Play Ball!
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.
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.”
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 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.
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.