This is part two of a three part series featuring area athletes in fall 2024 sports. [VIEW PART ONE]

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

DeLana Fox

Sport? Volleyball

Grade? Senior

How many years have you have participated? I have participated 4 years

What do you feel is your biggest strength? I think my biggest strength is energy. I will always come on the court and leave it all out there. I will hype up my team no matter what.

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part of bringing the energy is I tend to radiate and all my teammates will start to have fun and be themselves as well.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Our biggest rivalry is Elwood. Our new head coach Justin Bennett, was Elwood’s old coach, and I would love to beat them to prove to Coach Bennett that he made the right decision coming to Riverside!

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My favorite memory over the years would be this year we had a pool party at Ewing park and played sand volleyball and swam and had dinner! It was a great team bonding opportunity!

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? One thing I learned from sports that I will carry through life is to always be yourself. Not everyone is going to like you and that is okay, just never be afraid to be the you that you are!

What are your future plans after graduation? My future plans are to go to college and get an early education degree and to get my real-estate license.

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I am undecided on what sport I want to play, I am in between basketball and track

Macy Greer

Sport? Soccer

Grade? 12

How many years have you have participated? Been playing for 3 years

What do you feel is your biggest strength? Biggest strength is running, and determination

What is your favorite part of it? Favorite part is how well our team plays together.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? I feel Freedom is our biggest rivalry

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? Favorite memory would be beating freedom after loosing to them all the years before

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 from soccer would be that things aren’t given to you, you have to work for it

What are your future plans after graduation? My plans after graduation would be attend a college and study physical therapy

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I do not plan on continuing to play soccer after high school.

Olivia Pettner

Sport? Soccer

Grade? Senior

How many years have you have participated? I’ve played soccer for 14 years, including starting all 4 years of high school varsity

What do you feel is your biggest strength? My biggest strength is that I am a versatile player.

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part is being able to experience all the fun and excitement with some of my favorite people.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? I feel our biggest rival this season is Freedom.

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My favorite memory is making it into the second round of playoffs my freshman year.

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? One thing I’ve learned is that no matter how hard it may be or how tired you are, always push yourself till the end.

What are your future plans after graduation? My future plans after graduation are to attend college and pursue a career in occupational therapy.

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I do not plan on continuing sports after high school.

Roslyn Steinbach

Sport? Soccer

Grade? Senior

How many years have you have participated? I’ve played soccer every year throughout my high school career (4 years)

What do you feel is your biggest strength? I feel that my biggest strength is my work ethic.

What is your favorite part of it? My favorite part of soccer is sharing laughs with the team.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? Our biggest rivalry this year would be Freedom.

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My favorite memory over the years has been making it to the second round of playoffs my freshman year.

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? One lesson that I have learned is that you get out what you put in. If you give your best and try hard, your performance will improve and the results will show.

What are your future plans after graduation? I plan on getting my undergrad in biochem and then going on to med school.

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I do not plan to play sports after high school, but I will always cherish my time spent on the field.

Gabriella Finch

Sport? Soccer

Grade? 12

How many years have you have participated? 14 years of playing soccer and 4 years playing high school soccer

What do you feel is your biggest strength? I think my biggest strength is that I am competitive.

What is your favorite part of it? I enjoy playing a sport that I love with my friends.

Who do you feel is your biggest rivalry this upcoming season? I don’t really know who our biggest rivalry is, but I do want to compete with everyone.

What has been your favorite memory been over the years? My favorite memory was taking a charter bus with my teammates my junior year to our playoff game.

What is one thing that you have learned through your participation in sports that will carry with you through your life? I have learned that working together as a team will let you achieve more.

What are your future plans after graduation? I want to attend college, but am currently undecided on where and what I want to study.

Do you plan to continue to play sports after high school? I hope to play soccer at college.