Alice Bolandhemat It is not uncommon for us to hear about an athletic victory for the Romans However, seldom is it announced that one of our teams has qualified for Nationals, let alone placed. This year, the boys’ hockey team was selected to represent Illinois in the High School National Hockey Championships for club teams in Cleveland, Ohio. The tournament took place from March 31st until April 3rd and the boys ended up coming in 5th in their division. Charlie Wells ‘18, a co-captain of the team, said they “performed exceptionally well this season and worked very hard to get to where [they] finished.” The team won 3rd in the state of Illinois after beating the last year’s runner-up. They ended up losing to the reigning state champions. “This was my first year wearing a letter and taking on a leadership role. The entire team was such a fun group and everyone truly did their part. Co-leading them was not a tough job at all,” said Wells. Latin’s team is composed of students from several different high schools across Chicago, and at Nationals they played in a division with other teams comprised of players from various schools. The team was notified about their qualification for Nationals two days before Project Week. Those who were scheduled to go out of town had very little time to make arrangements to stay in Chicago to practice before the big tournament. “Some of us were able to switch to an in-town p-week,” explained Wells, “but the guys who couldn’t still played incredibly well.” Immediately after project week, the boys headed to Cleveland, where they played 4 games. They lost in the semi-final, earning them 5th in their division. This season was one of the most successful ones for Latin Hockey. The 2016-2017 school year has been one for the books for Romans athletics. Wells sums up his experience this season, specifically at Nationals, as “a fun and rewarding experience that I’ll always remember.”]]>