Autumn Aces
As the fall season sports come to a close, the student athletes are getting ready for the peak of their season.
Long training hours, weekly games, and the nerves of end-of-season competitions begin. As the fall season sports come to a close, the student athletes are getting ready for the peak of their season.
Athletes have to adjust their lives in order to juggle everything that comes with being a student-athlete, especially toward the end of the season. They must find a way to balance sports, school, and all other responsibilities that come with the end of a quarter in high school. While this is not an easy task, freshman Tailey Sengdara has found her balance.
“It was hard at first, but I made a schedule that really helps. On game days, I try to prepare by finishing homework in advance so I'm not stressed,” stated Sengdara.
Fall weather in Colorado is known to be pretty unpredictable. This can cause many issues when it comes to outdoor sports. Riley Clark, a senior at Jefferson Academy, noted the weather has affected her softball season so far.
“This year we've been having a lot of rain, especially at games. One of our games had to get postponed because of lightning, and a lot of our practices [we] are having to sit in our cars for half of it because of the lightning,” said Clark.
Athletes aren’t just working in regular season games but also training heavily for championship games. As the season comes to a close, different teams are preparing for the end of the season in different ways.
“We don’t really look into regionals. We try to focus on one game at a time, then the games will build up to that regional moment,” explained Sengdara.
The dream of competing in state competitions is on every athlete's mind as the season dwindles. This aspiration does not come easy. Many athletes are required to put sports first and increase training time as championships near. Pressure is even higher on golfer Teague Murrey as he heads to state, being the only freshman to do so.
“I just practiced a lot after school. I’ve started to practice with a private coach apart from Mr. Kirkley and he’s helped me a lot too,” explained Murrey.
Cross country is a sport that requires much more individual practice. Each person on the team must train hard themselves to earn a spot at state. For freshman Megan Harding this means putting cross country first.
“I probably need to just run even more than before and go to every practice with the team. It’s hard to go to the practices because of soccer. But because state is coming up, I will try and attend more,” stated Harding.
Fall is an amazing time for students to participate in a wide variety of sports in cool weather.
“It’s hard. It was kind of like a shock, and I wanted to quit one of my sports, but I just kept going and working hard,” Harding said. “It’s still hard, but knowing I only have a month and a half left of both of my sports, it's not worth it to just stop now. It has helped me get into school as well because you just have to be ready.”
