Feet pounding against the ground and adrenaline pumping through her veins, sophomore Alexa Keiser stormed past the finish line. She had broken away from the pack around midway through the race, finishing the about 40 seconds ahead of the next competitor. Keiser is a runner on the girls varsity cross country team, which set a record this year along with the boys team. Keiser and her team’s record-breaking season is just one among many others Fall sports worth recapping.

The girls and boys cross country teams made it to states in Division one for the first time in program history. However, this wasn’t Alexa Keiser’s first time going to states, and her experience at that level allowed her to guide her younger teammates.

“My season was really good,” Keiser said. “I made it to states, then I got All-State and placed 13th. Going there was pretty exciting. I went there last year so I knew what to expect and how it was going to be. There were a lot of tough competitors with racing and how it was going to layout, you needed to be prepared.”

Many sports, like the swim and dive team, looked to underclassmen to carry the weight of the team, with a majority of seniors graduating last year, but they didn’t let that stop them from making it to the state finals.

“The girls swimming and diving team probably exceeded expectations a little bit,” Athletic Director Michael Bakker said. “We certainly knew that they would be good on the league front, but when it comes to the state level I didn’t know that going into the season we were going to do as well at the state finals as we did. We had two girls place individually in the top 16 in diving, which was great to see. We also had three divers qualify to the finals, and all three of our relays that qualified to states made it back for the final day of competition, placing in the top 16. All of them were underclassmen on the relays.”

Gallery • 6 Photos

PHOTO Myranda Stark

During States for the girls golf team over the weekend, senior Molly Gundry talks with coach Kurt Herbstreit.

The volleyball team shared similar feelings with the swim and dive teams, with key starters graduating last year. Despite this, the team reached regional finals.

“The season went great,” junior Chloe McKenzie said. “We started off strong, getting first place in our first tournament and going on to be Metro League and district champs. We lost in the regional finals, but I was still proud of my team because we fought until the very end, giving it our absolute all.”

Other teams had the exact opposite problem, having teams comprised of a majority of seniors, like girls golf. With veteran leadership, the girls golf team was among another sport that qualified all the way to the state finals.

“In girls golf, I think we knew that it was going to be a really strong year, because we had so many seniors,” Bakker said. “We also knew that we were stuck playing in a really challenging field for regionals and the state tournament. To get out of that and to make the state finals was a huge accomplishment for the program.”

Senior Connor Griffin, from the varsity boys tennis team, got to go two regionals with two of his best friends this year, but he wanted to place higher than the fifth place they received.

“The best part of the season was probably playing with some of my best friends, Logan and Blake,” Griffin said. “Blake just started this year, and I’ve been playing with Logan since I started. We ended up getting fifth place in regionals, so it didn’t end on the highest note, but we did good as a team.”

Meanwhile, senior Molly Gundry thinks that the girls varsity golf team had one of its best seasons yet, winning their metro and breaking two of their previous records.

“We did the best that we have in the past, we did the best in states that we ever had,” Gundry said. “We scored the best, and won the metro this year. We broke both of our records too, so it was the best year we’ve had in a long time, I think.”

Gundry contributes that even though seniors make up their top three players, she still has a hopeful lookout for the team when they are gone.

“The team had three seniors, our numbers one, two and three, so we all wanted to go out strong, because we knew that we were going to be really good, considering our top three were all seniors,” Gundry said. “Even after us, there’s still good players. It won’t be as strong, considering our three best players will be gone, but I think they will still come out and do really good.”

Fenton’s varsity football team ended their season in the second round of districts after a season with a record of 7-2.  

“Our season was pretty decent, it ended shorter than we thought it would be, but overall it was very successful,” senior Chance Setzke said. “It ended second round, which was districts against flushing. We thought we had that game, we came in pretty confident, we beat them earlier in the year, but it was a hard fought game, definitely came down to the wire, they deserved it.”

Setzke has nothing but good things to say about his final year as a Tiger, and thinks that this past season was one to remember.

“Walking on to the stadium field, with all the fans cheering for us, it was just a great season to remember,” Setzke said. “A season I’ll never forget.”

Fenton’s Winter sports are here, so make sure to make this part of the season just as unforgettable as Fall’s was.