New team among four featured in final installment in Hinsdale Central sports previews
Girls flag football played its inaugural game Tuesday night, officially joining the fall lineup of sports at Hinsdale Central. Those girls, along with athletes on the boys football, boys soccer and girls tennis teams, hope to improve as the weeks progress. If the teams time it correctly, they will peak just in time to earn a birth in postseason play. (Jim Slonoff photo/file photos)
The girls flag football team, new this year to Hinsdale Central and the IHSA, along with the boys football and soccer teams and the girls tennis team are the focus of this third and final installment of the season preview series.
Previous installments ran Aug. 22 and 29.
Girls flag football
First game: Sept. 3 vs. Hinsdale South (V loses 48-0)
Head coach: Nick Gebhart
Seasons as head coach: 1st
No. varsity team members: 35
Strengths: Our work ethic is tremendous. We try to compete every single play, and our goal is to out-work you. I have some girls who, some of them haven't played any real sports, so this is obviously brand new for everybody. It's a game that we're just going to have to continue to learn and grow together.
Challenges: We were hoping - and it's me being a little over the top, for closer to 50 to 60 (on the team). At mini-camp we actually started with 32. At the start of the season, we had close to 19. We did grow it, but sadly we did lose a couple to club softball, volleyball or soccer.
Starting a new sport: There's definitely some growing pains. Starting out, we didn't get much direction from IHSA, so our fields were basically 50 by 25 (yards). Then we found out that our fields were actually full-length (100 yards) fields. At the beginning of May, there was only a four-page document for the rules and regulations of the game. In June they changed it, and now it's up to 17 pages. In the next three to five years, it's going to continue to evolve and change for the better. It's growing pains we all have to go through together.
Who to watch: Quarterback Emersyn Willits and wide receiver/defensive backs Stephanie Andrews, Audrey Araujo and Destynee McCoy.
Furthermore: All the girls who have come out since springtime when flag football passed, they've been vocal in trying to promote the game and compete and learn, so it's been great. We practice at 5:30 in the morning. We go to 7. We played in the rain. I'm proud of how they persevere and they can adapt to different opportunities. You get the truly committed that want to put that time in and want to be part of this.
Football
First game: Aug. 30 vs. Naperville Central (V lost 13-24)
Last year: 3-6
Head coach: Brian Griffin
Seasons as head coach: 6th
No. varsity team members: 51
Strengths: They love to practice. They love to work hard. They are a very close group. They seem to enjoy being around each other, which makes it a lot of fun to be at practice. On top of that, I think they're pretty talented as a group. There is a lot of skill on the team.
Challenges: The two biggest challenges are, one, we're young in a lot of respects. We have a lot of inexperience, especially on defense. We only returned one starter. To have new guys that are new to the varsity football experience is always a challenge. Two, our schedule is very difficult. The teams we played last year were something like 12-5 in the playoffs alone. We're playing another difficult schedule with four teams that are ranked in the top 20 to start the season. Every week is going to be a grind and a hard-fought battle, so we've got to be prepared for that.
Who to watch: Our quarterback, Riley Contreras, is one I think should have a big season. He's a second-time starter. That helps a lot. Same thing for Finn Cain and Kelan McInerney. They're both returning starters on offense who had good junior years. You expect that senior jump to move on to the next level. Defensively, Zach Kruse and Noah McCurry are kids that we expect, as seniors that had experience last year, to kind of rise to that next level.
Outlook: We would have liked to win in week one. I think time will tell. We're going to get better every week, so it's a mixture of our success and the teams we play. I think there's potential for us to have a very successful season, but we're going to have to work really hard to get there.
Furthermore: They are just a very team-oriented team. Individually they are going to find their success and struggles as a team.
Boys soccer
First meet: Aug. 27 vs. Oswego East (V loses 1-4)
Last year: 13-6-3 (3-3 in WSC), won regionals, lost in sectional semifinals
Head coach: Mike Wiggins
Seasons as head coach: 23rd at Central
No. varsity team members: 14
Strengths: The student-athlete experience is an important aspect to how we run our program, specific to how our players develop and take advantage of the values that sports can offer. This is important to how that can bring out the best in them on and off the field. This group has a confidence paired with an interest in putting in the work, which can only help the effort moving forward.
Challenges: The season in and of itself is a challenge. To me, it's taking the season as it comes and recognizing that every week is an opportunity to get better and prepare for the postseason That's what we've always used as our guide. Every year players are coming into the program, many times playing together for the first time, and getting them to their best collectively and individually by the time we get to the middle of October. There's everything that comes with being a student-athlete. When you take all that and you put it all together, it's my hope that at least when the seniors are done, that those challenges they encountered through all that goes with being a student athlete benefit them in some way and they've realized the benefit of athletics.
Who to watch: top returners are senior defensemen Denis Altman, Enzo Cinque and Michael Ditomasso and junior Braden Tingler; senior midfielders Austen Szurgot and Kostas Zamalaitis and junior Matt Gantar; and senior goalie Martin Contreras (WSC All-Conference).
Outlook: This year's group entering the 2024 season brings a great mix of younger players and experienced, too, with six returning starters and eight freshmen and sophomores. It's a dynamic we have not seen in a few years, so we are looking forward to seeing how they come together.
Girls tennis
First meet: Aug. 28 vs. Hinsdale South (V won)
Last year: 5th at state, won conference and sectionals
Head coach: Shawna Zsinko
Seasons as head coach: 8th
No. varsity team members: 26
Strengths: We've just got a lot of polished tournament players. They're young, so they need more experience, but we have enough older players that can help with that aspect.
Challenges: Probably the biggest challenge will be singles and seeding - if we can get some players seeded at state.
Who to watch: Sophia Vermani is a standout freshman. She seems pretty determined, and I think she's looking forward to her first year of high school tennis. She's got an older sister (Ava) on the team. I think she's been excited to get here. Sydney Shuster and Abigail Gambla, based on how they did last year and figuring out if we'll partner them again or if they're going to get new partners will be exciting.
Outlook: We won conference last year. We won sectionals last year. I think we should be able to do the same this year. State is going to be a challenge. We're really deep and we need to figure out the right combinations to try to get on the podium for state.
Furthermore: We had a very tough sectional last year and so we didn't qualify everyone. I think our big challenge will be, OK, do they give us a similar sectional, which will be tough, or will they spread the wealth out, which I hope they do. I think our team is ready to fight. I think we're up for the challenge and we're going to do the best that we can with the team that we've got. I'm excited about the season.
