by Breshna Wardak
Park View High School’s senior swim athlete Carson Stevens led the Park View swim team to victory, by meeting his goal for the 100M breaststroke. Stevens has had lots of experience since he started at a young age and started playing competitively since he was eight years old. Stevens has a lot of confidence and knew he was going to beat the people he was against, so he mentally visualized winning and did the best he could to win. “My teammates are the most supportive group of people I have involved myself with and the team experience is always good,” said Stevens.
Coach Brittney Tinnell is the head coach of Park View’s swim team and has been coaching the team since last year. “He’s always had very strong leadership skills as captain of the team, and he is always capable of any event,” said Tinnell. She noticed that each member of the team improves each year. “The main reason why I love coaching the team is that they’re respectful and hard workers. Whenever something doesn’t go their way, they know exactly how to turn it around and make it better,” said Tinnell.
Sophomore Kyle Johnson is a fellow teammate and close friend of Stevens since the season started, that went to states. Johnson made 9th place in the 100 fly and 10th place in the 200 IM. Johnson and Stevens are close friends. “The feeling knowing that you have got this far with your friends is a different feeling- a good feeling,” said Johnson. Stevens and Johnson have been close since they both participates in the swim team. “Carson is a helpful teammate, and it’s always a good time around him,” said Johnson, who started swimming when he was five has since enjoyed swimming because of how different it was compared to other sports.
Park View’s Senior Kelly Harrington, won 23rd place at states on the balance beam on Saturday, February 17. Harrington believes she is very qualified for the sport and has been participating in gymnastics for 10 years. “It feels like you are flying, and you do things that most people can’t do,” said Harrington.
One of Harrington’s helpful mentor is her Coach Kaitlyn Simmons, who also did gymnastics when she was in high school which inspired her to coach later. Most gymnasts on the team are new to the sport; Harrington is one of the few who has been participating in gymnastics since a young age. “Last year, Kelly only qualified for regionals on vault. This year, she focused on cleaning up her routines, making a few adjustments to increase her scores and that hard work paid off. I know next year will be even better,” said Simmons
Wrestling Athlete Kyle Seymour won 12th place for the final 16 wrestlers in his weight category. Seymour has been wrestling for four years and has been trying to adjust to the sport as best as he can. “I’m new to the sport… it’s really rare for people to start late and get this far, so I’m pretty lucky,” said Seymour.
