The girls finished 1^st in the Metro Suburban Conference Meet on both the Freshman/Sophomore level and the Varsity level. Nine girls also qualified for State, marking the 5^th year in a row RB Girls Track has had a state qualifier.

Junior Claire Schraidt and Senior Vija Lietuvninkas qualified for State for the High Jump, and Junior Brenna Mossman qualified for state for the Long Jump. Senior Alexis Adams qualified for the shotput and the discus. Girls relay teams for the 400, 800, and 1600 all qualified for sate. The 400 m relay race team consisted of Seniors Stephanie Sauer and Alyssa Kmet, Mossman, and Sophomore Cynina Mason. The 200 m relay race team was Mossman, Kmet, Mason, and Junior Kate Walsh. The 400 m team consisted of Mossman, Mason, and Walsh.

With nine different girls qualifying, this is the most to ever qualifiy in a single year in RB history.

On the other side Boys Track has had a successful season as well. They have qualifiers for three categories: 1600 m relay, 3200 m relay, and the 800 dash. The 1600 m relay team consists of Seniors Justin Pomey and Kirk Razon, and Juniors Jason Pomey and Alex Amaya. The 3200 m relay team is Seniors Mark McDonagh and Peter Lyson, and Juniors Keegan Buttimer and Amaya. Lyson also qualified for the 800 m dash.

Boys Track state competition is this Thursday-Saturday.

 The volleyball team’s record so far is 18-16 with its last win being at Illiana Christian. The guys have had many other great victories like senior nights win against Hinsdale South. After their last conference game against Fenton, they will then move on to regionals to improve their record even more.

 With junior Elliot Louthen and senior Juan Gomez Velez as captains, the team’s potential is high. “It’s exciting to see how the team does when they’re excited as opposed to down,” said Gomez, “I also think that as a team we are progressively getting better.”

 The team has made much progress but a long way to go.

“I expect a good end to the season,” said Gomez.

The meaning behind this is from the 2010 soccer season theme, “At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And with steam, you can power a train.”

The season for the girls’ soccer team has just ended. The varsity team, having an 8-9 record still has regionals coming up.

Varsity coach Marissa Dobbertin said, “Regardless of our wins and losses, the team has always remained a strong team with a ‘212’ attitude. Our number one goal is regionals. It means more to us to take home the first regional championship.”

The sophomore team, ending with 10-3-3 record, had a great season. Winning conference, the team has much to be proud of.

The freshman team had a rough season, with a record of 4-2-11. Playing some of the most difficult opponents, the team faced schools with some of the top programs in the state.

This feeling of continuing to do well through conference and into the post season is a good sign of success. Most players like Sophomore Aron Perfect feel happy about the season. “I accomplished my goals and I want to win at conference. If I do that, I think I will feel I was successful.” Perfect stated.

The season itself was good for most players but the real goals are to succeed in conference and possibly state.

There are several boys who hope to make it to state. Most of them are seniors who feel this season is the final chance at tennis glory. Suhjida said, “I feel the season went by quickly but I do not want to lose focus going into the most competitive part of the year.”

The team has a winning record and has been improving it in the past few years, but that doesn’t mean the players want to give up now. The big goals for them are to win conference and have a threepeat win. They have high hopes but an even higher swing.

 The girls train all over the summer to be ready for the half-time shows and competitions they have to face in the next season. They train about 6 hours a day every day with the band team. It’s a very rigorous practice routine.  

“I think that it’s going to be a good season because we have a lot of twirlers” said sophomore twirler Kelsey Stirek, “We have 8 girls this year.”

 The twirlers last year went to the state competition and received first place.

“I think we have a chance to go to state and win again just like last year,” Childers said.  

 The girls really like twirling which is why they still do it. “Twirling is fun; you get to twirl and hang out with your friends,” Childers said, “I can’t wait till practice starts.”

Over the season, badminton has been quite successful.  The team won 1st place at the Leyden Invite, Bolingbrook Quad, and the RB Invite.  “We got 2nd place at the DeKalb Invite and our Independent Conference Meet,” said varsity coach Valerie McIntyre, “The success of our entire team earned us a 6th seed in our sectional.”  

Maggie Heraty and Brittany Hite (playing doubles), Sam Oberholtzer (playing singles), and Sydney Oberholtzer and Ariana Barreto (doubles) qualified for state.

J/V badminton ended with the Independent Conference at Zion-Benton (7 teams in total present).  Varsity badminton continued from the Independent Conference to sectionals.  Five girls from the team qualified for the state tournament which they played the weekend of May 15^th and 16^th.  However, the sport officially ended at the conclusion of the state tournament Friday and Saturday, April 14^th and 15^th.

With the school year ending, teammates look back at the great season and considered rejoining the sport.  Badminton member Abby Teffeteller said, “The season was so much fun and was a great experience.” 

“I really love the sport, but its being on the team with my friends and being a part of something so positive [that I love],” Lorelei Volpe said. 

RB’s badminton team makes it clear to the public that they work hard at what they do and put as much effort and strategy into it as any other sport.  “Probably learning the game and all the strategy and getting out there and playing competitively [is my favorite thing],” said Stephanie Wolff. 

Plans for next year’s season are already well underway.  Thus, concluding another fun-filled yet hard-working season for the badminton team.

