ETHS Girls’ Bowling Strikes Again: Aiming for State Success
The ETHS girls’ bowling team continues to make its mark in ETHS athletic history and ending off an impressive season as Central Suburban League (CSL) champions. With their sights set on the state championship, the team is determined to achieve even greater success.
After qualifying for state last season, the team made it their mission to return this year—and they delivered. On Saturday, February 15, the Wildkits secured a third-place finish with a total of 4,990 points, just behind Hersey (5,198) and New Trier (5,134). Senior Neva Whitcomb led the team with an outstanding individual score of 1,119, earning her a sixth-place finish. Whitcomb and her teammates are eager to carry this momentum into the state competition.
Last year, ETHS advanced to the state finals on Friday but fell short of qualifying for Saturday’s competition. This time, they’ll face off against top 10 ranked teams from last season, hoping to earn enough points and compete on the final day. Qualifying for Saturday’s round this weekend would be the perfect way to close out their remarkable season.
Queen Beam: Ella Eovaldi takes on the state championship for the 3rd time
Senior gymnast Ella Eovladi is no stranger to the state championship. On February 11, Eovaldi qualified for state at the Fremd sectional. She achieved 5th place on the uneven parallel bars with a score of 8.95. A score of 8.95 isn’t even Eovaldi’s best on the bars with her personal best being a phenomenal score of 9.275 last season. With these scores, Eovaldi hopes to continue this momentum to her 3rd state championship.
“She brought this program back to life, as simple as that– her attitude, her leadership, and just her literal scores. I’m not, I’m not disparaging some of the other girls that have competed for us in the past but her freshman year of high school, she did something that hasn’t been done since 2001 … and this year she got the highest score since 1999,” said Gymnastics Head Coach Mike Spevack. She put Evanston girls gymnastics back on the map.”
At the Palatine Regional, the team scored a total score of 134.825, securing them a spot in sectionals. At sectionals, Eovaldi’s teammates senior Tait Hansen and freshman Julia Darer just fell short of qualifying scores. Hansen had an incredible performance on vault scoring a 9.1, the only score from Evanston above a 9 at the sectional meet. Darer contributed to the overall team’s score with a 32.875.
While the team didn’t do as well as they wished at sectionals the rest of their season has been marked with incredible feats from all gymnasts on ETHS girls gymnastics. The team will go and support Eovaldi at the state championship this weekend.
Boys basketball is steaming hot heading into the postseason
The Kits closed out an impressive regular season with a 25-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in conference play, securing first place in the CSL South and the No. 1 seed for the Class 4A New Trier Sectional tournament. The team celebrated many accolades, with Theo Rocca earning CSL Player of the Year honors and Kaidan Chatham and George Richardson being named to the CSL First Team. Despite resting their starters on senior night, the Wildkits fought hard but fell narrowly to Niles North, 57-52, in their final contest before the postseason.
This season marked Evanston’s first outright conference championship since 2019, capping off an incredible campaign coming off of last year’s disappointing first-round exit. The Kits now shift their focus to the Regional where they will open postseason play. The Kits are currently ranked #9 in the state and have been jumping the rankings over the past few weeks. They earned the number one seed in the sectional. The Kits are fully healthy, playing their best basketball hoping to make it down State this year.
Kennedy Murray makes history and is heading down state
On Saturday, Senior Kennedy Murray made history in the ETHS Girls’ Wrestling Program. She became the first ETHS Girls wrestler to win the Central Suburban League championship. This sends her to the IHSA tournament, where she will compete against the top wrestlers in the state.
“I like to be a part of history because I want to see myself as a part of the evolution of the world. I try to do a lot of things to change the way that the world is, whether that’s through sports or the way that the world’s being run”, said Murray.
Even though it seems the end is near, Murray still has unfinished business to take care of. One of her goals is to beat Zion-Benton’s Naomi Foote, who she has lost to 3 times previously. She hopes that she can win against her in the rematch on February 28th.
“My other goals are to utilize everything that I’ve learned, barely make mistakes, and I want to continue to challenge myself because that is how I see myself grow,” reflects Murray.
Even though Murray has played a lot of matches while being on the team for the past two seasons, no other match can possibly compare to State.
“I’m nervous, especially since I know there’s a lot of good girls there, but I’m also really excited to see what I can do,” said Murray.
But, luckily for Murray, she has some strategies to help calm down her nerves before big matches
“I do journaling, pray to God, and do breathing exercises right before a big match,” she said. “It gets intimidating when someone’s been wrestling longer than you or feels stronger or has more technique, but I feel like it’s important to that I just keep trying even if things don’t go my way, giving it my all.”
Jeremy Marshall made State and is looking to do damage
Evanston wrestling finally broke through the slump and sent someone to the IHSA state tournament for the first time in five years. Junior wrestler phenom Jeremy Marshall is headed off to state and this kid is no joke. After placing eighth in nationals over the summer and a dominant season, Marshall was eager to continue his success at the State Farm Center in Champaign, IL.
“It’s exciting because he’s a junior and he’s still talented,” said Head Coach Rodolfo Salinas. “He’s been very dedicated, committed, and passionate about the sport.”
Being the only returning member on the varsity squad, there was a lot of pressure on Marshall to represent Evanston’s young team. He had been on the varsity team the two years prior, but both seasons didn’t end quite as he had hoped. Marshall barely missed State both years and that affected his mental game a little bit as someone who holds himself to an incredibly high standard.
“He was always kind of just an alternate,” said Salinas, making reference to Marshall finishing just below the State mark both years. “So to break through as a junior is a big deal.”
Going into this season Marshall knew he had to change things and that’s exactly what he did. He finished the season with an outstanding record of 36-8 and won 4 of 6 matches at sectionals to clinch a spot at State.
“I was excited, I’ve been working for that for a while. I made it to youth state a couple of times, but I knew [that wasn’t it], so I just had to keep working to get where I actually wanted to be,” explained Marshall.
Marshall is going to be up against some of the best wrestlers in the state and it isn’t going to be easy, but he knows he can compete with any one of them.
“Anything can happen down at state,” stated Salinas. “So anything can happen with Jeremy, he has desires and dreams to get on the podium, so we’re going to give it our best shot.”
