Varsity spring sports previews

Spring break also signifies the beginning of heated seasons for Blair's varsity spring sports teams. Varsity softball and baseball take the field for their first games this week, and the rest of the squads follow with their season openers shortly afterward. Click on individual tabs to see previews for Blair's varsity teams, and complete schedules for all teams can be found here.


By Greg Kohn

After a disappointing 6-13 record last spring, varsity baseball will take on a younger but more vigorous shade this year. Although head coach John MacDonald concedes this will be a rebuilding season, he is also looking to improve on last year's record. "We're young, but we are looking to be more successful," he said.

MacDonald doesn't exaggerate - the team is the youngest it's been in his 18 years as coach, as its roster includes two freshmen and two sophomores. The Blazers will look to junior co-captain David Fegley and senior co-captain Dylan Baird for leadership, though they too have limited or compromised varsity experience; Fegley will move to second base after starting at catcher last year, and Baird missed most of last season after breaking his collarbone.

But MacDonald believes that the team's youth has a flipside as well. "It's our Achilles heel, but it's also our strength," MacDonald said. "They're exuberant, tougher and more a confident team than in the past."

In order for the exuberance to turn into success, though, MacDonald said at least three things need to happen: the team needs to stay healthy, the starting pitchers need to get deep into games and the top of the batting order needs to get on base.

Injuries have plagued Blair in past years, knocking out the first and second string catchers last season. Junior Josh Gordon and sophomore Sammy Denenberg are expected to be the main starting pitchers and need to throw strikes in order to last long into the game.

The baseball team plays its home opener over spring break on March 27 at 1:30 p.m. against Northwest.

By Anika Manzoor

The gymnastics team looks forward to an improved season this year, offsetting the loss of two experienced seniors with several fresh faces. After posting a 2-5 record last season, the team lost seniors Yana Schick and Nicole Poor - one of the team's more experienced gymnasts. Despite the heavy loss, senior co-captain Nazanin Yousefnejad is excited about the addition of four freshmen to the team. "It's a lot better because there is less teaching and more harnessing of skill," she said.

Although the team has performed well on the floor and beam events in the past, having enough people to do uneven bars and vaults, particularly a front handspring on the vault, has been a regular weakness. With new freshmen finds who are capable in all four events on the team, Yousefnejad is confident in the squad's abilities to progress and improve this season. Junior co-captain Abby Cember is pleased with the new members because it allows for more organization within the team. "Now we won't have to piece together some line up during the competition," she said. "We have a solid seven people in each event."

In addition to new gymnasts, Hillary Wynn, a sign language interpreter from Rockville High School, filled in the position of the team's previous coach Ronnie Joice, whose coaching job conflicted with her outside job. Cember feels that Wynn has the potential to bring renewed energy to the team. "She changed the attitude," she said. "Ronnie was a little bit more relaxed and let the gymnasts do the coaching of each other, and maybe [now] our practices are more structured."

According to Yousefnejad, some key gymnasts to watch are Cember, junior co-captain Anna Hadfield and freshmen Sophia Seidell and Lee Munger.

Gymnastics participates in its first home meet on April 8 at 6 p.m. against Blake and Gaithersburg.

By Jon Kesten

Following an 8-4 season last spring, the boys' lacrosse team is looking forward to a highly competitive season. Head coach Robert Gibb still hopes to improve on that record, citing the team's natural talent as his reason to look forward to the upcoming season. The squad is captained by veteran players juniors Mike Mozer and Andy Holmes and seniors Tim Visclosky and Jamie Binns, who intend to post a winning season through hard work and determination. "The components are there," Gibb said. "We just have to focus on working together as a team, then try and build on that."

In order to be successful, the team will need to develop their defense to compensate for the loss of standout goalkeeper Robbie Ginsberg. "We've put together a strong core group," senior goalie Mark Goodman said of the transition.

With a challenging schedule to look forward to this season - including county powerhouses like Wootton and Churchill - the players will need to significantly raise their level of play, but are confident in their abilities. "Our speed and potential are there," Mozer said. "We will do well this season."

The boys' lacrosse team plays its home opener on April 1 at 7 p.m. against Wootton.

By Jon Kesten

After finishing 6-8 last season and advancing to the second round of the playoffs, the girls' lacrosse team looks to build upon their past success with a solid roster of experienced players. "Last year we were young," head coach Michael Horne said. "But now our sophomore class is coming back and looking very promising."

Led by senior co-captains Helen Anderson, Lizzie Horne and Rachita Sood, the team looks to develop a deep roster that can compete in close contests. "Everyone has stepped up and we are going to outperform ourselves every game," Lizzie Horne said.

According to Lizzie Horne, the team needs to be mentally prepared for games to be successful. "Our attitude for every game has got to be overly competitive, because that's how we won our games last year," she said.

The girls' lacrosse team plays its home opener on April 3 at 7 p.m. against Northwest.

By Andrew Kung and Elsi Wu

After graduating 12 seniors - including all nine starters - the Blair varsity softball team faces a challenging season ahead after years of regional dominance. The team posted an astounding 16-3 record in 2007 with dreams of a state championship run, but lost in the regional final to Damascus. "Last year we were very experienced. Everyone in the county knew us and expected us to do well," head coach Louis Hoelman said. "This year is a lot different. They're truly a team - everybody has an equal role."

