LTHS Spring Sports Part I: Soccer, Girls Track, Boys Water Polo

This is the first of a four-part series previewing spring sports at Lyons Township and covering teams' early progress. For our separate preview of the baseball team, go .

Girls Soccer—Coming off a strong run to the 2010 IHSA super-sectional round of the postseason, the LTHS girls soccer program has begun its season strongly. Touting a 3-1 record, the Lions haven’t shown any signs of serious weakness, despite suffering significant losses in the offseason.

“We lost a  great senior class last year,” head coach Bill Lanspeary said. “[We lost] both keepers, Renata Butikas and Kelsey Sopron, along with Katie Nasenbenny, Steph Condon and Hope Spangler that are all playing Division I soccer.”

A second place West Suburban Silver Conference finish in 2010 propelled Lyons to an impressive playoff run that ended at the hands of Waubonsie Valley, the eventual class 4A state champion.

Thus far in 2011, Senior Kelsey Holbert, a University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin-bound midfielder, has carried the scoring weight, netting four in her first three games. In addition, juniors Sarah Mazur—a future University of Miami-Ohio defender- and goalkeeper Maggie Orlowski have stepped up to solidify a solid Lyons defense.

Although the Lions have started well, Lanspeary insisted that the squad’s best is yet to come.

“We want to be playing our best soccer at the end of the season,” Lanspeary said. “That means we need to get better every practice and every game.”

Girls Track and Field—An all-around strong program, LTHS girls track and field transitions from the indoor season to the more important outdoor season, where the squad’s goals are quite simple.

“We want to have a more successful season outdoors than we did indoors, and with that comes the goal of winning conference and sectionals,” junior hurdler Stefi Culafic said. “At state, the team wants to qualify for as many events as possible.”

Among a team of stars, senior sprinter Simone Bunsen—set to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall— is one of the top standouts, having broken numerous LTHS short-distance records.

With several varsity cross country runners, including prominent junior Lisa Gordon, competing in track competitions, the Lions are loaded in long and short distance. But the team’s depth doesn’t stop there: Mikayla Hubbard, a shot-put phenom, is a Lyons competitor to keep an eye on in 2011.

Boys Water Polo—After a heartbreaking end to its 2010 season, the LTHS boys water polo team is back with a vengeance, with a single goal in mind despite it being early in the year.

“Our goal for this year is to win state,” junior Danny Mohler said. “Last year we did not do as well as we had hoped to. We lost to Brother Rice in the sectional championship, which knocked us out of the state tourney.”

With senior twins Andrew and Michael Brown serving as senior leaders alongside Zach Schoneman and junior standout Kovas Zygas returning to the varsity team, the boys squad looks prime to replicate its postseason run from 2010.