Football games, cross-country meets, and golf tournaments are some of the great things to look forward to each fall. With bowling, soccer, football, swimming, volleyball, and cross-country, there have been countless, memorable and exciting moments with many unpredicted touchdowns, scores, and goals.

Unfortunately, a number of teams did not do so well this season and many had poorer records than last year. The bowling boys team came in last place with 11 losses and only one win. The football boys’ junior varsity team also earned fifth places this season with five wins and six losses.

The boys and girls soccer team did not proceed to the playoffs; the soccer boy’s team came in sixth place with three wins and 11 losses and the girls also came in sixth with only four wins and nine losses. Likewise, the girls swim team had a below average season with four wins and six losses. Girl’s varsity volleyball showed no improvement from last year, coming in fifth place again.

The boys varsity football had a good run this year and managed to make it to the playoffs and ended their season with four wins and five losses, coming in thirteen place city wide with 701 Powerpoints. The reason the team made it to the playoffs despite having a losing season was because they had a tough schedule and accumulated enough Powerpoints to advance. “We played in the toughest division,” said Coach Packowski. Their toughest opponent was Abraham Lincoln, according to Packowski, “Lincoln had a big and fast offensive line, they were well coached and very experienced.” Also, many key players such as Shane Daneluzzi were injured. This year was a very young team with only nine seniors. The team lost to Flushing High School in the playoffs.

Despite the fact that some teams did not do so well this season, the girl’s junior varsity volleyball team showed great improvement over previous seasons. This year the team was in fourth place with two wins and two losses. Last year they were in last place with no wins and four losses. “We had better serves and more practices,” said Tara Kelleher, a sophomore and two-year JV volleyball player.

Much credit for the team’s improvement was because of their coach, Ms. Rokicki.

“She helped with the strategies and helped us improve our skills,” said Jenly Tran, another sophomore JV volleyball player.

“Volleyball is a team effort and you learn to rely on your teammates…everyone on the team is a star,” said Coach Rokicki, “the team members were very dedicated and motivated and worked harder than any other group I’ve coached.”

The girl’s varsity golf team also improved tremendously since the previous season, last year they came in fourth place with five wins and seven losses. This year the team came in third place on the Island with seven wins and five losses. Continuing to the playoffs the team won their first game with Fort Hamilton with the winning score of three to two. However, the playoffs were cut short for the team, when they lost their second game to Bayside High School.

This year the girls cross country team brought home the gold when they won the Freshman/Sophomore Cross Country City Champions. The event took place on November 2nd at Van Cortland Park Track and Field. The meet consisted of a 2.5 mile run with a series of up and down hills and straight way runs. The event was very challenging but their training helped them get through it.

“It felt really good to win the Sophomore Girls Cross Country Championships because we’ve been working hard all season and our hard work paid off,” said Zalia Foster, a sophomore Cross Country athlete.

Another CC athlete, Diamond Umunna, expressed that the win, “felt so good and at the same time I felt like a winner.” The girls’ coach, Mr. Joe Sicilian, has been a tremendous help in training and motivation of the team.

“He’s an excellent coach, we have meetings, make race plans, and he helps calm us down before the race,” said Foster.

“Joe’s a wonderful coach because he tells us no matter what, we are one [team],” said Umunna.

The highlight of this season’s boy’s cross-country team was when they came in third place in the Borough Championships which was one of their toughest meets. The team made little to no improvements compared to last year when the team won City Championships. Even though the team had a losing season “they still had discipline, teamwork, and athletic achviements” said Coach Banks. Banks has been coaching the CC boys’ team since 1995 and is a runner himself. Some advice that coach Banks gave for anyone considering trying out for CC is “you get out what you put in. if you want to be the best you have to work for it”.

As for the girls bowling team they were able to proceed to the playoffs in third place with a record of seven wins and five losses. The team had a good run in the playoffs when they won their first playoffs game against Abraham Lincoln with the winning score of three to zero and their second game against Stuyvesant with close score of two to one. However, the team loses against New Dorp with a score of two to zero cutting their run short.