What it takes to make the team

Advice and tips from varsity athletes

Jewell Carter, Staff Writer

Football
Senior football player, Sam Stranathan, plays for the varsity team as a defensive lineman.
“The best part about playing football is that it’s hard, but that’s what makes it fun,” said Stranathan who enjoys the challenge of the sport.
Every week, the football players practice about 12 hours. Stranahan’s best advice he has for those playing football is to remain dedicated and to do running drills to prepare you for the hard work ahead.


Cross Country

Cross Country runner, Trenton Cochran, is the top varsity runner for his team.
“I run for my younger sister Lindsay because she doesn’t have the ability to walk,” said Cochran.
Every week the cross country team practices about 12 hours and runs a total of 20-25 miles.
“ I enjoy the family aspect of cross country and meeting new people throughout the season,” Cochran said.
He also encourages others to train hard, run throughout the summer, drink water and tryout next year.

Tennis
Senior tennis player, Sarah Ulmer, plays for the varsity team at GEHS. Ulmer practices two to three times a week during the summer from a private instructor to get her body and agility in shape for the upcoming season. During the season she competes almost once a week and practices every day for up to hours.
According to Ulmer her secret to success is “keeping calm and staying focused during matches, that way she can keep from getting frustrated.” Ulmer loves the team’s close-knit dynamic and hopes many people continue to tryout for the team in upcoming years.

Soccer
During the Fall season boys soccer takes the field. Senior soccer player, Dylan Mars, plays on the varsity team for GEHS. Mars has played soccer since he was four years old and has been encouraged to play by his parents and soccer coaches throughout the years. Mars has played soccer with the same group of boys for over 7 years. Mars said, the hardest part about playing soccer is the conditioning that begins the year, but with hard work he always prevails and the work pays off.
“My soccer idol is my coach, Andy Weber, he is so understanding and he wants the best for you more as a man than a soccer player and that’s why I love him so much,” Mars said. He plans on playing soccer in college somewhere close to home and motivates future teammates to stick to the hard work that the year encompasses.

Cheerleading
Always at every game, cheering on the sidelines, is Senior cheer captain, Madison Beard. As a captain Beard has many responsibilities such as leading stretches, coming up with routines, leading chants at games and planning out stunt sequences. “ My favorite part about cheerleading is bonding with the girls and making new routines,” says Beard.
Beard says the hardest part about her sport is practicing for 15 hours every week and hitting the stunts correctly. She hopes that girls wanting to tryout next year go into the room with confidence and smile. Beard has been a cheerleader for eight years, but does not plan on cheerleading in college and instead wants to pursue a career in the medical field.

Volleyball
Varsity volleyball player, Jesse Heniss, plays her sport all year long. Although her school season ends in the winter, Henniss prepares for the school season by practicing–a lot. Hennis plays the position of Outside Hitter, doing lots of positional drills throughout the season. “Volleyball is a team game,” Heniss said, “It’s tough because you can’t always fix mistakes individually, but you have to work as a team instead.”
Volleyball has been in Heniss’ blood since the third grade when her friend encouraged her to tryout. Jesse’s hard work has payed off and she has recently committed to playing volleyball at Neosho County Community College next year.