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Sports

Seahawk Sports - 2021-2022

By: Brody Cooke

Hilton Head Island High School has about 37 sports teams, and keeping track of all of them can be difficult. In this article, you can learn about new head coaches at HHIHS, how games will be affected by COVID-19 restrictions, about the football stadium’s renovations, and a few other sports renovations planned for the future. The dialogue of an interview with the school’s principal is shown below.

Q: To start, are there any new sports that will be added this year?

Mr. Schidrich: No, I think we haven't added any new sports teams. We have about 37 sports teams between JV and Varsity, so we haven’t added any.

Q: Are there any new coaches this year?

Mr. Schidrich: Yes, as far as head coaches, we have a new head cross-country coach, Mr. Ewing, who is a teacher here, he’s the head cross-country coach. I’m trying to go through the seasons because of the fall season; it's football, its volleyball, its cheer, and its cross-country, so just cross country has a new head coach. Winter you have the basketball teams, you have wrestling, you have competitive cheer, there are no new coaches there. We need a new boy’s soccer coach; we haven't filled that position yet. But as far as I know out of the head coaching positions, it's just cross-country.

Q: How will the games be affected by COVID-19 restrictions?

Mr. Schidrich: Well, there are no restrictions on the play itself, as of now. Just like last year, we always run into the danger of having teams quarantining and having to cancel some games. Like last year, our football team only played three games last year, they were supposed to play ten. They got quarantined twice, so they didn’t have a full season. That was the only major sport that was affected. We did have a couple of teams that had some quarantines, but it didn’t impact any games, so there are no restrictions on, like when we play a game we wear a mask. There are none of those. I do know that on the bench, you probably want to do your best to try to keep the students, or the players three feet apart when they’re sitting on the bench. So those are the only changes, there have been no changes to what happens on the court or the field.

Q: Right now the football stadium is being renovated with new turf being put in. When is that project expected to be completed so that home games can be played again?

Mr. Schidrich: Our first home football game is on October 8th. They anticipate that it will be done a week before that. So maybe the last week of September, or October 1st, right around there is when they expect it to be ready. We’re not only getting a new field, they’re getting a new track. The track that goes around the field. They’re doing that too; that’s going to be new.

Q: Besides the football stadium’s new turf, do you have any other renovations to stadiums planned for the future?

Mr. Schidrich: Yes, we’re supposed to get a new fieldhouse, because the one we have is very very old, so we’re going to get a new fieldhouse, and the old one is going to get renovated because it’s old, all the facilities in there are old, the piping’s old, the showers are old. So that’s a major renovation. When they work on the field, they’re also going to upgrade our track facilities, like where they do the pole vault, where they do the long jump, they’re going to redo those pits. So those are the major renovations this year. So that’s all we have going on for athletics this year, as far as renovations.

The main sports schedule is spread throughout the school year, with sports only appearing in one season. The fall sports are Competitive Cheer, Boys and Girls Cross-Country, Football, Girls Golf, Boy and Girls Swimming, and Girls Tennis and Volleyball. There are not many sports in the winter, with the only sports being Girls and Boys Basketball and Wrestling. In the spring, the sports are Baseball, Boys Golf, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Boys and Girls Soccer, Softball, Boys Tennis, and Boys and Girls track and field.

There are many different sports played at HHIHS, (Hilton Head Island High School) so come visit us some time to watch some games! The football stadium will be amazing once it is done, so be sure to stop by sometime to watch some Seahawk Sports!

Girls Golf Kicks off 2021 Season!

How will the team face new challenges?

By: Carmine Genovese

The 2021-22 HHIHS Girls Golf team started their new season with their first home match on August 31st. The team faced May River, Bluffton, and Beaufort on Tuesday at the Golden Bear Club course. They are ready to face challenges in the upcoming season. The number one golfer on the team is Lexi Milbrandt.

Lexi said, “The team has a lot of potential with some new players, and recurring players improving,” showing good signs of things to come. The team is forming new bonds with one another even with new regulations. The team hopes they can continue to improve throughout the season.

Lexi stated, “Everyone on the team gets along well, and we all hang out outside of practice to keep that strong relationship,” giving Seahawk fans a reason to believe that great things could come from the team this season. The team has been consistently performing well over the last few years.

New challenges startle everyone, Lexi added, “We all have our struggles, but the team practices hard every day to overcome them to make sure we’re the best we can be by the time States comes around.”

With new challenges coming for the team this season, they look to push through them and become even more successful. The team has formed new bonds with each other that could last a lifetime. The 2021 Girls Golf team is ready to become champions!

