Greyhound swimmers excited for upcoming season

Written by: Sean Mills '12

After finishing 3^rd at the league meet last year the boy’s swim team is hopeful that this year will be much better.  “Many of the guys have done club swimming in the off season,” says Coach Jackson, and team captains believe improvement can already be seen.  “I think this season’s going to be good, we’ll have a much better chance of succeeding due to the new league,” says Austin Doolittle. 

Swimming has one of the longest seasons of all the sports offered in high school going from November to March, plus with three hour practices all season, things can seem to drag on for the team.  “Three hours is long and tiring, but it’s the only way we’ll get better,” says Mitch Poyer.

As with every sport, each year teammates must say goodbye to graduating seniors.  “We lost some depth last year when Robert Baker and Andrew Benkovsky graduated,” says Doolittle, “but we’re also gaining new swimmers that already have some swimming experience, which will bring more opportunity for victories.”  The team is welcoming a new diving coach as well, Lena Wileczek, who will help the team gain pivotal points throughout the season, giving them a better chance for success.  With two returning divers that attended the regional meet last year, things area already looking bright for them.

Fewer people have come out for the team this year however, which worries a lot of the boys because in previous years there have always been too many on the team, this year there will be trouble finding people to fill every event.  “We’re going to have the best times in a while,” says Jackson, “with more ‘A’ level swimmers this year, we’re just going to have to wait and see what the new league brings us.  I’m even changing my coaching style this season, making it tougher”

The boy’s team is optimistic that they will succeed.  With the help from the new coach and returning members, this season has the potential to be very rewarding.

Greyhound pair wins regional title

Written by: Blake Johnson '13

This season the Eaton Rapids 2^nd doubles team of Zack Laginess and Alex Arrington was very successful. They finished with a strong record of 18-2, (losing to Lumen Christi twice) and ended up winning the regional championship!

On their way to the title, Laginess and Arrington took out Haslett, Mason, and an undefeated Lakewood team; which was arguably their best match.

Even when times looked tough, they still found ways to pull through. For example, when an injury plagued Laginess early in the season, Tanner Jones (’13) stepped up and delivered an excellent performance to defeat Dewitt and to keep what had been an undefeated streak, alive.

Head coach Ryan Anderson felt that their success was due to, “A combination of team chemistry, their skill as individual tennis players, and the position they were in as second doubles players.”

Anderson also said that the rest of the team stayed consistent and strong around them to keep Zach and Alex in their positions through the whole season.

Even with the team behind them, winning consistently was quite a challenging thing to do. “Staying focused after three straight matches was really hard,” said Arrington when asked about the regionals. “You have to find ways to stay pumped up and ready to play.”

Luckily for them, all of that hard work paid off, and they became the only Eaton Rapids players to win a regional title this year. That title was an accomplishment both of them would agree highlighted the season and it is a memory they will have for a long time.

Athlete of the Month: Natalya Ferri

Written by: Jacqueline Mills '12

           Cross country can be a very overwhelming sport, but for Natalya Ferri, it’s a piece of cake. Fall 2011 is Natalya’s first year of cross country. She has also participated in other sports in the past such as track and softball. She is a sophomore and for a first year cross country runner, she is starting off very well.

            In track and field, Natalya would run short distances only. Her longest distance in track was 400 meters. This would require her to sprint for a short distance and would also make her push herself for a short period of time. This is why she was intimidated by the thought of joining the cross country team. She was not sure she would be able to run long distances such as 3.1 miles (5k).

            During parent teacher conferences last spring, Natalya’s mom and Coach Smith had a very long and engaging discussion. It was about Natalya joining cross country for the fall 2011 season. They were determined to get her to join the team. After a while of Natalya’s mom nagging her about joining the cross country team, Natalya put aside her doubts and gave in. She had officially decided to join the cross country team.

            Natalya’s first meet went very well. She ran 2 miles and placed 4^th among the Eaton Rapids girl runners. She kept working to get better times at practices and while running at home. Her practices consist of stretching and then running on the treadmill while listening to music or running down the road and back. Natalya says, “I make sure I’m all stretched out and then I run. What else would I do?” After long practices on the trails with the team and the practices at home alone, it started to pay off.

            Coach Smith thinks that Natalya has a lot of determination. This could be an understatement. Natalya tries her best at everything. There is not one second when she is not trying her best. This doesn’t just apply for cross country, she tries her best at school and all the other sports she participates in as well. Due to her hard work, Natalya has become the number one runner for the Eaton Rapids girls cross country team.

