As the season came to a close, the golf team had some phenomenal achievements. In the conference tournament, sophomore Corey Jacobson won an individual first place. He had to win a double playoff to win the individual title, as he and another golfer were tied after 18 holes. Overall, as a team they came in second in the tournament. “He and the other golfer tied on the first playoff, then on the second playoff, Corey won by one stroke,” Coach Machetta said. In regionals, they headed over to Seneca and placed third to advance to the sectional meet up in Elgin. There they finished 12th out of 12 teams. Coach Machetta’s response to sectionals was, “we were happy to reach that point and there were a lot of good teams there. We had 3 guys shoot their average or better that day. They all gained great experience heading into next season.”
By Caeley Larson
Newark Soccer had 11 wins and 1 loss this year, a record which earned them first place in the conference. “We were upset in the conference tournament by Hinckley-Big Rock, but we were still able to take 3rd place in the Little Ten Conference Tournament,” said Coach Fitzer. There were two goals the team had this year. The first goal was to make the team better and the second goal was to be competitive. The team reached both goals. They will be losing four seniors this year who will be missed by the soccer team. “Luckily we have a young team, but it is going to be hard losing four good seniors,” said Coach Fitzer. The team had some injuries to the staring players this year but they got through the season. The bench had good support for the players on the team, which was huge for the players on the field. “There were a few important athletes that quit the team. It was difficult for the team, but they managed to get by without them,” said Coach Fitzer.
By Remington Kempiak
After a slower start to the season than they’d hoped for, the Lady Norsemen ended up 1-2 after the first week, falling to Aurora Christian and Lisle, but gaining momentum by the end in the win over Dwight.
The following week, the girls fell again to Rosary but managed to overcome their first conference match later that same week against Leland-Earlville, that win taking them on to also defeat other LTC conference members Hinckley Big-Rock, Hiawatha, Lamoille, Indian Creek, and Paw Paw in the weeks to follow. During this time, the Lady Norsemen also won their non-conference match-up with Ottawa Marquette.
The ladies headed to Mount Pulaski on the weekend of September 17 and then IMSA the first few days in October. They placed a solid second at IMSA after an avenging win over ACS to get to the championship.
The week after, the Lady Norsemen completely devoted their energy to the Little Ten Conference tournament, easily whipping through opponents like Serena and Leland-Earlville to go toe-to-toe with Somonauk, the other undefeated champion in conference play.
Battling for the first time in the season, the Lady Norsemen were thrown off guard from the very beginning, dropping behind Somonauk to a 0-9 fault at the start of set one. The Bobcats ended up controlling the rest of the match and taking home the Little Ten Conference Tournament Championship, the title going to someone other than Newark for the first time since 2009, breaking the Lady Norsemen’s undefeated 82 conference winning game streak.
Bruised from their loss, the ladies brushed it off, or at least attempted to, in time for their match at Harvest Christian on October 11. They lost the non-conference match-up after a few serving streaks by the Lady Lions.
However, the Lady Norsemen had other goals that week, with their regular season conference game at Somonauk their main goal. They were seeking revenge from the week prior, and receive revenge they did. Newark ladies came into Somonauk October 13, their energy high and minds set on claiming the regular season champion title.
In the first set, Newark came back from a 17-9 deficit, their resilience noted as they finished that set with a win, setting even more momentum in their favor as they started set two on a 10-1 serving run. Needless to say, the Lady Norsemen reclaimed their glory and won over Somonauk, taking first place in conference for their undefeated regular season.
Nearing the end of the season, the ladies celebrated their Senior Night, seniors Emma Nelson and Jasmine Mitchell enjoying their final home game playing volleyball in that white uniform on that floor. The Titans of IMSA dared to enter the arena with them, losing in two quick sets to allow the team to enjoy the traditional senior night cake together. The very next night, Newark finished off their conference games, defeating Serena for the third time this season.
By Jasmine Mitchell
