Q: When did you start playing tennis? 

Castille: In eighth grade.

Q: What made you want to start?

Castille: One day, my mom and sisters went to Goodwill, and got tennis rackets and we went to the courts and I fell in love instantly.

Q: What made you stick with it?

Castille: It’s a unique sport, because it’s endurance, but it’s also a lot of strategy. And I really like how there’s many playing styles that are different for everyone.

Q: What challenges have you faced as a high school student athlete? 

Castille: Definitely my scheduling, I get really busy with practices.

Q: What’s been the greatest moment of your season so far?

Castille: My favorite memory has to be finding out I got Athlete of the Month, because it’s a really good achievement. I’ve seen a bunch of people get it, but I never thought I was good enough to get it until I found out that I actually got it. 

Q: If you met someone who had never heard of tennis, how would you describe it to them?

Castille: I would say it’s just big ping pong. 

Q: What makes you a great player individually? 

Castille: Individually, I never give up on the ball and always try to implement strategies and move my opponent around.

Q: What about as a teammate? 

Castille: As a teammate, I always try to keep my teammates in their correct head space and stop them from getting mad and I set them up for good shots.

Q: Has tennis changed your life?

Castille: It’s made me a lot more healthy and a lot more happy.

Q: What position do you play?

Schweitzer: Attack. 

Q: When did you start playing lacrosse?

Schweitzer: I started playing lacrosse my freshman year. 

Q: What made you start?

Schweitzer: I just got really involved in school, because before, I was just in choir, and it wasn’t really serious yet. So I wanted to do something fun. And I knew a junior who was in lacrosse, and she really was like, Oh, it’s so fun. You’ll have so many friends, and it’s really not that serious. Which was like, Oh, thank goodness, because I hadn’t played a sport in a while, so I wanted to make sure whatever sport I did get into wasn’t a high commitment sport, and it wasn’t like everyone was already pros. So I started doing preseason and I liked it a lot, and I liked being able to exercise, but have fun with it. And then I also had a friend who was planning on trying that as well, so I did all the preseason stuff with her, and it was like a really big bonding experience.

Q: What made you stick with it?

Schweitzer: Honestly? What made me stick with it was I was kind of good at it, and it kind of threw me for a loop, because I was never considered athletic in my family, since my brothers were really sleep, breathe, eat, soccer, and they were really good, and I just wasn’t that good. But then when I started playing lacrosse, I realized that I actually had a lot of athletic ability that I was just not using. So after my C team year, I decided that I wanted to actually try harder and commit myself to the craft.

Q: What challenges have you faced as a high school student athlete?

Schweitzer: Comparing myself to the other people on my team because I never played club. I just played high school, and so a lot of players played clubs, so they were advancing faster than I was, but I wouldn’t say that it necessarily put me in a lower position than them. I feel like I still was able to keep up, but I really did compare myself when they were doing things that I wasn’t able to do yet, but I had to remember that I have a lot more going for myself. And lacrosse wasn’t my whole life.

Q: Do you struggle to balance schoolwork and athletics?

Schweitzer: I think, yes, I think every season I’ve ever played, my academics definitely took a bit of a toll. But my coaches were always like you’re student first, athlete second. So we had a lot of support, and everyone on our team was really smart. So if I ever needed help with, like, academic help, everyone there had some type of niche, so I would go to them for help, but I would say my grades did take a little bit of a dip during the season, but I was able to get it back. In the long run. 

Q: What’s been the greatest moment of your season so far this season? 

Schweitzer: I think the greatest moment of my season this far is just looking at how far I’ve come. Like seeing my name on the stats boards, because I started from literally nothing, and I got really good with just doing high school. So before I took my little tumble and broke my arm, I was number 15 on St Louis stats for goals per game, which was lit. I averaged 3.2 per game, and I ended my season a little early, but I ended it with 23 goals, which was almost as much as I got my whole JV season.

Q: If you met someone who had never heard of lacrosse, how would you describe it for them? Schweitzer: This actually happens every day. So if I met someone who didn’t know what lacrosse was normally, I would say it’s hockey in the air, or soccer with sticks. It’s really easily comparable to any sport.

Q: What makes you a good player individually?

Schweitzer: Individually, what makes me a good player is that I’m just there for the fun, and I’m very uplifting to my fellow teammates. I think if you ask anyone, I’m probably the person that’s making everyone laugh and trying to remind them that this is just a sport

Q: What about as a teammate?

Schweitzer: What makes me special as a teammate is I always celebrate everyone’s individual goals, like if a defender gets the ball on defense. I’m like, cheering them on. If one of my attackers gets a goal and they haven’t gotten one in a while, I’m always the first one to cheer. If Raena gets something on the draw, I’m always the one there to, like, celebrate it. I always celebrate even the little things. Y

Q: Has lacrosse changed who you are?

Schweitzer:  100%. I’m a completely different person when it’s seasoned and versus when it’s not seasoned. Whenever I’m playing lacrosse, I think the community that I have around me reminds me that,