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wilmettebeacon.com sports
the wilmette beacon | March 8, 2018 | 53
Athlete of the week
10 Questions
with Andrew Kirkpatrick
The senior is a member of
the New Trier boys basketball
team
If you could play
another sport, what
would it be and why?
Football. That was my
favorite thing to play in
middle school, I regret not
playing it in high school.
What’s the best advice
you’ve ever gotten?
A senior when I first
started playing on varsity,
Mike Hurley, gave me to
get the easy basket before
taking some jump shots
and that’s really helped me
throughout my career.
softball
From Page 59
number of talented underclassmen
and newcomers,
he brings back a solid nucleus
in Riley Becker, Kendall
Barrett and Rebecca
Richards.
“I’m really excited about
the season, there’s a lot of
positiveness,” the coach
added. “I know that two
years ago, they won three
wins and we went from
three wins to 18 in one
year, and that’s because of
girls who bought in, believed
what we were doing
was going to be helpful and
help them compete. I think
they were also sick of being
the laughingstock of the
conference and the softball
community. I’m excited
about building on that success.”
To continue to build that
success, he has beefed up
his schedule to include top
teams in the area, including
Loyola and Elk Grove.
“For some coaches, the
won-loss record is really
important; I’m not one of
those,” Goranson said. “I
think girls really need to
be challenged and that they
rise to the level of that. The
challenges I put forth to
the girls, our schedule is
really tough. We play Elk
Grove, we play some really
high-level teams. [Class]
4A teams, 3A teams, we’re
playing maybe one 1A
school, and maybe three
2A schools and the rest of
our schedule is 3A and 4A.
“I’ve explained that to
the girls that we’re not going
to be the team that everybody
puts a W next to
our name. They’re going
to come out to beat us and
our girls have to understand
the difference between that
and how we surprised a lot
of teams last year with how
we played.”
On top of the difficult
schedule, the Panthers will
be spending much of the
season away from Techny
Towers, its home field.
“It’s going to be tough.
Not playing at home is always
difficult and for that
long, I think we play 60 or
70 percent of our games on
the road,” Goranson said.
What’s been your
favorite moment at
New Trier?
Beating Evanston this
year because it was my
first varsity win against
Evanston.
If you had one
superpower, what
would it be and why?
I’d want to be able to fly,
because that would make
playing basketball a lot
easier.
What’s the best part
about being a New
Trier athlete?
New Trier has a winning
culture and it’s really
fun to be able to play at a
school that’s had so many
great athletes, wins so frequently
and being able to
continue that tradition.
When did you start
playing basketball and
why?
I started playing in my
basement when I was 1
or 2 years old because my
dad bought a little playhoop
when I was younger.
If you had $3 to spend
at Walgreens, what
would you buy?
A lot of candy.
If you could travel
anywhere in the
world, where would it
be and why?
I would travel to Switzerland
or Belgium because
they have really
22nd Century Media File Photo
good chocolate and I bet
it tastes better there than
shipping it to the United
States.
Do you have any
superstitions before,
during or after a
game?
I normally try to nap before
a game, a couple hours
before, so I have energy
going into the game and
get myself replenished.
What’s one thing
people don’t know
about you?
I really like to read.
Interview by Sports Editor
Michael Wojtychiw
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