Success is not a word that often applies to Garfield sports. However for three of the seven teams this past fall season it did. For the other four — well, there is always next year.

Girls Swimming

Let’s be honest, the tennis team has gotten the most hype of the Garfield fall sports. However, this hasn’t necessarily been justly so. The lady Bullfrogs have won every one of their meets this season by large margins and seven of their players are headed to state. Maddy Morgan, Fiona Majeau, Louisa Dunwiddie, Electra Scott, Jordan Hanna, Melissa Oishi, and Carolyn Samuelson all competed in districts last weekend and will continue on to contend for the state championship this weekend.

Boys Tennis

Frustration hardly begins to describe the past season of the boys tennis team. After two undefeated seasons, this “perfect” team suffered a heart-breaking loss to Roosevelt. Although over half the team made it to districts and two players made it to state in the spring, emotions are mixed as to whether the boys really lived up to their potential.

“Losing one game made us lose our perfect season and then we just sort of lost all focus,” said Frankie Pavia.

On the bright side, though, Pavia and his doubles partner Wilson Platt are only juniors and are going to state for the second time in two years. Besides, one loss isn’t too shabby.

Cross Country

The Cross Country team was quite successful this season, making districts for the first time in 12 years. The entire boys team, Anna Dailey, and Tamzin Atkins competed at districts with Chris Wozniak, Dailey, and Atkins making state last weekend. Not only did the team triumph on the racecourse this season, but they won the academic award for highest accumulative GPA of all schools competing in KingCo 4A. Considering that Cross Country is said to have the most intelligent athletes in comparison to any other sport, this is pretty impressive.

Girls Volleyball

The volleydogs have a legacy equaled by no other sports team at Garfield. The atmosphere at every game just screams school spirit. The cacophonous yet catchy drum beat of the pep band, not to mention the game itself, attracts more spectators than any other sport — except for maybe football. This season, however, was a tough one for the team, losing 11 of their 12 season games. Still, the girls managed to somehow keep their heads up and finish out the season with a win versus Lake Washington. Despite the loss of key seniors Shantea Cardenas, Anna Miller, and Emily Fletcher, the underclassmen on the team are confident that next season they can wipe their slate clean and have a winning season.

Girls Soccer

Fans at girls soccer games were likely more entertained by Carol Brown’s shouts of “CAROL’S BALL!!!” than the outcome of the actual match. The girls faced a tough season, losing multiple games in OT. Although their measly record of 1 – 9 with two ties might imply an immature squad of novices, this certainly wasn’t the case. They had their moments of brilliance, but could not capitalize on them, leading to the least successful season in four years. The plethora of ‘010s will have to step up next year to lead the team to a winning season and a possible trip to the playoffs.

Boys Golf

It was somewhat of a disappointing season this year for the golf team, finishing with a 2 – 8 record. Last season they achieved their lone victory against Franklin, but when Franklin has dropped down to 3A, the team had to work extra hard for wins. That is exactly what they did, and they ended up stroking their way to two victories in a tough league. Not much was expected of the team this year, but competing solidly with some of the toughest teams although eventually losing exceeded many expectations. Senior Phil McCarthy and junior Cody Moore led the team this year, but next year could bring even more success with strong ‘12 talent such as Ben Feldman.

Football

This was yet another disappointing year for the Garfield gridiron gang as they went winless for the second time in three years. They took hard hits (literally) from every school in the division and suffered through numerous injuries. Starters T’Andre Jones, Valentino Coleman, Conor Bronsdon, and Anthony Johnson were all taken out of the lineup due to serious injury. The highlight of the season was possibly the two points that were scored by the Bulldogs vs. Skyline, the number one team in the state. Next year unfortunately does not promise to bring too many changes as most of the team’s key contributors were seniors, but having a losing football team has become an essential part of Bulldog pride and without it we might not know what to do with ourselves.