When it comes to Lane sports, success is the norm. Throughout its history, the school has won over 500 city championships, acquiring the “School of Champions” nickname along the way. Because this year is the last for the Class of 2015, the seniors are hoping to achieve great things in sports, continuing Lane’s excellence before graduating.

Will Yerkes, Div. 577, is the starting quarterback for Lane’s varsity football team. In his opinion, the team did not meet expectations after losing in the first round of the city playoffs and state playoffs last season.

“Every year, we intend to win city and we intend to not lose in the first round of state,” Yerkes said. “It absolutely was a disappointment.”

The last time Lane won a city championship in football was back in 2008. This season, Yerkes believes the team has a real shot to win city. This is due to the team having a very strong work ethic, with a high attendance rate at the 6 a.m. workouts. The team also spends an additional hour watching film every day.

“If the football field was a classroom, this year’s varsity team would be the kids that come to class early, stay late, do all the homework and extra credit. They ace the tests. They deserve the A,” Yerkes said.

Because he is a senior, Yerkes’ motivation level is at an all time high. The team hopes to win the Illini Red Bird Conference this season, with conference opponents including Simeon, Dunbar, Curie, and CVCA.

“Being a senior, I want to go out on a bang. I want that ring on my finger. I want to win state or city or both,” Yerkes said.

In addition to Yerkes, other senior athletes are looking forward to their seasons. This includes Sabrina Matias, Div. 580.

Matias is a member of the Varsity Girls Track Team. She runs short relays and the 300 meter hurdle event. Last year, the team had a strong season. They won city for the second straight year (the seventh time in eight seasons) and had four events qualify for finals down state.

“We hoped to bring more people downstate, but for city wide it was good,” she said. “We got a lot more points than we usually do down at the (state) meet.”

Matias is currently the fastest 300 meter hurdle runner in the city after placing seventh at state in 2014. Even with last year’s success, she feels as if she and the team still can improve. On a team level, she expects to win city for the third consecutive year. Furthermore, she is hoping for more people to move on to nationals after having three events there last year (a 4×800 relay, a 2-mile runner, and an 800 meter runner.)

Personally, Matias has goals for herself as well. She wants to break the city 300 meter hurdle record, place top three at state, get ranked nationally, and run Division I. (She has been contacted by ISU, Iowa, and the University of Miami.) Before college however, she has her senior year, where she will be counted on as a leader for the team.

“I’m hoping to be captain. I’m one of the seniors that has been on varsity since I was a freshman. I know how the team works and how everything should be run and how to keep the team together,” Matias said.

Jason Santana, Div. 555, is the starting catcher for the Varsity Boys Baseball Team. Last spring, the team went 12-10 in the regular season. They lost in the quarterfinals of the city playoffs to Morgan Park (7-4) and in the first round of state to Loyola (3-2). Santana feels that the team could have gone further in the postseason than they did.

“We definitely wanted to win city. I felt like the team was definitely capable of winning. We had the arms, we had the hitters, and we had the morale,” Santana said. “For state, it was disappointing because we were doing so well. Our pitcher (Jack Bergren) was pitching a gem. We had a good game, just couldn’t pull it out.”

Year in and year out, Lane Tech Baseball has a history of excellence. As Santana said, the Public League does not have the best competition, and the team feels that they are one of the best in CPS. This heightens the expectations for the team to win the city title.

“For Lane Tech baseball, we don’t want to say we’re cocky, but we’re confident in our abilities, especially in the city,” Santana said. “We as a team want and need that title. We want to bring back that tradition at Lane where we are the champions of city.”

However, success always comes with adversity along the way. One week during last year’s preseason conditioning, Santana said the team was not giving it all they had. The players had been slacking, and the conditioning coach, Steven Romo, had taken notice. During this week, the coach pointed this out to the team. He would then walk out on the team, saying he was done, frustrated with the effort being given. This was a wake up call for the players.

“We had a team (just boys) meeting in the locker room. I feel like we got what Coach Romo wanted us to do: focus on the team, respect each other more. It was really a statement when he just walked out. We corrected it afterwards,” Santana said.

For this season, Santana said he wants to win the city title and go past the first round of the state playoffs. Being a senior means something in the sense that everything is about to be over. This is extra motivation for him.

“I haven’t won city at any level. I know some of the Class of 2015 have won two already, but I haven’t, so I think about that all the time,” Santana said.