As fall sports wrap up across the Emery/Weiner community, Emery fall teams have made many notable achievements. 

Football:

The defending state champions got off to a rocky start, having a 1-2 record in their first three games. The situation became harder as returning second-team all-state linebacker Josh Costa went down with a broken collarbone in the third week of the season. Since then, however, the team has gotten back on track, boasting a 5-1 record since their rocky start in their first three games.  As the team gears up for the upcoming playoffs, they are reminded of the target on their back as 2021 state champions. Sophomore quarterback Bennett Grossman said, “Everyone wants to beat us; they wanna be the team who takes down the state champions.”  This “target” has shown to be true this year, as the Jaguar’s three losses come against teams they beat last year, including the team Emery faced and beat in the state championship. The Jaguars finished the district as the second-place team and will have a rough path to make it back to Waco, but Grossman says, “The team believes we can make a deep playoff run.” 

Volleyball:

As the volleyball staff went through many transitions this offseason, it was expected that the volleyball team would get off to a rough start to the season. Although the team had a disappointing 3 -18 record, they fought almost every game and won an impressive two district games, including a district win on a senior night. “That was definitely my highlight of the season, seeing all the fans come out for our last home game and for us to get the win, it was really cool.” said senior Jordan Blum. Replacing the four graduating seniors will be challenging, but the team has a lot of young talent that should be able to help the team progress even further next season. 

Cross Country:

The cross country team had a good season, with multiple runners making personal records (PRs) and the Junior Varsity (JV) team coming first place in multiple meets. The boy’s team was not able to place in the district because of the size of the team, but multiple runners still got medals in individual races. Freshman runner Ethan Cox says that “getting a medal and performing that well was such a fun experience.” The cross country team bonded through many early morning practices; as Cox says, “the morning practices were by far the most fun part about cross country. On the girl’s side, although the team didn’t place in the district, many individual runners PR’d. The team went to many meets, including the Galveston meet, which many runners said was their favorite. “The Galveston meet was so fun; getting to run in the water right after the race is something I will always remember.”Junior Captain Audrey Hochglaube says. Even though the team didn’t dominate in the district, they are still optimistic about the future. 

Cheer: 

As the year-end cheer competition looms for the Emery cheer team, they are excited to showcase the skills they learned this year. “We learned so many new sideline dances and halftime performances,” senior captain Lilly Harrison says. Harrison “loved watching the team come together as the year went on,” as the team had many bonding experiences, including a weekend-long competition in Galveston at the beginning of the year. The team has done something new this year as they have begun going to a competitive cheer gym on Tuesdays and Sundays, which Harrison says “has really improved [their] tumbling and stunt skills.” As the team reflects on their season before the upcoming competition, Harrison says, “I am sad it’s gonna be over, but I could not have wished for a better team.”