While many students took the summer off to enjoy a break from school, the summer athletes used their time to improve their skills. During the 2021 summer, baseball, softball and soccer all had successful seasons. 

Softball

Moving up to class 4A, the softball team worked especially hard to win big. Coach Lynette Foster shares some of the team stats, “ They battled only to lose by 1 run in 6 games. They continued to battle and won 4 games by 1. They ended up 7th in the conference. All 6 teams above North Polk were ranked. They continued to work, they lifted twice a week and got stronger, they got faster. They got gritty.”

While the team had doubts that their season would go far, their lifting, practices and grit carried them all the way to State. Their season ended with an unfortunate loss during the quarterfinal game against Western Dubuque. The team was led by the six graduated seniors Sydney Anderson, Chloe Dougherty, Alex Drent, Hannah Foster, Maya Monk and Hailey Steffen. 

Baseball 

The Raccoon River Conference always proves to be tough, but the baseball team held their own. They finished out the season with an overall record of 21 wins and 12 losses. Placing third in the conference, the team made it all the way to the second round of Substate, where their season unfortunately ended. 

Wyatt Zoske, the head coach of the baseball team, described the highlights of the seasons saying, “Some of the highlights of the season were our trip to the College World Series, our win over Pella at Principal Park, winning our first round district game against South Tama, and a streak late in June where we won 10 out of 12 games, which included a win over 4A State Tournament qualifier Waukee.”

The season ended with many of the team members receiving honors. These included all-district honors including first team pitcher, first team utility and second team outfield. They also received all-conference honors for first team pitcher, second team outfield and three honorable mentions. 

Girls’ Soccer 

The girls’ soccer season excelled over the 2021 season. While the coaches were nervous that the freshmen and sophomores both lacked high school experiences because of the break in spring and summer sports during 2020, Coaches Ann Bonewitz and Ryan Halterman were happy to see that their team was ready to win regardless of the hiatus. Overall, the Varsity team had a record of 17-3 and JV had a record of 18-2-1. The soccer team remained undefeated (9-0) during conference play within the Raccoon River Conference. 

The team earned several recognitions during the season. These achievements included All-Conference, honorable mentions for all-conference, All-State honorable mention and academic all-state. 

The team remained fourth ranked throughout the entire season and had an 11 win streak leading up to state. The soccer team has been to state for four consecutive years and is hoping to make it five next year.