Volleyball

The boy’s varsity volleyball team was so close yet so far from a state title last year as they lost in the regional finals. They hope to duplicate and better those results this season.

Having lost a handful of seniors, the new players need to work hard to have a chance of reaching districts. However, Pace Hgh school is their main competition. Conditioning is the main focus in practicing, as well as doing drills and working on positioning.

This team is lead by seniors Shane Yarchin, and junior Ernesto Rizzi. Sophomore Gerrard Daniels is also a top player that needs to step up during the big games.

“It’s going to be fun to find out how we’ll do this year,” coach Carlos Montero said.

Softball

“Everyone can be a top player if we work together,” coach Krista Latessa said.

Latessa has been training the girls softball team by going back to the basics and fundamentals. They are hoping that if they have good basics, they will be less likely to make errors.

This year, they have high expectations with players seniors Janelle Baluja, Rachel Bachar, Deborah Abut, and Amanda Byers. If they have good communication with the rest of team, they have a good possibility of making it to district finals.

The teams that they are most likely going to see at the finals are American High School or Barbara Goleman High School. “We need to work on our overall record and win the games we should win,” Latessa said.

Baseball

The Miami Herald pre-season rankings had the boys varsity baseball team No. 4 in the county. They are hoping to repeat last year’s district championship, as the team is training harder than ever by being accountable for their actions not only off the field, but on the diamond too.

“Even though we won [the district championship] last year, we do not expect for it to be given to us again,” coach Brian Larsen said.

American High School and Barbara Goleman High School are and have always been their toughest rivals and competitors in the district. So far, they are in the process of finding their team chemistry, since they have added six new players.

Seniors Garrett Wittels, Zachary Perez and Abner Santana are the captains of the team, as well as four year varsity athletes. Wittels anchors down the middle of the infield and lineup and has signed on to play for Florida International University. Perez is the pitching staff ace and is counted on in all of the big games. Santana will be counted on even more in the middle of the lineup due to his breakout season last year.

The team knows that to be successful, they will need to have every player on the same page as they believe everyone plays an important role. The categories of pitching, hitting and fielding must be rolling on all cylinders too.



Badminton

“I expect our team to improve each and every week,” badminton coach Larry Ball said.

The badminton team has been waiting to get gym time to start having organized practices so that the players are able to work on conditioning and drills.

The top players for the girls are juniors Stephanie Toledo, Dominique Johnson, Netta Sarry, Brittany Berger and sophomore Ivy Ittilucksatit. The top players for the boys are sophomores Joseph Smoler, Yonatan Naymark, and senior David Berlin.

Qualifying many players for the GMAC is their goal, but competition such as Hialeah-Miami Lakes High may to spoil their plans.

Water Polo

“We have a totally different team than last year,” coach Gayle Steiner said.

Because most players were on the swim team, they were in shape. This gave more time for the boys water polo to work on legs and plays on offense.

Matthew Hodson and Yuval Peleg are the top players that lead the team.

“This year the boys should do well,” Steiner said. “And with players starting to come back from their injuries, they should do even better.”

Hialeah High School is their main competition and their style of play has yet to be determined.

Girls water polo has high expectations this year and hopes to make it to states.

The team has many strengths and close to no weaknesses. Their strengths include a good whole set, strong defense and smart plays.

The girls competition is weak in the districts and will be tested in regionals. Seniors Cari Shapiro and Briana Edwards are key players who know what to do in vital plays.

Tennis

“There is such high level right now that athletes have to play year round to compete,” coach Michael Kypriss said.

Always having high expectations, the boys tennis team expects to finish top five in states.

Even after losing key players Ryan Kim and Mark Shanerman, there are still many excellent players. Juniors Billy Federhofer and Alec Krantz, and seniors Gino Ramirez and Antoniero Zaro make up the starting lineup. Senior Brandon Pringal, Daniel Tuckerman and Justin Gilinsky are competing for a starting position.

They have a strong chemistry between each other and show maturity on and off the court. These are two important factors in order for them to beat Palmetto High School and Cypress Bay High School.

“For the first time in five years, the girls may have higher expectations than the boys,” Kypriss said. With their first state title last year, the girls hope to pull off a repeat and win two state titles in a row.

Key players include senior Taylor Dubins, sophomores Brittney Dubins, Brittney Henry, and Jonert Zarur, freshman Songa Latachufa, and junior Akeemi Malgoni.



Track and Field

Coming from Georgia, Monte Dilworth has changed the boys track team into a mentally and physically tough team.

“When it hurts, don’t give up and no pain no game,” are sayings that coach Dilworth has instilled into his players. Key players this year are seniors Giovanny Molina, Andres Rodriquez, Anatoliy Dzhanumyan, and junior Sebastien Ferjuste.

They have been practicing with parachutes and sleds to improve the speed of the players. This year the team has been using the Clyde Hart Program, which is used by Baylor University. Bigger, Faster, Stronger, is another program they use.

Competition includes Northwestern, South Ridge, and Killian.

“This years girl’s team looks stronger and competition looks weaker,” said coach Terry Thompson.

Having a track has made the team better right off the bat. With the new track both track teams have to worry less about injuries and more on training.

From last year, the team hopes to win more medals in track events instead of relying on the field events. Seniors Demetria Brown, Breana Kelly, Toni Kuzmicki, freshman Benia Gregoire, and junior Jessica Deroquancourt all plan on carrying this team to another district championship.