The Girls' Tennis team starts the 2021 season!

By: Saraya Graham & Jake Ferguson

The tennis team started the season with a win at the home game against Heritage Academy! Mrs. Weitekamper is the head coach and was very athletic in high school and college. She played tennis and other sports which led her to start coaching tennis for HHIHS. Mrs. Weitekamper is a teacher, “But also loves coaching because the team comes together as a family and it's a different environment.” The HHIHS Tennis team's biggest competition is Lucy Beckham from the Charleston area. They have been to a lot of tournaments and competitions. She said that “We are confident that the team will make it to the playoffs.”

Mrs. Weitekamper was the person we interviewed and she said, “Thirteen players are on the team this year including many new freshmen, two seniors, and the number two player in the state, Emily Ruckno.” Mrs. Weitekamper also says that “Each player on the team is just as important as the others no matter their position. Seeing as tennis is lined up like a ladder it’s everybody who beats everybody, but each point is as valuable as the next no matter if you’re number one or number thirteen.”

2021 Seahawks Girls Tennis Team

By: Alexia Milbrandt

The 2021 HHIHS Girls Varsity Tennis Team began their season at the beginning of August with tryouts lasting around a week. The team has started off strong with only 1 region loss. Annabella Mcswain was interviewed about the season so far.

When asked about how the team has been performing, Annabella stated, “The team has been playing pretty well, but there is still room to improve for the upcoming matches.” She also believes that they are one of the better teams in the area.

Annabella mentioned that the team this year is very close and getting along very well. “Last year we didn’t get the chance for very much team bonding, so this year we are doing more team activities.” The coronavirus limited team bonding experiences last year, so this season they are taking more opportunities to improve team chemistry.

Their next tournament is over the weekend in Charleston starting on September 24th. She feels that the team is looking forward to competing and developing their relationship. She said, “the team feels confident going into the tournament.”

The 2021 season is looking promising for the Seahawks! They are ready to face new challenges and grow stronger as a team.

Seahawk Tennis

By: Hannah Dye & Maeve Dolan

Seahawk Football - Game One

By: Hannah Dye & Maeve Dolan

The Seahawks are looking forward to this year's football season. The Hilton Head High School Seahawks are excited for their upcoming football game against Lower Richland. Their head coach, Coach Payne, has high hopes for the game. He believes, however, that Beaufort High will probably be their toughest opponent this season. He thinks that their season is headed in the right direction, with extra practice from their bye week, and lots of senior leadership. When asked about the senior leadership, he says, “We have a great senior leadership, and a big senior class for us, and they will lead by example and do this the right way.” The football team is a loss of a necessity now though - a football field! If you didn't know, the Seahawks are redoing their football field into a turf field. When asked about the difficulties of not having a field, Coach Payne explained that they practice on the lacrosse game field and that they scheduled their first five games away so the field could be completed. As the season gets closer, Coach Payne also reveals, “Hopefully we get ourselves in a position to win a lot of games.” Let's wait and see if Coach Payne is right about this year's season! On Friday, September 3rd, Hilton head island Seahawks had their first football game! Seahawks varsity football fell in their first game of the season to Lower Richland. The score was 35-6. Chase McCracken had a 30+yd touchdown run, but the kick was blocked. The Seahawks fought hard, but in the end, fell short. Good luck next week!

Seahawk Volleyball at Porter-Gaud Tournament

By: Jacob Hadley

The Seahawks volleyball team started the season at the Porter-Gaud tournament. The Seahawks faced off pretty well going 5-2-1 over this last weekend. We were able to get some insight from varsity player Leah Jackson.

Leah said, “We are excited to start our next season of volleyball, and have a lot of confidence going into it. We did pretty well in the tournament at porter gaud, but there is still lots of room for improvement.”

She added on saying, “Everyone on the team seems to get along very well and our team chemistry is fantastic.” Leah has lots of hope for this upcoming volleyball season.

“We practice after school for two hours every day of the school week. You would think these practices could get boring or seem like too much at times, but we always seem to have a great time while getting better.”

Leah then elaborated on the schedule for this year. “We play lots of games including some weekend tournaments here and there. We won’t be sure how many total games we will play this year but we do know that we play a total of 12 region games. That is two games per week.”

The Seahawks seem to be on top in volleyball and will be competing for the top spot this year. They will face off twice this upcoming week against Bluffton and May River. Look to see improvement and an incredible year for your volleyball Seahawks.

