Promising Spring Sports Season

Nothing brings the school together and instills Harriton pride quite like a sports victory. When I think of Harriton spirit, I remember the juggernaut of red coating the Lower Merion gymnasium at the 2011 Harriton vs. LM basketball game. Even though I was in 8th grade at the time of the victory, I got that same buzz of school pride during my freshman year when RAM Lax won the 2013 State Championships.

I began thinking to myself “What sport would be Harriton’s next pride and joy?” Sure enough, in 2014 another team made it to States, this time the Baseball team. It seems that there is always at least one team in Harriton sports that gets close to a State Title. That leaves us wondering, who will it be in 2015?

The current spring sports include Lacrosse (M and F), Crew (M and F), Tennis (M), Baseball (M) and Softball (F), and Track & Field (M and F). During both the 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 school years, a spring sport was the one that made it the furthest in the State tournaments–which leads us to believe the story will be the same this year.

Another question is whether or not it will be a new sport that emerges on top, or one of the former top sports like Girls’ Lacrosse or Baseball.

The favorites to earn a major title are the former State champion Girls’ Lacrosse, and State runner-up Boys’ Baseball. Both have lost seniors and will have a new team dynamic with a younger class emerging. However, both have laid a real foundation for success.

Despite the fact that Boys’ Baseball lost their predominantly senior team, they know they have big shoes to fill, which motivates them to work extra hard. This is why the Baseball team, unlike most other Harriton sports, practices year round, including indoors during the heart of winter.

Even without the many strong seniors, the rigorous practices this team has gone through will pay off during the season. After all, Baseball was not expected to do nearly as well as they did last year, so we may be in for another even sweeter surprise this year.

The Girls’ Lacrosse team is in a similar situation regarding work ethic. The team will undoubtedly work very hard to uphold a legacy left by former players and teams, dubbed “Ram Lax legends” by Coach D. Unlike Baseball, Girls’ Lacrosse did not lose quite as many seniors, so there will still be several veteran members present.

However, it has been two years since their State Championship, and the team experienced a tough loss to Garnet Valley in the quarterfinals last year. The question remains whether that loss will serve as motivation for a season of redemption, or if the sight of State championship will seem more and more distant with a whole year in between.

In addition to the teams that have experienced the more recent success, there are also teams that have been less on the radar. Boys’ tennis lost a decent number of seniors, but is coming back with a new coach and a refreshed attitude. As a matter of fact, Harriton’s top two tennis players last year were both seniors, but neither could compete in the regular season due to external factors (injury and ineligibility), so an improved performance from the Boys’ Tennis team seems attainable.

Girls’ softball is also lesser known, but has been putting in work during pre-season in the highlander gym.

Crew can also be a dark horse this season. The team has been successful in recent years, with one boat qualifying for nationals, and in the 2013 season, a boat placed second in the world at an international meet.

Another dark horse to bring Harriton glory is the girls’ track team. All upperclassmen fondly remember the Max Norris era, where each Monday morning we’d hear about another one of the XC/track runner’s new accolades.

On March 1st, the Harriton 4x800m relay placed second in the state. This is especially impressive considering that, unlike all other PIAA sports, indoor track is not divided into A, AA, and AAA. Every school with a track team in Pennsylvania can compete in the Indoor Track State Championship. And out of all those teams, Harriton has better female half-milers than all but one of them.

Two of the athletes on the 4x800m relay squad will be back on the track this outdoor season, sophomore Tasha Greene and senior Laney O’Shea. Tasha Greene almost literally lit up the track last season when she set and reset the mile school record 4 times her freshman year. What?

Look for Greene to be back tearing up the mile during the 2015 track season, with a good chance to break the coveted 5-minute mile barrier and win the central league title. The record that Tasha broke so many times last year was set by O’Shea during her sophomore season in 2013. After a few seasons of injuries, O’Shea is healthy and running great. Look for O’Shea and Greene to break some records and finish line tapes this season.

Overall, this season is an exciting one for Harriton Sports. This is not because of a dominant favorite, but rather the vast potential evenly distributed across Harriton sports. Lower Merion may have basketball, but we wouldn’t trade the diverse athletic talent of Harriton athletes for just one team.