by Kennedy Laurdisen and Brandon McKonkey

Everyone knows about football, basketball, wrestling, volleyball, track, and cross country; but some students at AHS do some different sports some may not know about.

Junior Christen Hitz has tons of fun playing korbball in her hometown in Germany.  Korbball is a sport similar to basketball, but with different rules.  There is no backboard, just the basket.  You can not dribble, you just get six steps before you have to throw or shoot.  You can play outside or inside, and if you play inside you can have only five players on a team, but if you play outside you can have up to seven players.  Hitz started playing korbball when she was in first grade because it was the only sport she could do in her hometown, and all of her friends played.  She loves this sport because she gets to spend time with her friends.  Her influences for playing korbball are her two coaches and her friends.

Sophomore Max Elwood is a “closet curler.”  He starting curling when he was in 6th grade because he thought it sounded fun.  Elwood said you need “a lot of forearm strength to play.”  He curls in Des Moines.  Elwood’s favorite part of curling is the people that play.  Sophomore Robert Hitch has influenced him greatly in playing this sport.  

Senior Collin Baker loves playing frisbee golf because it’s a slow paced sport.  Baker said it takes “a lot of skill and you must be incredibly athletic to be able to throw a frisbee.”  He started playing in eighth grade because he thought it was a fun sport to play.  Baker plays with his friends at Sunnyside Park.  Senior Tristen Benn has influenced and shown him the love for the sport.

Spanish teacher Daniel Vargason loves to participate in marathon running.  Vargason runs 26.2 miles, and he said many people struggle to realize all marathons are the same length.  He ran his first marathon in 2010 and has been to many different places to run these marathons, such as Chicago, Des Moines, St Louis, Oletha, and Lacrosse.  One day, he decided he wanted to try running marathons with is friends. Vargason loves challenging himself, and loves the mental games that come with running marathons.

Freshmen Cooper McDermott finds enjoyment in playing hockey.  He plays hockey through a league in Omaha. He started when he was just four years old.  McDermott thinks the sport is very fun but said it is “very tough.”  One day, his dad took him to the rink, and that is where he fell in love.  McDermott’s favorite part of the sport is winning, and he finds inspiration in the great players that play hockey.  

Sophomore Bailey Schildberg finds hunting to be “extremely fun.”  She started hunting when she was seven years old.  Schildberg started because her dad used to go with his dad and she wanted to give it a try.  She hunts anywhere within Adair county.  Her favorite part of hunting is the adrenaline rush she gets after shooting an animal.  Schildberg’s dad influences her greatly with this sport.  She wants everyone to know that you have to take hunter safety before you begin and you “shouldn’t kill things just to kill things.”

Senior Reid Nichols has followed out his childhood dream of becoming a bullrider.  He started riding the summer after his freshman year.  Nichols practices at the pin just 4 miles from his house.  His favorite part of riding is his the adrenaline rush when he starts riding.  Nichols is influenced greatly by his coach Gary Lefew.  He said riding is “a lot more complicated than it looks.”

Senior Zach Brooks doesn’t just play soccer for the school, he also loves playing indoor soccer in Omaha at the OFC complex.  Brooks started when he was in eighth grade.  He started playing because his regular soccer coach told him to come play for the Omaha team.  His favorite part of playing the sport is “winning and taking kids out.”

Sophomore Sam Coder doesn’t just like playing video games for fun, he also plays them competitively.  Coder said it takes a lot more concentration than playing games casually.  He started playing competitively in seventh grade with his brothers.  He then grew rivalries with his brothers, where he then figured out he was the best of all of them.  Coder likes video games because he can have more fun playing them then other sports.

Senior Chandler Staley is an amazing dancer.  He said, “If dancing is something you want to do, you’re going to have to work hard at it.”  He started when he was just in fifth grade.  Staley goes to Villa Dance here in Atlantic.  He went to Villa with his friend for fun once and fell in love.  Staley’s favorite part is “being able to get away and do something you’re good at and something you love.”