With the 2011 fall sports season getting underway, here’s a look at how the Trojans are doing and their chances coming into this season…
Volleyball: Last season’s journey towards a second straight Class 4A state title was derailed in the state championship game by Lyons Township but Cary and coach Patty Langanis bring back a formidable team and Langanis said that a lot of state experience brings a team that has a clear state of knowing what they need to do to play for another state title.
“We’re big, we’re quick, we’re powerful,” Langanis said. “We have seven seniors who have all been there and nine of the 16 players have made the trip one or two times so we know what it takes and we know the hard work we are going to have to put in.”
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The season gets underway Thursday, Sept. 1 at Grayslake North.
Boys Soccer: Coach Mark Olson’s team lost in the sectional semifinals last season to finish 15-3-1 and will look to improve on that finish this season with a talented bunch of players including Tommy Breen back at goalkeeper but Olson said it will take a few games before a good feel for his team is accomplished.
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“We will have a better idea after we play our first couple matches,” Olson said. “Everyone is cautiously optimistic and we have a lot of good players here. Everybody’s goal is to win so we got to play smart, stay together and work hard.”
The season opens on Wednesday at Rockford Boylan.
Girls Tennis: This will be the 37th and final year for Bud Lachel as girls’ tennis coach after ending his run of 42 years as boys coach in 2010. For Lachel’s final season, he returns top singles player Amanda Dorsey along a slew of other returners. Lachel said that his team looks to be in fine shape to start the year.
“They are looking pretty good, we got 8 or 10 returning kids from last year,” Lachel said. “I think our chances are pretty good, depends how we do against (Crystal Lake) South and Central, those will be our main two competitions.”
The Trojans will see Central right away in their first meet of the season on Tuesday afternoon.
Boys Golf: Cary began their season this last week, winning the Cary-Grove Invitational and finishing fifth at the Crystal Lake South Invite. C-G will depend a lot of junior Jarrett Kinney and sophomore Dan DePrey. Coach Kelly Muzzy said that he feels confident the team can rebound from last season’s eighth-place finish in the Fox Valley Conference.
“I think we will be a little more competitive than we were last year,” Muzzy said. “We’re still young with our 1-2 punch of (Kinney and DePrey) so it depends on how quickly they settle in because they are young but it’s a good feeling knowing you have a chance, having some good players.”
Cary continues their season on Thursday against Prairie Ridge.
Girls Golf: Cary-Grove’s girls’ golf players play in the co-op with Crystal Lake Central and Crystal Lake South with the team led by Central’s Lexi Harkins, who finished fourth in the state last year in Class AA. This season’s team is led again by the sophomore Harkins and features four Trojan players in Amalia Emma and Larisa Luloff, who won the junior girls division of the McHenry County Junior Golf Association this summer, along with Emily Jean and Katherine Rose. Coach Kathy Speaker said the team’s chances are very solid this season.
“We have three returning players from our state qualifying team last season so we’re kind of excited about that,” Speaker said.
The team returns Harkins, Emma and Ann Bandolik from last season and will continue their 2011 season on Thursday at Huntley.
Boys Cross Country: The Trojans return their lone sectional qualifier from last season in Dustin Throw as Cary looks to improve on last year’s finish. Coach Layne Holter said that the team is working on getting better from last year.
“We are on a rebound this season, we’re rebuilding and I think we got a great foundation of guys to work with who are working hard and are hungry,” Holter said.
Cary returns four members of their team and has some new runners who could do some damage as the season rolls on. The season gets underway on Thursday at the Stevenson Invitational in Lincolnshire.
Girls Cross Country: Like the boys team, the girls have one sectional qualifier from last year returning in Kathie Wollney and coach Mark Anderson said that with the number of runners he has back, the team could make a serious run in the Fox Valley Conference.
“I think we are in alright shape, the girls’ side of the Fox Valley Conference has been quite competitive over the past few years,” Anderson said. “We got a lot of kids coming back and have a lot of depth that the last couple weeks have been really good for us.”
Anderson’s team will begin their season on Saturday at the McHenry County Meet in Huntley.
