As many winter and spring athletes are searching for comfort and answers regarding their seasons being postponed, many have also been reflecting on their favorite sports memories from this year that bring them hope and inspire them to remain positive for the future. 

   The Odyssey asked Westerville North Athletic Director Wes Elifritz to name a few of his favorite Warrior athletic memories from this school year and some of the toughest challenges he and warrior athletes are having to face as a result of the pandemic. Here are few of Elifritz’s favorite memories, and some tough ones, from the 2019-2020 athletic season so far:

FALL:

1. Meet the Team Night: “Having everyone come together to meet the fall teams and have Mr. McCann be the first to ring the new ‘Victory Bell’ at McCann Stadium [was one of my favorites].”
2. Girls Soccer District Championship over Hilliard Bradley: “[This was their] first district title since 2007, [winning 1-0].”
3. Isaiah Hutcherson and Paige Miracle qualified for the regional cross country meet at Pickerington North.
4. Boys Soccer Team seeing huge improvement with new head coach: “[The Boys Soccer Team] went from one win in 2018 to nine wins in 2019 under new head coach Noah Davidson.”
5. Girls Volleyball beats South on senior night: “[The girls beat South] in front of a huge “Warrior Nation” student section [in Black-Out theme on October 1].”
6. Student section leaders getting everyone hyped all 10 weeks of football season: “[Senior] Eli Williams painted the rock [with the help of the other leaders] for 10 straight weeks!”

WINTER:

1. Wrestling defeats Liberty 41-29 to win the OCC Buckeye championship: “‘Warrior Nation’ showed out big time for this, too [in the ‘Singlet Sanity’ theme]!”
2. Wrestling sends 4 athletes to state: “[Sophomore] District Champion Connor Euton and [junior] District Runner-Up Jake Gooding, [along with juniors] Brennan Albertini and Nico Candido [all wrestled at Hilliard Darby the weekend of March 5, 2020, to secure themselves spots at the state tournament originally scheduled to begin on March 13].”
3. Girls Basketball defeats state-ranked South at home, finishing 19-6 for the season.
4. Sending two Warrior Swimmers to the state swim meet: “[Senior] Christy Harper and [junior] Hayden Yeager [both] qualified to swim [at] the state swim meet in Canton, Ohio, in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly [respectively].”
5. Boys basketball defeats Central 60-61:”[The boys beat Central] in overtime at home in front of a jam packed audience.”
6. Sophia Soisson qualifies for district bowling meet.
7. We inducted 6 new members to the Westerville North Athletics Hall of Fame.

TOUGH MOMENTS:

1. Postponement of winter state tournaments: “[This] took away our 4 wrestlers’ chance to wrestle at state [this season].”
2. Spring sports being put on hold: “[With the continuation of spring sports being up-in-the-air,] potentially [many of our] seniors’ spring sport careers [ended] much too soon.”
3. No winter sport banquet due to cancelled activities.
4. Postponement of Booster Auction: “[The Booster Auction is] always one of my favorite nights of the year as everyone comes together to raise funds for our athletic programs.”
5. “Showing up to North each day to an empty school due to this mandated break; it’s sad for our kids, staff, and coaches.”

Below are some photos of Elifritz’s favorite moments including the four state qualifying wrestlers, the Warrior Nation student section, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and Paige Miracle and Isaiah Hutcherson at the regional cross country meet.

 Photos are courtesy of David Ohle, Wes Elifritz, WNHS Girls Cross Country, and Rachel Murray.