“I’m really excited about the new athletic director, he seems like a very nice person. I love that he has experience from his time at Wauconda, and I think he’s going to do some great things with our athletic program,” Tristin Sorrells, senior, said.

While seniors are starting their last year, Andrew Lambert, athletic director, started his first day at LZHS on Wednesday, and was hired after former athletic director Roland Vasquez resigned last year .

“My favorite part about being athletic director is meeting and getting to know all the student athletes we have here at school,” Lambert said. “When I took the job, I knew that that was a real driving force for the reason I came here, because I knew the kids and the staff here were fantastic.”

His career before Lake Zurich was in education, spending seven years teaching PE, health, driver ed, and coaching football, wrestling and track, and the last four years spent working as Wauconda’s athletic director.

The biggest challenge faced since coming here, Lambert said, has been learning the new systems of this school district compared to the ones he has worked with in the past.

“My number one goal is to make sure we are providing our student athletes with a world class experience academically, athletically, and socially,” Lambert said. “That is going to be my focus going forward, and if we are not meeting that, then we need to figure out how to move forward.”

Changes being made to the whole athletic program to amend the incidents that occurred last year include implementing thirteen recommendations that the attorneys provided, according to Lambert, and putting in educational plans with coaching staff, students athletes, and parents, as well as some new procedures in place with supervision.

“The biggest change is making sure our culture is one in which we are supporting each other, helping each other, and doing what’s right by each other,” Lambert said. “We’re taking a very positive approach, we’re not hiding behind the fact that something did happen, and we will do what’s right by our students to make sure they are safe.”