The student news site of Bellarmine Preparatory School

The Bellarmine Prep Lion

The student news site of Bellarmine Preparatory School

The Bellarmine Prep Lion

The student news site of Bellarmine Preparatory School

The Bellarmine Prep Lion

Preview of Bellarmine winter sports

By Olivia Cesarini

With the holiday season just around the corner, Bellarmine’s winter sports are quickly approaching. Tryouts were held the week of Nov. 17 for the three official winter sports teams: Girls Basketball, Boys basketball and Wrestling, and it looks like it is going to be a good year for all the winter athletes.

Girls Basketball:
Girls basketball has always been one of Bellarmine’s most successful teams, with dedicated players and coaches carrying the team to victory year after year. This year’s girls basketball varsity captains are Claire Martin, last year’s league defensive MVP, and Shelby Gavigan who, along with Jayana Ervin and McKenzie Alton, earned All-League Honors last year.
According to Coach Kevin Meines, Olympia and Timberline will put up the best fight against the Lady Lions, and are their biggest league competitors. “We have qualified for the state tournament 8 out of the last 9 years and won the league 5 out of the last 6,” said Meines of the team’s impressive record. “This season should be exciting for the girls basketball team. We are looking to compete for a state title, but, more importantly, we are hoping to really come together as a team and compete for and with each other.”

Boys Basketball:
Boys basketball is another standout of Bellarmine’s winter sports teams. When asked about the upcoming season and standout players, the varsity coach Bernie Salazar said, “All the guys on the team are standout players, and we don’t pick the captains until the beginning of the season.” According to Salazar, the league competition is strong and quite even among the schools. “We’re going to have to play hard every game,” said Salazar. “All of the teams are good.”
Salazar feels optimistic about this year’s team. “I feel really good about the season. It’s a great bunch of guys, and we had a really good summer playing together,” said Salazar, “our goal for this year is to just be the best we can be and represent Bellarmine really well.”

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Wrestling:
As one of Bellarmine’s only coed sports, the wrestling team is one of the most intense and diverse winter teams. This year’s wrestling captains are Carson Grisaffi, Andrew Turner, and Elliott Villars. Grisaffi and Turner, along with Jed Klein and Josiah Mayo, won Tacoma City Championships last year.
According to assistant coach, Kevin Kalal, the wrestling team has many talented athletes returning this year including Jed Klein, who won 5th place in last year’s state competition, Luke Yi, Elliott Villars and Josiah Mayo, all who were state participants. Jacinda Cruz is the top returning girl wrestler.
The strongest competition in our league would be South Kitsap and Yelm. Lincoln has also won the Tacoma City Championship the past two years,” said Kalal. “We feel we have an opportunity to place in the top five in the regional tournament and qualify more wrestlers to state than we did last year. We will also look to regain the Tacoma City Championship tournament title.” It looks like a promising season for our wrestling team.