Norsemen Baseball

Norsemen Baseball started their season Wednesday, March 18, against a good Marquette Academy Crusader squad. It was a very good start for the Norsemen; they were up 2-1 going into the bottom of the 4th inning, but the Crusader bats came alive and dropped a 7-run inning on the Norsemen, which ultimately ended their night. The Norsemen dropped the game 11-2. Even with the loss, Norsemen Coach J.R. Veliz said, “For the first game of the season we played great. We’ll get on the practice field and fix our mistakes and win the next one.”

By Ian Cerney & Steve McGrath

Field Work: Newark Softball

Newark softball has begun! The last two years, Newark has won a regional title, so they have high standards set. They had two seniors graduate last year, so there are some big spots to fill. That won’t shake the Lady Norsemen. This year, the team also has two seniors. They are Lexi and Caroline. They are assets to the Lady Norsemen softball team and will help them reach some goals this season. They have their work cut out for them, but they’re putting in the hard work now. Weather permitting, Newark will play the first conference game at home against Hinckley-Big Rock on April 6 at 4:30. Come out and support the blue and white this spring!

By Maddie Friestad

Girls Basketball

The Newark Girls Basketball team was undefeated in the regular conference. They beat state ranked Harvest Christian. They were the regional champions with wins against Gardner South Wilmington and Serena. The varsity team’s final record was 20-8.

The team had three athletes selected to the Little Ten Conference Squad. Those athletes were Jasmine Mitchell, who was unanimously chosen as a sophomore center; Mozelle Kempiak, unanimously chosen as a junior forward; and Kelsea Zitt, chosen as a junior point guard.

Kelsea also made it to the top 32 in the state for the 1A three-point shooting contest. Jessica Hager was also named to the senior All-Star team.

The JV team’s leading scorer was Alyssa Schofield, and the leading rebounder was Reegan Skelton. “The JV team has improved tremendously,” said Coach Petges.

By Jennifer Otto

Norsemen Basketball Recap

The basketball season has finally come to a close after a thrilling 58-57 overtime defeat to Flanagan-Cornell in the IHSA Sectional final game.

The boys overcame adversity this season. After losing forward Jack Clausel to injury in January, the Norsemen rattled off a 13-game winning streak with it finally ending in the sectional championship. The Norsemen ended the season with a 20-11 record, one of many 20-win seasons by Coach Tollefson.

Two seniors, Matt Eike and Karter Kunkel, say goodbye this year. Matt, a three-year varsity starter, was known for his toughness and competitive spirit, along with his aggressiveness on both ends of the floor. Karter, a two-year varsity player, was a long-range sniper from three-point land and a lockdown defender on the other end.

“Those two stepped up again and again this year. I’m proud to call them my friends,” said Mitchel Schmidt, a junior guard.

All in all, it was a great season for the team, and one to remember forever, especially for Sophomore Cameron Myre, who made it to State for the three-point shooting contest. The team took 11th at the Plano Christmas Classic, won the Little Ten Tournament, won the Regional and came close to winning a Sectional.

By Jack Clausel

Spiriting Off

When the buzzer went off at the sectional championship, the varsity basketball team wasn’t the only team that said goodbye to their season. Though they were sad to see the post-season ride come to an end, the cheerleaders made a lot of memories over the past few months.

Coach Miranda Linco’s favorite memories were when the cheerleaders accomplished new lifts, especially “when Lindsey stuck her first full lib.” Some other highlights from the season were cheering at senior night, the conference tournament, and post-season games. Junior Mackenzie Fletcher found that the cheerleaders improved throughout the season, mostly by being “sharper and louder” on the sidelines.

Though the five seniors will be missed next year, preparation for the next season is around the corner. With tryouts in May and activities throughout the summer, Mackenzie is most looking forward to “new routines and new squad members” next season.

By Lindsey Tollefson

Norsemen Advance to Sectional Championship

Congratulations to the Newark Norsemen Basketball Team for your 71-43 Sectional Semifinal victory against Ashton-Franklin! The Norsemen have now advanced to the Sectional Championship to be held on Friday, March 6, 7:00 p.m. vs Flanagan-Cornell at Somonauk. Go Newark!

