The weather is not the only thing changing this time of year. The fall season has come to a close, meaning so have the fall sports. Men and women of Lincoln High all put the uniforms on and proudly supported the Links in cross country, volleyball, softball, golf, football, and tennis.
Links Cross Country Send Two to State
The Lincoln High Cross Country Team sent two participants to the state cross country meet, sophomore Cody Selvage, and senior Frank Cuddy. Cody Selvage made her second appearance in two years, and Cuddy his third in four years, bringing home his second state medal in two years with a 10th place finish. Selvage managed to medal in all but two meets this year and is already really enthusiastic about next year.
“We’re losing a lot of seniors, which is really sad, because they were all really good, but the people coming back, there is a lot of promise that we could do really well,” Selvage said. “Then the incoming freshmen we’ll find out about during the summer, and beginning of next season.” The Links meet every morning by the track during the summer for anyone interested in joining the team next season.
Young Volleyball Team Takes on New Roles
The 2014 volleyball season did not go exactly as planned for the lady Links, but there were a few high points for the team. “It wasn’t a win, but the Benson game we went 5 sets, and a lot happened during the game,” senior Jaida Jackson said. “We lost in the 5th set 15-13, but it was the best that we played, which showed a lot of people we’re capable of things if we play with the right effort.” The girls were put into a lot of new spots this year, and had to play in positions they had never done before, and many of them had never played on a varsity floor. “We had a lot of people transitioning from J.V. to varsity, so the experience level playing varsity wasn’t there for us,” Jackson said.
Although the record may not have been what the Links wanted, finishing 1-21, there is some promise for next year as the team showed late in the season in the Heartland Athletic Conference(HAC) tournament against North Star where they fell short in a tough set 4 match. With a lot of returning varsity players next year, the volleyball team is looking forward to next fall.
Seniors Lead Young Softball Team
A young varsity softball team lead by seniors Taya Arkfield and Lauren Thuss, had some exciting moments from the year to take away with them. With a Senior Night win, that was really a senior morning win over Omaha Bryan 14-8, ended what was a memorable four years for Thuss as a member of the LHS Softball Team. “The scores did not reflect the time and effort we put into becoming better players, and growing as a team.”
The Links brought home 5 wins this fall, and continued to improve throughout the year. They are just losing two seniors from this year’s team, next year’s outlook, and the future of the program is looking up.
Freshman Look to Make a Difference
The Lincoln High Girls Golf Team came out in force this year, with many returning golfers, and a multitude of new freshmen that made a splash on the varsity scene. Senior Victoria Garza had her best year as a Link and could not say enough about the team aspect of this year. “We got really close towards the middle of the year, and we started being one big family, a big positive aspect for our team,” Garza said.
The Links will lose a few seniors this year, but Garza is not worried about the team with only one junior, Desiree Britton, and a big freshman class coming back, Garza is confident in the team. “We had a lot of freshmen from this year who are really good, and they’ll be a pretty good team next year if they all step up to the challenge.”
Football Team is Optimistic about Next Year
The football team fell short of some team goals this year, but improved in a multitude of factors. “Well, this year our record ended up being 1-8, which isn’t what we expected,” fourth year head football coach Mark Macke said. “But in a lot of aspects, it was one of our better years.” The Links had two big goal line stands against the #2 ranked team in the state, Millard North, and showed they could defensively play with anyone in the state. “We started getting guys that would line up and take a shot at someone and hit,” Coach Macke said.
The season did not go exactly as planned for the Links, and with a lot of seniors graduating from this year’s team, Coach Macke and staff are excited to see what next year has to offer, and to see what next year’s seniors can bring to the table. “We’re looking forward to see if our kids can maintain the consistency in the off-season, workouts throughout the summer, and improve our attendance and accountability, because it did get better throughout the season this year,” Macke said.
Tennis Team Serves Up a Great Season
2014 was a big year for the Boys Tennis Team at Lincoln High, achieving the team goal of finishing 10th at state, and defeating Southeast in a dual for the first time in 4 years. “The whole season was a blast,” Coach Todd Sandberg said. “It was pretty stressful, because we had more expectations this year. We knew we’d be pretty good, and set our goal to be 6-3 in duals, which we were.”
The competition on the team was high this year, with a lot of incoming freshmen that stepped it up. Coach Sandberg is really excited about next year as they bring back everyone from this year’s team. “We’re 7 deep on our varsity, and I know that there are a few guys on our junior varsity that are going to push these guys,” Sandberg said. “People should not be complacent next year.”
Next year the boys tennis team is looking to better their results from this year, not only as tennis players and a team, but as people in the community. “This is a good group of guys, and they are more than tennis players-they’re outstanding student athletes,” Sandberg said about his team following the big season.