By Max Thomson

While watching soccer games under the lights and enjoying suspenseful volleyball matches was fun, it’s now time to shift our focus to the sports of the winter. We started off the winter season with 3 short weeks before a much needed vacation which I’m sure, whether or not we’d like to admit, encumbered our athletic ability with large meals and festive treats. If you’re anything like me, you didn’t hold back when your Grandma ordered you to eat her hearty home-cooked meals. 

Beaver made some big moves in the off season, most notably with the addition of the swim team. While Beaver students relaxed through the summer, and grinded through the fall, the athletics department worked tirelessly to give us another sport that we can dominate in.

Thankfully, the inaugural season for the swim team is off to a great start, and they don’t seem to want to stop soon. Bella Hauser, a junior on the team says, “We’re all working on improving the basics to hopefully build a strong foundation that the team can grow off of in the future.” The team seems to be focusing on the future; perhaps this will pay off in a few years as the younger members grow into leadership positions.

The hockey teams, another relatively recent addition to Beaver’s sports portfolio, has also begun their respective seasons well. To my relief, the boys hockey team has grown in numbers as we have started this season off with a full roster; a great improvement from last years measly 6 players at the start of the season. The boys hockey team, so far, is 2-1. Speaking as a member of the team, I am excited about this year’s potential and am looking forward to watching us grow as a team. Girls hockey is off to a slower start, but nothing to be worried about as Sallie Chope, a senior captain says, “I think that we are going to improve a lot and begin to have better results because we got a lot of new strong players this year.” Hopefully they can bounce back from their first two losses and win some games.

While nearly not as cold, but perhaps just as physical, the wrestling team began their season better than last year according to Quin Mullaney, a sophomore team member. He critically said that they were “awful last year, (yet) doing great this year. More wins than last year so we’re looking up”. Good luck to the wrestling team!

While I can’t say I know much about squash, Hisashi Loinske, a junior and member of the Beaver squash team assured me that the team is off the right start and that “he (is) proud our teams moral so it’s just a matter of if we can perform as well as we can cheer, which (he) thinks (they) can.” I am confident that Hisashi and squash team can continue towards their goal of better performance.

A sport that is often overlooked at Beaver is 13.1, which features motivated athletes who, to my amazement, run every single day just for the sake of it. While I can’t speak for their motivations, the end result is definitely something to work for; the chance to complete a half marathon. Benji Otting, a junior and a member of the team says, “his is a great group of people to run with and I’m excited for our half marathon.” While I’m not sure I’d be looking forward to running 13 miles in the cold, I am impressed with these runners and wish them luck in their training. 

To my astonishment, everytime I walk through the gym I see at least one of Beaver’s 4 basketball teams running. Much like 13.1, their work ethic is unmatched and, speaking as a fan, their work clearly pays off when they can hustle up and down the court for minutes on end. 

My sister is a member of the girls JV Basketball team, so I am graced with the opportunity to watch some of her games, and to my untrained eye, they look good. Sammy Thomson, who actually understands the sport, says “we are learning how to all work together and with the help of the coaches we are looking forward to winning more games” With a record so far of 1-1, they have a lot of potential.

A team that my sister aspires to make as she continues her journey through high school is the Girls Varsity Basketball team which so far has won all 6 of their games! In Gina Lombard’s words, a senior member of the team, “we won the Ethel Walker tournament before break and now we’re preparing for the second stretch of our season. We’re hoping to keep our undefeated streak alive and eventually carry our momentum into NEPSACS!” I’m sure their excellent record and hard work will take them all the way to NEPSACS.

The boys JV basketball team is off to a “hot start” in Jonny Haber’s words, a junior and a member of the team. Their 3-0 start to the season gives truth to Jonny’s statement. Despite their excellent start the season, they are “still working and improving as a team”. If this strong record is any indication as to how the team will perform, I’d say they’re looking pretty good. 

One level above the JV team is the Varsity boys basketball team, which has had a long history of domination. Gabe Spinelli, and junior and new member to the team says that they have had an “okay start. 2 tough teams, 2 tough losses but we’re looking forward to the rest of the season getting a lot more wins under our belt.” Knowing the effort that these team members put into their craft, I am confident that this team will only improve and win some games. 

As we hop into 2020, I’m sure that Beaver winter sports teams will continue to not only perform beyond expectations, but also keep providing a venue for us students to take our minds off academics and unleash some of our locked-away competitiveness. From 5:30am, when tired hockey players step on the ice, to 7:00pm, when exhausted basketball players leave the gym, Beaver will continue to push our learning outside of the classroom during the best season to play sports.