Boys’ Basketball

The boys’ basketball team hopes to fill the hole left last year by the departure of nine varsity seniors, which led to a losing record to start the season.

“Our biggest goal for the rest of the season is to get 3rd place in the PIL, which is definitely achievable if we win the majority of our remaining league games,” said junior Levi Margolis.

The team currently has four players with varsity experience.

“Our biggest thing we are working to overcome is our lack of size,” said Margolis. “Size is a huge factor in basketball which makes it tough for us to compete with the taller teams.”

Led by head coach Pat Adelman, the team will play only PIL opponents for the rest of the regular season and hope to be in the playoffs on Feb 26.

Margolis is confident that the team will improve.

“We are just taking the season one day and one practice at a time and hoping the results will follow,” he said.

Girls’ Basketball

As the boys look to recover from a slow start, the girls’ basketball team is in the hands of a capable new coach, Allyson Sievers.

“Having energy for every one of our games, and playing together every minute of the game [is important], said sophomore shooting guard Bridget Winthrop. “We’re a lot closer this year, and I think the new coaches have helped that.”

The girls want to focus on keeping the team’s energy high through the rest of the season.

“It’s really nice that we’re actually improving right now,” said senior guard Alicia Moppin. “You’re comfortable making mistakes with these coaches.”

Wrestling

With a new winter sports season also comes a change in the history of Oregon sports, as the OSAA has sanctioned girls’ wrestling as its own sport for the first year ever.

Led by head coach John Farinola, the girls’ team won the inaugural Don York Women’s Tournament by 20 points while four out of the six Lincoln girls in attendance took first place in their divisions.

“The vision for Lincoln wrestling is that we will become the PIL city champions and that we will be further and closer towards being one of the top five or six teams in the state,” said Farinola. “We have a strong freshman group, and then a lot of strong returners. The girls have really shown up.”

After a strong recruiting year, wrestling has 28 freshmen and a total of 50 athletes registered.

“Right now, there’s a ton of energy and excitement around the team,” said Farinola.

Swimming

Following up on a strong 2018 season, the swim team is optimistic for another successful year.

“The season has gone extremely well as most of our varsity swimmers have won or placed extremely well in individual and relay races,” said junior Joseph Andersen. “Although it is still early in the season, it seems like we have maintained the same position as last year.”

Andersen also spoke on how the team is emphasizing working as a team in order to build relationships.

“The team atmosphere has been great this year. It’s always fun being around the same group of people,” said Andersen. “We didn’t lose too many seniors that came to practice, which is a big part of it.”

Lincoln will compete at the OSAA Swimming State Championships on Feb 15 and 16 at Mt. Hood Community College.

Skiing

The ski team expects to bounce back from a tough 2018 season. Senior Adrian Ljumanovic, a team captain, is eager to compete.

“It’s too early to tell how the season going to be, but I have a feeling it’s going to be good. The whole team is just excited to ski,” said Ljumanovic.

A challenge that the ski team faced last year was staying consistent throughout their races, which hurt their ability to win the league.

“This season,” said Ljumanovic, “our goal is to be consistent and just enjoy skiing.”

Ljumanovic also believes that the team’s environment is improving their performance.

“The atmosphere is really a lot better than last season. Everyone is excited about being able to ski. Not only is everyone in a good mood, but as a team, we’re all a lot closer,” he said. “It’s really an extended family; everyone is looking out for each other.”