Fall Sports Athletes To Watch

Early freshman year is usually the time that student athletes are getting adjusted to high school and just trying to keep themselves from being overwhelmed. But for Elisa Dohrmann, who is playing on the varsity softball team as a freshman, there’s more at stake .
“I feel a little bit of pressure being a freshman on varsity because I know that I’m playing ahead of some of the older players, and while it’s my first year playing, it’s some player’s last year, so we want to play well,” Dohrmann said. “All of the players are really welcoming, so they take away a lot of the pressure.”
The freshman 3rd and 1st baseman is already making an impact on the infield with a .933 fielding percentage, 9 putouts, and 5 assists.
“I expect myself to become a stronger hitter and defender and I expect myself to help my team in any way I can,” Dohrmann said.
It turns out the team has not done too well so far. The team has started out the season with a 1-7 record, losing 7 in a row after winning their opening game 4-2 over Pattonville. Dohrmann still has confidence in the team even with the slow start.
“I think that once we get rolling, we’ll be really good,” Dohrmann said. “We have a lot of strong and quick defenders, good hitters, good pitchers, and we all really work together. We build each other up and are overall a really positive and fun team, so once we get going, we can go far.”
Look for Dohrmann to continue to prove herself on the field and for the team to reach their potential as the season goes on.
Winning a state title for your school is something that not many people can say they have done. The varsity soccer team did that last fall and junior Jackson Koerner was able to be a part of it as a sophomore.
“It was unimaginable because winning state for the school is the biggest accomplishment possible and the fact that it was the first championship for soccer in the schools history just made it that much more amazing,” Koerner said.
Repeating a state title is one of the hardest things to do in high school sports, but Koerner thinks that the team can do it.
“The team has all the talent to make it back to the state championship we just need to come together as a unit and win and lose as a team just like last year,” Koerner said.
The team has started out with a 3-3 record, losing their first three games, but have won three in a row. Koerner has his own individual goals as well as his team goals.
“I need to work on communicating with my teammates more and overall improvement in attitude and ability,” Koerner said.
Look for the soccer team to make another run at a state title and for Koerner to make improvements on his game.
Senior season. Big expectations. Future NCAA athlete. Girls volleyball player Mackenzie Duvall looks to improve her game before heading off to college.
“I need to work on my blocking and closing the black more consistently,” Duvall said.
Duvall has 25 kills and 3 aces on 15 serves so far this season.
“I think the team will do pretty well this year,” Duvall said. “We will be competing against some pretty tough teams this year.”
The team has a record of 10-8-1, bouncing back nicely after losing 4 straight matches.
Duvall has plans to continue her volleyball career in college.
“I will be playing at Eastern Illinois next year,” Duvall said. “I love the sport and it is something to do to fill up my free time.”
Look for Duvall to have a strong final season of high school volleyball.
Like Duvall, football player Ryan Long will be looking to have a great senior season.
“My goal for myself this season is to be an all-state defensive player,” Long said.
The running back/linebacker also has a pretty high goal for his team this year.
“I want the team to be successful through the regular season, and hopefully, we can win a district championship,” Long said.
This is looking like it will be a very tough goal to reach as the team has started out with a 1-3 record, with three straight losses following a tough opening night win against Rockwood Summit. Long also has another goal that he’s looking to accomplish, and it’s the long game. His sister is the first member of his family and he looks to follow in her footsteps.
“I want to play college ball,” Long said.
“If I don’t go to college, I will be struggling just like my parents. Where I come from, not a lot of people make it out, so I want to go get that education so i don’t have to stay in the same place like my parents did.”
Look for Long to have a good season and hopefully reach his goal of playing in college.
Unlike Long and Duvall, senior girls golfer Carleigh Murphy is not interested in playing her sport in college.
“I won’t play in college because when you play a sport in college, it takes up almost all of your time and I don’t want my life to be golf all the time,” Murphy said.
Even though it is her last season and last year of high school, Murphy is excited to get through it.
“I’m excited for my senior year because I’m ready to move on. High school is getting kind of old,” Murphy said.
But before high school ends, Murphy does have some goals for herself and the team this year.
“My coach says that every match we have until conference and districts are a dress rehearsal,” Murphy said.
“My goal is to improve my game as much as I can before conference so that we do well and move onto districts and state.”
Look for Murphy to have a successful final year of golf.