Snow will not stop the Norsemen baseball team as team open gyms will be going on all throughout February. The ball club has high hopes for this 2015 season as all players are making a return to the diamond.
The season gets underway Wednesday, April 25, against Dwight at 4:30 where the Norsemen are looking for a bit of revenge after dropping regionals to Dwight last season.
In that short time the team has a lot of things they need to straighten out, “The decision for starting catcher is still in the air” says Assistant Coach Hacker, and the team has to figure out how to cope the first nine games without All-Conference First Baseman/Pitcher Kevin Klock, look for sophomore Conner Christian to play a big role on the bump in the early going.
“This is a great group of kids we have here. This is one of the best teams I’ve ever had here at Newark.” Said the head coach J.R. Veliz. “I’m excited as all players are returning this year and they bring with them some quality experience. It seems like every year we have a ton of youth but this year have a lot of upperclassmen of the team that will make a difference”.
This team has the potential to be something potent. Look for them to make a run for the conference title maybe even a run towards state.
By Ian J. Cerney and Steve William McGrath
The Newark Norsemen took to the court over the break at the famous Plano Christmas Classic, a 24-team tournament featuring the area’s best teams. The Norsemen were ranked 13th out of the 24 teams in the tournament.
After breezing past Forreston in the opening round game, the boys met Aurora Christian. ACS took it to the Norsemen in this contest, winning by 16 points. After this disheartening loss, the boys rebounded with a strong effort against St. Bede Academy, running away with a 15-point win. The Norsemen’s next opponent, Yorkville, took advantage of a rough second quarter and won a hard-fought challenge by 9 points. Again, the ever-resilient Norsemen came back and beat Genoa-Kingston in a high-scoring affair, 90-84. Four Norsemen scored at least 18 points, highlighted by Will Clausel’s 24.
After Genoa, the Norsemen have sputtered, losing a barnburner to Plano, squeaking out a win against conference foe Hinckley - Big Rock, and losing to Seneca on their home floor. “We just didn’t play well. We can rebound from this and should continue on our winning ways,” said starting guard Will Clausel. With Kirkland Hiawatha coming to town on January 16, and a sizable break coming up, look for the squad to get to work on correcting those problems. Starting February 2, the Little Ten Tournament kicks off, so come out and support the Norsemen.
By Jack Clausel
The Lady Norsemen Basketball team has been on the rise since the start of the season, and over the break they didn’t slow down. They held their own in the Lisle Christmas Tournament, going 2 - 2 against top competition. Kelsea Zitt, a junior guard, is quoted saying, “It was fun to play. I’m just glad we won some games.”
The Lady Norsemen continue to run the rest of the Little Ten Conference ragged, staying undefeated through five games. There are only two home games remaining in February, so come out to support the Lady Norsemen!
By Jack Clausel
Boy's basketball has begun and that means that the cheerleaders are getting ready to lead the crowd with great chants! Miranda Linco is the coach of these cheerleaders, and she does a wonderful job with the cheers and choreography for the thirteen girls on the team. Coach Linco graduated from NIU and was on the dance team for two years. Sarah Greg will be the assistant coach this year. She cheered at Yorkville High School for all four years. Seniors Hopi Horvat and Lindsey Tollefson are the captains this year.
The girls are looking forward to this season. Junior Savanna Flowers said, “I’m looking forward to doing jazz dances at half time. It’s something we added this year and we all are looking forward to performing.” This will be Savanna’s second year of cheering here at Newark. When asked what her favorite part of cheerleading is, she responded, “I love having a unified team. We are one big family and I love being with all the girls on the team.”
Newark’s first home basketball game is on December 9, at 5:30 against Dwight High School. They will also be participating in the Plano Christmas Classic on December 22-30. Come out and help these girls cheer on our boy’s basketball team!
By Rachael Lape and Missy Friestad
The girl’s basketball season is off and dribbling. The girls had a great season last year, and they are looking to carry that over into this year. Coach Dale Skelton returns out of retirement to coach the girl’s basketball team after last year’s coach Brian Holman decided to take his teaching and coaching talents elsewhere. Meghan Petges will return as the varsity assistant coach and head coach of the JV squad. The team has Fikri Rachman, the school’s foreign exchange student from Indonesia, as their manager.
The team is down in numbers with only an 8-woman roster this year. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in will to win. The team started off their season in Somonauk for the early bird tournament where they went 3 and 1, beating Seneca, Sandwich, and Plano. Their one loss came by way of Wheaton Academy. As of press time, their record is 4 wins and 1 loss.
By Caleb Dierzen
Basketball season has finally begun. The Newark Norsemen boy’s basketball team participated in the Leland G. Strombom Thanksgiving Tournament held in Sycamore to start off their season. They played some tough competitors over the weekend. They played Burlington Central on Tuesday, losing that game 76- 42. The Norsemen played Jefferson next, losing to them 58-43 in a game they had a chance at, but Jefferson pulled away at the last couple minutes. The Norsemen then lost another nail biter to Dundee Crown in the closing minutes 52- 41.
Then finally, in the fourth game, the Norsemen won their first game of the year against Noble Hansbury College Prep High School in a 85- 47 blow out. Evan Schomer said, “ We really came together as a team that final game to play our hardest and to have a fun time!” The Norsemen really focused on moving the basketball that game. Will Clausel ended up having quite a few assists. He stated, “It seemed like every pass was going for me.” Everyone was scoring points left and right. Good luck Norsemen in the upcoming games.
By Karter Kunkel and Ian Cerney
