The spring sports season has come and gone for Evanston Township High School’s athletic teams and it was certainly a memorable season for a number of teams including boys water polo, boys track, girls track, and girls badminton.
The boys water polo team set a new single season record for victories after going 28-4 as the Wildkits advanced to the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history, but bowed out to Lyons in their first matchup of the State tournament. The last time the Kits went to State was in 2005, where they took third place.
“It was great to see this group in particular set the [win] record and go to State,” said water polo head coach Kevin Auger. “The season was the best in ETHS history so it obviously went very well. We held teams to 130 goals in 32 games, and in our toughest games against New Trier and Loyola [in the Glenbrook South Sectionals], we held them to four and two goals against us.”
Coach Auger added, “We have developed some great talent for next year. We have six returning players who started at times during the playoffs, and we learned that defense can win games, which means hard work wins games. We also learned that a team wins games.”
Indeed. Speaking of great talent, the girls track team’s talent was certainly on display at the IHSA Class 3A State tournament as they tied Danville for eighth place with 22 points, which marked the 34th time in 44 years that the Kits have placed in the top 10 at State. Individually, senior Enyaeva Michelin captured the State championship in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.44. This marks the first time in school history that an ETHS runner has won a State title in the 800 meter race. Enyaeva also earned second place in the 1600-meter with a time of 4:48.18. But she was not done there, as she also anchored the 1600-meter relay team, to a sixth-place finish, combining with freshman Gabriella Calixte and sophomores Asia Eddy and Gabrielle Horton.
On the other hand, the boys track team also had a strong showing in the State tournament as they finished 30th as a team and Jonathan Wilburn took first place in the triple jump with a 47 foot-2.75-inch performance. Jonathan is the first athlete in school history to win a State title in the triple jump and captured the first individual State championship since Tremaine Gordon won the 200-meter dash in 2010.
In addition, the girls badminton team saw a doubles team and an individual performer advance to the State tournament as the duo of Maia Robinson and Anne Hruska advanced along with sophomore Monica Hill.
Not only did the aforementioned teams have successful campaigns, both the baseball and girls soccer teams captured Regional titles before bowing out in their respective Sectional rounds, while the Kits’ softball team captured their third Central Suburban League South Conference title in school history. Also, both lacrosse teams, along with the girls water polo team finished with winning records. In the postseason, the boys’ lacrosse team beat Latin and Maine South to advance to the Sweet 16, but unfortunately came up short against Loyola Academy in the Sectional championship, while the girls lacrosse team prevailed against Regina to advance to the Sectional semifinals before falling to Maine South.
Finally, on the volleyball court, the girls suffered a season ending loss in the regional semifinals against Palatine, making their final record 17-19 overall, an improvement from last year’s 11-win squad. The boys will look to bounce back next season with a strong showing after struggling a bit in going 12-24 overall.
Based on the overall amount of success the ETHS teams had during the 2018 spring season, the future certainly appears to be bright.