By Borislava Panayotova 

The birds are singing, the weather is warmer, spring is in the air and TPA junior high spring sports are in full action. 

Swim

   As summer quickly approaches, Arizona temperatures are rising. To beat the heat, the middle-school swim team meets on two days a week to practice and cool off. 

   The team is led by Coach Maria Zello, a TPA graduate who has always loved swimming. She has been assisting the TPA swim teams, both high school and middle school, since her graduation in 2018. She says, “I just finished my fourth high-school season, and I am starting my first middle-school season.”

   Coach Zello wants to focus on improving swimmers’ skills in the four main events this season: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Coach Zello says, “Most of our swimmers have never swam competitively, so we will need to work on getting them comfortable in the water and feeling confident in their abilities.”

   After the team’s first meet, Coach Zello says that the team had amazing times to start the season and is excited to see how they improve. 

Track and Field

   The track team is led by TPA’s music teacher, Mr. Wilkison. 

   Mr. Wilkison was on his high school’s track and cross country teams, so he has always been passionate about running. He also has a background in coaching TPA junior-high track; he coached the team in 2015 and 2016. 

   Mr. Wilkison aims for “(athletes to compete) in any event they want, individual improvement throughout the season, building a ‘team identity,’ showing the team that hard work pays off,” all while having fun. He also wants to improve the team’s relay skills and endurance. Mr. Wilkison hopes that the students see the importance of practice and continue with track in high school.

   For their first meet on March 2, the team set multiple school records and ranked high in the Great Hearts middle school track division. Even the students who were competing in their first meet “outdid themselves,” according to Mr. Wilkison. 

Girls Basketball 

    Middle-school girls basketball is coached by TPA’s middle-school Earth Science teacher, Ms. Williams. 

   Ms. Williams has always loved to play basketball. She says, “To me, basketball is not just a sport, but an art as well!” She also admires anyone who is willing to learn and to love basketball. 

   Since a majority of the team does not have much prior experience, Ms. Williams wants the girls to work on the basics of basketball. From there, they can move on to more complicated skills. She also wants to focus on building teamwork among the members. She hopes to get the girls excited about playing basketball and inspire them to continue in the future. 

   The middle-school girls’ basketball A Team has its next game on April 13 at 4:30 p.m. at the TPA Gym against Lincoln Prep. The B Team will be playing Lincoln Prep’s second team on Monday, Apr. 11 in the TPA Gym. 

Boys’ Basketball

   The middle school boys’ basketball team is also split into two teams this year. The junior high team is instructed by Coach Joe Cady. 

   The A Team’s next game is April 13 at 6 p.m. at the TPA Gym versus Lincoln Prep. The B Team will play on April 14 at the TPA Gym against Basis Mesa.