            During practices, Natalya kept giving her all. The girls would do practice runs and Natalya started to get the fastest times. So far Natalya’s best time is 20 minutes and 27 seconds.

Practices for the cross country team are not just a ton of running. Natalya says, “I like that we spend time together as a team and it’s not just all about running.” The team has gone out and got ice cream together and they just spend time together and talk. The team even sits around and does homework together before meets.

            As a sophomore in high school, Natalya’s running skills are great. Her practices are paying off and she knows it. For a first year runner and a sophomore, Natalya Ferri has shown that it’s not size or age that matters, it is determination.

Greyhound gridders visit Michigan State

Written by: Kanon McVicker '12



ERHS Varsity and Freshmen football players pose for a photo after a tough practice.



Practicing in a Division 1 College environment is a rare opportunity for any high school athlete. However, the Eaton Rapids football program was given the privilege to utilize this once in a lifetime experience. Anticipating playing on turf against Dearborn Edsel Ford on October 7^th, head varsity football coach Bob Ribby pulled some strings at his college alma mater in East Lansing. At about 5:40pm on October 5^th, the Eaton Rapids Varsity and Freshmen football teams piled on two buses and headed out to Michigan State University.

As they filed off the bus, each individual, including the coaches, seemed to have an altered mind-set. The atmosphere outside radiated with a new kind of focus and determination brought on by the sheer power and size of the MSU football facilities. The Varsity captains led both teams, two-by-two, into the Duffy Daugherty Building. This was far from just another practice.

Defense set the tone for the rest of practice, starting off the day with the usual warm up run and stretches. Getting used to the unbelievably flat and soft turf was tough at first, but soon the players seemed to be flying around faster than the day before.

The players definitely felt the change in intensity.

According to Jacob VanVliet, being in a college environment for football, especially a nationally ranked team like Michigan State really raised the intensity and level of everyone’s game. “Everyone was excited about going there to practice and play on the new turf. I feel it really brought the best out of everyone’s game and if we could we would practice there every day after school,” said VanVliet.

All in all, practicing at MSU was a great, once in a lifetime experience for the Eaton Rapids football players.

Girls Soccer

Written by: Mason Villanueva '13

Though many sports cancel their games due to poor weather, but the Girls Varsity Soccer does not. Through the rain, wind, and storms the girls have persevered and have enjoyed a decent start to the season.

The Greyhounds’ Girls Varsity Soccer Team currently has a record of 3-4-1. So far not a bad season the girls won against East Lansing (1- 0), Portland (3 - 1), and Corunna (2 – 1). The girls lost to Holt, Mason, and Dewitt twice. They also tied with Jackson Northwest.

Annie Ford feels that, “The season has been going ok, we have gotten a lot better and have been working very hard. Lots of conditioning!” She laughs, she believes that to have an even more successful season that, “We just need to work on being a team and working together now.”

The team has several returning Varsity players are Annie Ford ’13, Leah Fast’13, Jessica Reinecke ’12, Michela Dilernia ’12, Brooke Benton ’12, Hannah Gellis ’12, Brittany Parker ’12, Erica Bartley ’12, Molly Salisbury ’12, Sam Gemalsky ’12, and Stephanie Scott ’11. The Team added two freshman, three juniors, and one senior to their team since last year. Erin Stevins ’12 says that throughout the season, “We have gotten better but we could still use some work as a team.”

If you cannot make it out to the soccer games you can review these games on the internet on MHSA.tv/eatonrapids.

Baseball

Written by: Cameron Warner '11

       The 2011 Varsity Baseball Season started with opening day on April 2^nd at Carelton - Airport High School for back to back to back games against Airport, Southgate Anderson, and Pinconning. The greyhounds started the day against Airport where they played very well for their first game of the season it was tied until an inning where mental mistakes and inconsistent pitching took its toll on the team. The final ended up 14-4 Airport winning. The greyhounds would eventually drop 2 more that day but with a lot of positive things coming out of it.

        The following Thursday a game at Alma was canceled and a week later it was time for the home opener against Lansing Eastern. Eaton Rapids won both games in that doubleheader 6-3 and 5-1, with dominant pitching in game one by Tommy Hollandsworth and game two by Zach Laginess.

       In the nine days following three straight doubleheaders were canceled due to rain and cold. The Greyhounds picked it back up in the Jeff Rochester Tournament where the team showed up at 7:30 in the morning to get the flooded field ready by using water pumps and shop vacs to clear water off the field. 3 teams backed out of the tournament due to the conditions but Eaton Rapids was still able to play against Bay City John Glen and Troy, losing both games to the very talented teams.

