As winter sports wrap up in MCAL and NCS playoffs, spring is approaching campus, which means the Bulls are on the field, in the pool and on the track.
Tryouts for baseball, boys golf, boys tennis, track and field, swim, and girls and boys lacrosse were held this past week. Across all sports, teams are looking forward to welcoming new and returning faces.
“This year, the [track] team is definitely bigger,” Elena Trimble ‘26, a member of track and field, said. “We’ve gotten a lot of new people — not just freshmen but also sophomores, juniors and seniors, which is super cool. It seems like it’s going to be a really fun year.”
Barry Liu ‘26, a member of boys varsity golf, echoed this enthusiasm: “I think we have a much stronger team than last year. We have more depth on the roster and tryouts are going well.”
As team rosters are being finalized, spring athletes are anticipating a competitive season with highly ambitious goals.
Laney Segal ‘25, a captain of the girls varsity lacrosse team, explained, “MCALs have changed this year so that six teams will be able to make the playoffs.” This increase in teams has created greater expectations for many of Branson’s up-and-coming teams.
“For [the girls lacrosse team], we are pretty confident and hoping that we will be one of the six teams that make the playoffs based on last year’s performance and the team this year,” Segal said. “That’ll be really exciting to make the playoffs for the first time in a while.”
Jasper James ‘25, a captain of the track and field team, has similar aspirations for his team. “Top three in MCALs is a goal,” he said. “We are trying to do that by promoting a good team culture, having fun and getting better as a team.”
His teammate, Trimble, echoed these sentiments: “This year, we are really positive. Last year we didn’t have that big of a team, but we ended up competing two relay teams and Jasper at the Meet of Champions, which is the level before states.” She added, “Now that we have a lot more runners, we are going to try to see what we can do and hopefully we can make it to the higher levels.”
Beyond athletic achievements, an integral part of Branson’s school spirit is the community that is cultivated across grade levels at sports practices.
“A lot of us are coming from cross country season so we know each other pretty well,” Trimble said. “It’s always been really fun to see the new team and hang out with everybody. Even though we are separated for practices depending on our events, we always come together during team dinners and meets to support each other.”
The spring season is never too late, but rather the perfect time to start a new sport at Branson.
“My favorite part about being a spring athlete is that we’ve had the whole year to get to know each other through other sports and clubs,” Segal said. “[Lacrosse] is like the culmination of the year. Our team is very tight-knit which is a big part of what makes the team special.”