Girls Tennis Team Starts 2021 Season

By: Saraya Graham & Jacob Ferguson

The tennis team started a great season with a win at the home game against Heritage Academy! Mrs. Weitekamper is their head coach and was very athletic in high school and college. She played tennis and other sports which led her to start coaching tennis for HHIHS. Even though she is a teacher, the girls on the tennis team choose to be at training it is a different teaching slash coaching environment it's like a mini family. She also stated that Lucy Beckham from the Charleston area might be their biggest competition for the season because they have similar competitors and will also do a lot of tournaments. She's also confident that the team will make it to the playoffs. HHIHS tennis team never missed a playoff under Mrs. Weitekamper’s watch; she always make sure the team was ready and up for challenges.

Mrs. Weitekamper was the interviewee. She said, “Thirteen players on the team this year including many new freshmen, two seniors, and the number two player in the state, Emily Ruckno.” Mrs. Weitekamper also says that “Each player on the team is just as important as the others no matter their position. Seeing as tennis is lined up like a ladder it’s everybody who beats everybody, but each point is as valuable as the next no matter if you’re number one or number thirteen.”

Varsity Cheer

By: Hannah Dye and Martha Cordero

Varsity Cheer has yet to have a competition or cheer at a game, but they have many upcoming events. In addition to these events, they just volunteered at the 5th annual Fun in the Sun event, an event organized by Pockets Full of Sunshine. Here's what the head coach, Coach Lee, had to say about this event. She says, “The cheer team volunteered with kids and adults with disabilities. Pockets Full of Sunshine provides this event called Fun in the Sun, and there is surfing, and there's games. It's all on the beach and the cheerleaders volunteered to help individuals with special needs''. A JV and varsity cheerleader, Reese Cauller, also provided insight into the event. She explained, “We played duck, duck, goose, we went paddle boarding, surfing, boogie boarding, and there was face paint. Overall it was really fun.”

The cheer team is working hard to prepare for future events. Coming up is their first home football game (October 8th), JV and Varsity competition, and more football games. When asked about these events and what they do to prepare, Reese said, “Last Saturday, JV had a four hour practice, so that we could practice our routine and learn it. This Saturday, varsity has another four hour practice, and we are just going to run our routine, try to hit our stunts, and have our tumbling on time.” This is a very dedicated and hardworking team, and their hard work will pay off!

Seahawks Football

HHIHS, 9/5/21

By: Hannah Dye

The Seahawks are looking forward to this year's football season. The Hilton Head High School Seahawks are excited for their upcoming football game against Lower Richland. Their head coach, Coach Payne, has high hopes for the game. He believes, however, that Beaufort High will probably be their toughest opponent this season. He thinks that their season is headed in the right direction, with extra practice from their bye week, and lots of senior leadership. When asked about the senior leadership, he says, “We have a great senior leadership, and a big senior class for us, and they will lead by example and do this the right way.” The football team is in loss of a necessity now though - a football field! If you didn't know, the Seahawks are redoing their football field into a turf field. When asked about the difficulties of not having a field, Coach Payne explained that they practice on the lacrosse game field, and that they scheduled their first 5 game’s away so the field could be completed. As the season gets closer, Coach Payne also reveals “Hopefully we get ourselves in a position to win a lot of games.” Let's wait and see if Coach Payne is right about this year's season! On Friday, September 3rd, Hilton head island Seahawks had their first football game! Seahawks varsity football falls in their 1st game of the season to Lower Richland. The score was 35-6. Chase McCracken had a 30+yd Touchdown run, but the kick was blocked. The Seahawks fought hard, but in the end, fell short. Good luck next week!

2021 Winter Sports Seasons Begin Soon!

By: Jacob Hadley

Hilton Head High is offering a lot of sports this winter like basketball, wrestling, and sideline cheer. We were able to interview Seahawks basketball player Caleb Spangler and wrestler Calvin Clayton about their upcoming seasons.

Caleb said “I’m quite excited about the upcoming season.” He also noted how athletes should be getting prepared for the new seasons and emphasized how athletes should get proper exercise. He also added “I like how we can play the sports with our friends too.”

The 2020 Seahawks Boy’s Basketball team made it to States and the girl’s team played at Regions. This shows a promising future for the 2021 season for both teams.

Calvin said, “There are a lot of great sports this winter season, but I am going to focus on wrestling. I wish I could play more winter sports if I could.”

Sideline cheer will also be available.

Tryouts for most of the sports are coming up sooner than later so make sure you sign up soon and have fun Seahawks!

