NOCTILUCA October 2016

SPORTS Appleton, Wisconsin October 2016 Volume XXII Issue II Page 11 A swimmer’s opinion on the high school girls’ swim team

“GO GO!” “ KICK! KEEP K I CK I NG ! ” “ ALMO S T THERE! GO!” The cheers echo off the walls of the pool deck. It’s the varsity heat of the 400 freestyle relay, the last race of the meet, when four girls on every relay team swim one hundred meters each. The last swimmer on each re- lay is closing into the finish, Appleton North in one lane, Oshkosh West in the other, neck and neck, each strain- ing to gain an advantage. The coaches for Appleton North, Jamie Schnurer and Ruthe Zimmerman, are jumping up and down and yelling for the swimmer to “GOOOO!”. North touches first. The pool explodes into cheers some- how louder than they were a minute ago. Both teams line up in good spirits to give high fives. Swimming is thought of as an individual sport. When people watch the Olympics on TV, Olympians usually swim their races alone and come together once to swim a re- lay, but in a school swim sea-

hope to show that with victo- ries at the conference meets and sectionals. Our coaches and captains have really been emphasizing teamwork and positivity this year. We have pairs of girls called swim sisters, a newer swimmer with a more expe- rienced one. In the past swim sisters had gotten each other small gifts and snacks, but this year we made each other posters and will get each other a bigger gift at the end of the season. It is an amazing feeling to know that someone is going to be there cheering for you. Joining high school swim- ming was the best decision I could have made. I met one of my best friends, learned how to work as part of a team, and overall it is super fun. Al- though sometimes the practic- es can make me want to quit, I know that my, and all the girls’, hard work will pay off. This team has amazing people and I wouldn’t want to lose any of the friendships I have made in the last two years. I think what I love most about soccer is that it is a continuous flowing game that leaves a lot of room for im- provisation and unique team combinations, as well as plenty of opportunity for cra- zy plays and intense games. 5. Why do you feel peo- ple should come to soccer games? I believe you should come to soccer games because not only are they interesting and often intense games, but it’s also a great social event, and chances are, one of your friends are already there! 6. Finish this sentence: At the end of the season, Ap- pleton North Boys’ Soccer will be… In the Wisconsin state play- offs. If we all have our heads in the right place and play as a team, we have a very good shot at making it to state.

The girls’ swim team getting pumped up before a meet. Photo courtesy of Sydney Landsverk

son, that isn’t the case at all. On the Appleton North swim team, we all support each oth- er, whether that means cheer- ing at the end of lanes, help- ing each other through a hard practice, or just chatting with someone when they’ve had a bad day. I got into swimming when I was eight as a last resort. I had tried tee ball and soccer, but I quickly realized that anything with running was off the table. Being the sugar-loving 7 year- learn how to spar, which is fighting with some gear on. I have learned not only great martial arts skills but also a lot about goal setting and leadership. 5. What is your personal goal for karate? I am currently working to- wards my goal of earning my third degree black belt, which requires three more years of training added onto the five for second degree. After rig- orous training every weekend for three months preceding my test, I will earn my third degree black belt in the fall of 2018.

old I was, my mother decided I had to do something to keep in shape and signed me up for the YMCA swim team. I start- ed with a week long trial and boy, was that a mistake. Ev- ery day I would go and swim for an hour and a half, which was not easy when the longest I had ever swam by myself was down the pool once at swim lessons. Even though I wanted to quit, I kept with it, because my mom wanted me to. After three or four years

of complaining and tantrums accompanying any practice, I started to really enjoy swim- ming. Now it is one of the big- gest parts of my life. This year both the JV and Varsity teams have seen great improvement. Ruthe is work- ing hard with the JV team to improve their starts while Ja- mie is putting more focus on weights and endurance for Varsity. With all the hard work happening this year, our team is stronger than ever and we

Meet the athletes of the month

By Maddie Clark

Annika Rossebo - Karate - Sophomore 1. How did you get into karate?

Nick Smidt - Soccer - Senior 1. How did you get in- volved in soccer? 4. What do you love most about soccer?

I got into karate because my younger brother had start- ed, and I thought it might be fun, so I joined too. I knew I wanted to continue after my first class. 2. How often do you train for karate? I train two to four times a week. Every three months, I have to pass a test to move on to the next rank.

I’ve been involved since I was four at the Appleton Soc- cer Club, and I’ve been play- ing ever since. 2. What is your position that you play? I play center defensive mid, which means that I run up and down the field to both attack as well as defend. 3. What are some of your personal and team goals for soccer? I have two major goals re- ally, one of them personal and the other in regards to the team as a whole. My personal goal is to pass the ball around as much as possible and give them as many chances to score. As for my team goal, I believe we can win confer- ence again as we did last year. Although we lost many start- ers last year, I believe we can do even better by playing as a team and including every- body to achieve a team win.

Annika Rossebo. Photo cour- tesy of Annika Rossebo

3. What belt are you?

I am a second degree black belt which required five years of training.

4. Why do you do karate?

I do karate because it chal- lenges me and is a unique sport. There are so many dif- ferent things I have trained for, ranging from self defense to forms, which is a compli- cated series of movements, to weapons such as nunchucks, kamas, and bo staff. We also

Nick Smidt. Photo courtesy of Nick Smidt