FHC’s winter sports, boys and girls wrestling, boys and girls basketball, and girls swim and dive, were welcomed as their seasons began. On Friday, Nov. 11 Francis Howell Central held their Winter Blast.

As the gym filled with people, the Sensations performed a number to kick off the night. Senior Macie Ryan has been dancing with the varsity Sensations since her freshman year and performed her last Winter Blast dance.

“It was good,” Ryan said. “It’s nice to see how the Winter Blast has grown since the first ever one was my freshman year.”

The Winter Blast is a way for athletes to celebrate the beginning of the winter season. Senior Sophia Miller has been wrestling since her freshman year and was one of the first wrestlers for the girls wrestling team, she had a mix of emotions for her last Winter Blast.

“It was really emotional …There’s no good way to explain it,” Miller said. “I was just so happy to have all my teammates there and all my friends I’ve made over the years. [Having] my coaches supporting me and my achievements, it’s just really amazing.”

The wrestling teams performed practice matches which was Miller’s most enjoyable moment from the Blast.

“The example match that Cross did of David and Peyton was really funny,” Miller said.

The Winter Blast’s main purpose is to get teams and fans excited for their upcoming season. Senior Briana Mason has been playing basketball all four years of her high school career and believes the Winter Blast prepared her for her upcoming season.  

“It definitely did its job,” Mason said. “[It got] me excited feeling the hype, that’s the whole point of the pep assemblies and the things like the Winter Basts, it definitely did that for me.”

The boys and girls basketball teams held a shoot off in which each team had a player verse the other team’s player to see who could get the most shots, which was Mason’s favorite part. 

“Winning the shooting competition with Nick Ortinau was pretty exciting,” Mason said.