By Cory Sparks, Sports Editor
Indian Trail High School & Academy fall sports teams have torn it up this season, and it would be downright outrageous to not acknowledge and honor the jaw-dropping show these various teams have put on for their school.
Cross Country
For starters, the cross country boys and girls teams both went to state after impressive showings at each sides sectional. For the boys, junior Trey Meier finished a historic first place individually with a time of 16:31 (roughly a 5:20 mile on average) out of 83 runners. For the girls, junior Molly Balch put up an impressive time of 20:31 and came in 11th overall (roughly a 6:35 mile on average) out of 77 runners.
On top of that feat, their coach, Brian Vanderhoef, went on to win Southeast Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year for the team’s outstanding success throughout this fall season. When the team as a whole made it to state, it was its first time in Indian Trail’s young history.
Boys Varsity Soccer
Next, boys soccer went on to become conference champions despite losing their starting goalie, IT Medical Science Academy senior Noah Reed, to a knee injury as the postseason approached. In a string of wins, roughly a week leading up to conference, the boys took down Tremper, Franklin, and Horlick high schools.
Varsity Football
Football also had a remarkable season, qualifying for the WIAA 2018 Boys Football Tournament after posting a 5-4 record during regular season play. Indian Trail won the first round of the 32 team playoff bracket against Milwaukee Riverside by a score of 21-0.
Then, Indian Trail took on first-seed Marquette High School. The team fought hard, but this would be their last game of the year as they came up short by a score of 41-17. During this rather impressive post-season push, Jaylen Grant, Communications Academy senior, tallied 10 total touchdowns and the Hawks shut out three teams throughout the duration of the season.
It was also the furthest run for Indian Trail’s football team since 2014, where its quest also ended in the second round against the same Marquette High School by a score of 13-6.
Girls Swim and Dive
For girls swim and dive, their state appearance ended in a 22nd place finish as a team. Senior Trinity Gilbert led the team with a third place finish in the 200-meter race, the highest finish for any Indian Trail swimmer this year at the state competition.
Varsity Volleyball
Both the boys and girls volleyball teams also brought down the thunder on their opposers this fall. For girls volleyball, they got hot at the right time winning their last three games before entering the playoffs.
Indian Trail started out with a 3-1 win against Racine Case during the “play-in” stage of the bracket. Then, the girls impressive four-match winning streak came to an end against Franklin in the round of 64. The loss also ended the girls volleyball season.
As for the boys volleyball team, they went further into the playoffs than any Hawks boys volleyball team ever has. The team made the WIAA state tournament
Overall, Indian Trail has sent a message across the state this fall that their athletic teams have come to play. As the winter sports funnel through these upcoming months, it will be intriguing to see how well the rest of the Indian Trail athletic program lives up to the high bar set by fall sports for the 2018-19 season.