As the 2024 school year comes to an end, Tallwood High School has begun to wrap up the final games of the spring season. From Football to lacrosse, each team has demonstrated hard work and determination in vastly different ways. Conditioning for months, building long-lasting bonds, and putting their hearts into what they do best, are just a few things that each Tallwood athlete faces throughout the seasons. 

Now that the sports season is wrapping up, multiple athletes and coaches were interviewed for others to gain a perspective on how they’ve felt throughout the season. While interviewed they describe how they performed individually and as a team, the challenges they faced, highlights of the season, and much more!

To begin, members of the fall sports consist of field hockey, volleyball, cheer, cross country, football, and golf.  Members share their participation in each sport, starting with field hockey. 

“I think I performed okay, I definitely could have done better, especially as a captain. Having a brand new coach made it much more difficult,” says Grace Thebarge, a junior at Tallwood and field hockey member. 

When asked about what made her interested in the sport, Thebarge had to say, “I loved watching my sister play field hockey when I was little and thinking it would be so cool to do it so I tried out in middle school. I also love my teammates,” she explained.

Though many different athletes have numerous reasons as to why being on the Tallwood team is important, Thebarge’s reason surely stands out “It benefited me by allowing me to keep participating in the sport I love while keeping me in shape during summer.

Next, members of the girls’ and boys’ volleyball comment on their season! When being asked to review their past performances, this is what they had to say: 

“I think I did well this season. I didn’t improve much because I had prior experience on a travel team, but it was fun to play in school,” states Taylor Jefferson, a senior at Tallwood High School.

Jefferson explains why she chose to pursue volleyball as her sport of choice, “I chose to play volleyball because of the movie, Airbuds, which I saw when I was younger. I had played on the Tallwood Volleyball team for the past four years, so I decided to stick it out for senior year.”

Contrary to Jefferson’s angle, some believe there is room for much improvement. Anthony Chu, a sophomore at Tallwood High School and boys volleyball member looks back upon his most recent season and how it went. 

“Badly, I was on the bench the whole time, but I improved a lot,” states Chu

Despite not meeting the potential he hoped to, Chu still enjoyed many aspects of being part of Tallwood’s volleyball team. He explains how it impacted him, “It benefits me a lot because I get to interact with people and it’s just fun. I like doing it.”

Another member of the girl’s volleyball team, Ava Tarjan, a senior at Tallwood, also believes that playing volleyball had a positive impact on her life. “I really enjoyed it, I met a lot of my friends through it and enjoyed playing it for the last few years. Last year was not my favorite, but it brought me a lot of my friends and just a community in itself.” 

In relation, Jefferson also shared her thoughts about friendships while on the team. “I met all of my closest friends through volleyball, so I feel it’s really good that Tallwood offers this extracurricular activity. 

Next, a football coach and member give their experiences this season.

“The Football Team finished 4th in the region this year, demonstrating great senior leadership. They played their first-ever home playoff game and broke multiple offensive school records, including points scored in a season, total offensive yards in a season, and passing yards in a season. 

With many returners, the team is looking forward to building on this success next year,” states John Kepple, football coach at Tallwood.

A great season, indeed, Tallwood’s football team also faced a handful of challenges throughout it. 

“Although we had some key returning seniors, we were still young in some spots. As the players developed, we adapted to personnel changes and schemes throughout the season. This flexibility helped us grow and improve as a team,” states Kepple. 

Coach Kepple believes this was a great season; however, there are some improvements to be made. “Our defense will be much stronger next year as we are returning many key defensive players. On offense, our scheme will look different due to some changes in personnel,” states Kepple.

To show his gratification for his team’s hard work, Kepple then shared a quote for the upcoming season, “It was a THS record-breaking season that we intend to build on in the 2024 season.”

To add, Reggie Custalow, a senior at Tallwood and member of the football team, describes his experience this season“ I think I did really well, playing this season gave me a break from reality. It also benefited me by giving me bonds I never thought I would have.”

After the Fall season ends, a new season begins. The Winter sports include wrestling, swimming and diving, basketball, gymnastics, cheer, and indoor track. When interviewing members of the wrestling team they explain their performance this season.

“I think I performed extremely well, outperforming myself from last year,” states Herbert Billups, a junior at Tallwood and a member of the varsity wrestling team.

When asked why he participated this year, Billups explained his personal experience. 

“Wrestling, in my opinion, was the most enjoyable sport and a sport I felt I had the most potential to excel in. I am also currently doing off-season practice to better enhance my skills. Tallwood offering this sport also benefited me by keeping me busy and motivating me to push myself,” states Billups.

Another member of the wrestling team with an unlikely story also shared her views of the season. 

