As the days get shorter and the temperatures begin to drop, Upper School athletes are hard at work as the Fall season begins to wind down. As some players on these teams may be looking forward to these last few weeks of fall sports, others are anxiously awaiting the first qualifying sectional games and races that might lead the Parker teams towards a state championship .

Teams have been practicing since August and are now knee-deep in practices and competitions.“The season is going very well,” Athletics Director Bobby Starks said. “Overall, teams are doing well across the board.” There already have been a few big wins: varsity girls’ volleyball had their first conference win against The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools of Chicago. Despite being a smaller team this year, volleyball is off to a winning start, at 6-7 for the Varsity team.

The boys’ soccer team is also experiencing some wins. Head varsity soccer coach Neil Curran said, “We’ve put the pieces together well and are now starting to find the finer points of the game.” The team has had several big wins, including a 1-0 victory over Wheeling High School. Wheeling was ranked 10 in IHSA overall. “I’m looking forward to our upward trend,” Curran said. “We have a solid team that can do some really great things.” As of Wednesday October 3, Varsity Soccer held a record of 10-7-3.

The girls’ tennis team has been competing since August. “We have a young team, and they are still growing and developing,” John Hall-Bryant, head girls’ tennis coach said. “One of the highlights of the season was getting off to a 3-0 start in the preseason. It is very important to start off the season with victories in order to gain momentum.”

One of the strengths of the sports teams is their camaraderie. The co-ed golf team enjoys a lot of team spirit and work well together, according to freshman Nick Skok. “We have had a great team chemistry,” Skok said. “Because there aren’t many kids on the team, it has brought us closer together.”

One of the other strong but small teams is coed cross country, which, led by head coach Jim Knoedel, is going strong. “We have got some good Upper Classmen athletes,” Knoedel said, “but one of the things we want to develop is getting more underclassmen athletes.”

On September 13, in the meet against Horner Park hosted by Lane Tech, senior Jack McNabola won his race by just over 45 seconds. The girls’ cross country runners–sophomore Anna Amacher, and juniors Audrey Shadle, Harriet Fardon, Bella Evan-Cook, and Pilar Grover– had runners in second and third for their races. “So far Jack is undefeated, which is amazing,” Knoedel said. “The very first meet he had by far the fastest splits of anyone in the race.” Coed cross country is looking forward to the ISL meet on October 12 at Washington Park.

Next step? Post season. All teams have high hopes for what may follow the conclusion of the regular season. Among many, the girls’ tennis team is preparing every day for their first sectional matches on Friday, October 13, girls’ field hockey and boys’ soccer anxiously awaits their sectional games after just submitting their rosters to the state.