Winter sports seasons getting underway at Onaway High School
The football season has come and gone, as have the seasons for girls’ basketball and golf. Autumn has become winter, and with the snow and cold comes wrestling, volleyball, and boys’ basketball.
Onaway High School athlets have been preparing for those sports for the past few weeks. The first practice for both hoops and grappling was November 18. The first practice for the netters was three days later.
The season kicked off with Thursday’s home wrestling meet against Rudyard and St. Ignace. The basketball team first plays Tuesday at Inland Lakes, while the volleyball squad begins in Pellston December 14.
All three groups of Cards are hoping for successful seasons, and all three appear stronger than they were a year ago. One team begins the year with a new coach.
Jason Larson will lead the basketball squad, after serving as junior varsity coach for the past three seasons. He takes over for Rick McDonald, who left the post after last season.
While the coach will be new, most of the players are veterans. The team includes seven returning letter-winners among its 11-man roster. Six of those players saw at least some starting duty last year.
The group is led by senior co-captains Jay Diller and Carl Bednark, who will be asked to provide leadership as well as scoring throughout the season.
“We’re a much better team than we were a year ago,” Larson said. “I can tell that already. These kids don’t want to have another season like last year (Onaway finished 1-20).”
“They’ve worked their buts off to see that it doesn’t happen. We’re going to use that. We’re going to run and gun and try to wear our opponents down with our athleticism.”
The volleyball team, like their basketball counterparts, was exteremly young last season, and like the basketball team they finished with a losing record, ending the year 10-29-4.
Many of those losses were extremely close, and with eight players returning to the varsity this year, it’s safe to say the Cards will try to use those defeats as fuel for vitories this time around.
Among the returnees pushing to make that happen is senior co-captain Amy McLennan, who made the Ski Valley and Straits Area Conference second teams a year ago.
Coach Tina Peterman calls McLennan a “strong all-around players” and will keep her in the game throughout the rotation. According to Peterman, McLennan has all-state potential.
“Amy’s a very strong outside hitter,” the coach said. “But she does a good job anywhere. She’s solid at the net and with the serve. I expect her to have a great year.”
As always, Pellston and Inland Lakes will be tough competition, but Peterman expects her team to make a strong push for the Ski Valley Conference title.
That leaves wrestling, which through the years has been one of the strongest programs at OHS. Year in and year out, the Cards send athletes to the state finals.
This year should be no different, as the potential is there for further success. Among the key returnees is Zack Galer, a senior who h
Zack will attempt to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Joe, who during his senior year lost only one match — in the state championship.
The elder Galer dominated that year, and his younger brother will attempt to do the same in 2002-03. Along the way, he will try to lead his coach Mark Grant’s squad to victories.
One thing is certain. All of the Cardinal athletes would appreciate the support of large home crowds. When are the games, you ask? Look no further than the winter sports tab, coming to The Outlook in two weeks.