“I think I did well, I doubted myself going into states like I did last year and I ended up with runner-up, which is not bad as a sophomore,” says Tatiana Denig, a sophomore at Tallwood, and one of the two female members of the wrestling team.

Despite facing many challenges and odds, Tati still found many reasons to choose the exhilarating sport. 

“It kind of chose me. I walked in the room and liked it even though it was all boys, it was kind of weird but I think women’s wrestling is growing and I think you should check it out,” states Denig

Though many see wrestling as just a fighting sport, Denig saw more than a laboring activity when she decided to join wrestling. She saw a future for herself. 

“ It benefits me in many ways like getting scholarships and having a way to wrestle. I would still do it out of school, but it wouldn’t be as great as it is at Tallwood,” stated Denig.

Moving on to another winter sport, Sharon Person, coach of the Tallwood girls swim and dive, explains how she feels that her team performed this season. “The performance was stellar. We could not be prouder of what this team accomplished as they consistently dropped their times each and every week.” 

As all coaches face challenges, similarly to their athletes, they must identify what needs to be improved upon. Like others, Person can’t always control the problems her team faces. 

“The challenges we faced or had to overcome aren’t any from year to year. There is always someone that is sick, has an appointment, or just can’t make it to practice that day and that’s what we call life.”

Even with the many challenges that coaches face, every one of them has a reason for working as hard as they do. Person explains, “The smiles I see on their faces or the celebrations of joy when they have accomplished what they wanted for that event warms my heart and makes every day of the season worth it.”

Spring Sports are ending, while athletes finish up their last few games. These sports consist of lacrosse, soccer, outdoor track, baseball, softball, and tennis. First, the girl’s lacrosse coach and multiple students now give their experiences for the 2024 season. 

“We went 1-10, We hope to keep the nucleus of returns and hope more girls will come out and try the fastest sport on two feet,” states David Weir, girls lacrosse coach at Tallwood.

Because of how recent lacrosse is to the school, many challenges were to be faced.

“Lacrosse is still trying to gain a foothold as it was the 2nd year as a varsity sport. A vast majority of our players were new to the sport, so much of the preseason was spent teaching the fundamentals which many of the established sports have players that have been playing for many years,” states Weir.

To help inspire his team, no matter how hard the challenges they face are, Weir gives a thoughtful quote to his entire team, “The only person who can stop you from reaching your goals is you.”

The lacrosse coach wasn’t the only person asked to review their performance this past season.

Jefferson, also a member of the girl’s lacrosse team, describes how she did this season. “I think I did pretty well, this was my first year playing and I caught on pretty fast and improved a lot throughout the season.” 

As busy as she was this year, Jefferson continued to prioritize athletics.“I wasn’t playing travel volleyball, I wanted something else to do. I was going to do either Track or Lacrosse, but Track was a lot of running.”

Though she was new to the sport, Jefferson was able to learn a lot from joining lacrosse this season. Her appreciation shines throughout her response, “I would’ve never really learned how to play if it weren’t for the fact that Tallwood offers it. I wouldn’t have even tried it. I feel like it’s good that Tallwood offers newer sports because lacrosse is overall a new sport to the area, so I think it is important for people to learn about lesser-known sports.”

Grace Thebarge, another member of the team, explains how well she performed this season. “I think I performed the best to my ability given having an injury and this being my first year playing.”

When asked why she chose lacrosse out of the many spring sports this year, Grace stated,  “I chose this sport because it seemed fun to play a sport with one of my best friends.” 

The extensive sport also helped her gain insight into physical health as well as her mental health. “Tallwood offering this sport benefited me by keeping me in shape during spring with a sport similar to field hockey,” states Thebarge.

As a change, Brian Morrison, a member of the boy’s lacrosse team, states how well he believes he performed. “I performed alright. I mean, I definitely feel that there were areas that I could improve on, but overall I did pretty well.”

Unlike many others, Morrison was a returning player this season. He explains, “ I played last year and I had to come back. I just love the sport” 

As Morrison reflects on the changes that lacrosse has brought into his life, he talks about the many benefits the sport brought to him. “It has shaped my future for what it is. Without lacrosse, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the scholarships that I did. I may not have even gone to college,” he states. 

Joseph Ore, a member of the boy’s lacrosse team, explains how he felt he did this season. “ I’d say for the first year, I did pretty well. It took a lot of work, and a lot of changes, but it went well.”

When interviewed, Ore states his expectations for the upcoming season, his favorite moment this season, and why he chose lacrosse out of other sports. “I expect to return for the next few seasons. My friend, Brian, got me into it. He introduced me and taught me how to play. We won against Greenrun and it was the second lacrosse win in Tallwood history.” 

