The seasons have changed and winter sports are beginning to get in full swing here at Westford Academy. Included in the winter sports category are swimming, basketball, indoor track, Alpine skiing, gymnastics, Nordic skiing, wrestling, winter cheer and ice hockey. This winter season is packed full of sports.
Some coaches have been coaching their sport for a number of years, including Philip Archambault, coaching WA boy’s indoor track for seventeen years. The boy’s track team is anticipating a successful season. Many boys are returning to run for the team and also a lot of new boys are starting to run for the team this year. Archambault hopes that the boys perform well at the Dual County League Championship.
Most impressive coaching longevity is Ed Scollan, who has been head coach for the boys’ varsity basketball team for twenty-six years. Scollan has the simple goal of game-by-game improvement. The solid team is lead by co-captains Matt Ellis and Ryan Jann, and includes several strong seniors and juniors. “We need to be ready to play each game never taking any opponent lightly. The DCL has some terrific teams with many talented players,” said Scollan.
As for the girl’s basketball team, coached by Russell Coward, the coach of four years is expecting to make it to the DCL Large and the state tournament. The team looks strong and has several star players returning, including Megan Kibblehouse, Hannah Hackley, and Sam Hyslip. “We have a very difficult schedule this year, so I expect we will have our ups and downs this season,” said Coward.
The girls swim team is also looking forward to a successful season, with many record-breaking swimmers expected to shine this year. These swimmers include Counteney Martin, Tori Weinstock, Jen Marrkand, and Kelly Huber. Last year, the team was only thirteen points behind rivals Lincoln-Sudbury. Coach Caitlin Klick foresees the season “being very competitive in each meet that we enter. With such a small group, the girls will have many chances to swim several races each meet, giving them each a better shot of qualifying for the Sectional and State championships.”
Coach Todd Fletcher of the WA girl’s ice hockey team is yet another team coming back from a great season last year. Their main goal is to make it to the MIAA state tournament again this season with the help of last year’s star players, including Stephanie Aro, Kim Lizotte, and Ali Difonzo on offense and Nicole Larsen, Katie Lowe, and Erin Mealey on defense.
Stephanie Anderson has coached the Westford Academy gymnastics team for the past two seasons. This will be her third. The team came in fifth place last year at sectionals and is looking forward to going back and coming in at least fourth. “I am also hoping to break the balance beam record, the one that has not been broken since 1993,” said Anderson. The coach is expecting Erin Auger and Caroline Liu. They are hopeful about their first meet on December 22.
Bob Carter, the coach of the boy’s hockey team has been at WA for sixteen years. Several new players have joined the team and also many returning players are in the mix. The team plays other teams in the Merrimack Valley League. The captain of the team is Pat Houghton and the co-captains consist of Justin Pawlowski, Matt Brett, Ian Speliotis. As a team, they are looking forward to the season’s challenges.
As the season begins to start, all of Westford Academy’s teams are looking forward to successful seasons. Whether the teams accomplish their pre-season goals or not, all the teams are looking forward to a fun, competition-filled winter.