HHIHS Gets New Track and Turf Field for Upcoming Season

By: Carmine Genovese

Hilton Head High school is receiving a new turf football field and track for the upcoming seasons. A football and track athlete was interviewed about the new changes to the stadium and how it could impact athletes performances for years to come. Caleb Spangler is a football and track and field athlete for the high school.

Caleb said “This could improve our performance, we are now able to compete on all new surfaces, it’s a great opportunity,” showing that the athletes believe it could benefit performances.

Caleb added on “For the football team, having a new turf field would allow us to gain a better experience while playing, and to possibly impact our opponents performance by them not being prepped to play on turf,” giving Seahawk fans a reason to be excited about the teams new opportunities.

Caleb stated “For the track and field teams, it allows easier access to the shotput and discus areas, and a new track could boost runners performances, allowing them for more traction.” Track and field athletes are excited about the new heights they could reach with a new track.

The new track and football field could create better fan experiences, with better game play for the athletes. It could allow great opportunities for all athletes, and will allow for a cosmetic upgrade of the field. HHIHS is excited about the new Track and football field!

Girls Golf Kicks off 2021 Season! How will the team face new challenges?

By: Carmine Genovese

The 2021-22 HHIHS girls golf team started their new season with their first home match on August 31st. The team faced May River, Bluffton and Beaufort on Tuesday at the Golden Bear Club course. They are ready to face challenges in the upcoming season. The number one golfer on the team is Lexi Milbrandt.

Lexi said “the team has a lot of potential with some new players, and recurring players improving,” showing good signs of things to come. The team is forming new bonds with one another even with new regulations. The team hopes they can continue to improve throughout the season.

Lexi stated, “everyone on the team gets along really well, and we all hangout outside of practice to keep that strong relationship,” giving Seahawk fans a reason to believe that great things could come from the team this season. The team has been consistently performing well over the last few years.

New challenges startle everyone, Lexi added “we all have our own struggles, but the team practices hard everyday to overcome them to make sure we’re the best we can be by the time States comes around.”

Lady Seahawks Volleyball wins Big Game to Improve Championship Chances!

By: Carmine Genovese

The Lady Seahawks Volleyball team had another big win against May River on September 16th and we interviewed a member of the varsity volleyball team.

Martha claimed, “I believe we have the most dominant team in our region. If we stick together and play like we have been, I think we will win the championship.” Martha shows some real confidence in her team.

She was also able to break down some of the stats. “We had a team serve percentage of 92.7% last game, which was our highest of the season so far.”

The Seahawks started off strong winning the first set 25-10 and never looked back dominating the rest of the match. “Starting off strong is one of the biggest keys to each match. It really sets the tone and gets the other team on their heels.”

There were 21 receiving points won by the Seahawks, meaning they earned 21 points on points they did not serve on. Mackenzie Ryan had a big game with 11 kills leading the Lady Seahawks to victory.

Mackenzie Ryan leads the team in kills per game thus far with 6.6 and Ady O’Grady follows behind with 6 a game.

The Seahawks have a 62.7% serve winning percentage so far this season.

This win by the Lady Seahawk Volleyball team greatly improves championship aspirations by beating another great team! HHIHS looks forward to the rest of the season for the team!

A New Start For Hilton head Island High!

By: Jada Green

Hilton Head Island High school will be getting a new football field. According to a student at Hilton Head High School says “The new football field will be the best football field the high school ever had.” From the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year they started taking up the old high school field and track. The field and track was in need of a new and fresh field and track.

Another student and teacher at HHI high school stated that the new field would have some of HHI high school colors on the field. Mr. Schidrich, the principal of Hilton Head Island High School stated that the new field should be finished October 16 this school year. Mr. Schidrich also stated that this field would be the best field the high school ever had.

Hilton head Island High school has overcome a lot in the last couple of months. Being able to currently meet in-person for school, safely playing and enjoying the sports they love, and being able to have a choice to wear a mask to school. Adding a new and improved football field and track will help students be happy to come and enjoy school, like it was a normal school year.

Sports Highlight videos and Virtual Parade of Champions

(Only home games are filmed. Tennis and Swim were only filmed 1-2x due to difficulties getting footage. Golf only has parade of champions due to inability to film on the course)

Virtual Parade of Champions

Virtual Parade of Champions are video/photo/interview highlights and well-wishes from staff and students for those teams that make it to the South Carolina 4A State Championship games. As of October 23, 2021 Girls Golf and Girls/Boys Swim made it to the state championships. Volleyball and Girls Tennis are currently in playoffs.