For East, one of the biggest rivals for any sport, whether it be fall, winter, or spring, is undoubtedly North. Our sister school is well known and acknowledged as the “sports” school of our district. Oftentimes, this rivalry will spur both teams on to try their best, and this competitive spirit brings out the best in everyone.
Just ask the swimmers. Though North is definitely not the fastest team around (that honor would have to be given to Clarence and Orchard Park), they are the only meet that the team will make sure to win with a single-minded intensity. The Lady Flames went up against North the first of October, a tense meet in which North’s pool echoed continuously with cheering and screaming from both sides. Every race ended with raucous hollering as the winner of the event was announced, and by the end of the meet, at least half of the crowd was deafened by the jubilant roars of the 400-yard freestyle relay.
On land, the Lady Flames were able to defeat the Lady Spartans in early October on the field hockey field, a win that was unpredicted and tear-jerking. Julie Adams, defensive starter, was quoted to say “The second the game ended, I cried! I couldn’t believe that we had won.” North’s field hockey team has been known to be competitive in past years, as it has won first place at the New York State championship in 2010. The field hockey (affectionately termed “fhockey”) team was rightfully cheerful after their win. Eleni Casseri (grade 12) exclaimed “it was Coach Coyne’s first win against North in her whole high school career, and for us as seniors to be able to share this moment was just unbelievable!”
The past few wins by Williamsville East teams have been not only great games in and of themselves, but have been opportunities for our students to display their stellar sportsmanship and character. The added bonus of winning the aforementioned meet and game against a long-term rival was just the cherry on top of great games played by both teams.
