By Suie Choi ’20, Staff Writer

The myriad of colors of fall not only add a festive air to the campus, but also mark the end of fall sports and the beginning of the winter season. The winter season consists of seven sports teams.

Women’s Basketball had an outstanding record last year of 20-6. This year, the team will be led by captains Isabelle Catabran ‘17 and Maria Armas ‘18. The team welcomes the challenge of moving up to the top SEC division. Additionally, the loss of graduate star Jocelyn Willoughby ‘16 and Karina Mehta ‘16 places greater demand on the team. Nonetheless, teammates are convinced that although it promises to be a tough season, it is nothing NAGB can’t handle. Catabran ‘17 reflects the positivity of the team when she admits, “I feel nervous. I always do for any upcoming sport season, but I am very confident about the season.” With such a talented group of returning players, as well as four new freshmen, the team will look to repeat the same success they have accomplished in past years.

The Men’s Basketball team is looking for a strong rebound from last season’s record of 7-16. This year, the team is captained by Elijah Lipkin ‘17 and Sam Enweonwu ‘18. Under the leadership of a new head coach, David Newton, the players are eager and ready to begin the season. Coach Newton has introduced many changes to the program, including a new offensive system. Preparing the new system will be a challenging adjustment, but the team is definitely up for it. Co-captain Elijah Lipkin is hopeful about this season: “I’m feeling optimistic… We have a really good, young team and we’re ready to compete at a higher level.” NA fans will find the men’s basketball team interesting to watch as they strive to reach their potential and improve from last year.

After a strong season last year (5-7-1), in which they advanced to the state tournament semi-finals, the women’s swim team is looking forward to another strong season.  Becca Zimmerman ‘17 and Lizzy Sorano ‘17 are this year’s captains. With many returning swimmers and the addition of four new freshmen, the team has a lot of potential. A few swimmers to watch for in upcoming meets are Claire Xu ‘18, who made was awarded Second Team All-Conference last year, Cindy Xiong ‘17, who has received Honorable Mention All-Conference, and Danning Hu ‘20, who has been recognized by USA Swimming as performing top 10 nationally for her age. The team is sure to make quite the splash this year.

Like the women’s team, the men’s swim team is looking to repeat a strong season as well. Last year’s team advanced to the semi-finals of the state tournament, and although the team has lost a couple of seniors from last year, four promising new freshmen seek to pick up the slack. Senior captains Mark Berger ‘17 and Alex Chang ‘17 will provide strong leadership for the rest of the team. Kellen Wang ‘20, a new member of the team, stated: “The captains are very charismatic and get things done. I especially like their order and organization, and how they make sure everyone is on task.” With the strong leadership of the senior captains, the men’s swim team is expected to achieve the same level of success as last year and is certainly a team to watch.

Women’s Fencing continues to grow but is relying on the experience of returning fencers to spark the season. Led by Anne Ruble ‘17 and Rose Parker ‘17, the team is proud of last year’s individual successes of Veronica Czyzewski ‘18, who won Preps, and Abigaile Parker ‘19, who placed fourth in Preps. Anne  admits she is a little nervous because they still don’t have a full team. Nonetheless, she feels good about the upcoming season: “Every member is a returning fencer. We have no freshmen, and we didn’t graduate anyone, so our team is very experienced.” Spots on the team remain open, so the captains would welcome any unknown fencers out there.

Men’s fencing was very successful last season and will attempt to continue that success. Last year’s team finished sixth in the state and second overall at the prep tournament. Despite the loss of several seniors,  including star Harvard commit George Haglund, the men’s fencing team is determined to repeat last year’s success. Jared Caputo ‘17 and Jason Suh ‘17 will captain this year’s team. Charles Pan ‘18 says, “I feel very optimistic about the upcoming fencing season! Although we have lost a lot of our starters from last year, we still have many returning starters with lots of experience.” With decorated fencer Shane Iverson ’17 looking to lead the foil squad, we look forward to watching the men’s fencing team have another successful season.

Wrestling, captained by seniors Will Schwartz ‘17 and Jason Katz ‘17, has a demanding season ahead of them. With the loss of four seniors, most notably star University of Chicago commit Stephen Bonsall, and longtime legendary Coaches Jay Gerish and Gene Kelly, it will be a tough adjustment. Last year four wrestlers advanced to the region tournament. Despite this year’s low roster, the team has a lot of potential for individual success. Senior co-captain Will Schwartz ‘17 is excited about the season and says, “We will certainly miss Coach Gerish. He did an incredible amount for our program, but I have all the faith in the world in Coach Abdul-Malik to keep up our success.” Wrestlers are looking forward to their matches in the gym.

All of these teams deserve NA fans to come out and support them. These athletes condition hard together, play hard together, and fight hard together to proudly represent Newark Academy. So, I encourage you all to be part of an exciting NA winter sports season and watch school spirit in action. There is always something at Newark Academy for everyone to cheer for.