By Macie Rummel and Grace Regnier

Batavia High School has many sports with multiple levels for each sport. Making the highest level of each sport which is varsity, takes a large amount of talent, time, skill and determination. This week The Spectator took some time out of their days to talk to some of the freshmen that have the determination and skill to make it up to the varsity level, and find out how they did it.

There are not that many people who had enough self-driven determination to make a varsity team while only being a freshman, and it always has to be taken into account there are many students trying to make a team and anyone in any grade can make varsity so there is a lot of competition.

The Spectator talked to cross-country runner, Katrina Schlenker about her successes and how she got to the point of the where she is at in her running career thus far. “Getting to varsity took a lot of practice and it was not all fun or easy, it required hard work and focus,” said Schlenker After further talking to her, The Spectator found out what it took to get on Varsity. “4:59 mile, 10:47 2 mile, and my 3 mile was 17:20,” Schlenker said.

The Spectator also interviewed tennis player Bella Lins. “Making varsity took a lot of working hard at sprinting, groundstrokes, and overall just doing my best at everything,” Lins said. Even with playing tennis for five years, Lins told The Spectator making varsity did not come easily and it certainly took a lot of work and time, and support from her friends and family.

Making varsity for any sport takes a lot of hard work and persistence.

At Batavia High School, the coaches are in support of their player success and notice how they play and their strong and weak points. The Spectator asked volleyball coach McKenna Kelsay how she felt about her players, specifically freshman Kyra Taylor. ¨Her ability to get up and snap on the ball impressed me because it is very unique,” Kelsay said. Kelsay had also mentioned how positive Taylor is and how she is always cheering on her teammates when she’s on and off the court.

What The Spectator noticed from the interviews was that making a varsity team is hard in general but very hard as a freshman. A repetitive answer to what it took to make the varsity team was hearing how much practice it took and how dedicated they were to their sport. Practice and their sport were put above everything else. Another thing that helped them focus and not get tired of constant practice was having a passion and long history with their sport. When they had a passion for their sport it encouraged them to do better and want to achieve more.