With the winter sport season coming to an end, the Grenadiers start to look forward to the very anticipated spring season.

Boys baseball is entering the 2016 season on a high after a 22-9 season and also looking to defend back to back MSL Championships from the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Coach Terry Beyna said that “the guys are pretty motivated to try and go back to back to back MSL Champions.” Beyna foresees a long postseason run.

With key returning seniors Christian Camacho, Jonathan Maday, Chuck Fleming, Jack McEnroe and AJ Lorenz, combined with an experienced junior, Joe Lopez, who played up on varsity last year as a sophomore, the team still looks to be in great shape. Several of the seniors have committed to play college baseball: Camacho committed to Auburn, Fleming to Southern Illinois, Maday and McEnroe to University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Lorenz committed to Carroll.

Boys track is coming off an 8th place finish last year at the MSL meet, and is looking to improve on the many successes that they had in conference, sectionals and state. Coach Brian Bucciarelli’s goal is to “get a handful of guys down to the state meet again this year.” The team has strong returning seniors Daniel Dalenberg, Azeez Alabi, Carmen Galgano, Brian Portillo, Elijah Rivera and Matthew Sweeney, in addition to junior Dominic Schiavone.

Girls track is rebounding from last year’s 3 and 10 record. Coach Dave Johnson is adding an Olympic lifting style and starting to increase his emphasis on speed and recovery. Johnson’s goal is for the team to “have a strong showing at the sectional meet and [to have] some girls make it to state!” Returning sectional champion and state qualifier Emily Stegmeier looks to lead the team this year. The team already has a “great competitive spirit to start the year,” Johnson said.

After a 4th place finish in the MSL East last year, the girls soccer team is going into the 2016 season with confidence. With a solid group of seniors returning and returning sophomores who played up on varsity last year, this year’s team is the youngest team in the program’s history. Coach Dan Klaus is hoping to make a stronger push for the MSL championship and is also hoping for success in the playoffs. With all players being key this year, the team is looking to not lose a step. Klaus and his team are very excited for the new turf.

Boys water polo is returning several key players this year: Adam Doruff, Nick Rosenorn, Mike Pauls, and David Dragne, who hope that they can lead the way to improve on a 7 and 18 record last year. Coach Keith Kura is going into the season very positively and is having his team coming into practice everyday to become the best water polo players they can be while also being the best people they can be.

Girls badminton returns from a 1 and 4 division record with nine returning seniors who were juniors last year, along with a sophomore who showed great promise last year. With the strong senior leadership, the girls look to improve on last year’s record and challenge not only each other in practice but also the rest of the division.

After a 25 and 12 season, concluding in the regional final match against Glenbrook North, the boys volleyball team is looking to build off last year’s success. Making the regional final is a major goal for the team, since they have made it there 9 out of the last 10 years. With returning seniors like Connor Emmerich and Anthony Prochenski, along with junior Kevin Braceros, the team will pick up right where they left off. The atmosphere is already very competitive, according to coach Daniel Windholz.

Softball is coming off an impressive 29 and 8 season, and is looking to improve on it by working hard. Another MSL East championship is what the girls are focusing on, with the hope of winning the whole MSL and making a strong push in the playoffs again this year. All-Conference players Sarah Paucher and Alex Masnica are returning this year, as well as starters Kylie Thomsen, Haley Itzenthaler, Anna Bonder, Abbey Sloan and Sarba Morton. Their pitching staff look to lead the team this year.