Left: Clenching his fists, junior Don Thornton waits for the play to begin.(Amelia Raziq)
Right: Junior Amelia Raziq taps the base to help herself focus for the pitch. (Addison Yeaton)
Junior Amelia Raziq – Varsity Softball.
Q: What position do you play for high school?
Raziq: I pitch and play first and third.
Q: When did you start playing softball?
Raziq: I started playing probably when I was around four or five, which is when you start off with t-ball. And then gradually, as I got older, I started to get a lot more competitive with it.
Q: What’s made you stick with it after all these years?
Raziq: I love this sport, and I’ve been around people who make me love it, and I never lost love for it. I just set goals for myself and continue to strive for more, which I think keeps my love for the game going.
Q: What kind of challenges have you faced as a high school student-athlete?
Raziq: A lot of injuries, which can be hard because you still have to keep your grades up, and you still have to go to all this stuff while you’re injured and still support your team and everything. Then staying on top of my work would be the biggest [problem] because you have seven classes, and then after that, you have practice until 5:30 or 6 o’clock, and then I have a job, so it just doesn’t leave a lot of free time to do a lot of other things.
Q: What’s been the greatest moment of your season so far?
Raziq: Probably beating a state record and also tying one and then breaking the high school homerun record.
Q: What were the records that you beat and tied for state?
Raziq: For state, I tied most home runs hit in a game with four, and then I broke home runs hit in an inning with two.
Q: If you met somebody who had never heard of softball, how would you describe it to them?
Raziq: I’d probably describe it as demanding. Demanding, but it’s also really fulfilling. It’s a game of failure. You fail more than you succeed, but you get in what you put out. If you go to practice and you work hard and you play like you do in a game, you’re gonna get the results you want. If you go to practice and mess around, you’re not going to get the results you want. So I think it’s very much a give and take.
Q: What makes you a great player?
Raziq: Probably my work ethic. I am almost always the first one at the field and the last one to leave. I truly believe that the more reps you take and get to as close to perfection as you can with all of your techniques and everything, then you will never reach perfection, but you will always be right there.
Q: How has softball changed who you are?
Raziq: I think it’s made me a better person. In the game, you fail more than you succeed, but you still have to be there for your teammates. You’ll strike out, but then your teammate comes up to bat and hits a home run. It’s not a good look if you’re just sulking and pouting. It’s very much a team sport. So it shows you that even when you don’t succeed, you still need to be happy for others and be there for them. I think it’s made me a better person and made me realize, especially as I got older, that there’s so much more going on in the world than just yourself.
Junior Amelia Raziq hits the ball down the right baseline. Getting a double, she celebrated as she hit the team’s double celebration. (Ava Breuer)
Don Thornton – Varsity Football
Q: What position do you play?
Thornton: Wide receiver.
Q: When did you start playing football?
Thornton: In preschool.
Q: Why did you start?
Thornton: It was a family thing, everybody in my family played sports.
Q: What has kept you sticking with football after all these years?
Thornton: Just wanting to be better. That’s what keeps me in it, I want to be better.
Q: As a high school student-athlete, what challenges have you faced?
Thornton: Time management. With football and school, sometimes it gets stressful. Just managing your time, wanting to do everything for football, but having to know you can’t do that, you got to do your work.
Q: What’s been the greatest moment of your football season so far?
Thornton: Just seeing that I make an impact. This last game, with me getting the ball and [changing] the flow of the game because of how I started the game, it just kept everybody going.
Q: What do you think is the biggest contribution to the team?
Thornton: Energy. I make people want to stay on the team.
Q: What makes you a great player individually?
Thornton: My work ethic, just wanting to be better than the person that’s on the other side of the ball.
Q: How has football affected your life and who you are?
Thornton: It’s made me be resilient. I always get up and keep fighting.
Before the game begins, junior Don Thornton stands next to his little brother who is a Junior Spartan over at Saeger. The Junior Spartans stood next to the team on the sidelines and helped keep the team hydrated. (Audrey Webb)
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