To continue, the girl’s soccer coach as well as one member from the girl’s soccer team give their experiences and overall performance from this season. 

Kara Gavin, girls soccer coach at Tallwood, describes how she felt this season went.  

“Unpredicted. This year this team had a slow start, but the successes that have been found are not only building a new standard for the program but also showing the talent and determination that we knew was there all along.”

Gavin then discusses the many challenges her team has faced,  and what she has done to overcome them.“With any high school team, it’s always a challenge to learn and play together and balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses. You have to learn to play with the team you have, whatever that may look like. We also have several players coming off of significant injuries who had to fight to overcome lost training time as well as gain their confidence back. They have surpassed all of the coaches’ expectations this year.”

Even though there were many hardships, Gavin continues to instill hope into her “Anything worth having is going to take work.”

Kailyn Myers, a member of the girl’s soccer team, elaborates on the many highlights of this season, “I think I performed very well this season helping my team win against other big teams. I will prepare to do the same next year during my senior year as well.”

Myers then describes how long the sport has been a part of her life and the importance to her. “Soccer has been a big part of my life and I don’t know what I would do without it. It’s given me so many great opportunities to connect with people and become a better player. I’ve played my whole life and while at Tallwood and plan to play at a college level too.” 

Meyers has plans to return next season with hopes of becoming captain during her senior year. 

Lastly, Tallwood’s infamous track and field team goes into depth about their performance and experiences. 

Lincey Chu, a senior at Tallwood and a member of the track team explains her experience. “Honestly, if I were to rate it a 1-10 I would rate it an 8. I did my best, but if I pushed myself I could have done better. I wouldn’t return to competitive track, but as a hobby rather than competitively.” 

Next, Chu explains the biggest takeaway from participating in track, “Learning more about myself and my body was my biggest highlight this season. As someone who is doing sports, I had to learn more about certain parts of my body because I would have pains in different areas and I would have to know why I’m feeling that pain.”

She continues, what makes outdoor track and field different from any other sport is we’re the biggest team of Tallwood, so you get to work with a lot of different people and it’s not separated by gender. You improve yourself not just as an athlete, but as a person because you’re exposed to so many different types of people.” 

Another female track member, Eyana Watson, a senior at Tallwood expresses how she performed this season,  “I think I performed fairly well this season because I’ve beaten some personal records of mine and still excelling as the season continues.”

When asked how she got involved with this sport, she interprets “I tried other sports before track; however, something about track was different from all the others and now I can’t get enough of the thrill and good memories I made along the way,” states Watson.

One of the greatest things while participating in sports is the memories athletes make during their season. Watson exhibits her favorite moment of this season, “My favorite highlight of the season was our senior night when all of the seniors were making personal records as well as coming 1st and 2nd in most events as well as making personal connections with everyone and becoming a good team in the end through all the hardships and tribulations.”

To continue, Landon Walker, a senior at Tallwood, and a member of the track team describes his performance this season. “I think I performed really well in both indoor and outdoor track. I set PRs and school records, so I’m really happy with my season.”

Following, Walker interprets what made him decide to choose track as a sport he played in high school and wants to pursue in the future. “I decided to participate because it gave me an escape from reality and allowed me to have another outlook on life. I had an injury in my eighth-grade year and I had to run a mile to learn to walk again. That is what got me into track. When the coach found out I had a background in gymnastics, he asked me to try pole vault, so I stuck with it.”

He continued, “Tallwood offering this sport allows me to have a safe space. Not just for my physical health, but for my mental health too. It also encourages me to do things outside of school and keeps me out of trouble.

Last but not least, Arturo Woodhouse V, a junior at Tallwood and a member of the track team expresses his performance this season.“Overall, I feel like I did pretty good this season,” states Woodhouse.

When interviewed, Woodhouse exhibits why he chose to participate in track and how it will benefit him in the future. “Track was the only sport I hadn’t done yet. I’ve done a lot of different sports, but track was one I haven’t touched yet. My whole senior year I plan to run track because I want to get into college and get a scholarship, so I’ve been trying to get better. Also running track and meeting a lot of people, going to different places is a great experience.

Woodhouse also beat a personal record when he ran the 200, he ran a 23.6, which was the fastest he’s ever run.

In conclusion, all of these sports that students participate in, shape their lives for the future. In these sports, they learn how to work collaboratively, gain strong relationships, push themselves to succeed, and much more! Some students do these sports to pass the year and become more involved in school, whereas others participate in sports for a sense of escaping struggles they’re facing or for scholarship purposes. Even if students don’t enjoy the sport they’re in, they will always take away something positive.  No matter what challenges each team or student faced this year, it is quite certain that each coach and athlete roared with Tallwood pride this year!