Sophomore Connor Grant: I'm Connor,
Sophomore Patrick May: I'm Patrick
Junior Owen Ulmer: and I’m Owen. This is Athletes of West, where we talk to athletes and we can let them share their stories.
May:...
Friday night lights sparkling bright, senior Josie Grunzinger lined up with the field goal. Her foot swung into the ball, sending it spiraling through the air and flying through the goal. Grunzinger had...
Feet stomping. Hands clapping. Arms rolling. “Everybody rumble!” The fan favorite cheer, dubbed the ‘Longhorn Rumble,’ echoes through the air during a fall football weekend where the Longhorns...
“To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” This quote by Dr. Seuss has stuck with senior Eileen Meara as one of her favorite sayings. The 17-year-old was one of several...
Blinding lights, packed stadiums and screaming students, alumni Ja’Marion Wayne, Tre Bell and Seth Young enter a new era of their lives. After retiring their red, white and Columbia blue West uniforms,...
“I wanted to play varsity so bad that over the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I gained 50 pounds. I was hoping that I was big enough to play varsity. As soon as I found out, I went home...
![Senior Josie Grunzinger watches the football game intently from the sidelines on Oct. 18. Grunzinger stood out to the crowd as the only girl on the football team, encouraging other girls who want to play football to take a chance and go for a sport outside of their comfort zone. “If you think you could [play football] and you want to do it, just try it, because all it takes is to actually try it out,” Grunzinger said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Untitled-design-1200x675.png)
![“At one point, I would love to have people look up to me and [allow myself to] be really good at sports. One day [I’d like to] be as good as [my brother, senior] Lukas Peterson. A couple days ago, I had a football game and [freshman quarter-back] Tanner Hickert threw me a pass and I caught it at the 30 yard line and ran. [I] almost ran it in the end zone, but I stopped because I heard someone behind me. I really regret that because I could have scored, and if we [had] scored, we would have been only down by three. We still lost in the end, but I feel like if we scored, our [enthusiasm] would [have been] up more. I love football and winning is just a good feeling. Obviously, you don't want to lose, and I'm competitive, [but] football is just a great sport. Hopefully [in the future], I'll pursue it and play in college.” - Jack Peterson, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC0003-Tomas-Gumpel-1200x800.jpg)
![“I started [cheering] 10 years [ago and] I would do camps as a kid. I really like cheering at ‘Friday night lights’ [football games] and getting the student section hyped up. Tryouts were really stressful because my sports overlapped each other so I spent a lot of time at home practicing. Learning the material took four days, and then [the] actual tryouts were only maybe an hour [long. My favorite memory] from the season so far is my first Friday night lights game. [Cheer has taught me] that hard work pays off and I'd [tell someone who’s considering trying out] that it's really fun if you put in the work. You need to believe that you can do good and if you put in the work, then [the results] will turn out better than you expect.”- Emily Jordan, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/DSC_6874-Payton-Dean-1200x798.jpg)
![“I have been playing football for a long time and have enjoyed it. This year especially, I had so much fun. I was very happy when I made varsity because freshmen don't usually make the team [their first year of high school.] I love being around the guys [on the team] and I am going to miss the senior [mentors] next year. I will never forget the impact the seniors and Coach Duncan had on me. It was not only a team, it was a family. I felt like I belonged.” - Ethan Bain, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_7636-1200x800.jpeg)
![“I’m proud of being a captain of the varsity football team. I've always wanted to be a really good football player, especially after we win a football game. I don't know what makes football so special to me, but I’ve played it my whole life. There's just something [special] about being on a football team. It's just not like any other sport. Everyone has to do their part [in being a part of the team]. There's no one that can be a standout player and just carry a team to victory. Everybody has to be one team. My dad is really important. He knows a lot about football and helps me. He also just keeps me in-check and so I work hard for him. There is a golf tournament fundraiser coming up for him to raise more money. He has ALS so he is in a wheelchair and it's basically just trying to make up money to help [him with his condition]. My friends are also a big part of my life. They're just always there for me when I need them. I feel like it [applies] for me too. Whenever I tore my ACL they were so kind to me. It helped me feel better. Last year's second game of football season was when I tore my ACL, and now I'm totally good. I mean, it definitely had setbacks, but I feel like I came back strong.” - Carson Rakers, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/pasted-image-0.png)
![On Friday, a night full of celebration kicked off in a flood of green in honor of former 2023 graduate Jaydon Woodall. Athletics director Jeff Taggart took the night as a moment to reflect on Woodall and the impact he made. “The fact that we have that option to bring more awareness to [organ donation] and how we can save somebody else's life down the road, to the idea of being an organ donor like [Woodall] is worth everything. Coming together as a community says a lot about how much he means to us,” Taggart said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/image1-1200x800.png)
![Before beginning their college football journey, alumni Ja’Marion Wayne and Tre Bell smile after one of their final rides together. The athletes kept in contact and encouraged and inspired each other along their new paths. “I miss everything about high school football. I wish I had another year to play with [alumni] Ja’marion Wayne, Seth Young, Tyree Simms and [senior] Phillip Jordan and [junior] Trent Livingston. I miss all of my guys and playing in front of a student section where you know every kid. It isn’t something you get in college,” Bell said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/uno-e1668799318454.jpeg)
