Often times Shorewood High School is referred to as being “terrible at sports”, or as “definitely not an athletic school.” Yet, the statistics speak differently. The overall success of Shorewood High School’s athletic programs should not be understated, nor should it be underappreciated. The generalization that SHS lacks athletic talent and/or ability probably stems from its lack of achievement in the “big three” of high school sports: football, basketball and baseball. Now that the fall season of sports has come to an end, it seems appropriate to analyze the success of SHS’s fall sports teams, both individually and as a whole.

The Shorewood/Messmer High School football team returned after a year that fielded only a reserve squad. This problem was due to a lack of participation from the two schools; however, this year the team was able to play a full schedule again. Despite the partial success of returning the team, the football team went a disappointing 1-8 throughout the fall months. It should be noted that the team was only able to play two home games due to the Drive to Distinction project that just recently began on the SHS field.

Another sport affected by D2D was boys soccer. The Shorewood boys soccer team experienced a year of both success and utter disappointment. The team cruised to a quick 6-0 start before the wheels seemingly fell off the cart. Ranked as high as #2 in the state for Division 2 high schools, disappointing, even heartbreaking losses led to that rank falling to #4 by the end of the season. Despite the late-season semi-collapse, the team managed to post a solid record of 14-7. In a game that could have decided the Woodland Conference Championship, the Greyhounds were defeated by Wauwatosa West High School in another heart-wrenching loss. It wasn’t all bad in the second half of the season though as the team was crowned Regional Champions after defeating Messmer 4-2. A common misconception about the Soccer team this year was that its end of season struggles were owed to a series of injuries to key players. Matt Hillard, senior, corrected this belief, “The only time we were affected [by the injuries] was in the middle of the season.” Soccer also found itself without large amounts of fan support this season due to the lack of a true home field.

Dylan Barnes, senior, cited this chemistry as a significant strength of the team, “We were kind of like a big family. Last year, everyone did their own thing on and off the court.”

As the season wore on, play continued to be solid and this consistency was rewarded as the Hounds were presented with the opportunity to play at home for the Woodland Conference Championship; however, a bitter defeat was all that awaited them.

The Shorewood girls volleyball team did not experience the same amount of success as the boys team but still made lots of progress. The team’s four senior leaders encouraged commitment and teamwork and provided both energy and enthusiasm. The team’s record was far from spectacular, but the team improved throughout the season and despite the departure of its four seniors, appear ready to take their play to the next level next year.

A sport that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves, girls tennis, experienced a very pleasing season. While the team is certainly not a powerhouse, it sent a team of two juniors: Helen Juffer and Christine McLinn to state this year as a doubles team. At the end-of-the-season tournament Juffer and McLinn defeated Altoona’s doubles team 6-0, 6-1 before being defeated by Green Bay-Notre Dame. Juffer credited the duo’s success with their teamwork and knowledge. She said, “Christi and I know each other well as players and as friends. We understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and have a lot of experience playing together.”

Another sport that may not have been followed extraordinarily was the newly formed girls golf team. This team was a combined squad between SHS and Whitefish Bay High School. The team, despite being new, experienced immediate success, qualifying for the State Championships in their first season. Despite the disappointment of losing Lauren Gault, the team’s best golfer, its future seems to be bright as she is the only graduating member.

Arguably Shorewood’s most prestigious sport, Cross Country, had yet another great campaign, for both the girls and boys. The girls team showed that the boys weren’t the only ones who deserve attention. After another solid season, the girls put a staple in the year in the concluding weeks. Needing to place in the top two at Sectionals the girls finished second with 85 points lead by Sectional Champion freshman Emily Bachhuber. Returning to state, the girls stamped their season with an eleventh place finish, lead, once again, by Bachhuber who crossed the finish line fifth. Bachhuber’s success as only a freshman certainly gives reason for high expectations for this team in years to come.

As for the boys, it’s hard to imagine, but some may have seen the season as a disappointment. After four consecutive WIAA Division 2 State Championships, a new obstacle presented itself this season. Port Washington High School, after years of competing in Division 1, experienced a drop in enrollment, leading to their drop to the Division 2 level this season. This change proved to be a problem for the Greyhounds as, after plenty of speculation as to which team would come out with the crown, the Port Washington Pirates ended the streak and won the Division 2 State Championship. Despite the disappointment of a second-place finish the season as a whole is most certainly not a disappointment. Senior Andrew Erickson anchored the team for the entire year, extending the tradition of strong Shorewood senior runners. In the end however, it was sophomore Kevin McCollow who stole the spotlight at the State Championships, finishing first overall. Much like the girls, the boys team loses key runners in Erickson and Brian Valusek to graduation but the success of McCollow gives Shorewood legitimate reason not to doubt that a new streak will begin soon.

The Shorewood girls swimming team climbed back into the picture as one of the top teams in Wisconsin with an exciting 2007 campaign. The season seemed to have a sense of magic surrounding it from the start as the girls welcomed superstar freshman Clare Chamberlain to the roster to compliment super-sophomore Elli Sellinger. Led by these two underclassmen these Greyhounds cruised through the early months of the season, pleasing Coach Robby McCabe with both meet results and individual times. The girls of the pool, like the girls cross country team, finished extremely strong. They began their strong finish with a nail-biting dual-meet victory over arch-rival Whitnall. This proved to be just an appetizer as, just days later, the Woodland Conference Championships went down to the wire with SHS edging Whitnall thanks to the last event of the meet. A week later the girls qualified seven individual events and three relays to the State Championships at Sectionals while taking second in the meet, only 1.5 points behind Whitefish Bay. The State Championships did not disappoint as Shorewood finished 13th out of thirty-nine schools that qualified at least one event. The girls likely would have finished at worst, in a tie for 5th if not for an unfortunate disqualification of the would-have-been 6th place 200 Medley Relay Team. Chamberlain and Sellinger continued the trend of highly-successful underclassmen as Chamberlain won the 200 Individual Medley and finished third in the 500 freestyle while Sellinger nabbed a second and a third in her events, the 200 yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly.

By my count I see one team that finished second in the state, another that joined them as conference champions (Both back-to-back) and two other teams that were a win or two away from also winning the Woodland Conference. In addition to that, even teams that were not among the elite in the state found themselves at the State Championships come the conclusion of the season. Shorewood High School certainly is not Homestead or Arrowhead, but the athletic achievements of this school should not go without notice.