By: Nick Collins

Through the first half of the winter season, GHS sports have been active on the court, the mat, and the pool. Many teams are starting their second half of the season on positive notes with records above .500.
Boys Varsity Basketball, led by coach Jake Oliver, started hot with a 10-2 record. According to Oliver, the defense has been great, and both sides of the ball continue to improve in practice every day.
“We’ve had some injuries to some key players, but the team has adopted a next man up attitude,” said Oliver.
Oliver plans to take one game at a time not to get too far ahead of themselves. “We have a long way to go.” They currently stand second in the region with a 16-5 record.
The girls basketball team, led by new coach Libbie Smith, started the season with a 10-3 record. Smith stepped into the head position when GHS administration made a coaching change on Jan. 15. Over Winter Break, the team participated in a holiday tournament. The team won two out of their three games with Lakelyn Bostain being named all tournament team.
As the season moves forward, the team will be preparing for the regional tournament. The team hopes to place top four in the region to gain home court advantage and a first round bye. They currently stand 5th in the region with a 13-6 record.
Next, we jump into the pool with the swim team led by coach Katrina Gauntt. The swim team had a late start to the season with their first meet at the start of January. The girls team lost a very talented senior class at the conclusion of the 2022 season, but there have been many swimmers stepping up to the plate. The boys team is off to a very strong start, winning their first two quad meets.
The team plans to defend their state title this year when the time comes.” Our biggest goal is to get as many swimmers qualified for states through the time standards prior to regionals,” said Gauntt.
As far as Wrestling goes, the boys have been consistently doing well this season. There has been a lot of improvement across the board, due to the preparation during the offseason. Some wrestlers have been battling injuries throughout the season, but that has not stood in the way of the team’s progress. “This has required younger guys to step up and fill in for some of our more veteran leaders,” said coach Don Lineberry.
The Girls Gymnastics team completed a much quicker season than the rest of the sports. They competed in six meets this year and are now preparing for regionals and states. The team didn’t have the start they wanted, but progressively improved over the course of the season. “With regionals coming up quickly, the girls are hard at work,” said captain Lilly Mcginnis.
The Godwin indoor track team started their season off strong with the boys and girls 4×2 teams placing first overall in Virginia Beach, followed by each individual performance resulting in a PR. The team has stayed healthy through extensive stretching and warming up, as well as working certain muscles to make them less injury prone. The worst injuries so far are just minor shin splints, which according to senior Cadence Walke is “typical for track athletes’’.
According to Walke, as the Eagles prepare for regionals and states, they’re training hard every day. The team has the philosophy of practicing like you play. “Everything we do from now until the championship meets is a direct reflection of how we’ll perform,” said Cadence Walke.