Weekly Sports Update 3/1-3/8
March 8, 2021
Badminton (Grace Davidson)
Metea’s badminton team had two matches last week. They started off the week with a matchup against Neuqua. The Mustangs did not find much success in their match against the Wildcats, but they have the opportunity to redeem themselves against North today at 5:30 p.m.
Boys’ Basketball (Tyler Perry)
The boys’ basketball team had three games during the week. The Mustangs played against Waubonsie twice, and both teams were able to play at each other’s venues. The third game was against Neuqua. Metea lost both games, but they look to spark some momentum against the Naperville North Huskies tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Girls’ Basketball (Grace Davidson)
The girls lost their game against Neuqua this past Friday 17-8. The girls have a home game against North on Tuesday and another home game against Central on Friday. They have an away game scheduled against Rosary on Saturday.
Girls’ Bowling (Tyler Perry)
The girls’ bowling team started their week off with a loss to South Elgin. The Mustangs were able to quickly bounce back, and the next day, they were met with success. Metea defeated Waubonsie to remain undefeated during DVC play. The Mustangs ended off the week with a match against Neuqua. Their next game will be today at 8 p.m.
Cheerleading (Tyler Perry)
The cheerleading team finished off their shortened season but were met with big news. Metea’s squad will have the opportunity to participate in this year’s state series.
Dance (Grace Davidson)
After qualifying for state, the dance team is gearing up for the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) state performance this upcoming Saturday. Read more about their journey to state here.
Girls’ Gymnastics (Grace Davidson)
The girls’ gymnastics team (Waubonsie and Metea co-op) went against Naperville North this past Thursday. Emily Thompson earned a score of 8.35 on bars, which is the second highest score on bars for the team. The highest score on the bar was 9.05 scored by Stephanie Svec. They would end the night with an amazing score of 34.650. However, Naperville North won 135.05 to 129.75. The girls’ have their DVC tournament this Friday.
Boys Hockey (Max Berglind)
The boys’ hockey team played a tough matchup against the undefeated Huskies last Tuesday. The Warriors lost their match to a score of 5-2.
Boys’ Swimming (Grace Davidson)
The boys had their last scheduled meet of the season against Naperville Central on Friday. Central ended up winning the meet with the close score of 82-80.
Evan Lopez • Mar 22, 2021 at 2:11 pm
Dear Editor,
I wanted to thank you for covering the sports at Metea. The athletic presence at our school is not as strong as the other two high schools in our district and I believe covering our sports as you do benefits our programs by letting other students know what’s up week to week.
That said, I urge you to take a deeper look at the events. The March 8th coverage by Grace Davidson about the boys’ swim meet against Naperville Central is misleading. The report says that Metea lost the meet 82-80, which is true, but does not really capture what happened. Metea, in fact, won every single event, (3 relays and 8 individual events), except for the 100 backstroke. The only reason the Mustangs lost is because none of our swimmers was entered in the event. The reason the Redhawks won is because they have the numbers. They scored points for 2nd, 3rd, 4th… places because they have a varisty team more than three times the size of our 7-member team. Looking at a 2-point loss through this lens does a lot more to boost and encourage hard-working athletes than simply looking at a basic win/loss record.
I understand that Metea Media is working with a small staff of students and they could not possibly cover all of the events and highlight all of the great achievements Metea athletes are accomplishing. My suggestion is to cover fewer events and really focus on the good news, such as in Grace’s article about the girls’ gymnastics team. Our school is in one of the toughest conferences in the state, and our teams consistently field the fewest numbers of athletes in the local DVC, (not including DeKalb). Perhaps with better positive press, Mustang teams of the future will be able to attract more students and the level of competition they’ll bring to our games and meets will be closer to equal. Until then, focusing mostly on win/loss records is only providing an argument for more students to stay away from sports.
Respectfully,
Evan Lopez