Logan Remington

Football

The Mercer Island Football team is excited for their upcoming season after feeling disappointed about their performance last fall. “Last season went horribly, everything that could’ve went wrong did, from injuries to executing plays,” senior captain Luke Myklebust said. Even though things did not go as planned their last run, the team has become more prepared. They expect this experience to have changed them for the better. “I think it brought an energy to the team now that is our strength: we really want to, really need to win,” Myklebust said. “The team put in the work in the off-season and we are expecting that work to turn into some wins this season,” Shea said. They feel confident in their run game and run defense, but would love to improve their energy, tending to drag more in the second quarter. They are hopeful that they will overcome these challenges and have their scores reflect their effort. “I expect us to have a winning record this year, Seattle Prep is a very good team and we played competitively against them so I’m excited for the rest of the year.” They have also gained momentum from their following game defeating R.A. Longview, breaking their 12 game losing streak. The team would love to see fans come out to cheer them on this season. “The biggest games going forward will be Redmond, Bellevue and Juanita … [they] should be fun games with a lot of explosive plays on our end,” Myklebust said. 

Boys Tennis

Mercer Islands’ Boys Tennis team has high spirits going into their 2023 season coming off of a very successful previous one, when they went undefeated in KingCo and took the KingCo League Championship. The team also claimed the 3A State Title, which they have not done since 2018, and had their doubles teams place first, second and third. “This season, the team feels optimistic and hopes to make another run to state. We lost many talented seniors last year, but many eager underclassmen are hungry to fill their shoes,” senior captain Nathan Wen said. “It’s going to be very difficult with our tough schedule, but we have the talent for it,” junior captain Yoshi Manhas said. Wen is striving for the team to stay hard working and demonstrate good sportsmanship this season, and feels confident in their individual skill. “Our team is strong in terms of ability. Many of our players have quit all other sports to pursue tennis,” he said. He also emphasized their eagerness to develop their mental strength as tennis players. “Tennis at the highest levels is more of a mind game than anything and I’ve noticed that there is room to improve in that department,” Wen said. Manhas identified a different area he wants them to work on. “I think we need to improve in the weight room. Not enough guys on our team are able to bench their body weight,” Manhas said. The team is  expecting a challenging but also fun season and is excited to represent Mercer Island, so come support some of their matches. “Every home match is a unique opportunity to experience the game of tennis. Tennis is losing its stigma of being a pretentious sport with many barriers to entry. I hope that someone who is interested in the game comes to watch and they later decide to pick up a racquet. It is all about growing the game,” Wen said. He has noticed attendance decreasing in recent years, but believes the game is overlooked. “Figures such as Carlos Alcaraz and Nick Kyrgios have brought tennis to a larger audience and proved that it can be cool and socially relevant. Please come to a match and witness entertainment in its purest form,” he said. Due to their tough schedule this season, each match will be interesting, especially against Newport High School and Bellevue High School. “Newport is the best in 4A Kingco and Bellevue is our rival,” Manhas said. The team faces Bellevue at home on Sep. 19, and Newport at home on Sep. 22.

Unified Football

The Unified Football team is excited to kick off their season this fall. “Last season went really well! We had so many fans at our home game against Varsity. It was such an amazing experience for all of our athletes,” President Anna Carson said. Throughout the year, Unified participates in robotics and football in the fall, basketball in the winter and soccer in the spring. “Everyone is so excited. Football is definitely one of athlete’s favorite sports we play. We will have lots of away games which will be fun to play other high schools,” Carson said. Approaching the year, the team is feeling enthusiastic as well as prepared to play. “Our team goal is to have lots of fun and to make great memories for our athletes.” The team identifies their strengths as their spirit and communication. “We also have great chemistry between our athletes and partners off and on the field,” Carson said. The team hopes to have even more fans support them at their home games. The date has not yet been decided, but they will be playing against the Mercer Island Varsity Football team at home this season which is a fun one to come and show your support. 

