It may be the coldest time of the year, but Roosevelt’s winter teams are on fire! Read how they’re doing here!
Boys’ Swimming
Jess Flynn
It was a rough ride for men’s swim team as they lost to Blanchet 97-73 at their first meet on Friday, December 4th. However, it’s only a small bump in the road early in the season so the rest should be smooth sailing. Spirits are still high for the team as expressed by captain and senior Micah Huie: “This season, I’m looking forward to being one of the captains who gets to make everybody feel not only welcome, but included and see the team prosper and grow stronger,” Through Huie’s four years of swimming on the varsity team, he has felt that the captains and coaches have always worked their hardest to make everyone have a good time and improve, he is excited to pass the feeling along to all members of the team. “ My favorite thing about swim team is the strong bond that we have every single year,” spills Huie. The team is very centered around being a community to help each other improve their times and skills, but most of all to have a good time. Even though it’s early on in the season, practices have been going very well making the team feel confident and excited to see what this year has in store for them. Their upcoming meet’s against Bainbridge this Friday, December 11th.
Wrestling
Ira Rose-Kim
Rider wrestling had a turbulent week. Thursday night, they defeated West Seattle 72-3, losing only one match. In addition to their tussles with West Seattle, Edmonds-Woodway brought JV wrestlers to give the Riders even more time on the mat. Senior Richard Tran, a heavyweight, noted the lack of competition, but also declared, “Roosevelt did a great job at the meet.” This weekend, the Riders went to the Redmond Dual Meet Tournament. Roosevlet took on four other schools: Redmond, Foss, Bellevue Christian, and Kentlake. Junior Rory Hayashi took home four victories, each a pin. Next week, Roosevelt will have a home meet against Blanchet on Tuesday, the 8th, and a double dual meet against Nathan Hale and Rainier Beach at Hale on Thursday.
Boys’ Basketball
Joey Rasmusson
Another week in Roosevelt basketball and it’s off and running as they played West Seattle at west Seattle High School. Ultimately, the Riders lost 52-40. “We played a solid game, [there was] just a three minute lapse where we were not focused and it put us down in a hole,” says junior Gabe Spach. Even after the loss to West Seattle, Roosevelt varsity is looking forward to playing Mountlake Terrace at home on Wednesday, December 9th.
Gymnastics
Sophia Aanerud
December 4th saw athletes leaping and balancing, stretching and spinning through the Roosevelt gym as the Roosevelt gymnastics team participated in the first meet of the season. The home meet—which also featured teams from West Seattle, Nathan Hale, and Ingraham— went as captain and senior Claire Schwartz put it, “really well.” Roosevelt took first in the meet with “a lot of us [placing] top ten all around,” Schwartz added. The team, which includes both JV and Varsity, is composed of 40 girls, and was the largest team represented at Friday’s meet. While some girls do only two events, many team members take on all four offered. Adding to the success of the season opener, Schwartz, who participated in all four events, took first in each one, ultimately taking first place overall. Despite the team’s recent accomplishments, Schwartz points out that there is always work to be done: “We have a lot of new people on the team this year, and we are working to get them ready for upcoming meets . . . We all hope to improve individually throughout the season to get the team score up.” As assistant student-manager of the team, senior Shadow Smith notes the team is already showing improvement, adding that “I enjoy watching the girls get better at their skill and seeing how happy they are when they get [their goals].” With this strong first performance, there are already high hopes for the season with Schwartz voicing her belief that the team “has a chance getting third or fourth in Metro.” The chances of a strong Metro performance seem high as the team continues to practice with diligence and energy. The next meet will be held on Friday, December 11 at Bainbridge High School.
Girls’ Basketball
Nate Sanford
The Roosevelt Girls Varsity Basketball team got off to a rocky start with two losses. Their first game took place on November 30th against Glacier Peak at Roosevelt. The girl’s team stayed strong throughout, but unfortunately ended up losing with a score of 58-69. The next game took place at West Seattle against West Seattle High School. The game was relatively even for the first quarter, but during the second, West Seattle came ahead and managed to score a total of 23 points while Roosevelt was only able to score 4. The final score of the game was 36-61. The next game for the Girls’ team will be against Everett High School. It will take place on 7:30 December 7th at Roosevelt. Junior Serena Toney is optimistic, saying, “We have a slight height disadvantage with our tallest girl being 5’9”. But I believe our quick fast-breaking and superior physical fitness will keep us in the game.”
Featured Picture: Senior Philip Swanson practices shots. Photo by Ryan Henrie
