Hello, Leonardtown Raiders, I went around asking the players of our very own sports teams a few questions about the start of their seasons. It looks like we are going to have a great year for our sports. I am on the cross-country team, and I can say from experience that our sports teams are working hard to have a great season. We have already seen the sports improve so much. Now here are the answers from a few people from our teams:

How are you feeling about your season so far?

Katie McHugh, 12th Grade Volleyball: I feel confident about how our team is doing. I feel like we are getting closer every day! 

Elena Blodnikar, 11th Grade Cross Country: I am feeling very good about the season so far! Everyone is improving a lot and competing really well. 

Evan Rabush, 12th Grade Soccer: I am feeling super positive with our performance so far in the season, we have improved drastically within the last 2 SMAC games, and we are looking forward to going far in state playoffs.

Matthew Parsons, Football: I’m feeling very confident about our season. Our team is looking very strong this year and we should be able to put up a good record.

Dreylen Howard, 12th grade, Football: I’m feeling very confident for our season, we look really good, and we have some really good athletes.

Ian Jameson, Golf: I’m feeling confident about our season so far. We lost the first match but have been undefeated since.

Arden Basso, 10th Grade, Field Hockey: I’m feeling really good about our season so far. The team is really putting in the work and coming together to play the best we can.

Lily McCauley, 10th Grade, Soccer: The season is going pretty good and it’s been a lot of fun.

Did you have summer conditioning? And did it help?

Katie: We did have summer conditioning however I worked all summer, so I wasn’t able to attend many but what I heard they were very helpful.

Elena: The team did have summer conditioning which provided a good base for the start of the season. 

Evan: we did have summer conditioning and it 1000% helped we have been able to outrun most teams and been able to sustain a high level of play throughout all 80 minutes.

Dreylen: We did have summer conditioning and it really helped our stamina and made us stronger, so now it feels like we have the upper hand against any team. 

Ian: We don’t have summer conditioning, but everyone plays on their own and just keeps improving through the off season. 

Arden: Yes, we did have summer conditions and I think it helped a lot with getting us acclimated to the heat and getting us in shape to focus mostly on skills instead of conditioning during regular season practices. 

Lily: We did have summer conditioning and it definitely helped a lot of us to get ready for pre-season and the season. 

What are you currently doing to keep your team in shape for moving forward with your season?

Katie: I am constantly discussing with coaches on how to make the team better. We try to have as many out of practice functions to help with team bonding. We also hold ourselves accountable for mistakes so we can get better every day.

Elena: We are currently training hard this week to get ready for our next meets.

Evan: Well currently we aren’t doing that much conditioning because we have a heavy game schedule but whenever we have multiple days before games, we do sideline to sideline sprints and have really intense practices to keep us in shape for the season.

Matthew: Our whole team is constantly working on and off the field to get better and stronger.

Dreylen: We do a good amount of conditioning during practice by constantly going up tempo and running plays with very little break in between. 

Ian: We are practicing every day and working with the top players to make sure that our games are fine tuned for our closing matches.

Arden: Right now, we are currently doing drills that involve stick skills and conditioning to keep us prepared physically but we also try to have a positive attitude and encourage each other to make the season fun. Lastly, we like to do weekly shoutouts and awards after games to motivate us which keeps us in shape mentally.

Lily: We currently do running every practice to keep in shape and to get in more shape.

So, as you can see, we are starting off with some great mentalities and everybody is feeling strong. Good luck to our Raider athletes. And if you aren’t playing a sport, make sure to help them out by supporting them from the stands and by purchasing food from the concession stand which can help fund our sports. Let’s go Raiders!