Category: Sports

Sports

Centennial Girls’ Basketball Struggles in Season Opener

Words: Shawn Kruhm

Photos: Noorie Kazmi

On Friday, December 6, the Centennial girls’ basketball team hosted Marriotts Ridge to kick off the regular season. Unfortunately, the Eagles were defeated by a final score of 51-28. 

The offensive struggles began during the beginning of the second and third quarters when Centennial only scored a combined five points.

Despite being down 18 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the girls fought until the end. Senior Brook Anderson was the only Centennial player to score in the fourth quarter with three three-pointers. She finished the game with 15 points.

Centennial will look to capture their first win on Wednesday, December 11, where they take on top-rival Mount Hebron.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan. 

Sports

Centennial Varsity Boys’ Basketball Starts the Season Strong

Words: Jeramy Slavlas

Centennial High School’s Varsity basketball team has entered a new era after the departure of 12-year head coach Chad Hollwedel. Now, under the hands of coach Chris Sanders, the team looks to continue their legacy of a team built from integrity and winning nature. 

On Friday, December 6, Centennial fell to Marriotts Ridge 60-55, starting their season with a loss.  

Coming off a 13-11 season, the players, all coached by former JV coach Sanders in past years, plan to start their new beginning stronger than ever despite this initial loss. Sanders believes the team will be competing right away, as the players already know the team dynamics from their time on JV.

“There’s familiarity and comfort… and there’s some pressure to succeed,” Sanders said. 

The majority of the Varsity team has been together since their freshman year, building a strong team chemistry between the players. Senior Jeong Hwang, who has been a key part of the group, said, “we’ve had the same group of people for four years so you can treat us like family at this point.” 

Junior Bryson Baker, who played a large role on last year’s JV team, also believes the players’ close bond will lead them to success. “I think all that chemistry will lead us to a state championship,” Baker said. 

After a lackluster 2018-19 season in the players’ eyes, they look to get their revenge over their competitors this season. “We have a really bitter taste in our mouth, and we want to go win states this year,” Hwang said.

Baker believes “it’ll be a really smooth transition” between head coaches this season. 

Despite the loss of state champion coach Hollwedel, the team will continue to do things the “Centennial way,” according to Sanders. “I would be foolish to completely change the blueprint that coach Hollwedel developed. It was a winning blueprint.”

Not only does Sanders’ idea of the Centennial way include winning basketball games, it also means that the players perform their best off the court. From strong academics to help in the community, Centennial’s basketball program has developed a behavior over the last decade that Sanders has no intention to change.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan. 

Sports

Centennial Wrestling Starts New Chapter

Words: Joey Sedlacko

Photos: Sara Ferrara

    The 2019-20 season marks a new beginning for the Centennial Wrestling program. The Eagles start their season this year without four-time state champion Jason Kraisser. It will be the  first season in 14 years that a Kraisser will not be wrestling for Centennial.

However, the team still has valuable Varsity experience. Top wrestlers senior Yusuf Mehboob, juniors Chris Lee, Ibaad Shaikh, and Matt Harris, and sophomore Nick Shapiro all return to the team this season.

On Thursday, December 5, the wrestling team lost their home opener match against Oakland Mills High School by a score of 45-28.

Junior Charlie Schmitt and sophomore Moiz Subir won their match. Also, Mehboob, Shapiro, and Lee were all victorious.

The Eagles had to forfeit a match in three different weight classes which is part of the reason Centennial lost the match.

The wrestling team continues their season on Tuesday, December 10 when they face Long Reach High School and Atholton High School.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Sports

Centennial Cross Country Races at the State Championship

Words: Jeramy Stavlas

Photos contributed by: Matthew Bryman and Madelyn Mielke

After outstanding performances at the county and regional championships, the Centennial cross country teams raced at the 3A Maryland State Championship on Saturday, November 9. The boys’ team placed second, while the girls’ team placed fifth. 

Outstanding performances by freshman Antonio Camacho and junior Jake Cole, who placed sixth and seventh respectively, helped put the Eagles at the top of the 3A division, finishing second to River Hill High School. Joining Camacho and Cole, juniors Matthew Thomas and Andrew Bank both placed inside the top 20.

