Warriors hope for another memorable fall
Granite City begins practices today
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| KAREN GREENWALD PHOTO First-year Granite City football coach J.D. Lorton gives instructions to players during the Future Warriors Football Camp last week. The football team begins practices today. |
Ttate@yourjournal.com
The 2007 fall season was pretty memorable for the Granite City Warriors.The Warriors' football team celebrated its first winning season since 1991; the boys soccer team won 15 games and captured a Southwestern Conference championship; the girls tennis team had an all-sister doubles squad that won a sectional title and qualified for state; the boys cross country team had a state qualifier for the second year in a row and the girls golf team had its first sectional qualifier.
With three new head coaches, the Warriors are looking to turn in another strong fall season. All of the fall teams begin practice today.
"In every sport, we have potential to be in state qualifying matches and that's a great thing," Granite City athletics director Brian Harshany said. "With everybody playing to their potential, we're going to do very well this fall with all of our athletic teams."
The Granite City athletic season officially begins on Aug. 19 with the boys golf team competing at the Alton Tee-Off Classic. Last year, the boys golf team finished with a 14-6 mark and had two sectional qualifiers. Daren DePew returns for his fourth season as the team's head coach.
The girls golf season also begins on Aug. 19, as the Warriors play in the Madison County Tournament at Belk Park Golf Course. Last year, Chelsea Gassett, who graduated in May, became the team's first sectional qualifier. Karen Greenwald is back for her second season as head coach.
The boys soccer team begins its season on Aug. 26 with a road match against Triad. Last year, the Warriors lost to Triad in the Class AA regional championship game. Skip Birdsong will be in his second season at Granite City head coach.
Last fall, Granite City finished with a 15-7-1 mark after winning eight games the year before and captured its first Southwestern Conference crown since 2000 after going 5-0-1 in league play.
Josh Parmenter will take over coaching duties for the Warriors' girls tennis team, which starts its season on Aug. 27 with a road match at McCluer North. He replaced Julie Schreiber, who coached the squad for three seasons.
Parmenter, who is the assistant coach for the boys tennis team in the spring, will take over a girls tennis team that is seeking for its third consecutive winning season. Last fall, the Warriors finished at 10-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play and their doubles team of Sujin and Jennifer Kim qualified for the state tournament after winning a sectional championship.
The football team begins its season on Aug. 29 with a road game against Marion. After coaching at Riverton High the last two years, J.D. Lorton is the Warriors' new coach this fall.
"He's already done a lot of exciting things here at Granite City High School with the kids," Harshany said. "The kids really seem to enjoy him. They seem to mesh very well with the new coach and the new coaching staff."
Lorton replaced Matt Martin as head football coach. He'll take over a team that finished at 6-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The Warriors also participated in the state playoffs for the first time since 1991.
"Matt Martin did a great job taking the steps he did and bringing us back to the playoffs after 16 years," Harshany said. "We're hoping to keep continuing and building on what Matt did with us last year and get us to the playoffs again and get us to round two, three, four and five."
Rich Skirball replaced Tom Miller as the Warriors' cross country coach this year. His team begins its season on Sept. 3 in the Columbia Relays and competes in the Granite City Invitational three days later.
Aaron Werths will look to qualify for the state cross country meet for the third year in a row. Last year, he was the Warriors' lone state qualifier.
Wendy Tindall, who got married last winter, is back for her second season as Granite City volleyball coach. Her team starts its season on Sept. 4 with a home match against Highland. Last year, the Warriors won just four matches.
Also this year, Harshany will be in his second year as Granite City athletic director. He said he hopes his second year will be better than his first.
"I couldn't ask for anything better being my first year," Harshany said. "We had a playoff berth in football, we were Southwestern Conference champs in (boys and girls) soccer, we got state qualifiers in wrestling and cross country and we got kids going to regionals and sectionals in golf. All around, it was a tremendous year."
