Winter sports are finally here! For these teams, there is a lot to be excited for as their seasons unfold. Barlow’s winter sports include boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ swimming, and boys’ and girls’ wrestling. Each of these sports teams enters its season optimistically, looking forward to what it can accomplish.
This year, our boys’ basketball team is coming off a state championship victory. This season’s returners include juniors Maddyn Cummings, Silas Gentry, Drew Miller, and Stan Bozhduga, and seniors Maddox Young and Caleb Perry. Regarding what is to be expected from the season, Coach Tom Johnson, known as TJ by the community, says, “We never make predictions. Our goal is to be better today than we were yesterday.” TJ believes in the team “not getting ahead of ourselves but getting better each week.” Boys’ basketball is in a competitive league with Central Catholic, Nelson, and Clackamas, all of which are top 10 teams in the state. “To compete with the best teams in the state, we must defend and rebound at a higher level,” says TJ.
Girls’ basketball looks forward to a strong season, with a few new faces joining the team this year. The returners include juniors Allison Shamoon, Marlie Williams, Aubrey Heath, and Olivia Dyer, as well as sophomore Sienna Courter. Coach Nick Hudson believes that multiple players new to the program will strengthen the team this year. “I anticipate sophomores Adia Fancher, Peyton Gaffney, and freshman Paisley Aho will make an impact this season.” Girls’ basketball is in a competitive league this season with a primary goal to make it to the playoffs, as they have the past eight years. Hudson says another goal is “growth, improvement, and strong team chemistry with returning and new players.” Hudson acknowledged that there is room for improvement, especially since his team is not the tallest. “We will be explosive on offense with a variety of players that can score and contribute in a variety of ways,” Coach Hudson says, speaking about his team’s greatest strength this year.
Boys’ and girls’ swimming have numerous returners who were impactful in the past season. On the boy’s side, last season, Powell Jacob took first in the 200 Free and 500 Free at districts and went on to swim at state, placing 14th and 15th. Nathan Davis placed second in the 500 Free and fourth in the 200 IM at districts, and Noah Johnson placed third in the 100 Back at districts. Last season for the girls included Lauren Kotsovos placing second in 500 Free and fifth in 200 Free at districts, Audrey Carlson placing fifth in 100 Breaststroke and fifth in 500 Free at districts, and Julia Fraley placing fifth in 100 Back at districts. Coach Angie Miller acknowledged that her team’s goals this season are to “Improve stroke technique and build endurance for a successful taper into districts and state.” She also hopes to put together as many dual meet wins as possible. Barlow Swim is in a competitive league, including numerous schools with strong swimmers. Coach Miller had several new swimmers join the team this season. “We had quite a few freshmen come in this year and a good handful of those made the varsity squad,” she explained, “There were also some JV from last year that have really improved to make the varsity team this season, along with other returning varsity that leveled up over the summer and should place well this year. Excited to see them start racing, first meet is December 11!”
Boys’ and girls’ wrestling has many returners who were extremely successful last season. Coach Rod Heiser explained, “We have 13 returning district placers and 10 returning state qualifiers on our boys and girls teams.” Among the 13 returning district placers, five of them are returning district champions: Gavin Jusino, Olin Storlie, Layth Qouchbane, Taylor Ward, and Olivia Howell. They also have three returning state placers, Olin Storlie, Abby Richard, and Taylor Ward. Storlie placed fifth, and Richard placed sixth. Barlow wrestling’s highest finisher last season was Taylor Ward, who finished third in the state. The Barlow wrestling team has many goals for this season, with the main one being to win the Mt. Hood Conference for boys and Special District 2 for girls. Coach Heiser described that another goal for the season is to “place as many wrestlers as possible at the state tournament.”
This season of winter sports will be an exciting and competitive one, especially when fans come out and support. If you aren’t currently participating in a sport, make sure to come out and cheer on Barlow’s athletes as they compete during the winter season.