However, his deteriorating relationship with management may have been the overriding factor in the decision. Reports of multiple altercations between Del Negro and Bulls VP of Basketball Operations, John Paxson, as well as General Manager Gar Forman, were signs that Del Negro’s firing was inevitable in the near future.

While some of the players showed signs of sadness upon receiving the news, the general consensus throughout the season was that the majority of the players did not find Del Negro’s leadership well-suited for the Bulls’ needs. Joakim Noah did appear to be upset, and even lobbied for his coach’s return before the news broke of his dismissal.  Since the announcement became public, the coaching search is the next priority.

A few names have been floated out there for the Bulls’ head coaching position, such as former Bulls coaches Doug Collins and Phil Jackson, Celtics coach Doc Rivers, University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari, Avery Johnson, Byron Scott, Jeff Van Gundy, Dwane Casey, Sam Mitchell, and Lawrence Frank.

The Bulls have not begun the interviewing process yet, but it will be an interesting next few months to wait and see who will be on the sidelines for the Bulls next season.

Boys’ varsity volleyball is being coached by Mr. Bonarigo while sophomores are being coached by Jonathon Gorny. Both teams have promising futures, Varsity being lead by Juan Gomez and Elliot Louthen and Sophomores Richie Green and Joe Sauer.

Right side hitter for the varsity team, Junior Ben Bergstrom,  hopes to beat Morton, who has been a “consistent competitor and has beaten us several times.” He also hopes the team works hard because “We have a chance at competing with every team in our conference.” he commented “I think we have a real chance at conference and regional’s this year.”

While on the sophomore front, team leader Richie Green has set his goals as “To improve and become a better player for varsity.” Coach Jonathon Gorny especially wants the sophomore front to become some-what of a training ground for soon-to-be varsity players.

“My hope does not lie in wins and losses but in the player’s potential.” said Gorny.

Sophomore player, Kyle Perfect, has said that he wants to have an above 500 team, which if the team rallies together is more than possible.

The Bulldogs do not exactly have an easy season ahead of them but with all the hard work and practice they are receiving they definitely are going to put up a fight. Senior and team captain Juan Gomez says “Go Bulldogs!”

After being divided into JV and Varsity teams from the start of the season, the female athletes warm-up almost every day by exercises that strengthen their cardio and agility skills.  A few times a week, they even make trips to the weight room. 

Tom Rocco coaches JV badminton.  “My favorite part of coaching badminton is watching the players develop their skills and see their improvement from the beginning of the year to the end of the year,” he said.

Valerie McIntyre instructs the Varsity team.  “I look for athletes who work hard and show dedication. I also look for athletes with leadership qualities,” she said.

The sport of badminton requires focus, agility, dedication, and effort.  “We have days when we jog indoors or outdoors, and have had some practices in the weight room,” said freshman Stephanie Wolff, a member of the Junior Varsity team. 

They’ve lately just had their Freshman/Sophomore RB invite on the 10^th of April as well as an away game in Downers Grove on April 5^th.  RB’s badminton team has also played Morton, Glenbard South, and just recently on April 12^th, Plainfield. 

“The team took 4th place at the East Aurora Invite and 3rd place at the RB invite this past weekend,” Rocco said, “Also in the RB JV invite, Sarah Otmanski took 1st place for #2 singles, while Aneliese Gibson took 2nd place for #1 singles.  Kelsey Stirek and Samantha Schelthoff took 2nd place in #2 doubles.” 

There are twelve spots on Varsity. “Depending on what we are playing (a quad, a dual, a tournament) determines how we would set up the singles and doubles positions,” McIntyre said. 

Every practice, JV and Varsity warm-up together, perfecting their techniques as well as mental focus.  So far, they have taken 1^st place at a Bulldog invite with the Bolingbrook Squad and the Leyden East Quad. 

“We beat OPRF 9-6, which has a very strong program,” said McIntyre. Varsity and J/V usually warm up together and then go their separate ways in practices. The teammates strengthen their strategy and coordination skills every day. They practice both singles and doubles matches in preparation for their position in actual games. 

McIntyre reflected on working with the girls on her team by saying, ”I love seeing how hard they work and how dedicated they are to the sport. Also, they make me laugh every day.”

Sophomore Carmen Shelbrack, a member of the girls’ varsity soccer team said,” We are going to put in the extra degree to be conference champs. I believe we will be able to win the rest of our games. Our team as a whole is really improving and we are showing true signs that we can be conference chaps back to back years.”

Not only is varsity soccer in the running for the title of conference champs, but so are the sophomore girls. Their record is 3-1-2 and the team is hopeful that they might also win their conference.

On Saturday, May 1st, their team will host a soccer-palooza. This is when the alumni of girls’ soccer will come back to face off against the current girls’ soccer players. The game lasts from 10:00-1:00 and the admission fee is one dollar. There will be concessions and, of course, a very entertaining soccer game to watch.

One reason that the team is having this soccer-palooza is to help raise money for new jerseys and equipment.

Team members are all sending letters out to help aid this cause. If you would like to contribute a donation to this organization bring it to the soccer-palooza event and hand it to one of the coaches (Kristen Mckee and Marisa Dobbertin).