This past month Seven Hills winter sports have been on an incredible run, with talented senior swimmers powering the team to states and the Stinger Squash Team excelling in their numerous travel tournaments.
The Seven Hills Swim Team has had particular success; the team went to States the weekend of February 22nd. Senior swimmers were the stars of the show, with Henry Stimson taking 7th in the 100 breaststroke and Josie Schneider winning 12th in the 100 backstroke. Along with the seniors, Marissa McNerney podiumed in 200 IM and 500 Free. Two medley relays also got 6th place and the 400 free relay got 8th, among several other victories the team had at their state debut.
A key factor in the performance of both swimming and squash teams this year actually came down to the size and community bonding of the teams. “This year, we had a way bigger team than normal at all the meets so it was really cool to see the team rally around each other, and it felt more like teamwork than an individual sport,” senior Josie Schneider said. While the swimmers do come together for “team dinners and other activities between meets,” athletes tend to practice on their own or with club teams throughout the season, making meets and competitions an all the more bonding experience for showcasing their talent and individual successes. “For swimming, if you swim for a club team, you don’t practice with the Seven Hills team but with your club team instead, so everyone is divided up on their club teams. But we still go to practice and swim together, do team lifts, and that all comes together to keep us ready for the meets,” Schneider said.
Along with swimming, Seven Hills Squash also featured in the recent student clap out had just as honorable of a season. The squash team closed off their season with one final trip to Philadelphia, both teams playing St. Luke’s and Masters School.
As the season came to a close, senior Quincy Morris described her favorite part of playing squash:“Definitely my team, going to practice with my friends, having fun going to practice, relaxing, just having a fun time.” Quincy also thinks that collaboration and getting to play with underclassmen is essential to building team chemistry: “Interacting with athletes doesn’t usually happen as much, but when we go out of town for matches, it’s a lot more fun. Especially Kenzie, she’s a great example. She’s a freshman, and I’m a senior, and it’s a really good friendship. The whole team, guys and girls, get along.” Teamwork seems to be a big contributor to the squash team’s success. Better yet, memorable relationships and friendly interactions always go on between the Stingers.
Another key player for the squash team is senior Saxon Lackey who has been playing since the team’s creation at Seven Hills. As Saxon reflected on his season and especially the past couple of weeks, he showed optimism toward matches and getting in the right mental state to perform at his best: “It could potentially be my last match, and for me playing this game for nine or ten years, it’s been a long journey.”
Both Quincy and Saxon praise the coaching staff for men’s and women’s squash as a large contributor to their success this season: “At first it was kind of hard to connect with both coaches, but we’ve primarily had one coach travel with us. There were really no conflicts, and everything went smoothly,” said Lackey.
All in all, the winter season has been tremendous for all teams in a variety of sports boasting impressive results and runs to state tournaments as well as other famed competitions. Hopefully, in the coming years, the rise of stinger sports will continue to be just as successful in cementing our career in D3 sports.