In the girls’ race, juniors Michelle Weaver and Katerina Talanova placed 24th and 25th respectively, to help the girls finish within the top five of the 20 schools who competed. 

“We did very good,” Camacho said. “We really stepped up. Last year, nobody expected us to be all the way up here.”

In accordance to the girls’ fifth-place finish, sophomore Madelyn Mielke thinks the team will continue to get better year by year. “I expect us to continue to move up the ranks,” she said.

Coaches Robert Slopek and Kevin McCoy believe the program’s legacy will live on in the coming years. “We’ve set the precedence that we want to be one of the top two teams in the state,” Slopek said.

Despite losing two seniors on the boys’ Varsity team and three on the girls’, McCoy does not think that filling the gaps will be an issue. “The program, it just reloads year in and year out.”

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan. 

Announcements, Sports

Centennial Students Commit to Colleges

Words: Sasha Allen

Photos: Eliza Andrew

On November 13, six high-achieving Centennial athletes signed their commitment to their future colleges. Rasa Welsh signed for Campbell University, Lauren Marcotte for Penn State University, Gabrielle Castle-Smith for St. Mary’s College, Ashley Bilger for Frostburg University, Sarah Thorman for Allegheny College, and Zack Steen for Bloomsburg University.

Bilger, a soccer player who will be attending Frostburg for the next four years, found the event extremely sentimental. 

“It was a really special event because it marked the culmination of all of the hard work I’ve done,” Bilger said.

Although Bilger is leaving Centennial, she is excited for the opportunities that lie ahead.

“I’m looking forward to playing a high level of soccer and meeting new teammates.”

The signing was an incredible event for showcasing the athletes’ achievements, and family and friends came to celebrate their students.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan. 

Sports

Centennial Varsity Volleyball Suffers Disappointing Loss in Second Playoff Match

Words: Shawn Kruhm

Photos: Sara Ferrara

On Monday, November 4, the girls’ Varsity volleyball team was knocked out of the playoffs. Their loss came to undefeated Westminster Senior High School by a final score of 3-1. 

Despite the outcome, the girls have much to be proud of, as they overcame great challenges throughout the season. 

Centennial was ranked fourth in their region after finishing the season with a 5-9 record. 

The week prior to their loss at Westminster, Centennial shut out Manchester Valley High School in their first playoff game of the 2019 season. The girls defeated Manchester Valley in three straight sets. 

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Sports

Centennial Soccer Season Recap

Words: Joey Sedlacko

As the 2019-20 fall sports season comes to an end, we look back on the accomplishments of Centennial’s soccer program.

Under first-year head coach Hank Hurren, the girls’ Varsity soccer team finished the regular season with a 5-3-1 in-county record and an overall record of 8-5-1.

“Our team was most proud of the easy transition we had from our old coach to our new coach. We had a new coach with a new coaching style and we came out with a winning season that was much better than the years past. It was something that many of us were worried about going in but it really ended up being better and we accomplished more than any of us could have imagined,” senior Gabrielle Castle-Smith said.

The team’s chemistry stood out to senior captain Ashely Bilger and was a reason their team was successful.

“Our team chemistry really improved throughout the season. The girls on JV last year and the returning Varsity players had to get accustomed to playing with each other. With each practice there was improvement, and we began to connect really well in games,” stated Bilger. “Coach also emphasized the importance of communication this season. I think that was an area we really struggled with, but with practice and repetition we were better [at] communicating on the field.”

The girls’ season came to an end when rival Mount Hebron High School knocked the team out in the first round of the playoffs.

As for the boys, their Varsity team ended the season with an overall record of 8-6-1. After a slow start to the year, they changed their mindset which helped them find success later on in the season.

“We turned our season around in the second half. We played with more intensity and came into each game with a winning attitude,” said senior captain Zach Grable.

Although the team lost in the opening round of the playoffs against Marriotts Ridge High School, they reflect positively on the season.

The highlight of the season, according to senior Darian Avery, came when they defeated River Hill High School, one of the top teams in the state.

“We made the best out of a young team that began with little chemistry and turned it into a team that played with plenty of pride,” Avery said. “We started off slow, but ended up taking down River Hill, which was definitely our proudest moment this season.”

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.