Oak Park High School has 11 fall sports, five winter sports and 11 spring sports available for the 2024-2025 school year. With such a large number of sports offered, it makes sense that there are practically always new players on each team. These first-year athletes are faced with a ton of hurdles; from learning brand new skills to making friends, starting a sport is anything but easy.
Despite the challenges, there remain a handful of students who continue to rise to the occasion on their teams. One of these athletes is sophomore Sophia Casella, who was inspired to join the girls flag football team.
“She… has been a tremendous asset this season,” girls flag football head coach Shawn Alikian wrote to the Talon.
Learning all of the rules was daunting, but overall she was able to manage the transition into her new sport because of the help she received from her friends on the team.
“[My friends] were telling me how fun it was… so I decided to try it out and now I really enjoy it,” Casella said.
The team as a whole has also been working hard. They are strong in their runs and catching, so this year they are prioritizing long passes for the offense and defending against them for defense.
“She has good footwork and is strongest in running during offense,” sophomore Shaila Esparza said.
With a village of people behind her, Casella has already managed to become an integral part of the team. As a starter on the team, she will continue to hone her skills.
“They are really supportive, helping me learn through the process,” Casella said. “And also [the] seniors.”
Boys cross country also has some talented newcomers. Among these is freshman JJ Lew, who is the fastest freshman on the team, despite having never run cross country before.
Lew has finished in first place in every frosh race he’s run, and he placed 4th overall in varsity as well. His times are revealing of his experience with other sports. In fact, Lew joined cross country for a completely separate reason from running.
“I wanted to train for triathlons,” Lew said. “I was previously a swimmer and I still do cross-country mountain biking.”
Lew also enjoys the intense ups and downs of the sport. While he enjoys the team environment, he also prioritizes pushing himself.
“My favorite days are the hills,” Lew said. “I really enjoy the hard runs.”
Although he came into the sport with prior athletic experience, that doesn’t take away from the effort he puts into his runs every day. Fellow freshman Jaiden Chan can attest to this.
“JJ’s the fastest freshman I know,” Chan said. “He trains hard and works even harder during races.”
Lew has set blazing times, running 3 miles at a 5:14 pace, and has made consistent improvements throughout the season. Even though this is his first year doing cross country, he is already the fastest freshman in team history for both the three-mile and one-and-a-half-mile races.
While both Casella and Lew are new to their respective sports, they’ve shown that hard work and dedication are far more important than prior experience. These first-year athletes are shining examples of how putting in the work practically guarantees results.