       The Greyhounds backed up the losses with a sloppy 10-7 win over Everett but a win none the less. The nightcap game of the doubleheader was called due to darkness after the 4^th inning so therefore it didn’t count, E.R was up 2-1 when it got called.

       The Greyhounds are young but very talented and with a little more consistency from their pitching staff they are sure to make a run in districts at the end of the season. “I told myself at the beginning of the season that this was one of the most un-team teams I’ve ever coached” said Coach Zubal. Meaning that this particular group of guys haven’t played a whole lot together over the years.

       Coach Zubal also stated “It’s my job as a coach to bring the guys together as a team and it’s going well so far, This team will go as far as the five seniors will take it.” The five seniors being, Trent Pell, Mitch Smith, Cameron Warner, Matt Althouse, and Andrew Benkovsky.

        Eaton Rapids next home game is May 5^th against Portland High School

Boys Golf

Written by: Matt Krakowiak '11

            This season the Eaton Rapids Boys Golf team is carrying 15 players. There are 6 Varsity, 6 Junior Varsity, and 3 developmental players. In the Lansing State Journal Prep Preview, the Hounds were projected to take 6^th in the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Division. The golfers and their coaches feel they are capable of doing much better than that, and could take as high as 2^nd.

The returning Varsity players are Matt Krakowiak ‘11, Conner McCreery ‘12, Shane Zimmer ‘12, and Jacob Malcangi ‘13. The team added two first year Varsity players in Ryan Tomlinson ’12 and Gavin Crawford ‘12. This year is the first year that the Hounds are experiencing a lot of depth throughout the entire varsity squad.

The team has been practicing since March 14^th. However, they did not have their first outdoor practice until March 28^th. This was a factor that hurt the Hounds but did not seem to effect them in their first scrimmage against Portland; which they won by 1 stroke. The teams home course; where they practice and play their home meets is Branson Bay, on

Columbia Road

.

The players are looking forward to a successful season. “I feel that we can have a very good season, we just need to stay strong and play our best,” says Conner McCreery.

The Hounds first league match was played on April 19^th at the Charlotte Country Club. They took 4^th out of 6 teams in the jamboree format of play, and only lost to Charlotte by a single stroke. Impressive scores were shot by both Matt Krakowiak and Ryan Tomlinson, with a pair of 43’s under some tough playing conditions.

Wrestlers become District champs

Eaton Rapids wrestlers beat out Waverly with a technicality to become District Champs! Good job ER wrestlers!

Winter Sports Preview

Boys Swimming

“The team’s goal is to place 2nd or 3rd in the league and score more points at the league meet than we did last year,” said Coach Dave Jackson. This year there are a lot of new, inexperienced swimmers who need to be trained in the various strokes and techniques involved in swimming. Luckily, there are quite a few strong swimmers that returned from last year’s team and tons of new potential. Top contributors this year will be Robert Baker (‘11), Andrew Benkovsky (‘11), Nicholas Mead (‘13), and Caleb Brinson (‘11).

Wrestling

“This year we are very inexperienced in the lower weight classes, as the season progresses, we expect to improve and hope to be a contender for the League and District titles in February” Warriner said. The lack of depth in the lower and middle weight classes is a major problem. However there is experience in the upper weight classes. Key contributors for this season’s team include Randy Rowley, James McCormick (‘11), Nick Yerden (‘11), Blake Marsh (‘11), Trent Hurd, and Jason Kibiloski (‘11).  

Boys Basketball

Coach Luke Brown is not shy about setting his sites on a league title in his first year. He believes that this year’s version of the boy’s basketball team has the ability and desire to contend for the top spot in the CAAC Gold Division. Coach Brown believes that his team has a lot to offer this season. “Our strengths for our new team are transition offense, quickness, and rebounding,” says Brown. Unfortunately with every team there are weaknesses as well. The Greyhound may struggle due to their size and with their outside shooting (though if they get hot from the outside, it may aid them in winning games). The key contributors for the Greyhounds are expected to be Travis Wells (’11), Derek Morris (’11), and Kyle Price (’11).

Competitive Cheer

“Our goal is receive higher scores than in the past, and improve on our skills as a team and as individuals,” says one of the fellow Eaton Rapids competitive cheer girls. Their strengths are getting along well and being able to push each other to work hard, improve, and do their best. Their weaknesses are talking too much and not taking criticism well. Key contributors this year are Becca Ford (‘11), Jessica Dormer (‘12), Alisa Bennett (‘11), and Chanel Baldwin (‘11).

