Riverside Fall Sport Senior Q&A Part 1

With school starting back up and the fall sport season in full swing, the people at EllwoodCity.org decided to sit down and talk to some of the senior athletes at Riverside High School to talk about their fall sport and their future plans. Seniors shared their favorite part of the sport, along with the prep they went through prior to the start of the season.

This is the first part of a two part series showing the senior athletes behind the Riverside High Schools fall sport season.

Jackson Coyne: Cross Country

How many years have you been running cross country?
6 years

What is your favorite part of cross country?
The friendships

How have you and your team been getting ready for the new season?
We’ve been training hard and putting in the mileage to get our endurance and speed ready to race.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry?
We have been in a big rivalry with Shenango the past few years.

What is one skill cross country has taught you that you will use in your future?
I have learned how to persevere. In my future I will need it to succeed in college Track and Field

 What are your future plans? Has cross country helped in picking your future goals?
My future plans are to attend college and compete as a collegiate athlete in Track and Field while also studying business management, Cross Country has helped somewhat in my decision as it prepares me each year for the demands of track season.

Garrett Safran: Boys Soccer

How many years have you been playing soccer?
I started playing soccer when I was 9 years old, so about 8 years.

What is your favorite part of playing soccer?
My favorite part of soccer is hanging out with my teammates because we have been playing together since U-10 and winning games. It’s nice to see all of our hard work pay off.

How have you and your team been getting ready for the new season?
We started summer training in June with multiple practices every week. Then in August we’d have 2-a-days where we’d practice twice a day for two weeks. Also, we attended a week long soccer camp at Edinboro University, where we were coached by Papa T, the head coach of Alfred University.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry?
In our section, Sewickley Academy, while out of section it would be Freedom and Beaver.

What is one skill soccer has taught you that you will use in your future?
Communication because for all eleven of us to be together, we have to talk. Our coach always says that communication is key. In the future, communication will be a big part of my job.

What are your future plans? Has soccer helped in picking your future goals?
After school i plan on attending a college for pre-med. Then after 4 years, I will attend medical school to become a dermatologist.

Madison Sheridan: Girls Soccer

How many years have you been playing soccer?
3 years.

What is your favorite part of playing soccer?
Being able to play with my teammates and having to work together.

How have you and your team been getting ready for the new season?
We have been conditioning over the summer and into the fall we have been practicing twice a day to get into game ready shape.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry?
I feel like Freedom is definitely our biggest rival because they have a very good team overall and we can’t wait to play them and show them what we can do.

What is one skill soccer has taught you that you will use in your future?
One thing that I have learned from soccer is how to be a team player. Learning how to be a team player is important in all aspects of life and in whatever I do that will always stick with me.

What are your future plans? Has soccer helped in picking your future goals?
After graduation I plan to attend a four year university on the Pre-med track. Soccer has showed me that no matter what I want to do in life if I work hard enough I am able to accomplish it.

Samantha Ormond: Girls Tennis

How many years have you been playing tennis?
This would be my 4th year.

What is your favorite part of playing tennis?
My favorite part is definitely how close we all get and how much fun we have out on the courts.

How have you and your team been getting ready for the new season?
We’re constantly playing matches against each other and in our free time some of us like to just hit the courts.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry?
Beaver. In all 4 years i’ve played, they’ve always been our biggest competitor.

What is one skill tennis has taught you that you will use in your future?
I’ve definitely learned how to be a lot more open and helpful and allowing myself to always give my all.

What are your future plans? Has tennis helped in picking your future goals?
I’d like to major in criminology and become an agent of some sort to work on crime and honestly it has nothing to do with tennis.