By Dana Ehrmann
Sports Correspondent
For Victor Jabrial, third-year Head Coach of the girls Catholic Central soccer team, the real triumph of the season is being able to field a full, competitive team.
In that regard, Jabrial, assistant coaches Bailey Racky and Bob Klein and the Lady Toppers have already won.
After getting a soccer program started in 2015 and completing its first year of varsity eligibility in 2016, Catholic Central looks to build off of last year’s 3-5 record.
It’s been difficult to field a soccer team until recently due to numbers—Catholic Central students are often involved in other sports as well as school plays and musicals.
Even with interest building these past few years, the numbers will still be tight this year as Catholic Central fields both varsity and junior varsity squads.
“Some of my players cannot attend all the games and we have a tight number this year because of the two teams,” said Coach Jabrial.
Some players are still very new to the game, but what they lack in experience, they make up for in communication skills and work ethic.
“We have many new people, so there are many new skills to work with,” said the coach.
On the other hand, the Lady Toppers have lost some seniors with valuable skills, and must figure out how to compensate.
“We lost a forward, so we may have trouble getting goals,” he said. “We try to improve our returning players’ skills, and we work with the new players with basic skills and build them up to be like our returning players.”
Those key returners include seniors Bridget Bittmann, Olivia Antlfinger, Brooke Bleser, Kelly Aldrich, Griselda Rebollar and Abby Horner, and juniors Jennifer Rebollar, Mikelle Miles and Jessie Kempken.
The program is 24 players deep.
The Lady Toppers won their first home game on April 12 against Kenosha Christian Life, 2-0.
“We will try to do better than last year, and create a strong team for the coming years.”
Softball girls start strong
“There’s an air of excitement at Congress Field so far this season,” says Catholic Central girls softball Head Coach Bill Greskiw.
That’s because the Lady Toppers are 3-0, rolling along against conference opponents St. Joe’s, Racine Lutheran, and most recently Martin Luther on April 12.
Junior pitching phenom Sydney Robson shut out the Lady Spartans, giving up only three hits and striking out 10 batters.
Robson collected three hits herself, and newcomer Izzy Phillips, a freshman, racked up three RBI on two of four hitting.
Catholic Central secured the win, 9-0.
“All three wins combined good hitting, good pitching, and a strong defense. It has been a nice effort up and down the lineup with everyone contributing,” Greskiw said.
“Altogether, these girls have teamed up to be one of the most coachable teams that I’ve had,” Coach Greskiw continued. “They are amazingly close and are fans of each other.”
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