Girls Soccer

The Girls Soccer team is ready for the 2023 season following a year of hard work that will help lead to their success. “We didn’t get as far as we were hoping last season, but it was a rebuilding year and we knew that going into it,” senior captain Joey Lurie said. The team did not win as many of their games as they would have hoped in the previous season, but they felt it was necessary to better the program. “We learned a lot and with an amazing new Varsity coaching staff we are ready for this season,” junior captain Hannah Savoy said. “We put in so much work this offseason, everyone grew as players and we are super excited to start playing,” Savoy said. The team is strong in ability and feel they have the talent to succeed if they reach their full potential. “Each player has an amazing set of skills and contributes something great to the team,” Savoy said. Lurie echoed this statement, saying that as long as the team can find their chemistry on the field, she believes they can go far. However, Savoy is confident that it will not be an issue to find. “It will definitely come as the season continues,” Savoy said. Mercer Island Girls Soccer would love to see people cheering them on this season. Their rivalry game against Bellevue High school is at home on Sep. 30 and they will play Lake Washington High School for their Senior Night on Oct. 19.

Girls Volleyball

The Girls Volleyball team is excited to finish what they started last year when they were only one game away from State. “Last season was fulfilling but I think we had moments where we didn’t play our strengths to the best of our abilities and it was kind of disappointing,” senior captain Melena Wong said. This fall the team is shooting for State and they have gotten strong as a team to do so. “I think this team is super competitive and wants the same things: win, have fun and get better,” senior captain Logan Remington said. She also believes that the team has put together a strong preseason performance, which she hopes will translate into the regular season. “Throughout the practices and tournaments so far, I have seen many people learn from their mistakes and grow immensely. It is super fun watching the pieces of our game slowly come together and I can’t wait for more matches to show our work off,” Remington said. This season there are a lot of reasons for the team to be hopeful and enthusiastic. “We have a big group of new girls and I am excited to see how they grow while now playing at a higher level of competition,” Wong said. Talented players will grow the program, and also be vital for the team’s big hopes this year. “I think we have a really great group of players that each personally contribute to the team to make it better as a whole,” Remington said. When they have been close to State titles in previous years, the team has had unfortunate losses in important games and hope not to repeat this. “I think we have some strong girls coming in and together I hope to see more consistent playing because last year we had a lot of fluctuations with how consistent we were,” Wong said. To help them succeed, the team is looking to improve certain skills in addition to finding balance. “Hitting has always been this program’s strong suit, but to win games we need to win the serve and pass game more often,” Wong said. Come support them at their first home game against Newport High School on Sep. 5 or Senior Night on Oct. 23. The games are expected to be intense as they seek revenge on Newport and also anticipate more close matchups against Lake Washington High School and Bellevue High School. “Not only is it our ‘rival’ school, but Bellevue is also extremely competitive so it would be a very fun and interesting game to watch,” Remington said.

Boys Water Polo

The Boys Water Polo team is eager to come in first at state this year. Last season the team had a strong season throughout and ended placing 4th at state. “Last season had its highs and lows but we fell short in the end,” captain Eoin Sjothun said. This season, the team is determined to achieve a State title and have become a strong team. “We are ready but we have a young team who still needs to prove themselves,” Sjothun said. Senior captain Ben Wu agreed, saying: “This year the team has a large group of talented juniors who have been training hard during the off-season.”The team has spent time preparing and now feel confident in their abilities, but still would like to bond in or work together to further strengthen their team. Mercer Island Water Polo has big plans this fall and would love to see fans come support them. “Definitely come to Senior Night on [Oct. 31], we’ll have a blast beating Bellevue! Our team is super excited to play some great polo this fall,” Wu said.

Boys Golf

The Boys Golf team is going into their 2023 season excited and ready. In the previous season, they finished sixth in State and are striving to compete for an even better result. “The goal as always is to contend and win [at] State. But we also want to win [our] league by going undefeated,” senior captain Brian Murdoch said. The golfers hope that their time spent working over the summer will help them to accomplish this. “We had [a] golf camp before the school year started and really started to become more of a team,” Murdoch said. They feel they will be benefited in competition by their proficiency in distance and skills off the tee. However, Murdoch did identify one area of weakness. “I would say we can improve on our short game because that is the most important part of our games,” Murdoch said. The team is eager to showcase their talent and would love to have more supporters at their games. Cheer them on Oct. 4 for Senior Night as they face off against Bellevue High School at Twin Rivers Golf Course.