SOCCER
As the Newark Norsemen soccer team prepares for the upcoming season, they look forward to an exciting year. They will sport new jerseys, new coaches, new players, and positive attitudes. The two new coaches this year are already known throughout the high school athletic department. Coach Jim Hacker has returned to lead the Norsemen after three years off to take graduate classes. The head coach of the Newark Norsemen baseball team, J.R. Veliz, assists Coach Hacker.
With new coaches and virtually all new players, with the exception of a few returning players, the Norsemen are excited for a fresh start. When coach J.R. Veliz was asked, “How excited are you about this young team?” He responded, “ I am thrilled! This is a great group of kids [who] are very athletic and very determined.”
The Newark Soccer team is led by returning captain Joe Hughes, and Wyatt Williamson. Williamson was asked, “How do you plan on leading such a young group of kids?” Williamson responded by saying, “It will be tough, but I am going to try my hardest to lead these kids. ” Hughes was asked, “What are your expectations for this season?” Hughes said, “We play in one of the best conferences in the state so no one really expects us to do [well], but we are determined to shock a lot of people and win a few games.”
With all of the great expectations and the determination that the Norsemen have, it is not hard to believe that this year’s team is prepared for the competition they have ahead of them.
By Joe Hughes & Ryan Edwards
In the last couple years, the Lady Norsemen have fallen short of winning regional championships, but this year the players have a different goal in mind. When asked what the phrase “relentless pursuit” means to the team this year, Coach Tonya Nagel stated, “The team knows what they are pursuing…championships. But ‘relentless’ is the key. You have to come to play every day like the season depends on a win.” Conversation among the team members indicates they have high expectations this year, but they know that success won’t just be handed to them. The girls strive to challenge one another and be competitive in practice to prepare for this season, according to senior libero Melissa Schmidt. The team’s expectations are to “win the conference, the conference tournament, and to make a deep post-season run,” said Coach Nagel. This year’s team has a great amount of experience with five motivated and unsatisfied seniors. Senior Abbey Akre said that she and the rest of the seniors hope to leave a lasting legacy to the school. In order to achieve all that they desire this year, the Lady Norsemen must “stay focused, improve daily, and stay injury free!” ended an excited Coach Nagel.
As baseball season comes to an end, I went back to talk to Coach Hacker. He said that the goal was to be competitive in the regional. He also wants to build skills in pitching, fielding, and hitting. Coach Hacker says the most improved players are Noah Nichols, and Chris Murawski. He shared that this is a young team with a lot of talent and heart. The coach hopes the team can ride out the rough pitching.
The excitement in Newark High School isn’t only graduation and summer vacation, but also the Lady Norseman Softball season! When asked about his expectations for the postseason, Mr. Holman responded by saying, “To play our best softball!”. I had also asked him how they were preparing for the post-season and how the practices usually go; he said, “Practices usually go like this: we catch, talk, hit, talk, walk around, go home.” 
Boy’s Baseball season is in full swing! They are 1 and 3 in the conference. Mr. Hacker says that they hope that they improve in the next couple games. He says the most challenging part of baseball is playing a double header because you have to use twice as many pitchers. Mr. Hacker stated that teamwork is the key to winning. When asked who is the best pitcher, Mr. Hacker replied, “Joe Hughes has been throwing well, and Noah Nichols has been throwing some good innings.”