Addison Trail Blazer winter athletic teams have ‘Blaze’ing success

As the spring athletic season gets under way at Addison Trail, it’s a great time to reflect on and celebrate the successes of winter.

Below are highlights from the winter season.

Cheer: The Varsity Coed team placed 3rd at the Illinois Cheerleading Coaches Association (ICCA) Championship. That is the highest finish for Addison Trail cheer. Prior to Sectionals, the team went undefeated at three competitions. At Sectionals, Addison Trail went against some of the best teams in the state. Cheer had an amazing season and looks forward to next year. The talent on the team this year was amazing, and the bar keeps getting raised each year.

Girls Basketball: The Girls Basketball Team ended the season 4-24 (1-11 in Conference). The girls worked hard all season and continued to grow as a group. The team had four seniors who were named All-Academic, and senior Rachel Baumgartner was Addison Trail’s All-Conference player this year. Senior Kelly Delawder advanced to Sectionals in the 3-point shooting contest.

Wrestling: The team ended the season with a 17-5 record and won the West Suburban Conference Gold Division title for the third year in a row. Four wrestlers made it to Sectionals. They are senior Michael Huynh, senior Jaime Valdez, senior Anthony Metallo and senior Eduardo Valdez. Metallo also competed in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State tournament.

Boys Basketball: The Boys Basketball Team is 15-10 and is the No. 9 seed in the East Aurora Sectional. The team has already captured two championships this season – the Elmwood Park Thanksgiving Tourney and the Addison Trail Pre-Holiday Tourney. Seniors Taylor White and Matt Gontarek were named to the All-Tournament teams. The Blazers are looking to capture their first Regional title in more than two decades.

Boys Swim: The Addison Trail/Willowbrook Boys Swim Team is a very young team, with seven freshmen on varsity and 12 freshmen out of 19 total on varsity and junior varsity. The team has become stronger throughout the season, building together each practice and meet. The team took 3rd place at the West Suburban Conference Gold Division meet, with everyone swimming personal best times. Varsity All-Conference swimmers are junior Nicholas Obrzut and senior Saul Rivera. Freshmen/Sophomore All-Conference swimmers are freshmen Burke Parent, Michael Strycharz, Jacob Grygo and Nicholas Czorniak. Everyone swam personal best times at Sectionals. It was a strong performance and a great experience for the future.

Girls Gymnastics: The Girls Gymnastics Team had a great season. The girls worked well together and were each other’s biggest support system. The girls went 3-2 in Conference, placing 3rd overall with their highest team score of 133.25 this season. Sophomore Kennedy O’Neill, sophomore Terra Garcia, sophomore Jessica Rosal and freshman Sydney Zaprzal all placed individually in the top 10 at Conference on their best events. O'Neill advanced to the IHSA State meet and qualified for finals on beam, placing 12th in the state!

Girls Bowling: Senior Amanda Jastrzebski and sophomore Molly Schmelter qualified for Sectionals. Schmelter finished in 6th place and missed going to State by only 10 pins. Jastrzebski finished in 2nd place and qualified for the IHSA State tournament.

Go, Blazers!