Coronavirus Can't Stop Our Owls
Coronavirus may have halted our spring sports season, but not our Owl pride and spirit!
The Athletics Department has kicked off several initiatives to show our appreciation to student athletes. Motivation Monday, Tactical Tuesday, Wednesday Workout, Thursday Trivia, and Family/Friends/Fido Friday are activities for the entire family. "When the Governor, rightly so, laid down the law on school campuses closing for the remainder of the school year, we immediately pivoted to doing something to honor all the kids involved in spring sports and especially our Seniors," says Athletic Director John Wiley. "We've got a lot of good things to keep our kids involved. They're healthy initiatives that come from Mike Fine and Kim Stevens who are so involved in the health and well being of our athletes."
The Athletics Department launched Owls Challenge 2020 on April 13. You can get real time updates and catch past tweets @OwlsNews.
Salute to Owl Seniors Kicked off on April 13
For twenty-six Overlake Seniors, their Owls sports careers ended abruptly when the WIAA cancelled spring sports. Expectations were high for Boys' Baseball and Girls' Golf with possible returns to State. Both lacrosse teams were excited to hit the field with competitive rosters. That's why Athletic Director John Wiley wanted to feature a Senior Sports Athlete on a daily basis. "I was hearing from a lot of the teammates of Seniors who wanted to help show their appreciation and wanted to capture that in videos. They're sharing the impact that they've had on their teams," explains Wiley. "We've created beautiful graphics that include facts about each athlete and input from coaches. A Senior spring sports athlete is featured each day, we'll continue to do it well into May." Click here to check out Salute to Owl Seniors on Instagram.
Boys' Soccer Coach Scott Lane Joins #OverlakeStrong
There are a lot of moving parts in an athletics program, and our coaches and supporters want our student athletes to know that sports will return. Starting today, a series of weekly videos will share encouraging messages from coaches and Owls supporters. "As a community, we've got to do our part to inspire others. As hard as it is to miss this spring season, there are a lot of people who are continuing to coach and help during these tough time," says Wiley. Click here for our first #OverlakeStrong video.
Jeremy Whalen's Workout Wednesday
On Wednesday, you can expect to get workout tips from various Overlake Coaches and trainers. "I'm going to show them two to three exercises that they can do from the comfort of their home that is going to help keep up fitness levels," explains Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeremy Whalen. "You don't need fancy equipment to get up and move." Click here to watch Jeremy's latest workout.
The Golden Owls Goes Virtual This Year
Although we'll never know if any of our strong spring sports teams was going to win a State title, it would have been likely that they would have earned a banner. This year, three teams would have been represented with a banner with Cross Country, Boys' Golf and Volleyball having strong seasons last fall. The volleyball team finished with their best season ever with a 22-4 record. Several cross country runners participated at State too. It's recognition that's well deserved and will not go unnoticed.
There will be other nods to our programs and players including our three sport athletes and our coaches of the year.
Stay tuned to find out more about this years Golden Owls which may lack a live audience but still have a celebration of our athletes' efforts.