It may be the coldest time of the year, but Roosevelt’s winter teams are on fire! Read how they’re doing here!
Girls’ Basketball
Nate Sanford
The Girl’s Basketball team has recovered from their two early season losses and is once again surging ahead. They had two strong victories this week, defeating Everett with a final score of 60-25 last monday and then Holy Names 57-37 on Friday. “Our varsity freshmen have really stepped up to the plate and our team truly had our defense on lock,” explained senior Asha Johnson, “This team really has a lot to offer.” The team’s next games are against Eastside Catholic tomorrow, the 14th, at Eastside, and then Cleveland, which will take place at Roosevelt on the 18th. Johnson says she is optimistic about the team’s prospects; “If we play like we have been, hopefully we will get another win.”
Boys’ Swimming
Jess Flynn
This week, Roosevelt took a tough loss 114-65 against Bainbridge last Friday, the 11th. Fortunately, the team’s still resilient and ready. Ives says that, despite having lost a lot of seniors since last year, the team is looking good and also has the chance to break more Roosevelt records. An up-and-coming athlete for the boys’ swim team is junior Emmett Weight who has already qualified for state in the one hundred fly, broken a school record and has the chance to break three more. “He’s a crazy swimmer, he’s really fast but overall, we just have a really great solid team. We don’t really rely on one swimmer; it’s a team effort,” stated senior and captain Wilson Ives. They look forward to working on their times during this regular season, so that when it’s time for metros they are looking and feeling strong. “Basically all the teams automatically get to go to the metro meet…to win what metros you essentially have to do well at that meet. So, the regular season meets are just like practice to get good times and so that you can qualify for that meet,” Ives explained. The team’s next meet is at Evans Pool against Ballard on Friday, the 18th.
Wrestling
Ira Rose-Kim
Roosevelt’s wrestler further proved their dominance with a series of strong victories. This past week, they took down Bishop Blanchet, Rainier Beach, and Nathan Hale. Last Tuesday, the 8th, the team hosted to Blanchet who they crushed 63-12. They then went to Nathan Hale on Thursday, the 10th, where they defeated Hale 54-29 and Beach 54-27. Sophomore Evan Ross exemplified the team’s confidence, having simply declared “we’ll beat them” in the days leading up to both meets. Rider wrestlers will have away meets at Ingraham this Thursday, the 17th, against Ingraham and Lakeside. After this, they’ll have to gear up for the three tournaments and the dual meet that they’ll have over winter break. While it’s hardly the relaxation that many other Riders are looking forward to, the wrestlers are sure to take on these challenges with enthusiasm and intensity.
Boys’ Basketball
Joey Rasmusson
The season is picking up for Roosevelt boys’ basketball with two games being close wins for the team and one, a disappointing loss. Two days in a row they were able to pull wins: first against Bainbridge on December 8th and then Mountlake Terrace on December 9th with a score of 61-52 against Bainbridge and a very close 57-55 against Mountlake Terrace. However, the team experienced a sizable loss to O’Dea High School with a final score of 66-84. Still, the team remains optimistic: “We played hard, just lacked some mental effort in some of the necessary situations and basic tasks we were faced with,” stated junior, Gape Spach. The upcoming game will be against Eastside Catholic. The game will be held at Eastside Catholic High School on December 15th. Junior Varsity will be playing at Mountlake Terrace High School against Mountlake Terrace on December 15th.
Gymnastics
With both Roosevelt gymnastics coaches out sick for most of the preceding week, there was some concern among team members as they boarded a ferry for a meet at Bainbridge High School. Despite this apprehension, the team succeeded in taking second to Bainbridge last Friday, the 11th, beating Chief Sealth which was also participating. Mentionable rider performances include those made by team co-captain senior Claire Schwartz, who won overall in vault and sophomore Lola Reinhardt, who placed high on multiple events. Juniors Ravenna Collver, Jordan Eng, Rachel DeJaen, and senior team co-captain Zoe Nelson all placed top ten in varying events. Schwartz noted that the entire team worked hard to create productive practices despite a lack of coaches: “Team dynamics are really great; we worked well together this week to be as prepared as possible for the meet.” With the next meet coming after winter break, the gymnastics team can take a brief moment to reflect on the success of the season so far before getting back on the mats to continue the hard work.
Featured Picture: Seniors Alex Clark and Sean Suver pose with juniors Penn Anderson and Danny Higgins. Photo by Ruby Hale
