2013-14 Season Kicks Off

Girls
The first state poll for girls won’t be released until Nov. 19, but St. Thomas More has proven it’s a Class 2A power on the state scene and should be ranked very high. From last season’s state runner-up team, the Sabers return All-Area Player of the Year Randa Harshbarger as well as the nation’s top sophomore recruit, Tori McCoy. Three-sport All-Area first-teamer Lexi Wallen is another of the key returnees. It’s hard to predict a season record for the team because coach Chris Mennig elevated the nonconference schedule to heights never before seen by an area school.

St. Thomas More will open its season the day the polls are released at Neuqua Valley in Naperville. Before this month is out, the team will play at Oak Park Fenwick. There will be a December visit to Chicago Whitney Young, and the team will greet February and Mother McAuley to town on the same day. In recent history (since the 1999-2000 school year), Young has won two state titles, placed second twice and third three times. Fenwick, too, has a couple of state crowns, plus a runner-up finish, and Neuqua has a second- and a third-place state performance. McAuley was in the state finals twice in the 1990s, winning once. Look for a banner season from the Sabers.