Fort Zumwalt North - Fall Sports Preview

GIRLS' TENNIS

HEAD COACH: GENE MILLER (3RD YEAR)

TOP RETURNERS: DIANA CALZADA-TORRES, EMERY LAYNE, LEAH ROSENBERG, MIA DURBIN, MARIA MARTIN, MARLOW WEINHOLD, SOPHIA HADENEWERTH, ADDIE ROBINS

QUOTES: "AFTER WINNING CONFERENCE FOR ONLY THE 2ND TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY, LAST SEASON, THE PANTHERS WILL BE MOVING TO THE OTHER CONFERENCE. WITH THE NEW CONFERENCE WILL COME NEW OR RENEWED RIVALRIES. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE GIRLS MEETING THE NEW CHALLENGES OF THE SEASON. 3 OF THE TOP 6 VARSITY WILL BE RETURNING AND 4 OF THE 6 SILVER VARSITY." Gene Miller

FIRST MATCH: FZS, JV ON AUGUST 29TH AND VARSITY ON AUGUST 30TH.

Head Coach:Josh Janisse (12th year)

Top Returners:

• Girls: Lukah Sandine, Zoe Johnson, Peyton Spellazza, Madison Modde & Amanda Bredenkamp
• Boys: Dan Meyer, Ryan Lubiewski, Ethan Glenn & Evyn Sandine

Top Newcomers: Top newcomers to varsity this year could be the following athletes.

• Girls: Evie Lubiewski, Baylie Wehmeyer & Paige Wilkinson
• Boys: Aiden Vogt, Miles Van Wave & Noah Marshall

Team Goals/Expectations:

Our varsity girls team that placed second in conference returns five of seven varsity runners. Our returning varsity athletes are 2023 All-District runners and state qualifiers Lukah Sandine and Zoe Johnson. To round out our returning varsity athletes we have school record holder Peyton Spellazza, Madison Modde and Amanda Bredenkamp. We will lean into our return experience to prepare for a great year on the course.

Our varsity boys team returns four of the seven varsity runners: Dan Meyer, Ryan Lubiewski, Ethan Glenn and Evyn Sandine. This crew looks to build off of last season to continue to grow as a team.

First Race:

The team will toe the line at the First Capital Invitational at McNair Park on August 30.

Boys Soccer

Head Coach: Matt Dwyer (2nd year)

Top Returners: AJ Wickerham, Kaleb Wilson, Colby Thomas, Axell Dominguez

Top Newcomers: Laith Abualzulof, Nate Horack, Eddie Harris

Team Goals/Expectations: The Varsity is coming off of back to back solid winning seasons. With 11 seniors, we are looking to continue that push to win a district championship. After graduating 6 starters, 3 from our defense, we expect to have some growing pains initially but hit our stride as the season progresses.

Quote:"The varsity returns 11 seniors, many of which were 3 and 4 year varsity players. Senior, Axell Dominguez returns as last years' leading scorer. Kaleb Wilson, Senior GK returns as our four-year varsity starting GK. Colby Thomas who was a leading scorer on the team as a sophomore returns for his Senior year after playing for the Academy last season. Lastly, four-year varsity player, AJ Wickerham returns as an all around versatile player who scored 6 goals and assisted 5 more from defense and midfield positions last season." Matt Dwyer

First Game: The Panthers will play in a Jamboree on August 24 against St. Charles High, Troy-Buchanan High School, and Liberty High School and will play their first game on Sep 3 at 6:45 at HOME.

Girls Golf

Head Coach: Jason Harshman (2nd year)

Top Returners: Isa Flores, Shayna Nobbe, Rylie Valentine, and Olivia Finley

Top Newcomers: Kennedy Thomure, Chloe McCloud, Ada Bowman, Sophia Boren

Team Goals/Expectations: The Panthers are coming off a school record best season of 6-3. We are returning 4 varsity players from our previous season including Isa Flores, Fort Zumwalt North's first ever state top ten golfer. We are moving up in conference this year and looking forward to some tough competition with the expectation of being competitive in every matchup.

Quote:"These girls have put in a lot of hard work to get ready for the season and it is showing up on the course. We are going to turn a lot more heads this year. Gone are the days of dusting off our clubs in August and putting them in storage in October " Jason Harshman

First Match: Our first match is against North Point at Innsbrook Golf Course August 29th and our first home match is against Timberland at the St. Peters golf Course September 3rd.

Softball

Head Coach: Steve Siebert (15th year)

Returning players:

Seniors: , Kate Cochran, Crystal McFerren, Charley Ash, Kennedy Morse, Jewel Schade.

Juniors: Claire Vogel, Kiana Noel, , Grace Metcalf

Sophomore: Payton Paluch

“Top” Newcomers- or Players that will see varsity time this year:

Caroline Fox, Harper Hayden, Kiera McClanahan, Annaliese Strange, Sydney Bonzo,

All conference 2023: Kiana Noel, Jewel Schade (1st team) Crystal McFerrren, Peyton Paluch, Kennedy Morse (2nd Team)

All district 2023: Kiana Noel, Jewel, Kennedy (1st team) Peyton, Crystal (2nd team)

This season Varsity softball has a good mix of players at Varsity. We have 5 position players who earned all-district and/or All conference last year returning to the team. (see above). We also have 5 Freshman with loads of potential that we are expecting to help us quite a bit this season. We are excited to have more young pitchers join the program this year.

