Spring sports teams brave early season cold, start practicing

As snow melts and the weather starts to warm up, Weston High School spring sports teams are preparing to get their seasons underway.

During the spring season, students are offered baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis, crew and track and field.

In this first of a two-part series, the boys lacrosse, crew and girls tennis teams lay out their thoughts for the spring season.

Boys Lacrosse

Winning has become a habit for the Weston High School boys lacrosse team, but Head Coach Jim Wilcon says the goal is simple, to win one game at a time.

The Wildcats have won the Dual County League Small Division title six consecutive times and are coming off of a successful 16-3 season. The team won one playoff game before falling to North Reading High School in the state tournament’s round of 16.

“We had a fantastic season last year,” said Wilcon. “But most importantly every kid had a ton of fun, a successful experience and made some great memories on and off the field.”

Early season practices help players knock the rust off after a long, cold winter. Wilcon said these practices are also meant to help build chemistry, get everyone into game shape and see how the big picture of the season may look.

“Like every year, for us to be successful we just need to focus on one game at a time, and continue to trust each other, play together and share all the credit,” said Wilcon.

It looks to be an experienced group of players for the Wildcats this season. Many players will have two, three or four years of experience in the program already under their belt. Wilcon said this experience will help, as the team understands what is expected and needed in practice and preparation.

“Our goal is always the same – focus on trying to go 1-0 as many times as we can, play good, hard, clean lacrosse, take care of each other and enjoy our time together because it goes quick, and every team has its own story every season,” Wilcon said.

Girls Tennis

Another team that had postseason success a year ago was the girls tennis team. During the regular season, the Wildcats faced a lot of Division 1 opponents, which led to a misleading negative team record. However, this tough competition helped the team prepare for the playoffs, where it won its first two matches before falling to Dover-Sherborn High School in the state quarterfinals.

Despite losing a few key seniors, Head Coach Dyanne Sainato said the returning group of players is strong for the Wildcats.

Juniors Sophie Sima, Kaya Kasdon and Grace Feingold are set to lead the way in the singles rotation, said Sainato.

Many athletes will compete for time in the doubles rotation, according to Sainato. Practices before the first game will help establish and finalize the lineup for competition.

“Our primary goal this year is to enjoy every small success in the regular season and get back to the state finals where we have landed many times in the past few years,” said Sainato. “We would love to bring home the state title this spring!”

Crew

The Weston High team that has been hibernated for the shortest period is the crew team, who competes in both the fall and spring seasons.

According to Head Coach Beatrice Sims-Mackie, cooperation and a desire to work hard are two keys to success in the sport of crew.

“Crews measure their progress by how well they can move the boat together, and less so on the strength of any one individual,” said Sims-Mackie.

Weston competes alongside Wayland High School on a co-op team. The program is coming off a year of great success – as the Crew sent eight boats to the National Championship. One of the boys boats took home a bronze medal.

“We had a great season in both the fall and last spring, with the boys team winning the points trophy at states in both seasons, and the team finishing second in overall points,” said Sims-Mackie.

Sims-Mackie said having a strong team culture has helped the program be successful.

“Our team’s strengths are their drive and dedication to the team,” said Sims-Mackie. “We have great upperclassmen leadership, and a huge group of underclassmen, and they’re all ready to get to work. The only wrinkle is the ice on the lake, which we hope will melt very soon. Our goal for the season is to win the Overall Points trophy at States as a team.”