Optimism grows about coming seasons

Gina Lin
CHS Class of 24

(9/2022) Summer seemed to have flown by this year. This school year began on August 17th. Some might even argue that school started way too soon. But, that also kicks off fall sports, which began on August 10th this year. Catoctin will be competing in a variety of sports this fall including cheerleading, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, soccer, unified tennis, and volleyball. Tryouts for all teams were held on August 10th through August 12th, with an exception of unified tennis.

The Catoctin golf team is coached by Mark Smith, a first year coach. Home matches and practices will also occur at the golf club. Concerning the team's performance during tryouts, Coach Smith commented that "the future looks very bright!" Of the 18 athletes that were present at tryouts, 14 were selected for the team. Some returning players who did well in the previous season include senior Zane Shugars, senior Donovan Baker, junior Peyton Cramer, sophomore Jordan Moore and sophomore Justin Mehall. Additionally, two seniors and one sophomore will be returning this year. Of the new players there are five freshmen and one sophomore.

Fresh from their track victory in the spring, the boys cross country team is ready to compete. David Lillard, who has had over 20 years of experience, will be coaching the boys cross country team again. There are 11 runners on the team, with returners like senior Alex Contreras, junior Gabe Riling, and junior Santi Canadas. All three runners participated in summer training camps; Coach Lillard regards them to be leaders on the field. With the team’s overall capabilities, Coach Lillard hopes to make it "to the top five." The girls team will be coached by Robert "Trey" Davis, who is in his sixth year of coaching. The lineup features five returners: two juniors and two sophomores, along with two newcomers, including a foreign exchange student from Denmark! Although the team is relatively young, Coach Davis feels buoyant "some naturally talented athletes… could carry us not only in the region, but in the state[s] as well."

Miriah Stone will be coaching the field hockey team this fall. There will be 17 players this year, seven of which are new: five freshmen, two sophomores, three juniors, and seven seniors. Last year, the team came close to dominating the regional championship; they only lost by a point. Junior Natalie Hoyt pointed out, "with the talent we have on the team this year, and if we play like I know we know how to, I think our season will be even better than last year’s." The first game is projected to be at home on September 6th against Brunswick High.

Over the summer CHS volleyball held its first volleyball camp from July 18th through July 20th, after a three year intermission due to the pandemic. The team's Facebook page commented, "Each girl showed up ready to play and grow in their skills for the three day camp!" Open gyms were also available during the summer but, unfortunately, ended prematurely due to school maintenance. Varsity volleyball has been practicing everyday after school. Team Caption and senior Abigail May mentioned that during practice the girls, "...are learning new drills, fine tuning skills, and growing our bond and cohesion." Wes Fream will be returning to coach volleyball. The varsity team is looking pretty impressive as many of the girls are engaged in club or recreational volleyball, persistently. With 11 veteran players and one newcomer, varsity volleyball is sure to have success in store. May has many priorities for her team -- some of which include to, "...grow as players, we continue to stay aggressive and enthusiastic, and that we bring home some good wins for Catoctin." CHS volleyball will play Frederick High during their first game on September 6th . The JV team will play Frederick on the same day.

The football team has been preparing for the upcoming season with several workouts, over the course of the summer, targeted at strength training. Coach Michael Rich will continue in his third year of coaching Catoctin football. In an interview with Frederick County Sports Weekend, Coach Rich expressed confidence in the team's performance this season as there are many players returning including 18 seniors. A conspicuous senior is JD McCallion; McCallion led the team in tackles and was an all-area player during his previous years. Coach Rich reflected on the previous season, noting that, "We had a very small senior class and while that led to some struggles last year, it gave a lot of young guys the opportunity to play."

According to Coach Rich, a majority of players last year were less experienced and as a result Catoctin didn't have the best track record. But, Coach Rich is optimistic about this season as the players have been training persistently and building trust amongst each other. Rich also discussed his growth in coaching, "I can’t coach our guys like Urbana or Oakdale… I have to coach Catoctin High School like Catoctin High School." Additionally, Coach Rich pointed to the benefits of coaching a small school as analogous to a family: "We train together, we live together, and we get close together."

If you would like full schedules of when games are set to take place, you can visit the Frederick County CMC website and click on Catoctin High School at the right hand side. It should give you dates for every sports team at CHS and the location, time, and opponent.

Fundraising is a crucial component to helping out sports teams. One way the Catoctin High School Sports Boosters does that is by operating concession stands. Currently, the organization is in need of a concessions manager as that position has been vacant for the past two years. The concessions manager is not assigned to run the concession stands, rather maintain inventory and supplies for the stand. Additionally, the concession manager will provide seasonal training and further instructions to the team parents who run the stands. If you are interested in this position please email the CHS Sports Boosters at catoctinbooster@gmail.com.

Some more important news to be informed of include eligibility requirements. FCPS has updated highschool eligibility requirements to participate in extracurricular activities as of July 15th. According to Regulation No. 500-24, "High school students who…have a GPA below 2.0 at the end of the second semester will not be eligible to participate in Fall extracurricular activities." This was a change from previous requirements as FCPS is now considering final course grades for the first and second semester instead of term-based eligibility.