Spring brings blooming flowers, cute critters, and some hot sports action! Read how the Riders are doing here!
Boys’ Soccer
Andrew Moore
Roosevelt’s men’s soccer team started the season with a bang. They’ve played 3 games so far and have yet to lose. Their first game wasn’t a Metro League game; rather, a friendly bout to get the season started against Federal Way that they took 5-3. Last week they played their first Metro game against Eastside Catholic. Their performance in league games determines their seeding in the postseason, making these games far more important. Fortunately, they stepped up to the plate, taking down Eastside 2-0. Their second metro game was against a Metro rival, Lakeside. “In the Lakeside game, they went down one-nil in the first half, then we got a tying goal. In the second half, we got two more goals and closed out well,” commented senior Collin Cahill. He was optimistic about the rest of the season, going as far to say, “I think we got a good shot at making it to Metro, winning Metro, and then doing well in state.” Today proved more difficult as they fell to Ballard, one of Roosevelt’s rivals, 2-1. Their next game is against Nathan Hale at Jane Addams this coming Friday, the 25th.
Girls’ Water Polo
Sophia O’Hara
In the first week of their season, the varsity girls’ water polo team started out strong, beating Inglemoor 17-7. The JV team has not had a game yet, but they eagerly await their first one. Sophomore Elise Wong is a first year-player on the JV team and says that her favorite thing about the team is “just being in the water”. JV’s first game will be on Monday, March 21st, against Mercer Island. So far, the team is excited for the season and eager to improve and work together with each other. Wong said, “I’m excited most about getting to know more girls on the team and just improving my skills overall. Everyone on the team is super nice and helpful so it’s been a great experience so far.” With many games yet to come, the team has much to look forward to in the upcoming season.
Boys’ Lacrosse
Sam Wright
This past week, the Roosevelt lacrosse team played their first game of the season. Their were against a tough opponent, Eastside Catholic, and they lost 19-1. The Riders held the crusaders to 0 goals in 4th quarter and sophomore Aodhan Bower ripped a top corner goal midway through the 3rd quarter, showing that there is definitely potential in the large pool of underclassmen on the team. The Riders look forward to a very winnable game this upcoming week against the Garfield Bulldogs on Tuesday who are undermanned. On Thursday, the Riders face off against the Nathan Hale Raiders who could be a challenge, but as the team grows and young talent comes to the forefront, the sky is the limit.
Girls’ Lacrosse
Ira Rose-Kim
Girls’ Lacrosse has already had a busy start. They already took down Ballard 16-5 and traveled out to the Apple Bowl to conquer Wenatchee 15-1. This last week proved much more difficult. The team lost to Issaquah, an old Kingco rival, 10-17. They then lost to Eastside Catholic, 6-18. The team no doubt hopes to improve on their season record of 10-4 from 2015 and they may be strong enough to pull it off. Their two losses come from schools that took them down in 2015 and they played against them significantly better this time around than they did back then. Their next games are an away match against Overlake this Wednesday and against Nathan Hale this Friday at Lower Woodland park.
Baseball
Erika Atkins
Along with spring comes America’s favorite pastime, baseball. Full of new beginnings, Roosevelt varsity baseball has a good chance at playing some competitive ball this year. The team already got their first taste of the competition out there at a Jamboree on March 12th. “We played three two-inning games. We did really well, played against some good competition, and came out with two wins. I feel pretty good about this season, I like the team, we’ve got a good group of guys. We just have to work hard and we’ll do really well,” says senior Jackson Simone. Simone was right to be excited as the Riders are already wrapping up their first week with two strong wins. They took down Bothell 9-1 followed by Roosevelt rival Ballard 9-2. A game against Blanchet this afternoon was postponed due to rain and is moved to next Tuesday.
Softball
Anna Galbraith
The softball team had an exciting week, marking the beginning of their season. They played against Seattle Prep, and enjoyed a hard-fought victory. The final score of the game was 12-6, with Roosevelt in the lead. The team is looking forward to their game this week against Chief Sealth, and working towards another win in the coming days. Their game will take place this Thursday at the Southwest Athletic Complex.
Tennis
Jonathan Kent
The Roosevelt tennis season kicked off this week with a home match on Monday at the Lower Woodland courts. After play against Seattle Prep started, the match was forced to be postponed due to rain. Matches concluded the following day with Roosevelt losing 7 of the 11 total matches. While it was a loss for the team, some Roosevelt players like senior Avery Connell were able to win their matches. On Friday, Roosevelt played an away match against Eastside Catholic. The matches were close, and Roosevelt came away with their first win of the year. A 6 to 5 victory against Eastside Catholic was decided by the mixed doubles match. Sophomore Julia Tanner, and junior Kyle Stevens beat the Eastside Catholic mixed doubles to leave Roosevelt on top. “I felt a lot of pressure to win because it was the last match and the team was counting on me, but I pulled through,” commented Stevens. Coming off a win, the team hopes to carry the momentum to next week. With an away match against Bainbridge High School on Tuesday and another away match against Lakeside on Thursday, Roosevelt might be able to continue the early season wins.
Track & Field
Ira Rose-Kim
Roosevelt’s track team had their first competition last Thursday at the Nathan Hale Jamboree. The meet was short two events (the girls’ 4x200m relay and the 3200m) and performances could not be counted towards Metro seeding, but it proved to be a great way to sharpen the team’s skills. Many returning track veterans had strong performances. Senior Jack Kulju took first in discus while junior Amy Alverson took first in discus and second in shotput. In the sprints, senior captain Dane Rogerson and junior Mohamud Mohamud went 2-3 in the 100m and sophomore Joanna Synovec took second. Senior Asha Johnson was part of the only girls 4x100m team and the only girl competitor in the triple jump, but still went on to improve her personal record in the triple by nearly a foot. Boys’ distance had a strong showing as senior Wilson Ives crushed the 800m field and junior Jack Bylund cruised to a win in the 1600m. “I felt really good for most of the race and thought things went pretty well,” Bylund recalled, “It was just really fun getting to race for the first time since cross-country.” As the sun sank in the distance, spotlights lit up the track and the remaining spectators were able to catch the exciting 4x400m relays where the girls’ squad took the win. The team’s first league meet is at Bainbridge High School against Ballard and Bainbridge this Thursday, the 24th.
Featured Photo: Senior Alex Cooper throws the ball at Roosevelt’s game against Eastside. Photo by Ruby Hale
