Viking Athletics has had a memorable fall season. Orcas Island High School has five fall sports teams: volleyball, football, cross country, girls soccer and boys soccer.
Volleyball has had a season full of personal grit, and their graduating seniors, Bethany Hansen and Ella Conrad, will be missed by the team. Looking back on the season, Katelyn Minnis remembered her “favorite match would have to be the match where we beat Friday Harbor in their own house.” When asked about her passion for volleyball she stated that “I love volleyball because of the intensity and constant motion of everything. You never know where the ball will be hit next or which direction you’re going to have to dive.” Regarding any advice for future players she emphasized “to leave it all on the court and love your teammates because no one can do this alone.” The volleyball team is looking forward to the future, and hopes to get into playoffs next year.
Fall sports teams, clockwise from top left: Volleyball, Football, Boys soccer, Girls soccer, Cross Country / Yearbook staff
Football has had to overcome their own set of challenges. Without enough players toform a full team, they were forced to play with an eight-man instead of an 11-man formation for the season. Through all of this, they still had a number of injuries, downsizing their team even further. The football team will be losing six seniors, Miles Harlow, Ricky DeAnda, Charlie Holmes, Jordan Randolph, Gunnar Sandwith and Brother Murphy. When asked about his favorite game, quarterback Miles Harlow commented on the game at La Conner. “Even though we came up short it was a lot of fun to score a lot of points on a really solid team,” he said. The team bids a fond farewell the seniors, and hopes to make the cut for a team next year.
The new cross country team has been blazing the trails this year with two seniors: Cyrus Amour and Stephen Hohman. They’ve competed on weekends, and four even made it to state. When asked how they did at state, Millie Kau said, “well, we didn’t get last!”
Injuries have unfortunately befallen our girls soccer team this season. With concussions, broken ankles, broken hands, and broken legs, they’ve been put through the worst. But, despite such disastrous losses, they persevered. Joie Zier broke her hand playing, and could not continue, but supported her team fully. “Smacking the crap out of people and not getting in trouble” was her favorite part of the season. The team will say goodbye to two seniors, Aliza Diepenbrock and Anneke Fleming, but is hoping for another great team next year.
Boys soccer made it to state for the first time in the history of the team. A large group of students played in the team this year. They have six seniors: Carlos Erazo, Rodrigo Erazo, Ismael Rodriguez, Geraldo Alvarez, Ivan Velazquez, Henry McMurray and Luke Bronn. When asked about the emotions at making state, forward Levi Moss explained that “being the first Orcas boys soccer team to go to state feels great … there was so much excitement.” The entire community undoubtedly felt the excitement and hoped they would do well. Unfortunately, in their first game for the championship, they took a hard loss. Despite this, Moss stays optimistic — “we had a good season” — and hopes for more success in the coming seasons.