On a recent volleyball trip to Lakewood Colo., the charter bus’ air conditioning broke. The volleyball team had to ride home without air conditioning for about seven hours. According to head volleyball coach Lauren Brentlinger, it was really hot, and they tried to prop windows open but it didn’t help. At one point they drove past a cow pasture and it smelled like cow manure. They had to stop on the side of the road and sit outside for about 15 min. and wait for the next charter bus to pick them up.

Sports teams at St. Teresa’s Academy are able to display their skills on a broader scale when traveling to compete in meets, tournament, and other events. Many teams, like Tennis and Softball, will travel locally to compete and return later that day. But other times, teams travel far enough away to have to spend the night in another city, or even another state, like Volleyball and Cross Country recently did.

The varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams traveled with four coaches and 25 girls to compete in a tournament from Sept. 1 to Sept. 4, according to Brentlinger. In addition, many parents also came out to support their daughters.

“It ended up really well,” Brentlinger said. “Varsity won the whole tournament and JV finished second. So, it went really well. I think we got good competition. We played best 3 out of 5, normally we play best 2 out of 3, so it was more competition, more games which is good for us.”

The team traveled to Colorado in order to bond, face new teams and see how they stack up compared to these teams. Brentlinger enjoyed being able to spend time with the girls outside of volleyball.

“Being in a new place with the girls was the most enjoyable [part], and going out to dinner together and just doing different stuff together than just volleyball,” Brentlinger said.

Four year varsity volleyball player senior Gabby Wimes agrees that the best part of traveling is bonding. She enjoys it because the environment brings everyone closer together.

However, Wimes thinks it can be difficult to keep up with homework, when she misses class or if it is a game night. According to Wimes, she has been able to develop good time management skills because she has had to work around the time a varsity sport takes up for four years.

Cross Country runners also have to manage their time in order to have time for both homework and athletics. Junior Emily Zapien agrees that homework can sometimes be hard to complete when she has meets. But she loves to run with the STA cross country team because she thinks there is a great atmosphere, even after tough practices and races.

Zapien traveled to Forest Park in St. Louis  Sept. 9 with eight other runners, one runner acting as a manager and the head coach Karen Moran, who has been coaching cross country at STA for 18 years and has been head coach since 2003.

“Everyone was so covered in mud [at the end of the race],” Zapien said. “But everyone was still smiling at the end, and everyone’s positive attitudes was like, ‘This is why I run.’”

According to Moran, it was one of the worst courses she had seen in awhile, because it was extremely muddy. Zapien was feeling some pressure because it was her first out of town meet, and the muddy course led to some difficulties with her shoes.

“Well, I lost [my shoe] in the first mile [of a three mile race],” Zapien said. “And it was really muddy, so it was obviously kind of a struggle. But, I just kind of had to suck it up and continue. And, I found it right afterward.”

No matter what sport is traveling, when the team stays in another city overnight, the girls have to pay for their food and half the hotel bill. But usually STA pays for the transportation, which has only ever been a bus, according athletic director Mark Hough.

Hough explained that it is easier for indoor sports to go out of state because the sport doesn’t depend on the weather. However, STA has many sports teams that rank very high and usually go to state, so there are not very many opportunities for good competition for them around Kansas City.

“I am starting to look outside of the area,” Hough said. “We try to encourage teams that finish top two in the state. [So traveling] is kind of a nice little reward that following year. So if we can work it in the schedule, then we do.”

Many sports including volleyball, soccer and lacrosse are scheduled two years in advance because the sports directors go through the State Association. This means there is not a lot of room for spur of the moment trips.

“With volleyball, It was kind of tough to work because we have our schedule,” Hough said. “We have our schedule for this year and next year. It just happened to fit on a weekend where we didn’t have something.”

On the way home from Colo., when the volleyball team got the new charter bus with air conditioning two hours from home, everyone on board was very relieved, according to Wimes.
“It was awful. It was at least 95 degrees in there,” Wimes said. “We were all sitting in their with like our shirts off. It was crazy. We were sitting all sweaty in a bus for like eight hours, before we stopped at a gas station and another bus came. And it was the best moment of my life.”