By Doug Petrowski

While the Hawk football team gets a lot of the attention, the other fall sports teams at Mountlake Terrace High School are hoping to achieve success when they open their seasons next week.

Girls Swim

The MTHS girls swim team is looking to make a big splash as they return two swimmers, senior Riley Morgan and junior Megan Bruce, who qualified for state last year. Bruce already has her sights set on returning to the state meet this season.

“I am really excited to swim this year and hopefully final at state,” Bruce said. “I would really like to qualify for state in the 100 breaststroke early in the season.”

Bruce is also thrilled with the efforts of her teammates at this early stage of the season. “Our team this year has a lot of new swimmers and a lot of returning swimmers and they all have really improved their strokes a lot in even the first week of practice,” she said.

Coach Douglas Kenoyer is excited to get the season underway. “I’ve got a lot of good talent returning this year,” Kenoyer said. “My big goal is to get a relay team to state, which would be a first for Mountlake Terrace.”

The Lady Hawks dive into their season opener with the Wesco South Division Jamboree scheduled for Sept. 6 at Kamiak High School. The team’s first dual meet is set for Sept. 11 vs. Lynnwood at the Lynnwood pool. You can see the complete girls swim team schedule here.

Girls Soccer

Although the MTHS girls soccer team lost more matches then they won in 2011, they did achieve a goal that prior Lady Hawk teams have failed to reach. “Last year was MTHS’s first time being in the playoffs in about a decade,” said junior Amanda Aversano. “My goal is to get the team back in it and build on that success.”

The squad has some experience, losing only three to graduation. But two will be tough to replace — last year’s team captains Ariana Curva and Elle Samuelson.

“We lost two key seniors, but with our three stud freshmen of last year having a season under their belt, I feel we can become a stronger squad,” Aversano said.

The Lady Hawks kick off their season on Tuesday, Sept. 4, with a home match against Inglemoor at Lynnwood High School. You can see the complete girls soccer team schedule here.

Boys Tennis
Coach Alberto Ramirez of the MTHS boys tennis team has some holes to fill in the squad for 2012 after losing six players from last year’s squad to graduation. But he is confident the team can work together and succeed.

“I’ve got a good core of six kids returning,” Ramirez said.

While the team may have some match-up problems with some of the number-one players at other schools, Ramirez said he will count on senior Ahn-Viet Nguyen and junior Bryce Pingul to try to hold their own in top singles’ matches.

The team will be busy the first week of school with three matches scheduled; two of the first three are against Marysville-Getchell and Oak Harbor, both schools that the Hawks swept last season. It will be a chance for the young squad to gain some valuable experience and possibly some confidence for the 2012 season.

The complete boys tennis team schedule is here.

Football    
Junior Zack Wallgren is not playing on the football team this year (a previous MLTnews.com posting erroneously reported him on the team). Team coaches report they are looking for senior Shawn Eversen to have a strong year at wide receiver for the Hawks.