As the leaves turn brown, the 2024 fall sports’ seasons at SHS come to an end. From swimming to football to cross country, athletes have showcased what it means to be a Viking. With hard work and dedication comes success and, that’s just what athletes at SHS bring to the table.
The SHS football team had an outstanding and quite impressive season placing them at the fifth rank in the state and second in the region, with an 8-2 regular season overall record. The Viking football team beat cross-town rivals, Dorman, 23-7, making this the fourth straight year the Vikings have beaten the Cavaliers.
Zeke Bell-Boyd (11) plays wide-receiver for the varsity football team and has enjoyed making many memories with the team.
“Every game is always fun around all my teammates. They all are hard-working and always come game-day ready whenever we play. I’ve made lots of memories with everyone on the team and have had a ton fun,” Bell-Boyd said.
Both the Viking boys’ and girls’ cross country teams had excellent seasons with both teams qualifying for state. Some notable meets were the county and region meets where the boys’ team at county placed second and the girls’ placing third. At region, the girls team fell just short of taking the victory, however ran hard to achieve the runner-up spot, and the boys fought hard for a third place finish. It is not always easy going out onto the course and competing well every single meet, just like every other sport, hard-work and lots of dedication is key to succeeding.
Nick Rhoden (12) has run with the Viking cross country team since eighth grade and has improved impressively over his past five years with the team.
“My time with cross country was incredibly fun and transformative. I’ve spent so much time running and being with my teammates, and I’m so glad I have. I’ve made a lot of friends and learned a lot about myself through all the miles. Each season takes dozens of hours running and conditioning, but each season is also the accumulation of hundreds of hours from past seasons that allows someone to run faster and faster times,” Rhoden said.
High school sports give athletes the opportunity to get to know one and other and make lots of life-long friends are made along the way.
Jennifer Waddle (12) wrapped up her senior season with the Viking swim team and has made lots of friends and memories along her journey.
“The high school swim team season may feel short but the effort for many swimmers is year-round. Many swimmers build up their endurance and skills throughout the summer before the season, and during the winter afterwards to keep up their strength. Although it is a lot of work during and out of the season, I absolutely love competing with my teammates. Over my years in swim, I have made lifelong friends that I don’t think I ever would have found without swim,” Waddle said.
The girls’ and boys’ swim teams fought hard and did the best to their abilities to gain top ten placements in the state for both teams (girls’ fifth and boys’ ninth). An outstanding performance by the girls’ 200-yard medley relay gained them a 3rd place podium finish! The team consisted of Teagan McEnroe (12), AC Elliott (11), Dessa Nunez (11) and Caroline Byers (12). Byers had an impressive performance in the 200-yard individual medley which ended up getting her a state title and more hardware. Finn McEnroe (10) also had a very notable performance, finishing third place in the men’s 200-yard individual medley.
Now that the fall sports have wrapped up, excitement for the winter and spring sports and anticipation has begun. The fall sports team at SHS for the 2024 season truly gave it their all.
