The 2016-17 year in WIS middle school sports was a great one. It included three banners, three plaques, exciting wins, and heartbreaking losses. The soccer teams continued their dominance, while the boys basketball team made history. This was one crazy year and it’s hard to remember everything that happened. So, here is a team-by-team report of 2016-17 WIS middle school sports.
Fall
Boys Soccer-
After a tough loss to JDS in the 2015 finals, the boys soccer team knew that they needed to bounce back. Lead by seventh grader Matteo Caloia and goalie AJ Maner, they managed to do so with an undefeated season. The season was capped off by a 2-0 win at home vs. St. Anselm’s to take home the banner. The final game was highlighted by Carl Renner’s two goals that won it for the Devils against a strong St. Anselm’s team.
Girls Soccer-
Girls MS soccer won the PVAC banner by beating Oakcrest in the championship game. The Devils one loss of the regular season was against Oakcrest and they definitely got revenge by crushing them at home in the finals in front of all their classmates. The WIS girls team has dominated PVAC opponents for years and they continued their dominance this year.
Cross Country-
Both the boys and girls cross country teams got second place plaques in their championship meets. The boys came in second to constant champion, JDS, while the girls fell just behind Washington Waldorf. Mila Martin had an incredible championship race, coming in first place for the girls with a time of 14 minutes. Also, Clementine Rotsaert made a grand improvement coming in seventh with her best time of the season. On the boys side, Ali Hakim-Florian gained first place overall as he did in almost all of the season’s meets. His time was 12:44. Other contributors were Charlie Brooks taking fourth, and Jakobi Haskell coming in eighth.
Winter
Boys Basketball-
This year, the Middle School Boys Basketball team went 14-2, and won its first ever PVAC Banner in an epic championship game against Grace Brethren. The biggest win of the team’s regular season was a double-overtime win against St. Anselm’s. The team leaders were Patrick Anders and Ali Hakim-Florian bringing points and leadership to the court. Another key figure on the team was new coach Jose Padilla who introduced a new intensity that the boys MS basketball program had never seen.
Girls Basketball-
The girls hoops squad had a solid season, but unfortunately they lost to WCA in the quarterfinals. The team’s star was Riley Contee, who according to coach Amy Tong, scored about 95% of the Red Devils’ points. They did really well for such a new and inexperienced team.
Spring
Softball-
Due to many forfeits and not having enough players, the girls softball team only played three games this season. They went 2-1 (pretty solid winning percentage). The starting pitcher for the team was lefthander Isis Hayes who shut down her opponents constantly.
Track & Field-
In the championship track meet at Hebrew Academy, the girls team won a second-place plaque while the boys team put in a solid effort with 4th place. The girls team had solid competitors from Eden Smith, Riley Contee, and Mariana Savastano. Smith got second in the 100m and 200m and Contee took third in the 400m. For the boys, Patrick Anders did well in the 100m and 200m and Jakobi Haskell ran the 400m and 800m. Matteo Caloia managed to take third in the 1600m.
By Saul Pink
