As the Groves’ class of 2024 near the end of their highschool careers, they’re also leaving their beloved sports behind. Grove’s athletes play a large role in the school community, and as we prepare to send off our seniors, we want to highlight their emotions on not only leaving their school, but their sports as well. Each of these athletes have impacted our athletic community immensely with their determination and perseverance. We wish them all the best no matter if they continue their sports in the future or spend their last few weeks playing for Groves.

Alyssa Wooldridge, swimmer and water polo player, has been doing both of these sports for the entirety of her high school career. 

“My interest came from my mom. She grew up swimming and I honestly stuck with it,” Wooldridge said. 

From her enjoyment of swimming, she became interested in polo from her teammates and has continued to stick with it throughout highschool. 

“Most of the girls on the swim team did it and they encouraged me to do it too,” Wooldridge said. 

Although she loved doing both of her sports, it was often difficult for her to balance the sports with her school life, as it is for most student athletes. She feels as if everyone should find a way to balance sports and school in a way that works well for them.

“The hardest part of sticking with swimming and water polo was having mental toughness,” Wooldridge said. 

She wants her team and future swimmers and water polo players to stick with it and let themselves have fun. As the water polo season comes to an end, she has loved her time on Groves’ sports teams, especially with the friends she has made and the experience it has provided for her. 

“The connections I have made with the people on the team were the highlight of doing sports at Groves,” Wooldridge said. 

Once she graduates, Wooldridge will be missed in the pool.

On the slopes and the diamond, skier and baseball player, Daniel Fisher, loved doing his sports here at Groves.

“Being able to be with my friends everyday and making it to states for the ski team were my favorite aspects of playing school sports,” Fisher said. 

As he progresses through his last sports season, he had many moments that improved his seasons. Although the most difficult part of being a student athlete for Fisher has been playing time, he wants athletes who struggle with a similar issue to know to push through it no matter what.

“Stick with it even if it’s frustrating and you’re not doing good, just keep playing,” Fisher said. 

He will soon be missed as the baseball season comes to a close along with the school year.

Lexi Heller has played volleyball and softball for all four years of high school. She began her softball career in kindergarten and her volleyball career in middle school and has stuck with it since.

“What I’ll miss most about my sport is my teammates because all the teams I have been on have been so fun,” Heller said. 

She will miss her friends she has made along the way the most when she graduates because playing sports with her friends has made the sport so much better for her. Throughout her years of Groves sports, she had multiple aspects that she had been immensely proud of.

“Learning that I had made varsity softball as a sophomore was my highlight of playing sports here at Groves because I was so proud of myself for accomplishing that and getting to learn to play a new position that year,” Heller said. 

As she progressed and got better, Heller felt proud of herself for the progress she has made. The intensity of sports teams causes many student athletes to be stressed during the school year.

“Balancing sports with school and everything going on in my life was one of the most difficult aspects of being a student athlete,” Heller said. 

Although it was extremely difficult balancing sports and school, playing sports allowed her to focus on something other than academics.

“Sports also let me relieve stress and have a break from life which is a big reason why I’ve stuck with it,” Heller said. 

As the final few weeks of Groves softball go by, she wants future athletes and her team to try their best. 

“Put in your best effort but have fun with your sport and don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” Heller said. 

Heller has been an important aspect to the Groves community and will be missed on both the court and field.

Swimmer, Gus MacDonald, has been swimming since around six years old and continued with it because he enjoyed winning, he has now progressed into a state champion. The highlight of his highschool swim career was indeed winning the state championship. 

“Winning states was a difficult process, we were down 36 points at the start of the meet, which is a ton and we made it back up so that was really exciting and ended up winning by one point in the end,” MacDonald said. 

Although MacDonald is continuing to swim at both Notre Dame and club teams to train for the Olympic Trials this summer, he said he will miss the team connection the most; 

“Swimming is usually an individual sport, you don’t get that kind of team bonding on a normal club team, it’s something that only highschool swim has,” MacDonald said. 

He will find himself mostly missing that aspect of Groves swim. Despite going to the Olympic Trials this summer, MacDonald, similarly to most athletes, finds having to go to practice everyday the most difficult part of the sport. 

“There’s nights where my friends want to hang out or something but I have swim practice so it’s always really tough to balance the social aspect and training,” MacDonald said. 

He has continued to stick with it throughout high school, working through the challenges. As he progresses to swimming in college, he wants his teammates and future athletes to try their hardest and find the good in it, even though it can be extremely challenging both mentally and physically.

“Just have fun with it, it’s a really tough sport, a lot of people quit because it’s really tough mentally and physically but it’s a really fun sport and will take you very far,” MacDonald said. 

Even though MacDonald will no longer be part of the Emerald Tide, he will soon do great things during Olympic Trials and at Notre Dame for his swim career.

On behalf of all the sports teams at Groves, we wish our many senior athletes the best of luck for their near future whether they continue their sports or focus on academics.