Former Greyhound Basketball Player Goes Big

Written by: Devin Gauna '13



Former Greyhound, Alex Gauna proves that hard work pays off.

            No one would have thought that 6’5” Alex Gauna would be an asset to the Eaton Rapids Varsity Basketball team as a freshman. The talk about Gauna jumping up to varsity his freshman year all started when he was in the 8^th grade.

Alex himself wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it; he thought maybe he should just play for the junior varsity team for his first year. After a lot of thinking he decided to take the chance and see if he could help out the Greyhounds.

Being on the Varsity team didn’t come easy. After hard practices and lot of overtime, Gauna eventually became a superstar for Eaton Rapids fans. During Alex’s junior year, 2008-2009, the Varsity Greyhounds were invited to play in the Holiday Hoops Classic at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University. This, coupled with the fact the Hounds played in the Holiday Hoops Classic again Alex’s senior year, enabled Alex to be viewed on an elite stage.

While sporting his famous #1 jersey with the Greyhounds, Alex set many lofty goals for himself.  He wanted to beat the Single Season Block Record by the end of his senior year. This was one record Alex did not achieve by the end of his senior year. However, he broke six other records for the Eaton Rapids Boys Varsity Basketball team, one of them being the career record for Blocked Shots at ERHS, with 218 blocks.

The other school records he broke were Field Goals made in a career, with 505 shots; Three Point percentage in a season at 51% in 2010; Three Point percentage in a career with 38.6%; Free Throws made in a career at 288 free throws; and career Free Throw percentage at 75.2%.

But Greyhound basketball was not the only team Alex could be found playing for. Alex also played AAU basketball for the Mustangs. The Mustangs is the top elite basketball team in Michigan, which requires a difficult try-out period to become a member. It is an honor to be handed a jersey for this team, and Gauna was gifted enough to have the opportunity to be on the court with that team. The Greyhounds were glad to have a Mustang wearing their uniform every Friday night to help bring in a couple more wins, and many more fans, for the team.

Prior to Alex Gauna’s senior year, he began getting numerous letters from different colleges from all over. However, the one he really wanted to attend was the NCAA Division I school closest to home, Michigan State University. After multiple meetings and a period of weighing his options, Gauna received and offer he could not refuse.

The Spartan coaching staff offered Gauna a full-ride scholarship to play on the Michigan State Men’s Basketball team. Graduating at 6’10” with a four-year varsity plaque, Alex was ready to play at the next level. After meeting his new team, getting his shoes, and his dorm room, Gauna received his new jersey, #2. Alex was now officially a part of the team.

Gauna was introduced by Tom Izzo at Midnight Madness as the first Mexican to ever play for Michigan State Men’s Basketball. Now living his dream at MSU, Alex receives assistance from a personal tutor, like all MSU freshmen athletes, to keep his grades in line, a personal trainer to keep him in shape, five hundred dollars a month for food, and shoes for whenever he needs them.

Gauna’s hard work and dedication is now paying off. Gauna played 8 minutes and scored 6 points during his first exhibition game as a Michigan State basketball player. Though it appeared Gauna may have won a spot in the playing rotation, Coach Izzo informed him after the second exhibition game that he had the opportunity to be red-shirted this year, as the coach did not envision Gauna getting much playing time. 

When a player is red-shirted, he is not allowed to play in games during that season, but in return earns an fifth year of eligibility while still maintaining all of the benefits of being a member of the team.

Gauna took that opportunity with no hesitation. Now Alex has a 5 year, full-ride scholarship and courtside seats to every MSU basketball game. Alex Gauna fans can see the old Greyhound superstar on television when he shoots around in the beginning of each game sitting on the sideline supporting his team.

But don’t worry Eaton Rapids; look forward to next season when our former Greyhound, Alex Gauna, can be seen on the court making slam dunks for a national television audience.

Above and Beyond

Written by: Izzy Bellville '12
          Sophomore Kenny Wherry ('13) finished 15th in the Division 2 State meet last Saturday, with a time of 15:57, the second best time in all of Eaton Rapids High School history. Only a Sophomore, we can be sure that Wherry will be running circles around the competition by his Senior year.

Girls Swim Banquet

Written by: Izzy Bellville '12
          To celebrate their wonderful season, the girl's swim team will be holding a banquet Thursday, November 11th. Among all of their other accomplishments this seasons, the 200 free relay team (Courtney Boomer ('13), Jenna Beemer ('13), Malzie Kineman ('14), and Sam Rock ('12)) achieved a new school record of 1:51.23. For more information on the banquet, contact Mr. Bos.