Team goals and expectations: We hope to encourage growth this season with every player putting forth maximum effort to learn and develop as a teammate and a person. We will strive to compete to the best of our ability with supportive, positive team attitudes and good sportsmanship.

Quote: "We have more new young players on varsity this year than we have had in recent memory. We are going to work hard on developing our skills and building team cohesiveness to be able to compete in every game this year. We are excited to see how the girls rise to the challenge." Steve Siebert

Girls Volleyball

Head Coach: Scott Clynes (13th year)

Top Returners

Peyton Jones, Mia Felix, Hannah Ivancho, Karis Hearne, Caylee William, and Rylee Thomure

Top Newcomers

Alyson Williams, Colby Hoffmann, Lily Hahn, Gaby Cusumano, Payton Buckman, and Addi Livesay

Goals

Reach 20 wins and continue to build more traditions with the possibility of winning Conference. We are turning half of our team from last year, but adding some fresh new talent where our last year's seniors were. Trying some things as we start a new year, but these girls have been working hard in practice and they are ready to compete.

First Game

Our jamboree is on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at Zumwalt West HS. That starts at 4pm.Our first season match is on Sept. 3 at St. Charles West, but our first HOME match will be on Tuesday, Sept. 10 against Troy HS.

Please come out and watch some fast paced and exciting volleyball.

Football

Head Coach: Joe Bacon (17th year)

Returning # of starters 7 on Offense / 7 on Defense.

- Offense:

o JP Pohlman: OL (12), Chase Ostmann: WR (12), Lucas Newcomb: QB (12), Chaun

Robinson/Drew Riley: RB (12), Jacob Sweeten: OL (12), Cam Sherman: RB (10),

Jayden Burleson: RB (10).

- Defense:

o Jacob Sweeten: LB (12), Drew Riley: LB (12), JP Pohlman: DE (12), Chaun

Robinson: SS (12), Xavier Jackson: DE (11), Jayden Noel: CB (11), Deacon Moran:

LB (11).

Newcomers expected to contribute

- Aneas Smith: OLB/RB (12).

- Phillip Arpassi: QB/OLB (11).

- Isiah Hayden: OL/DL (11).

- Isaac Lusa: OL (11).

- Isaiah Lusa: OL (11).

- Carson Vollmer: WR (11).

- Logan Bauer: SS/QB/RB (10).

Team strengths

- A solid work ethic, grit and a commitment to continue living up to our program’s high

standards.

- Several players on both sides of the ball with a solid year or two of experience. Also,

there’s a good mix of veterans and newcomers that will be getting reps throughout the

season.

- Strong leadership within several classes in our program & a willingness to be about

something more than just themselves.

Goals

- Improve on last season’s accomplishments.

- Be legitimate contenders for Conference & District titles.

- Maximize our opportunities & play great football every week.

- Conduct ourselves with class & dignity regardless of the score of the game and live up to

our motto: “FZN Football: Bigger than the Board.”

- Whichever team can stay healthy and come ready to play every single Friday night.

First Game: Home vs. Pattonville on August 30 th at 7:00pm.

Season Outlook

We made some solid strides last year, battling through a smorgasbord of injuries and still being able to win both our conference and our district. None of those wins came easy, but that experience helped our boys understand how hard it is to win any given Friday night in high school football. The boys have been getting after it this summer and they are ready to build upon what they and their brothers accomplished last season.

Significant Changes

We have a significant number of holes to fill on both sides of the ball due to a strong senior class that just graduated. Our challenge will be to get all 11 players on the field working together as a unit. What we’ve seen so far this summer has been promising but there is a significant amount of work ahead of us if we’re going to be able to compete on opening night.

Significant Competition

There are some great teams on our schedule this year but the stiffest competition we will face on a week to week basis will be ourselves. Playing football at a high level requires an extensive amount of dedication and selflessness and it’s a very real challenge to meet that demand every single week. If our boys are willing to rise to that challenge they will be capable of doing some special things this year.

2024 Players to Watch (FZN)

Jacob Sweeten (12): Projected to start at MLB & OL.

- 1 st Team All-GAC LB, 1 st Team All-District LB and 2 nd Team All-State LB.

- 90 Total Tackles: 47 Solo / 43 Assist – 5 T4L.

Chaun Robinson (12): Projected to start at DB & RB.

- 1 st Team All-GAC DB, 1 st Team All-District DB and 2 nd Team All-State DB.

- 65 Total Tackles: 35 Solo / 30 Assist – 1 INT.

Jackson (JP) Pohlman (12): Projected to start at OL & DE.

- 2 nd Team All-District OL.

Xavier Jackson (11): Projected to start at DE & OL.

- 1 st Team All-GAC DL and 1 st Team All-District DL.

- 82 Total Tackles: 51 Solo / 31 Assist – 8 TFL, 7 Sacks.

Cam Sherman & Jayden Burleson (10): Projected to start at Slot.

- All-GAC and All-District recognition at RB.

- Combined: 1,186 yard rushing, 170 yards receiving and 19 TD’s.