The year 2022 has blessed Homestead athletics with an impressive number of conference championship titles, the latest being girls and boys track and field as well as boys golf. However, these are not the first conference champion titles earned this year, and they surely will not be the last.

The girls track and field team tasted victory Tuesday night as they received the rewarding title of the 2022 conference champions, carrying over the tradition of winning from 2021. The two-time champions reflect on their season with the utmost pride and pleasure, and look toward the future for more victories and gratifying moments.

Shaylin Swenson, freshman, experienced great success during her first year on the team and looks forward to accomplishing more with her peers. “My goal is to make it to sectionals either with my 800 or the 4×800 relay,” Swenson said.

Amelia Horwitz, sophomore, commented on owing all her success and teammate’s success to the extensive training and hard work they all had put in before and during the season. “The team’s biggest steps to success were definitely the two-hour-long practices every day after school. Since November, the team has been practicing in order to have a very successful season to improve not just individually, but also as a team,” Horwitz reflected.

With continuous hard work and dedication, these girls hope to forward their good fortune and bring home a sectional or state title, after winning regionals last night.

The girls track and field team began gaining momentum in their very first race, taking first place at the Germantown Meet on March 16, 2022. The girls then went on to win the Ozaukee County Open on April 14, 2022 and the Menomonee Falls Meet on May 10, 2022, all preparing these ladies to defend their conference champion title on May 17, 2022.

The boys track and field team found similar success so far this season, also becoming back to back conference champions in the 2022 season. Ryan Quinn, senior, acknowledges this victory as only a stepping stone on his way to achieving his one true goal, a goal he only has one last shot at. “I’m aiming to set the school record for the distance medley,” Quinn commented, providing a sense of optimism for the remainder of the season.

While Quinn is concentrated on the competitive side of track, Collin McGinley, senior, focuses on a more team bonding aspect when it comes to what he values most about the sport. “We hope to continue bonding, as a conference title is just a trophy, but these relationships will last forever,” McGinley said.

After the season, McGinley will continue his running career at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, running D3 Track and Field for the Eagles. McGinley said that what he will miss the most from track and field is the camaraderie with his teammates and the inexplicable bond he and his teammates formed during the course of the season.

Before taking home a victory this past week in regards to winning the conference champion title, McGinley also said that their team saw great success at the Myhrum Meet at Arrowhead on May 7, 2022, where many members of the team achieved greatly desired results, accomplishing personal records that they have long worked for.

Boys golf brought home an envious silver trophy this past week, marking their second consecutive conference championship victory. The varsity team, made up of mostly seniors, prepares to leave it all out on the course during their remaining few meets as Homestead golfers.

While Joe Fricker, senior, credits their team’s success to the consistency of the fourth and fifth members of their team, Oliver Maleki, senior, gives praise to their team’s ability to overcome the mental side of golf, furthermore improving their results on the course.

Fricker, ready to give the rest of the season his all, strives to work hard on the road to regionals in order to further his team’s chances at winning a state championship title.

Maleki, while sharing a similar goal in striving for winning the state tournament, holds more value in finishing the season with a positive attitude towards his scores and strokes compared to holding himself down with less than ideal results. “My goals in the beginning of the year were more score oriented and worrying too much about what I shot before I even started. Now it’s more about just having fun throughout the course of my round and letting bad holes/bad shots out of my mind,” Maleki said.

Before taking first in the North Shore Conference, the boys varsity golf team came first in the Fox Creek Invite, the Brookfield Central Invite, and the Fire Ridge Quad, setting themselves up for more success to come later in the season. The boys advance to regionals on May 24, 2022, hoping to come home with a regional champion title, and possibly more to follow.

Homestead’s proud preservation of capturing conference champion titles has long continued throughout the 2021-2022 school year, and there is no indication that the teams will stop anytime soon. Coming soon, the girls varsity soccer team is set to take on Cedarburg on May 24, 2022 in order to win themselves a conference title of their own, furthering Homestead’s proud winning streak.