Dedication and determination are attributes that coaches demand of their athletes in the sport of wrestling. Wrestling is rightfully known for its extremely disciplined athletes due to the brutal hardships of the extensive training and weight requirements. As a sport that sorts its athletes based on weight, the controversy of wrestlers crossing the line between fit and unhealthy long has been an undercurrent of the sport.
Starting with this winter athletic season, Sherwood will be home to a unified bocce team as part of a corollary sports program recently implemented in MCPS. The program, which started in MCPS last year after its success in Baltimore County, is in partnership with Special Olympics and is currently in 14 of 25 MCPS high schools.
Big hits: the most exciting, fear-evoking, suspenseful, wonder-striking moments in the National Football League. You can hear them from anywhere inside the stadium; you can see them clearly on the television screen; you can almost feel their impact. Though a huge part of football’s legacy, big hits have ironically taken a “hit” this NFL season. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the league, and the rest of the NFL administration implemented harsher punishments against helmet-first hits.
Due to the acclaimed Sherwood poms and a plethora of unaffiliated dance studios, dance has come to play an important role in Olney. These studios include Berrend Dance Center, Citydance, Olney Studio of Dance (OSD), Savage Dance, Elite Studio of Dance and Studio of Ballet Arts (SBA), to name a few.
The swim and dive team has been in the top five programs in the county for a number of years. Last year the boys finished second in the county; the girls finished fourth. At Metros, the biggest local swim and dive meet of the year, the boys and girls both finished in 5th place. Even on such successful teams, individual swimmers have stood out for their exceptional performance in the pool; Kassy Kugler (’05), Heather Denman (’08), Eric Conrad (’10) and Mike Anderson (’10) all come to mind. Senior Emily Ryczek also can be added to that list. For the past three years, Ryczek, who primarily swims freestyle, has been a major contributor to the success of this team.
But Good Counsel found some competition when it relocated to Olney. Sherwood, though a public school, has proven itself as of its own lofty athletic reputation with recent state championships in football, soccer, cross country, baseball, and basketball. Although Sherwood’s football games might not be telecasted on ESPN as was the case for a Good Counsel game earlier this season, student athletes trust Sherwood to have excellent athletic programs. However, Good Counsel’s ability to pick off athletes from the area’s middle schools may begin to be a factor in the near future. Since Good Counsel’s relocation from Wheaton to Olney in 2007, a number of athletes in Sherwood’s feeder schools have decided to attend Good Counsel rather than Sherwood.
Senior Michael Begley is honored to be one of the few and the proud to reach All-American status. As a midfielder for the varsity lacrosse team, Begley is among the all-time Sherwood leaders in groundballs, faceoff wins, goals and points. After the 2010 season, he was named to the Under Armour All-America team. He was an All-County selection in both 2009 and 2010, and he is committed to play Division I college lacrosse at Marist College. So naturally, the next step for Begley was to take on football.
Takisha Williams attended Sherwood from 1992 to 1995, and in her four years she participated in track, basketball and even soccer. She excelled in every sport, earning All-County and All-Met recognition in track, starting all four years on varsity in basketball while leading the team to state finals in 1994, and helping lead the soccer team to the county championship her senior year.