The 2008 squad is captained by seniors Eve Kenney at shortstop, Hilary Bragg at first base and Katie Scott in center field - the only players returning from last year's varsity squad. According to Hoelman, the three captains will be relied on to set the tone in practices and in games for the green team.

Experience will definitely be an issue for the Blazers. For many athletes, it is their first time playing high school varsity softball, and how they respond in key situations will have a tremendous impact on the team's success - particularly the team's pitchers, junior Rachel Nicholson and freshman Eve Brown. The team will maintain the "slap-and-drag" style that has seen so much success in years past, with an offense based on getting on base and staying aggressive on the basepaths.

Despite the loss of so many players from last year's team, Hoelman maintains optimism and lofty expectations for success, citing in particular the team's enthusiasm and chemistry. "They've bonded quickly," he said. "I'm excited about this team."

The softball team plays its home opener on April 3 at 7 p.m. against Damascus.

By Andrew Kung and Elsi Wu

Coming off of a nearly flawless season with the boys finishing at an undefeated 6-0 and the girls dropping only one meet to finish 5-1, outdoor track and field will have to look to major contributions from veterans and newcomers alike to continue their past success. According to assistant coach Mike Fleming, the team hopes to return runners to the state meet in several events, including the boys' 4x200m relay, the boys' 4x400m relay, the girls' 800m and the boys' 400m.

The 4x200m squad of seniors Louis Varella and Mohamed Mansaray and juniors Jonathan Haughton and Chris Grindley claimed the indoor state title and hope to do the same in the outdoor competition. The 4x400m team, which finished third in last year's state meet, also returns most of its runners with the exception of Mohammed Roberson. Still the remaining members - Varella, Haughton and senior Nilan Schnure - are confident in the team's talent and ability to fill the anchor spot in the race.

In last year's individual races, Blair was represented by Varella in the boys' 400m and senior co-captain Johanna Gretschel in the girls' 800m. Both are expected to return to the state meet and improve on their previous performances.

Summing up last season as "very productive," Fleming believes the most significant challenge for this team will be to find and develop promising talent in the newcomers. Beyond that, he expects the team to again be successful, with runners showing a noble effort in the regional meet and hopefully continuing to states.

The track and field team has its first home meet on April 2 against Whitman.

By Ya Zhou and Sahar Shahamatdar

After a disappointing loss to Kennedy in the second round of the playoffs last season, the boys' volleyball team is looking forward to a new beginning. With seven new faces, including first-time coach Chris Liang, the Blazers hope to repeat their success in the 2005 and 2006 seasons as county champions. Although several key players — including Jay Chang and Allen Zhang — graduated last year, promising new players and seasoned returning members are poised to create a potential powerhouse team.

As a major offensive threat, hitting is one of the Blazers' greatest strengths. Middle hitter junior Nick Vujcic and outside hitter junior Willy Li may have some of the deadliest spikes in the county, possibly allowing Blair to cruise through most of the regular season. "The hitting is really strong, especially from the new players," Li said. "It's good that the majority of the team can hit well. So we don't have to concentrate on working on offense, and we can spend more time developing our defense."

Looking at the pitfalls in last year's defensive performance, Li believes that the Blazers should learn from previous mistakes and turn them into opportunities for further improvement. "The serve receive errors really plagued the team last year. So we really want to emphasize practice on that aspect of the game this year," he said. Junior Pan Wang - also on last year's squad - agrees that poor defense was the major reason that the team did not perform as well as last year.

Co-captains Li and fellow junior Bryan Huang will lead the Blazers both defensively and offensively on the court. But Liang stresses the importance of communication and team work for success. "It's all about team chemistry," he said. For the upcoming season, Liang wants the team to focus on passing and communication. The players have not had adequate time to develop and perfect their passing skills, and setter freshman Robert Huang believes that the skills will come only through practice. "The only way to get better at passing is to keep on practicing and drilling," Robert Huang said.

This team is also focused on the future. "This is also a building year for the new players so that they can lead the team to more county championships," Li said. But the Blazers are very excited for the chance to redeem themselves after last year's heartbreaking playoff loss. "With all the new talent this year; we're shooting for division champs," Li said.

The boys' volleyball team plays its home opener on April 7 against Watkins Mill at 5:15 p.m.

By Anshul Sood

The Blair coed volleyball team is coming off a great season where they won seven of their first eight games. But this season, the squad takes a drastically different look with just one boy, sophomore Vikas Mendhiratta, returning from last year's roster.

Head coach Greg Franklin said that the girls will guide this team through the season. "The girls are the better skilled ones and are going to have to pull us through some tough games," Franklin said. Last year's co-captain senior Julie Brice returns to lead the team with senior Olivia Bozik. Franklin also said that a lot of girls who played for Blair's girls' varsity squad are going to be joining the coed team and should help the team drastically.

Franklin has noted the positive team spirit, which he believes will help the team during the season. "I'm seeing a good attitude from all the players," he said. "Nobody is at anyone's throats, so we have a good team chemistry going here."

Franklin hopes to work on building all-around skills during the season, but first, the team faces a larger obstacle. "This is the first time playing coed volleyball for many of these kids," Franklin said. "So it is going to take some time for them to get used to the rules of coed." But for the team to be successful this season, Franklin said that it will take great play from some of the boys. "The girls hold most of the talent," Franklin said. "But if we want to win it's going to boil down to which of the guys step up."

The coed volleyball plays its home opener on April 7 at 7 p.m. against Watkins Mill.