After their run at the District 5 State Championships in Columbia, varsity boys basketball received a “thank you seniors” chant from a record-breaking student section as a salute to the contributions of the players who will be leaving after this year. Each year, varsity coaches from every sport have to deal with the loss of senior talent; sometimes they lose almost an entire team, other times only a few players.
For some seniors like Alex Winter, however, one sport gets left behind and a whole new one will get picked up. Winter is a first-year tennis player ranked third on the varsity boys tennis squad.
Winter said his friend Mark Goldstein, senior, wanted him to try out for tennis and so they both agreed to give it a shot together.
“It was a random decision, but Goldstein wanted me to try out,” Winter said.
Goldstein said he wanted Winter to try out because he knew Winter used to play through the Chesterfield Athletic Club and, as far as he could tell, could play rather well.
“I tried out because I wanted Winter to play,” Goldstein said. “He’s really good, and I knew if I’d do it with him, he’d try out as well.”
Winter said he played tennis from the age of three up until his first year of high school.
“I didn’t dislike it or anything, I just didn’t want to keep playing,” Winter said. “Also [I quit] when I started playing basketball.”
Alex Nelle, varsity boys tennis head coach, said Winter has made a big contribution to the team. Winter is ranked third on the varsity squad because he is a great athlete, Nelle said.
“I’m happy we have [Winter],” Nelle said. “He’s a big addition to our team.
Nelle said he knew Winter had played tennis before and he was pleased when he heard about his decision to try out.
“I knew he played previously when he was younger,” Nelle said. “I coached his older sister and I had him in class when he was a sophomore so he had mentioned it to me before.”
While other athletes have had prior experience on the team, Winter said he doesn’t feel like he’s very far behind. Coming off of four years of rest hasn’t been a huge issue for him, he said.
“I’m not really at a disadvantage because I picked it up pretty fast,” Winter said. “I didn’t lose much of my skill, it came back naturally.”
Nelle said Winter made a quick a transition back into competitive tennis. Considering his time away from the sport, Nelle said, he hasn’t had any major issues with performance.
“[Winter] has natural ability,” Nelle said. “He also has some rust he needs to work off, like just getting used to making the tough shots he hasn’t taken for a while, but he’s done that well.”
Much like Winter’s appearance on the varsity boys tennis squad, Maddy Brown, senior, decided to run track for her first time since middle school. Brown said she played soccer for three years before throwing in the towel – at which point she decided to run track.
“I did soccer for three years and it got super competitive and I got tired of it, so I figured with all the conditioning I had done I might as well run and stay in shape,” Brown said. “Plus Dan [Lasker, senior] was like ‘you should try out,’ so I guess he pushed me into it too.”
A member of the distance team and competitor in multiple events, Brown said she has had good endurance ever since she was a kid and so she doesn’t have much difficulty with a new transition.
“Sometimes I don’t know the running jargon or exercises but as far as running goes I don’t really see a disadvantage,” Brown said. “You just run fast, and that’s all I need to really know.”
Brown said she set season goals around her personal success rather than the whole team.
“I just want to break 6:00 with my mile time, hopefully lower,” Brown said. “And it would be pretty cool if I finished first in something.”
Missy Burger, varsity girls track and field coach, said Brown has stepped above such modest individual goals, proving to be a great addition to the team.
“Maddy has already contributed to the team with an unmatchable work ethic and a team-centered attitude,” Burger said. “She’s a very strong runner and obviously put a lot of training in over the winter.”
Despite her late start as far as competitive running goes, Burger said Brown has had no trouble adapting to the sport.
“Maddy has picked up running seamlessly,” Burger said. “She consistently places among the top girls in workouts and fits right in with our team philosophy and the other runners.”
But for all of Brown’s good qualities, Burger said there is one drawback.
“I know it sounds cliché but the only disadvantage is that we won’t be able to coach her more after this year,” Burger said.