The Hockaday winter sports captains and their team members are ready for the Southwest Preparatory Conference which will take place in Houston on Feb. 12 and 14. No year is exactly the same, and all the teams have unique goals.

Basketball

Jessica Savage and Staci Shelby

The basketball team hopes to success­fully adapt to the new policies that are being added to SPC this year, since the tournament rules have changed: the first and second seed in the event both get a bye, an automatic advance to the next round, rather than only the first seed getting a bye. Basketball captain senior Staci Shelby said, “The new change will make the tournament much more chal­lenging, so the team will have to work extra hard this year.” Shelby believes that the team has grown and developed both its defense and communication skills through intense preparation and with the help of having a new coach with novel techniques. As a result, she is confident that the team will take on the challenge successfully. “We have a strong desire to win, and even though the intensity has picked up this year, people have taken more responsibility for themselves as individuals who are part of the team,” Shelby said.

The basketball team will start playing on Feb. 12.

Swimming and Diving

Elizabeth Bell, Elizabeth Michel and Raquel Hazbun

The swim team hopes that its hard work will pay off overall but also strives to have each of its members do her best to achieve her personal record. Approxi­mately 20 swimmers will be competing at SPC, and senior captains Elizabeth Bell, Raquel Hazbun and Elizabeth Mi­chel encourage all team members to attend the meets to support their fel­low swimmers. The team is preparing for the tournament by not only adding more strenuous workouts but also by canceling a few meets to make more time for training. “It’s going to be hard to compete with other teams this year, but we expect to do even better than last year,” Michel said.

Swimming and diving competitions will take place on Feb. 14.

Soccer

Morgan Allen, Mimi Asom and

Claudia Hammond

On the fields, the soccer team hopes to take home first place at SPC this year. However, an obstacle stands in the team’s way: the cut of Division II. This means only six teams can make it into the finals. Captain Claudia Hammond said, “This change makes it extra vital to make sure we get the top speed in North Zone.” The two are confident in the team’s ability to make it to the champi­onships, due to the growth of the team. “We are a very different team than we were last year, so it will be interesting to see how SPC goes this year,” Allen said.

The soccer team’s first match will be on Feb. 12.

-Heidi Kim