On Oct. 17, 2024, the Huron High School varsity boys soccer team attended the district finals at Saline High School. Forward player Antonio Cassone, a senior at Huron, helped lead the team in the conference. 

“We are unlucky not to win,” he said. “But we finished second in the conference, and second in districts. I think we learned a lot for the players returning next year, and they’ll be able to win because they have the experience of losing which helps them.”

In this game, he played as an attacking-mid and striker on the team, his favorite part of the day being when they beat their rival teams at fair plays. They lost 3-0 to Saline. 

After playing at plenty of games stretching all the way to schools like Rochester Adams High School, Fordson High School, and Okemos High School, the river rats were ready to take on their hornet rivals. If there was a chance for a do-over however, Cassone would do some things differently. 

“I would have tried to maximize the experience, because when it’s done, you can’t get it back,” he said. “As for advice for future players, it’s just to focus on what you can control, and not the coaches or the referees.”

And while they made a major achievement, there are still things Cassone thinks they could do better over the season. 

“There’s always a pattern where we beat one team, and then the next time we play them, we’re too confident against them,” he said. “I think that’s wrong, and that you shouldn’t do that. I think you should have the mentality where even if you’re playing [a team] who you think is worse than you, you should still treat them as a good team.” 

The Huron Women’s Golf
team earned a spot this year in
the state tournament which was
an exciting experience for the
players as this was the first state
tournament that everyone on the
team had experienced. The team
felt that it was going to be a good
learning experience for the future.

“Through the experience, I
gained a lot of new knowledge about
myself, my game, and what causes me
to play better or worse,” Sophomore
varsity player, Ellise Baidel said.
“We had hour frost delays both days
which caused a lot of stress for me
about timing and being able to warm
up. This setback seriously affected
my mental state the first day because
I was extremely unprepared. This
caused me to really reflect on how my
stress has an impact on my game.”

Baidel, though young, has
already emerged as one of the stars on
this the roster her sophomore season.
Despite this setback on the first day, she
was able to gain some encouragement
and have a successful second day.

“If I had the chance, I
would try to just slow down and
enjoy the experience instead of
getting so intense and stressed
about playing well,” Baidel said.

The Huron Men’s tennis
team has so much to offer for aspiring
tennis players. Whether they’ve been
playing since they were six, they just
started playing a few months ago, or if
they’re just starting, the tennis team
has opportunities for everyone. Senior
Warren Gunnar, who is a captain and
the number one singles player, has
been on the team for 4 years now.

“I think everybody really likes
each other on the team. We work well
together. We have a lot of fun when
we play. We work hard when we’re
around each other, and we push each
other to get better,” said Gunnar.

The team has made a lot of progress
this season, going so far as to even
winning regionals. They placed
sixth place overall and tenth
place across all four divisions.

“I think the team’s progress
has been good. Everybody’s getting
better. Everybody’s been working
hard to get better, and they want
to get better too.” Gunnar said.

Now, the team is really
focusing and honing their skills
to perform exceptionally well
at the state championships.

“I think we’re getting to the
point of where we want to be. We still
have some work to do,” said Gunnar.

The women’s field hockey
season came to an unfortunate
end after a 4-0 defeat to Pioneer
in the state’s semi-finals. Although
the team’s season ended in a
disappointing fashion, the River Rats
have come a long way and face a lot
of adversity from the beginning of
the season. No one saw them as state
semi-finalists.

“I thought our season went
good. We made it to the semifinals,
which for us, it’s good. We haven’t
been there in a while. I thought it
was really fun. We pulled a lot of
people up from JV this year, so it was
definitely a growing year.” Junior
captain Katherine Huntzicker said.

Huntzicker was a captain this
year and will be a captain once again
next year for her last year. She thinks
the team can do go far and even do
better than this year.

“I am so excited. Yeah, senior
year I have really high hopes for next
year. I’ll be a captain again next year
so I’m excited too.” Huntzicker said.

The run the field hockey
team had this year will be very hard
for them to beat next year, but they
can definitely do it. A lot of the
team is young and the JV team shows
promising talent.

On Nov. 2, 2024, Huron Girls Cross Country traveled to Lenawee County to compete in the state meet. This season, the girls qualified for states as a team after collectively placing second at regionals. 

“In cross country, you must place within the top three teams at regionals to make it to states,” explained senior Lucinda Paliani.

Paliani is one of Huron’s top runners.

The team was thrilled after failing to qualify for states in the 2023 fall season. 

“I’ve been to states individually all four years of high school,” Paliani said. “Running at states is super cool because we get to run the racetrack at the Michigan International Speedway. The course had great conditions, so a lot of [my teammates] ran personal best times” 

Of 266 runners, Paliani placed 31st in the 5000 meter race with a time of 18:30.9. Other Huron athletes such as junior Leena Shelgikar and freshman Sadie Bohnsack placed 85th and 131st, respectively. 

Paliani is sad to be leaving Huron’s cross country community, but looking forward to her last season of track in the spring and feels optimistic for the future of Huron Girls Cross Country. 

“This year more than half our team was underclassmen,” Paliani said, “so I am excited to see what they can do in the future!”