As the fall sports season comes to a close, students from a fall sports team have returned to PE and the school is in the transition period between fall and winter sports. The winter sports season begins with girls’ basketball practice starting on Monday, October 29th, but it’s time to look back on the fall ––Girls Field Hockey, Boys Soccer, Girls Volleyball, Golf, and Cross Country.

The Girls Field Hockey season began on August 8th and ended on Friday, October 19th with a 4-0 loss to Lake Forest High School. The team made it to the “Elite Eight”. It was the first time in 17 years the team has made it that far.

Field Hockey was seeded seventh this year as opposed to eleventh last year. According to sophomore Leila Sheridan, it was a successful season. “We had a strong sense of teamwork and collaborative playing which I definitely think pushed us as far as we went.”

The boys’ soccer team also began practices on August 8th and this season they extended their postseason run to Super Sectionals until their 2-0 loss to St. Edward Central Catholic. This was the third straight year the team has failed to reach the State Finals. The team won their Regional Final on October 16th with a 3-1 win over North Shore Country Day, and won their Sectional Final 2-1 (OT) against Cristo Rey St. Martin on October 19th. “Though it’s a great achievement,” sophomore and varsity starter Daniel Mansueto said. “It’s hard to be stuck in the same place for three years straight.”

Girls Volleyball finished the year with a 16-25, 11-25 sectional loss to DePaul College Prep on October 25th. They won their regional game against Crane Medical Prep 25-10, 25-7 on October 23th. Additionally, they ended the regular season on a big conference win against U-High 25-14,14-25, 25-20.

“Preseason, right off the bat, we clicked. The first three weeks was seeing where each person was needed and as the season progressed we started getting in a rhythm and the team chemistry was just off the charts,” senior and captain Annette Njei said. “Looking back I am extremely proud of how hard the girls worked and how far we’ve come.”

Parker’s Golf Team began practices on August 6th, and ended on October 8th with a team score in Sectionals that was not enough to advance to State. The team finished second in the conference after the regular season was complete, but did not finish as well in the ISL Championship. They had a score of 354 to gain second place in their Regional, which qualified the team for Sectionals. This is the second straight season the team has made Sectionals, and both times they have failed to make State.

“This golf season was quite successful,” senior and captain Nathan Satterfield said. “The top four varsity players were very close, which contributed to great team chemistry.”

The Cross Country team has not finished their season quite yet. The girls have advanced to Sectionals, and will compete on October 27th. The boys did not make it to Sectionals. The girls had a full team, but the boys did not have enough runners and were not able to qualify as individuals. “I think the season went pretty well,” sophomore Nathan Siskel said, “we had some injuries but nothing terrible. Audrey is our captain and she might make State.”