Winter sports update

by Lily Smith

The winter sports teams are off to a great start. While some teams are already in full swing and others are just getting started, all of the teams have a great seasons in store.

Bowling is off to a awesome start this season with a team of nine returning bowlers and four new team members. Everyone on the team is showing improvement since they began practice in September. They have a record of 3-2, losing to Briarcrest and St. Benedict. However, with matches scheduled against both of these teams later in the season, the bowling team plans to come back in these rematches and win. Their most recent match against St. Benedict was extremely close, with senior Snehi Vaghela bowling a personal best of 235 in the second game and an average of 180 for the three game series. The bowling team competes against every team in the league twice during the season, and they are confidently heading towards a spot in the state tournament as a team, as well as some individual qualifiers.


With a team of 10 returning players and nine freshman, the basketball team has been practicing for several weeks in preparation of regular season games beginning. Participating in a “play day” at Arlington High School on Nov. 3, the team went 1-1 in scrimmages against Kirby and Kingsbury. With strong team chemistry to begin the season, both JV and Varsity basketball feel optimistic as they approach their first regular season game at ECS on Nov. 12.

Swim team kicked off the season at St. George’s by placing first in the women’s division overall, and a number of swimmers won or placed high in their events. With a total of three meets so far, the swim team is proud of their results, and they are excited for what is to come during the rest of their season.

Finally, the fencing team has doubled the number of fencers this year, and they are proud of their progress so far. During the Junior Olympic Qualifier tournament on Nov. 4, the top three people from each event qualified for the Junior Olympics, a national tournament that will be held in Denver this year. The St. Mary’s team had four team members qualify. Evie Oliver qualified for cadet and junior women’s epee and cadet women’s saber, Emily Weatherly qualified for cadet epee, Elizabeth Chem qualified for cadet foil, and Ashley Graflund qualified for cadet, junior foil and cadet saber. Ashley Graflund, this year’s team captain said, “I am very excited to watch my teammates become better fencers and can’t wait to see how we do as the season progresses!”