Riverside Fall Sports Q&A

This is part two of a two part series featuring area seniors in fall sports.

The start of fall sports is upon us, so we took the opportunity catch up with the athletes of those teams to see what they are doing to prepare for the upcoming rivalries and to offer some perspective on the season ahead and their plans for the future.

Devan Barnes-Football

Grade: 12

How many years have you been playing? 11 years

How has the team prepared for its upcoming season, how has COVID impacted training/practices? It really hasn’t impacted us hard except for in the spring we had to split up into groups and wear masks

What do you feel is your biggest strength in your sport? Strength

Best part about playing your sport? Hitting other people across the line

What is the biggest obstacle the team may face this year? Honestly players because we don’t have too many

Most anticipated game on schedule? Ellwood

Other than your chosen sport, what is a hobby? Fishing and hunting

Name something not too many people know about you? I’m fast for my size

What is one skill you have learned from your sport that you will utilize in your future and how? Leadership

What are your future plans after graduation? Will you continue to play sports after high school? I will go to college to major in education and play football

Tiffany Gwengo-Volleyball

Grade: 12

How many years have you been playing? This is my first year playing volleyball.

How has the team prepared for its upcoming season, how has COVID impacted training/practices? The team has been conditioning and practicing for the past two months to prepare for the season.

What do you feel is your biggest strength in your sport? My biggest strength in this sport is that I am persistent.

Best part about playing your sport? The best part about volleyball is that you never know what to expect and it is a very engaging sport.

What is the biggest obstacle the team may face this year? The biggest obstacle my team may face this year is that because this is the first year that we have an actual volleyball team we are not on the same level as the other schools that have had a team for a while.

Most anticipated game on schedule? I am very excited to play against Central Valley because I love a good challenge.

Other than your chosen sport, what is a hobby? In my free time I like to run.

Name something not too many people know about you? A lot of people are not aware that I like to read.

What is one skill you have learned from your sport that you will utilize in your future and how? One thing that volleyball has taught me is that I need to speak up. Speaking up will help me in the future because it will help me communicate with others better.

What are your future plans after graduation? Will you continue to play sports after high school? I do not plan to play sports after high school, but I will make it a goal to stay active. My plan after graduation is to go to college In Washington DC and major in Business Administration.

Ty Fluharty-Cross Country

Grade: 12

How many years have you been playing? This is my third year running cross country

How has the team prepared for its upcoming season, how has COVID impacted training/practices? I’ve prepared for this season by increasing my mileage a lot. Coming off of last track season I still have quite a bit of speed, so I’ve focused on endurance and strength training a lot this summer. Covid hasn’t affected my running much at all, we have to get our temperatures checked before practice but that’s it.

What do you feel is your biggest strength in your sport? My biggest strength definitely has to be my speed, I’ve always been pretty fast because I played soccer since I was little, and if a race ever comes down to a sprint finish, I’m pretty confident I would win.

Best part about playing your sport? There are a few things I love about this sport, one is all the friends I make, whether they be my teammates or runners from different schools. Most of my best friends have been my teammates, and many more of the runners I’ve ran against I still talk to and am great friends with. Another reason, of course, is winning. The satisfaction of winning a race, a relay, or even getting a state medal is incomparable to anything else. The feeling of self-accomplishment when you get a big PR is the best feeling in the entire world.

What is the biggest obstacle the team may face this year? The biggest obstacle for me is not having Colby Belczyk to train with next year. I’ve run track with him since 7th grade and cross country with him since 10th. We would run together every day, whether it be an easy run or a workout. He always pushed me to run faster in races and workouts, which made me the runner I am today. He always pushed me to be better and he shaped the runner I am today.

Most anticipated game on schedule? The most anticipated meet for me is the WPIAL championships. This year WPIALs is back at Cal U and I’m coming in as the underdog after having a bad race last year and not even qualifying for states. With last year’s champion and runner-up graduating, there is going to be a very fast race to win, and I hope to be the runner that comes out on top.

Name something not too many people know about you? I love to play video games and spend most of my time doing that when I’m not running or doing homework. I also love to play soccer, although I am not playing on my high school team this year to focus on running. I’m also a little bit of a nerd and play dungeons and dragons with my friends every now and then.

What is one skill you have learned from your sport that you will utilize in your future and how? An important skill I’ve learned from running is to be confident. I always used to get nervous before all my races, and I would typically run bad because I would make myself sick. Starting last year when I got more confident with my ability to run, I wouldn’t get nervous for races anymore and I almost always did really good, even if I didn’t, I still ran a PR or placed well. I took that with me into track season and into school, and not getting nervous before big races or finals for AP Chemistry really helps me perform better.

What are your future plans after graduation? Will you continue to play sports after high school? I definitely want to run at the d1 level in college and keep improving my times throughout college. I would love to major in something science related and go into the medicine field after I graduate, specifically to make drugs that could help fight cancer