The 2015-2016 winter sports season at Normal West High School is in full swing. The Wildcats are improving as teams and individual athletes, setting and accomplishing new goals and working to show what Wildcat athletics are all about.

Coed Cheerleading

The Coed Cheer team is coached by former Wildcat cheerleader Tara Loyer. Senior captains are Hailey Wickenhauser, Laurenn Maurice, and Beau McBurney. Wickenhauser said, “Our team in the last few weeks has been stronger than ever. We have put in a lot of work this season to get ready for the State Finals competition on February 5th and 6th. We’re settling for nothing less than a spot preforming on day 2 of state. Its going to be a great end to the season.” The team has taken 2nd in Rockford and Oswego. The cheer team invites all Wildcats to come support them  at their home Big 12 competition at West on January 16.

Dance

Normal West Dance is coached by Shelly Weakly. Junior Jessie Becker said, “Our team is more like a family. We have been working so hard to reach our goals of qualifying for State in both hip hop and lyrical and ultimately growing as a team and as dancers.”  A highlight of the season was placing 5th in hip hop out of all 2A schools at their first competition of the season.

Girls Basketball

The girls basketball team is led by Jana Arthur, Kailey Brandon, Leah Sebade and Maya Walker, they are coached by Mr. Cory Ostling. The girls basketball team has a record of 2-12. They beat Mahomet and Champaign Central. A highlight of the season is when the girls kept a close game against University High School. “U High was supposed to win by a lot against NCWHS, but we all worked together and kept the score close. It ended up being a close game because we only lost by eight points,” said sophomore Olivia Peters. As the season continues the team has a goal to win regionals during post season at the end of February.

Boys Swim

The boys swim team is led by seniors Andrew Loy and Austin Hartke; they are coached by Mrs. Becky Braman. Andrew Loy recently attended Olympic trails and his fellow teammates are so proud of all of his hardwork, determination and drive for the sport of swimming. They are putting in the work at practice and it shows at the meets as times are improving. Robert Madison said, “It takes a lot of work at practice, and eating right to meet our goals.” At the Pontiac meet on January 7^th, the boys swim team placed first.

Wrestling

The wrestling team is led by junior Clinton Bloyd and senior Tyler Martin. They are coached by Mr. Adam Richards. The wrestling team practices six days a week and is determined to win the Big 12 Conference in two weeks. A highlight of the season is when they placed 2^nd at the Pontiac tournament.

Boys Basketball

The boys basketball team is led by senior captains Matt Odgen, Dante Ruffin and Nate Beal. The head coach is Mr. Brian Cupples. The team started off their season at the Intercity tournament, beating Normal Community and Central Catholic. Each week before the game, they have a team dinner. Junior John Sherman said, “We all really look forward to the team dinners. It’s a time for us to come closer as a team, talk about the upcoming games and pump us up for Friday.”  Their record at this point in the season is 6-8.  The team is striving to end up with a winning record and win regionals.