Norsemen Baseball Preview

March 2 will be the first day the IHSA will allow teams to begin organized team practices for the baseball season. The team is lacking depth in the pitching chart for the season, so some players for whom pitching may not be their forte will have to be up for the task.

Most of the load will more than likely be on the back of sophomore returnee Conner Christian, according to Coach JR Veliz. Later in the season, expect to see junior Kevin Klock taking the mound as well.

Another thing Norsemen baseball fans could see this year is some new faces at key positions, like catcher. The coaching staff this year is looking experienced, as fans will see head coach JR Veliz backed up by Jim Hacker and Shane Randa.

Just a reminder, the first game of the season will take place March 25 at home as the Norsemen play Dwight at 4:30 p.m.

By Ian Cerney and Steve McGrath

Let’s Hear it For the Seniors!

For many, senior year is the year that dreams turn into plans. This was definitely true for the eight seniors recognized on February 13 at the boys’ basketball game against Paw Paw, where the boys took over with an 83-34 win. The seniors recognized include boys basketball players Matt and Karter, boys basketball manager Ben, and cheerleaders Hopi, Lindsey, Bailey, Sarah, and Mikaila.

Matt has been playing basketball for the Norsemen for four years and plans to attend Augustana College next year as a history major.

Karter has been playing basketball with the Norsemen for four years and plans to major in business administration next year at Southern Illinois University.

Ben has been the boys basketball manager this year. He is unsure about his future plans.

Hopi will major in psychology, but she is undecided on where she will study. She has been cheering on the Norsemen for two years.

Lindsey has been cheering on the Norsemen for two years and will be majoring in journalism next year at Loyola University-Chicago.

Bailey will be at Joliet Junior College next year, studying in the field of veterinary science. She has been cheering on our boys basketball players for two years.

Sarah will be at the New York Film Academy next year. She has been cheering on the Norsemen for two years.

This is Mikaila’s first year cheering on the Norsemen, and she will be attending Joliet Junior College next year to receive for associate’s degree in psychology.

Everyone enjoyed a reception afterwards that included cake, pizza, and pop provided by the Sports Boosters. Good luck, seniors!

By Hopi Horvat

Norsemen Basketball Update

The Norsemen Basketball team has hit its stride in recent weeks. Starting February 2, they started the Little Ten Tournament with a dominating 30-point win against LaMoille. This set up a semi-final matchup with Leland/ Earlville. After a rough first half, the Norsemen turned up the defensive pressure and won by 17 to set up the championship game against Hinckley-Big Rock.

Again, after an even first half, the Norsemen forced a multitude of turnovers and won by 13 to capture the conference championship for the first time in 3 years. After the win over HBR, junior Kendall Endres said, “After losing to Somonauk here last year, it was great to finally get a win in the conference tournament.”

After wins against Paw Paw, Gardner-South Wilmington, and IMSA, the Norsemen have a 10-game winning streak as of press time. They’re looking to ride that momentum in the state tournament, so come out and support the team!

By Jack Clausel

Regional Champs

The Lady Norsemen are regional champions once again. For the second year in a row they were able to win the regional championship. This year, they were led by Coach Dale Skelton.

They were the number one seed in the Somonauk regional and came up on top with wins over Gardner-South Wilmington and Serena in the championship. For a team that only had two returning starters (junior Kelsea Zitt and sophomore Jasmine Mitchell) and a new coach, they were able to accomplish a lot.

For the third year in a row they were regular season conference champs in the Little Ten. A tough loss to the Indian Creek Timberwolves in the conference championship game prevented them from sweeping the conference championships.

In the post-season, junior Kelsea Zitt competed in the state 3- point contest on February 26 (after press time).

Overall, this was a successful season for the Lady Norsemen. There were three new starters in the lineup with two of them being seniors.

“I think we had great play from our seniors” said Coach Skelton. “We meet our goals and played to our potential.”

The team will have three returning starters and the sixth man back for next year. “If we work hard during the summer I think we will be a force next year.” Congrats on a great season.

By Steve McGrath and Ian Cerney