Winter sports are in the midst of their seasons. Here are season updates on the teams not featured in other stories in the issue.
      Boys Basketball

The boys basketball team is expected to do good things this year, according to senior Hunter Olson.

Olson said the team has seven varsity returners, who will play a huge role in the team’s success this season.

“With all of the returners we have, our team has a lot of experience and that will help us out in the long run,” Olson said.

According to Olson, the team needs to focus on playing one game at a time and not worry about the end of the season right now.

“We are expected to do great things this year, but we are trying to focus on the task ahead and not focusing on the state tournament,” Olson said. “We will start to focus on that subject as we get there.”

Junior Justin Cooper said the team has been working in the offseason to get prepared for this season.

“We have been having open gyms before school during the fall sports season, and even though it doesn’t sound like much, it helps a lot,” Cooper said.

The first games are here faster than they usually are, but Olson said he has confidence they will be ready.

“Doug [Miles] will have us prepared for the season,” Olson said. “I have no doubt in that. We just have to do our part and ball up.”

The boys’ started the season 1-1 in the Pirate Palace with a win against Newport and a loss to the defending state champions Philomath.

“It will ‘be fun,” Cooper said. “We need to work hard every day and hopefully our hard work will pay off.”

Girls Basketball

Basketball is back and the girls team is working toward making it to the state tournament in 2015.

According to junior Khalani Hoyer, there are a handful of returners leading the team to where toward its goals.

“We have a lot of returners that have a lot of experience, and they are showing a lot of dedication to improve themselves and lead the team,” Hoyer said.

According to Hoyer, practices consist of a lot of running. The players want to boost their stamina so they can outrun the opposing team.

“We are trying to get our stamina up so we can use our athleticism to get up and down the court and wear the opposing team down,” Hoyer said.

The Pirates were close to making it to the state tournament last year and according to senior Jade Chavez, the team is set on making it to the tournament this year.

“We want to improve from what we did last year,” Chavez said. “We want to go to the state tournament this year and to do that, we all have to be 100 percent dedicated.”

The Pirates’ first game was against Newport in the Pirate Palace on Dec. 5 and they won 54-35. They also played Philomath on Saturday and lost 28-14.

“It is always nice to open up the season with two home games,” Chavez said. “We just have to work hard in practice, and everything else will fall into place.”

Boys Swimming

The 2014-15 swimming season has arrived and the team has the right mindset, according to senior captain Spencer Fromm.

“We have a young team this year and everyone has the will to work hard,” Fromm said.

Last year the boys got third at the district meet and according to Fromm, they want to repeat their success this year.

“We want to do just as good as we did last year, but it would be really nice to do even better and make it to state,” Fromm said.

Swimming is as much of an individual sport as a team sport and it is important everyone does their part in adding to the success of the team, according to Fromm.

“I think this year is going to be my best season,” Fromm said. “I want to do better than I did in districts and state than I did last year.”

According to sophomore Garrett McCarthy, the team is working hard in practice and getting better every day.

“We are working on form and getting in shape,” McCarthy said. “The team is putting in good effort and I’m sure we will be ready for the season.”

The boys kicked off the season at North Valley on Dec. 4.

Girls Swimming

The 2014-15 swim season is here and with high hopes to live up to, the team is focused on the season, according to senior captain Alyssa Hedgpeth/

“We had a lot of good seniors leave last year,” Hedgpeth said. “It is going to be a slow start I think, but we will get there.”

For the last four years the girls have been undefeated in dual meets and have won districts. According to Hedgpeth, the team wants to show they can still perform at the same level of competition.

“We want to show that our team wasn’t just the seniors last year,” Hedgpeth said. “That we still can compete at the top level.”

The girls team has a lot of new swimmers this year so practices are mainly focusing on the basics, according to Hedgpeth.

“With all the new people we are just working on distance and form right now,” Hedgpeth said.

The girls’ first meet was Dec. 4 at North Valley, and according to junior Cheyenne McNeely, the team has high hopes after it and now they know what they need to work on for the rest of the season.

“It was nice to see where our team is at and what we need to work on in practice,” McNeely said.