Football, Alex Cirino

Coming off an 8-4 season, the varsity football team is hoping to return to its winning ways after falling short of the DCSAA state championship game. With a senior-heavy roster, the team will rely on its many leaders to guide them towards another winning season in order to become DC’s elite team. 

During the offseason, the team saw a lot of changes, including the transfer of their starting quarterback Malakai Anthony to Dematha High School, along with a coaching staff where only ten percent are returning. “We have a different mentality than last year,” senior Trevor Williams said. “We are more focused and disciplined.”

With the team’s 0-2 start, including a 26-0 loss on Horace Fleming III Day to Friendship Collegiate, the Tigers will look towards winning form as the league games begin. With their biggest DCIAA test coming on October 19th against H.D. Woodson, the team’s new mindset could hopefully lead to an enticing rivalry match. 

“What makes this group so special is that this senior class has been playing with each other mostly from ninth grade on,” Williams said. “We have a lot of chemistry and I think that is going to take us far.” With 19 seniors on the team, they want to push for a Turkey Bowl win along with a state title in their last season as Tigers.

As Horace Fleming III Day has passed, the next game on the new turf is the homecoming game, taking place on Saturday, September 21st against Bell Multicultural HS.

Boys Soccer, Chiara Purificato

The boys varsity soccer team, coached by Jean-Claude Nkongolo, finished the 2018 season off ranked #1 in D.C. with an overall record of 13-4-2, a league record of 6-2, and their third consecutive DCIAA championship in the bag. 

The team came just short of winning it all in the DCSAA tournament, losing to St. John’s College High School during the championship match in a nail-biting penalty shootout. 

This upcoming season they are working towards winning the DCIAA title for the fourth consecutive year and potentially their first DCSAA title. “[To] have as many clean sheets as possible… [and] to lead [the] team with high energy,” are two of senior goalkeeper Ben Perez’s goals. 

Fellow senior Shaw Honarkar added that he is looking forward to the possibility of adding more trophies to the team’s collection. “[I’m excited for] the chance to make it back to the state finals and possibly winning it for the first time in our school’s history,” said Honarkar.

Perez made a note of how exciting it is to be able to experience the brand new turf field that was installed this summer. The team will have to adjust to a new dynamic this year in hopes to emerge at the end of the season with their first DCSAA finals win.

Volleyball, Max Gualtieri

Finishing runner up in the Tiger Paws Volleyball Invitational for the first time in eight years and boasting a record of 24-11-2, the Wilson varsity volleyball team ended last season on a strong note. After two weeks of preseason and some improvements, the team is ready to take on what lies ahead. 

Junior Kaiya Medina described the team’s first few weeks together: “We had to adjust to our new setter due to the previous one graduating. Even with this major adjustment I know we will still come out on top.”

After five members of last year’s team graduated and three won’t be returning, the team had to find replacements.“We were able to fill some of the vacancies pretty quickly. We lost half of our team but we’re actually gaining some very talented, well-rounded, and dynamic athletes,” said volleyball coach Dr. Perette Arrington.

Three freshmen this year are joining the varsity team which doesn’t usually happen. “Shockingly, Deal produced a few really good freshmen coming in,” said Arrington. The team also picked up two transfers, filling even more of the empty spots. Arrington was extra excited about one in particular: “Summer Campbell, she’s going to be someone to reckon with in the middle.”

Girls Soccer, Chiara Purificato

The 2018 season marked the 10th consecutive DCIAA victory for the girls varsity soccer team, coached by Kate Murphy, who led them to an overall record of 13-4-1 and a league record of 6-1. Ranked as the number four seeded team, they went on to compete in the DCSAA state tournament, losing a close 1-0 match to Washington International School in the quarterfinals. 

The team prides itself on defending their DCIAA title by putting hours in before and after school, as they had an early morning practice schedule last year, and will have the same this year. This season, senior defender Erin Hollar is hoping to “lead and rebuild [the] defensive line.” She believes that the keys to building a stronger team are getting in better shape and “working more as a cohesive unit.” 

The team looks forward to getting close with each other, and is very excited for the different team bonding activities that go on in-season. Junior midfielder Lila Lingo added that more chemistry on and off the field will lead to “connecting on the field” more this season, which she thinks will lead to an even stronger team. As the season begins and the team gets closer, their renewed sense of team spirit will hopefully bring home the DCIAA champion title for a whopping 11th time in a row.