The spring sports season is right around the corner and for all the teams, it means another chance to produce a successful season. A lot of hard work and training has been put in by student athletes across all varsity sports. Whether or not each team makes the playoffs is determined by the success of the team in the first few weeks of the season, and getting off to a good start has a lot to do with this.

One team that is looking forward to continue their success is the girls’ lacrosse team. This year’s team is different due to the loss of five core starters.

“This year’s team is primarily a younger team, mixed in with some veterans lead by East Stroudsburg-bound Bridget Cullinane,” Coach Tim Brace said. “Starting off the season in a new conference, no prediction can be made on how well we are going to do this season.” There are plenty of players with high skill levels looking to fill up the holes left behind.

Another team looking to follow up on last year’s triumphs is the boys’ and girls’ track teams, as they look to make another push towards nationals for a second consecutive year.

“This team has the ability to be the best Bethpage Track and Field team has seen—for both boys and girls—in my six years of coaching,” said Coach Ravener. “As a team, I think we can finish Top 2 for our division and top 5 in the county.”

The team qualified for the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina. For the girls’ team, athletes returning include: Michelle Vayner, Laura Russo, Danielle Losquadro, Selena Phan, Rachel Chao, Marianna Nerantzinis, and Emily Liang—to name a few. On the boys side, Dan Midgette and Conor Golden are returnees from the great 4×400 meter relay team that placed fourth at Nationals last year.

The next team looking to compete for a playoff spot is Badminton. The conference underwent a major change, and there are now different teams playing each other for playoff spots. With Martina Morris graduating last year, Melissa Chao and Tashfia Ahmed will battle it out for the first singles spot left by Martina. Looking to continue success and have another great season are Jenessa Asch, Joanna Kim, Prachi Shah and Ailin Yu.

With regards to the upcoming season, Coach Franzke said, “We graduated three seniors that were very instrumental to our success as a team last year, but I think we have some underclassmen ready to step up and fill in those vacancies.”

The strength of the team lies in the depth, allowing young players to be groomed for a year or two before having to step on the court as a starters. Having a larger roster also allows the team to maintain effectiveness even when starters are missing due to injury or sickness.

The final team that will look to continue their success in the playoffs is Boys’ Lacrosse, under head coach Mr. McCoy. With regards to players graduating, lacrosse was one of the sports not greatly affected. While they lost some talented players, they gained younger guys, which puts them around the same level of play as last year—maybe even a little better. Senior goaltender Dylan Zuk said, “We have a good chance to go far in the playoffs.”

The main strength of the team is the offensive front. While few attackman were lost last year, many more were gained this year.