Winter sports look to build on last year

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After bringing home two state championships during Fall sports through cross country, Winter sports are hoping to continue that success.

“We expect the athletes to have fun and represent Baldwin in a respectable way,” principal Rob McKim said. “The experience is the most important thing overall. While wins and losses are important as well, they do not surpass the experience. It is probably the longest and most grueling season overall that we have and many students go through it.”

After finishing second in state last year in girls basketball with a 21-4 record, junior shooting guard Taylor Cawley made their plans for this year quite clear. The team returns two starters from last year, seniors Madeline Neufeld and Kyna Smith but also return senior Lily Fursman, junior Taylor Cawley, and sophomore Abby Ogle who were all large contributors to last year’s team.

“We are coming back with a fighting attitude and we know what we need to do different this year to win,” Cawley said. “We lost five pretty impactful players and we are smaller in size this year but we plan to make up for those losses with speed and team unity since we have all played together for years.”

In the 2014-15 season, the Baldwin wrestling team won state but they lost two state champions and two state qualifiers from last year’s team. Despite the losses, coach Kit Harris still has the same, high expectations as last season’s team.

“I am excited for another season and we have a great group returning. Winning state last year was a great boost for our program,” Harris said. “We still return six state qualifiers and four state placers from last year so my expectations will not change despite the losses of the state winners.”

Going into their second year with head coach Paul Musselman, the boys look to improve on last year’s record of 3-18. Although losing four seniors, they return a group of five seniors including two starters Jackson Barth and Austin Ward.

“Our offense and defense have changed a lot,” senior Austin Ward said. “We look to play quicker since we are smaller this year without Christian and put more pressure on the ball by pressing. The team looks to improve last year’s record with this new overall plan.”

All practices begin Monday, Nov. 16. The girls basketball team’s first game is Dec. 4 vs. Tonganoxie along with the boys basketball team. The first wrestling meet is Dec. 5 at Gardner High School. All teams have large adjustments to make between now and their first events but all three seem confident in their abilities.