Introduction
Manny Fontanez and Michael Murphy interviewed one person from each of the 5 Varsity sports at EPHS during the spring: Meredith Brayton for Girls Softball, Kornel Czerwiec for Boys Volleyball, Sophia Casella for Girls Track, Trinidad Lopez for Boys Track, Leon Solarczyk for Boys Baseball and Sarah Scheidt for Girls Soccer. We interviewed each athlete and asked them the following questions:
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
Trinidad Lopez – Boys Track, Senior
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
“The season is going very well for me; I’ve been competing at a very high level. This season has been phenomenal for our program, as many of our boys have a high chance of going to state this year, including myself.”
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
“I’ve been on the track team for about three years. I got into it my sophomore year because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try a new sport.”
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
“I think that the future of the program is really bright. Going forward, we have a lot of young guys who put in the work day in and day out to be the best version of themselves.”
Sophia Casella – Girls Track, Junior
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
“The season is going great for me as well as the program this year. Both the girls and boys teams have broken records, hit new PRs, and have improved a lot this season.”
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
“I have been running track since my sophomore year, making this my second year of track. I got into it when I stopped playing softball after my freshman year because I wanted to try something new.”
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
“I believe that in the future, this program will continue to achieve new things, break new records, and overall see a lot of improvement thanks to the great coaches and supportive teammates.”
Leon Solarczyk – Boys Baseball, Senior
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
“I think the season is going extremely well for me, as well as the program. I believe we are in great shape to compete against any team.”
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
“I’ve been playing baseball since I was 9 years old. I’ve never heard of the sport until I moved here from Poland back in 2015. I remember seeing the weird dirt field while also being curious about what the sport was, which caused me to start playing it.”
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
“I know the future of the program will be very good as we have a lot of young talent that is serious about competing and winning games. I’m really excited to see how far they can go in the future.”
Meredith Brayton – Girls Softball, Senior
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
“The season, for me, is going well! I’ve been enjoying playing with all my friends every day. As a program we are still improving every game and working hard to hit better.”
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
“At the age of 3, I joined Elmwood Park T-ball. I have been playing for EP softball teams since.”
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
“There are so many talented athletes in the program. I totally believe that the team will have lots of success in the future.”
Kornel Czerwiec – Boys Volleyball, Senior
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
“The season is going really well for me and I’m really excited and happy with the results so far. We’ve been doing really well as a program and have done some great things together, like improving our record from every year on, and we have also won a Tiger Quad plaque for the first time in the program’s history.”
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
“I’ve been playing volleyball ever since 2nd or 3rd grade I believe. It all started with me coming to my sister’s volleyball games. Before the games, my mom and I would pepper. In 2nd or 3rd grade, I also began playing in the Civic Center Recreational League with a bunch of friends.”
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
“I believe the future of the volleyball program has loads of potential and will continue to grow and improve. People and also the community are starting to see how fun volleyball is and the fact that it is also a national growing sport for boys. I believe we will have a super strong program in the next coming years if we continue to have the passion and commitment to playing volleyball for the younger generation.”
Sarah Scheidt – Girls Soccer, Junior
- How’s the season going for you? And for the program?
“For me the season is going well. I definitely have had a different perspective on the field this year with the switch of my position from playing striker my freshman and sophomore year to now playing full back. As a program, the season is going pretty decent, as of right now our record is 8-4, which is not terrible but it could be better.”
- How long have you been playing the sport? How’d you get into doing it?
“I have been playing soccer, the first sport my parents signed me up for, since I was 3 years old. I first started in AYSO and played club soccer, then played high school soccer. My family has always been very involved with sports.”
- What do you think the future of the program will look like?
“As the years go on we lose many of the players our team values, but when they leave we always get the pleasure of having new players come in and step up to the challenge of filling the roles of those gone. I am very hopeful for the future of our program just by seeing the freshmen who have come in this year and are playing on varsity and can’t wait to see what next season holds for us.”
Conclusion
Now that you have heard from some of the participants of every spring sport here at EPHS, we hope you come out to any of the events or games and support your Tigers. We also encourage anyone to come and try a new sport next season, as it is a great way to make some new friends and get yourself involved.
Works Cited
Trinidad Lopez – Online Interview, Email.
Sophia Casella – Online interview, Email.
Leon Solarczyk – Online Interview, Email.
Meredith Brayton – Online Interview, Email.
Kornel Czerwiec – Online Interview, Email.
Sarah Scheidt – Online Interview, Email.
