This is part one of a three part series featuring area athletes in fall 2024 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.

Riverside Athletes

Zachary Hare

Sport? Football

Grade? 12

How many years have you have participated? 6

What do you feel is your biggest strength? Catching

What is your favorite part of it? Scoring Touchdowns and Headtopping

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Ellwood

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? First High-school Touchdown

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? Success isn’t given, it’s earned

What are your future plans after graduation? Study Safety Management at Slippery Rock University

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? Playing College Baseball

Robbie Janis

Sport? Football

Grade? 12th

How many years have you have participated? 10 years

What do you feel is your biggest strength? I feel my biggest strength is that I’m a strong runner and hard to tackle.

What is your favorite part of it? The feeling of playing on Friday nights.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Ellwood

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My sophomore season when we went to the playoffs.

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? How to keep pushing through when things get tough.

What are your future plans after graduation? I’m not sure of my future plans and if I’m going to continue playing after high school.

Ryan Dugas

Sport? Football

Grade? 12

How many years have you have participated? 5 Years

What do you feel is your biggest strength? My biggest strength is my understanding of the game.

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part is challenging myself to improve every week.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Our biggest rivalry is Ellwood.

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My favorite memory is playing against Sto Rox for a playoff game.

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? I learned to do your job regardless of how you feel.

What are your future plans after graduation? I plan on attending college or trade school.

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I’m not sure if I want to play football after high school.

Maci Connors

Sport? Cheerleading

Grade? Senior

How many years have you have participated? 12 years

What do you feel is your biggest strength? I feel my biggest strength is leading my team and doing sideline cheers

What is your favorite part of it? Band dances and stunting!

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Ellwood

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? Hitting our routine at panther night and cheering with my sister

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? Teamwork and problem solving

What are your future plans after graduation? I plan to go to Bella Capellis to learn cosmetology.

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I will not be playing sports after high school!

Becca Dugas

Sport? Cheerleading

Grade? 12th Grade

How many years have you have participated? I have participated in cheer for 10 years!!

What do you feel is your biggest strength? I feel like my biggest strength is definitely band dances! I did competitive dance when I was younger so I feel like it translated into the band dances we do on the sidelines!

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part of cheerleading is the atmosphere at the games! I love cheering to the crowd and the energy in the air is amazing whenever we get a touchdown or win!

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? I think our biggest rivalry will always be Ellwood! It is the most anticipated game of the year! I really hope our team pulls through and we can win back the Riv-Ell trophy!

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My favorite memory over the years was when we won against Ellwood my sophomore year in 2022!

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? One thing I have learned over the course of my years in cheer is to always think positive! Whether it is at practices or at the games I have found that thinking positive about things can really lighten up the mood! And I will definitely be using that in the future!

What are your future plans after graduation? My future plans after graduation are to attend a college and get my bachelors degree in Communications and specialize in Public Relations!

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? Im not sure if I will continue to cheer after high school. But only time will tell!