golf courses on campus, the team’s visibility suffers. Through the first week of school, Eckart has been working with the girls on their hitting at the high school to help raise visibility as parents drive by and kids head to the building to check out their schedules. With the season starting Sept. 11, the girls golf team has a little bit more time than some of the other fall sports to get things started, so Eckart is continuing to scour the school looking for players. “I really want to get in the building so that girls feel invited in that first week of school,” Eckart said. “I am going to talk to freshmen orientation on Friday and we are hoping to have some golf demos out (in front of the school).” For Gilbert, golf wasn’t her first choice of fall sports, but she is excited to make the best of it. “I didn’t really make it onto the volleyball team and I heard that the girls golf team need-
Page 14 — Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015
BRINGING THE MAGIC TO GAMES the leaders in the group and they are helping to carry the new kids that don’t know what they are doing as much.” With increasingly complex marches, the band will be expected to face away from the front more often so the Warriors are doing things a little differently this year. “As we turn around we aren’t looking at anyone waving their arms around, so this year we have two drum majors,” Sedgewick said. “Our second drum major is being used in all thee movements.” Sedgewick said this is the first year he has held auditions for a second drum major, rather than just selecting somebody close to the back of the formation in a particular song. They went through the same audition process at the end of the 2014-15 school year as the first drum majors and were selected with input from several sources. “I get most of the votes, but I do like to take a poll of the band and see what they are thinking,” Sedgewick said. “The current drum major, whether they are graduating or coming back, also has a say in who the second drum major will be, or who the next drum major will be.” Junior Andi Barneburg is the first drum major, and Sedgewick said she will be the drum major next year as well. The second drum major is Brittany DeNicholas, who will lead the band from the back. DeNicholas is a sophomore, and Sedgewick said she would be in line to replace Barneburg in 2017. “We have some young strong leaders,” Sedgewick said. “It will be really fun to see where they go.” Sedgewick said the marching band will not perform at the first football game of the season this year, on Aug. 28. They will perform at halftime of the other four home games. The marching band is also planning on competing in the Pride of the Northwest band competition in Grants Pass on Oct. 17.
Del Norte Triplicate / Michael Zogg
The Del Norte marching band kicked of 2015 with band camp at the high school Aug. 10-14.
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On the same week the football team took to the practice field, the Del Norte marching band kicked off with a camp of its own as the Warriors prepare to bring a little magic to Friday nights. “The freshmen have no idea what to expect coming in,” said director Dan Sedgwick of the annual camp. “It is long and grueling. The camp was Monday through Friday and this year we extended the hours a little bit.” The first day went from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. with some breaks, according to Sedgwick, and some of the days were even longer as the week went on. “It was a good effective week,” Sedgewick said. In all, Sedgewick said there were about 54 kids at camp, depending on the day, and he expects around 60 once school starts up. “That is down a little bit from last year, but still higher than most of my previous seven years here. It is a pretty good number of kids for a marching band.” This year’s show is a three-part movement featuring the six themes from the first Harry Potter movie. While Sedgewick has designed and choreographed shows in the past, this year he decided to purchase the rights to a show from a company that designs shows professionally. “The music is a lot harder than last year. It is pushing them. But they are not demoralized by it. They are taking it and practicing.” Sedgewick said. “The drill is harder also, but they are marching well and we have a lot of leaders that are helping push that forward.” Although the music and marching are more difficult this year, Sedgewick said with most of this band returning from last year, he trusts them to handle it. “If we didn’t have the returning kids, the band would suffer,” Sedgewick said. “I have about 85 percent of the students that were in band last year back again this year. They are
Del Norte Triplicate — 2015 Fall Sports Preview –– Thursday, August 27, 2015 — Page 15
Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson
The Del Norte cheerleaders will be back on the sidelines in 2015 under the direction of new head coach Jennifer Willis, who recently served as the cheerleading coach at Brookings-Harbor High School.
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