Winter sports are wrapping up, and spring sports are right around the corner. Last year, many Staples spring teams had a lot of success. All are either looking to repeat their successful seasons or improve their past results.

Rugby

The rugby team is beginning the season with one goal in particular – to beat Fairfield. “We came close last year but couldn’t finish the job,” James Stanley ’15 said. In terms of post-season goals, Stanley says the plan is to “just do our best in the regular season and see where that takes us.”

The team is optimistic that they’ll improve from last year, with captains Brandon Braswell ’15, Scott Seo ’15 and Trevor Penwell ’15 leading the way, with the help of a strong senior class and many up-and-coming underclassmen.

Girls’ Track

The girls’ outdoor track team had an extremely successful season last year. The team finished second in the FCIAC, first in Class LL State Championships and second at the State Opens.

This year, the goals are to maintain and improve on last year’s finishes and win the State and FCIAC titles. “The team is looking really good,” Hannah DeBalsi ’16 said. “We have a couple of really talented freshmen and some older girls who have improved this year.”

Boys’ Tennis

Another team that had great success last year is boy’s tennis. They finished the season undefeated, winning both the FCIAC Championship and the Class LL State Championship. “This season, it is definitely going to be challenging to go undefeated like we did last year,” Max Zimmerman ’17 said. “But I think it’s definitely possible if everyone works hard and plays their best.” With a mix of good underclassmen and upperclassmen, the team is looking forward to the season with the success of last season in mind.

Softball

The softball team has the same goal as they have every year: making the state tournament. They achieved this last year but lost in the first round. However, this year, they will be missing six members of that team who graduated last year.

Nevertheless, Robyn Adelkopf ’15 doesn’t see a young team as a disadvantage. “All of our underclassmen have shown that they can step up, so we don’t consider our young team a bad thing,” Adelkopf ’15 said. “I think we’re going to have a successful season because we’re a very cohesive team.”

Baseball

The baseball team has been preparing both morning and afternoon for the upcoming season, with practices at 6 a.m. during the week as well as conditioning after school. Last year, the team had a very successful season. They were the FCIAC regular season champions as well as the Western Division champions.

They hope to repeat those achievements as well as win the FCIAC and State titles. “This year, we plan on doing big things. We want to compete at a very high level and bring new hardware back to those trophy cases by the gym,” Phil McGovern ’15 said. Opening day is April 8 against Newtown at Staples. “We’d love as many people as possible to come and support us as we start our run for both titles,” McGovern said.