Boys Lacrosse

Coach: Joe Hezlep

Last year’s record: 10-5, Class A state champions

Key returning players: The Red Storm will attempt to repeat as state lacrosse champions be relying on experienced players like senior midfielder Nate Hopkins, senior defenseman Mark Pearson, senior midfielder Peter Moore, junior Andrew Jones, junior attack Jon Blaisdell Jr. and sophomore attack John Wheeler.

Key games this season: Big matches are expected to come against South Portland, Falmouth and Portland, Hezlep said.

Season outlook: Last year’s state champions were hit hard by graduation, but Hezlep said he isn’t worried about the team’s ability to put together another successful season, especially with a deep pool of talent to choose from this spring. “Scarborough graduated 12 seniors last year,” Hezlep said. “However, with 77 boys out for the first day of practice, we will be looking for a lot of players to fill those roles. Last year, our best attribute was the ability to get better on a daily basis. With 16 seniors out this year, we should have the leadership to continue the trend of always looking to improve.”

Girls Lacrosse

Coach: Marcia Wood

Last year’s record: 15-0, Class A state champions

Key returning players: The Red Storm return seniors Meghan Quirk, Dani Foster, Jill Deering and Erica Meader, and they will rely on a strong stable of juniors in Maggie Smith, Kelsey Howard, Kat Gadbois, Laura Przybylowicz and Mary Scott.

Key games this season: Scarborough will be on the lookout for Yarmouth, Gorham and Kennebunk, all of whom should prove to be tough competition this year.

Season outlook: The Red Storm dominated Class A lacrosse last season, with the boys capturing the state championship and the girls doing one better by running the table and capping off a perfect season by taking home the Class A state title. It’s going to be a bit tougher for the Storm to repeat this season, with graduation taking away key experience from last year’s champions. But Wood said she likes her young talent and she feels the Storm will be right in the thick of things again come playoff time. “We lost both of our top scorers to graduation last year and all of the defense, including our goalie,” Wood said. “However, we have a good core group of girls that got a lot of playing time last year. They know what it takes to win, and the hard work that goes along with it. We are a young team, so I expect it will take us a few games to get used to each other and play as a team. I feel we will have a well-balanced offense and a lot of players that can score. The key to our success this year will be how fast the new defenders can adjust to the varsity level of play, and how well they work together.”

Baseball

Coach: Mike Coutts, first year

Last year’s record: 12-4

Key returning players: The Red Storm will look to senior pitcher and infielder Ryan Mancini, as well as three juniors: pitcher and outfielder Ben Wessel, pitcher and infielder Joe Cronin and pitcher Connor McCann.

Key games this season: “Deering will obviously be key because that’s where I coached last couple of years,” Coutts said. “Westbrook will be good because they’re expected to be strong. Rounding out the big four are South Portland, and Cheverus”

Season outlook: In his first year at the helm of the Storm’s baseball team, Coutts said he wants to guide the team into the postseason. “I expect that we will make the playoffs,” Coutts said. “Once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. Obviously, you set your goal up as winning a state championship, and you try to accomplish that. So making the playoffs is the first step towards that goal.”

Softball

Coach: Tom Griffin

Last year’s record: 19-2, lost to South Portland in the Western Maine finals

Key returning players: The Red Storm hope to make it back to the regional finals with the talents of Mo Hannan, Abby Rutt, Dominique Burnham, Alana Peoples, Erin Giles and Marissa O’Toole.

Key games this season: Griffin expects tough contests against South Portland, Thornton Academy, McAuley, Kennebunk and Biddeford.

Season outlook: Last season’s loss to eventual state champion South Portland in the regional finals definitely left a bad taste in Scarborough’s mouths. Griffin said the Storm would be focused on improving in 2011 and added the team has a state title run in its sights. “We are hopeful that we can have another successful season,” Griffin said. “We should be able to challenge the top teams for the league and the state championship.”

Girls Track

Coach: Ron Kelly

Last year’s record: 11-0, Class A state champions

Season outlook: Another year, another championship for the Scarborough track juggernaut. The Storm girls joined last spring’s Scarborough state championship extravaganza by locking up the Class A outdoor championship. As Scarborough reloads for this season’s title defense, coach Ron Kelly said he is going to look to his younger athletes to pick up for the talent lost to graduation last spring. “Sprints, relays, and jumps are going to be the keys for us this year,” Kelly said. “We will be looking for the younger throwers to pick up some of the points lost with the graduation of Christy Manning.”

Girls Tennis

Coach: Lincoln MacIsaac

Last year’s record: 10-4

Key returning players: The Red Storm will be anchored by seniors Jenna Posey, Christina Bilodeau, Cortney Hughes, Kelley Reardon, Maya Glab and Bridget Hicks as well as juniors Racheal Webber and Katie Wahrer. Finally, MacIsaac expects a strong showing out of a large sophomore class, which includes Ella Mahoney, Maria Philbrick, Mikaela Gove and Alice Mathews.

Key matches this season: According to MacIsaac, the biggest regular season matchups of the year will come against Gorham, McCauley and Cheverus.

Season outlook: “We feel we have really good depth on our roster,” MacIsaac said. “Jenna, Racheal, Maya, Cortney, Kelley and Christina have played at least three years of tennis and have varsity match experience. The sophomore group is full of athletes that are willing to push and challenge the older players. Ultimately our success will be guided by how much focus our players have. If we show up everyday to practices and matches with a desire to win, we have a good chance to make it into the playoffs and go pretty far.”

Boys Tennis

Coach: Craig McDonald

Last year’s record: 13-2, lost in Western Maine final

Key returning players: Two seniors – Dennis Liu and Andrew Talbot – and junior Alex Henny will lead the team, McDonald said.

Key matches this season: McDonald hopes to triumph against the powers of the West, such as Windham, Kennebunk, Marshwood and Bonny Eagle.

Season outlook: The Storm had a deep postseason run last spring, making it all the way to the West regional final. This season might prove to be a bit more of a challenge for the relatively inexperienced Storm squad. “We are a young team this year with only two seniors,” McDonald said. “At least four players will be starting in a varsity match for the first time. The success of our team will be determined on how the younger players develop throughout the season.”

Boys Track

Coaches: Jim Harmon and Derek Veilleux

Last year’s record: 10-2

Key returning athletes: Scarborough needs a good season out of seniors Orin James, Scott Merrill, Tom Hague, Zach Brown and Alex Pok. Junior Nick Morris, along with sophomores Robby Hall, Merrick Madden, Jack Sullivan and Kevin Manning are also expected to contribute heavily to the Red Storm’s cause.

Season outlook: “Our goal will be to be run our best at the end of the season during the championship meets,” Veilleux said. “We will have a very young team this spring, with several freshman and sophomores making up a majority of our squad. Developing our younger athletes will be a focus this spring, but we’ve also got a good core of returning athletes that competed in the Class A state meet last spring, that we figure to do very well. We’ll be competitive in all the meets, and most likely will have a team built for better success in the postseason.”