The team has been coached by Amy Entwistle, a Physical Education and Health teacher at Catoctin High School, for 16 years. Her assistant coaches are Chris Barnhart, one of the gym teachers at Thurmont Primary School, and Jason Smith, president of the Thurmont CYA basketball program. Barnhart’s daughter, Cheyney (Junior), and Smith’s
daughter, Lily (Junior), are players on the team. Coach Entwistle was the coach 10 years ago when the team won the state championship.
The team practices every weekday for about two hours and also on Saturdays. The team of 10 is a young team made up of two seniors, Madi Tobary and Kallen Latham; three juniors, Courtney Eyler, Cheyney Barnhart and Lily Smith and five sophomores, Emma Wivell (second year varsity), Emily Williams, Paige Smith, Lily Gadra and Lily Burgee
(all first-year varsity players). Team parent Tara Wivell describes the group as "a very tough, defense-minded team with a lot of scoring threats to overcome opposing defenses."
The team’s philosophy is "one team, one family, one program," and it uses that as a hashtag on social media. Even though the team is young, most of the girls have been playing together since middle school. Also, the assistant coaches have coached the girls at some point prior to high school in Thurmont’s CYA program and helped their
transition to the high school team. This consistency in coaching is one of the fundamental reasons for success this year and is evident on the court with 5 of these long-time athletes playing varsity this year. Two of the players, Wivell and Eyler, made the Central Maryland Conference First Team this year.
The team’s first playoff game is Friday, Feb. 28. If they advance in the playoffs, they would see their toughest opponent as Smithsburg, a very physical team with seasoned players. However, the cougars have beaten them twice this year in the regular season. As the season is drawing closer to an end, this team is looking ahead
optimistically at the next few seasons. Because the team is so young, they’ll only be losing 2 seniors at the end of the season. Four of this year’s starters are expected to return next season.
Indoor Track - The indoor track season came to a rewarding end at the State Championship with several athletes placing. Seven boys and four girls participated individually in track events, ranging from sprints to distance. Senior Emma Strickland took 3rd place in the 500 meter dash with a time of 1:20.86, and 1st place in the 800 meter
run with a time of 2:24.05. Sophomore Brenna Williams took 4th place in the 3200 meter run with a time of 13:00.87. The girls relay team took 3rd place in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 10:39.55. On the boys’ side, freshman Alex Conteras took 3rd place in the 3200 meter run with a time of 10:31.51. Senior Owen Bubczyk took 5th place in the 3200 meter run
with a time of 10:42.70, and 6th place in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:52.61. In shot put, Senior Jacob Mcilvaine took 2nd place with a distance of 45-10, Senior Tyler Hawk took 3rd place with a distance of 43-5.5, and Senior Tristen Rice took 5th place with a distance of 42-5.5. The boys team placed 4th overall with 35 points, and the girls placed 7th
with 30 points.
Swim- After many long practices of conditioning, drills and technique work four days a week, the CHS Swim team has successfully finished its season. The last meet of the Swim team’s regular season was held on Jan. 30, against Governor Thomas Johnson High School. After that, the season was closed by the Regional Diving meet and the
Regional Swimming meet. Sophomore Keola Evans is the first Catoctin diver to compete in this meet, as she took 11 dives in the season, surpassing the minimum of six dives needed to qualify. This was her first season as a part of the team, and she plans to return next year because she "really enjoys the people involved." A very determined athlete, she was a
part of Unified Tennis in the fall, and will be joining Unified Track as Spring begins.
Evans participated with the rest of the team at the Regional Swimming meet on February 15. The majority of the team set personal and season bests at the event. "I find it most rewarding," Coach Aimee Watkins stated, "to remind the swimmers who are brand new to the team of what they were like in the beginning of the season compared to
where they were by the end, and how much they improved in the sport." With seven freshmen, seven sophomores, two juniors, and five seniors (only one of which has been on the team for all four years), the team contained few returning members among several new swimmers. Watkins is "excited to watch the newer members continue to grow over the next few years."
Baseball - While athletes and coaches are celebrating a successful end to the Winter season, they’re already preparing for an equally optimistic Spring season that begins on Feb. 29. According to Coach Michael Franklin, the varsity baseball team started with six sophomores, one freshman, and only lost one senior - as it appears that
four will join again this year. Austin Smith and Devin Baxter are among the several returning juniors. There is plenty of work that goes into preparation, according to Smith and Baxter. They both describe their preparation in the school day as lots of tee work and morning throwings at the school - with lots of conditioning. Both juniors were a part of Indoor
Track this past season, mainly to prepare for baseball and to improve their running. This will be their 3rd year on the team. When asked what it is about baseball that makes him return each year, Baxter stated, "Really, it’s how the team gets along and works well together - along with the coaching staff. You learn something new everyday."
Boys Lacrosse - According to Coach Neil Metzgar, the boys lacrosse team is very excited about their upcoming JV season as they have "one of the biggest and most talented incoming freshman classes in the program’s history." He anticipates that the number of boys in JV will be higher than Varsity this year. While the team is small, they
are fortunate to have experienced players. Metzgar plans to bring JV and Varsity together for the play-off run towards the end of the season. He feels that when combined, their "depth and talent" will make them a "tough opponent."
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