Spring 2025-2026
Samantha Pietrzyk
Grade: 12
Sport: Varsity Softball
Q: If you are planning to play your sport in college, where are you playing? Why did you choose that program? What are your college athletic goals?
A: I’m not playing softball for the main team of The University of Pittsburgh, I will be playing on REC teams that are associated with PITT, due to focusing on my studies and my injury. My goal is to have fun and make friends in a sport that I have been surrounded by my whole life.
Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions? (Music, snacks, habits, etc)
A: I have a favorite hair tie that I always put in my hair or on my wrist.
Q: What do you do to calm your butterflies?
A: I listen to music and I try and find my safe space and practice breathing calmly, it sounds silly, but it actually works
Q: What is your favorite sport moment (from your sport)? And why?
A: my favorite sport moment was making it to the WPIAL finals sophomore year and getting to experience playing with some of the best of the best.
Q: Who or what inspires you to play your sport?
A: My mom and dad. They push me and encourage me to do what I love. They will always support me no matter what.
Q: What are one or two things you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
A: I’m currently on recovery from tearing my ACL, so I take it day by day, step by step. I practice going through all of my motions slowly, and focus on correcting my form, before doing it at full strength.
Q: Who is your biggest rival/competition and why
A: I honestly don’t have one, my biggest competition is myself and pushing myself to my goals
Q: Do you have a saying or motto that you live by?
A: don’t regret living the life of the party! You only live once
Q: What do you think your greatest accomplishment in your sport?
A: my greatest accomplishment in my sport is achieving my goals step by step slow and steady without giving up. My biggest accomplishment is my perseverance through my injury and not letting it make me give up.
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
A: You miss every opportunity you don’t take
Q: What is the biggest key to your team’s success
A: Teamwork, communication, building each other up, and having each other‘s backs
Q: What is your pregame musical choice and why?
A: Anything upbeat like Lil Tecca, Don Toliver, YoungBoy and Trippie Redd
Jillian Ryba
Grade: 11
Sport: Cross Country & Track
Q: If you are planning to play your sport in college, where are you playing? Why did you choose that program? What are your college athletic goals?
A: I do plan on joining a college XC/track team, but since I am still a junior, I have not selected the college yet. My college athletic goals will be to improve my times, join into a welcoming community, and make lifelong friendships with my teammates.
Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions? (Music, snacks, habits, etc)
A: I always eat pasta the night before a meet and eat an Uncrustable before my race.
Q: What do you do to calm your butterflies?
A: I usually listen to music, especially Noah Kahan, Brenn, and Gracie Abrams.
Q: What is your favorite sport moment (from your sport)? And why?
A: My favorite sport moment was when we won states for cross country because I felt like all of our extra work in the summer really paid off, and it was such an exciting time.
Q: Who or what inspires you to play your sport?
A: My dad was the one who got me into running, as he ran several marathons and races among the years, but I am also inspired by my teammates and those around me.
Q: What are one or two things you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
A: I do a lot of cross training when we have little blocks of training where I think it is helpful. I also try to take it day by day and not worry too much about tomorrow’s workout because there is enough to worry about for today.
Q: Who is your biggest rival/competition and why
A: This might be a weird answer, but I think my biggest competition is myself because if I can get out of my head and lock in for a race, I usually am more successful than when I stress about it.
Q: Do you have a saying or motto that you live by?
A: You can’t always be the fastest or the strongest in the room, but you can always be the hardest worker.
Q: What do you think your greatest accomplishment in your sport?
A: Either WPIAL/State Champs in Cross Country or medaling at the indoor state meet in the DMR this year
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
A: Progress is not linear, and before big meets, “The hay is in the barn.”
Q: What is the biggest key to your team’s success
A: I think our collaboration and love for each other is the biggest key to our success, along with our determination and refusal to give up even when it gets difficult.
Q: What is your pregame musical choice and why?
A: Noah Kahan is my favorite singer to listen to before meets because he has such a calming aspect of his voice and actions. I try not to listen to “pump up” music, as I find it only makes me more stressed, but soft songs allow me to relax.
Joe Cramer
Grade: 12
Sport: Track and Field
Q: If you are planning to play your sport in college, where are you playing? Why did you choose that program? What are your college athletic goals?
A: I am not planning to run in college.
Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions? (Music, snacks, habits, etc)
A: I always eat two bananas, then take a quick nap.
Q: What do you do to calm your butterflies?
A: I like to think about what I’m going to do after the race is over. Like eat food and sleep.
Q: What is your favorite sport moment (from your sport)? And why?
A: My favorite sports moment was probably spending the last days of school at the state meet for track and field. Most notably when Jerry told a girl he liked her tan lines.
Q: Who or what inspires you to play your sport?
A: Nothing really inspires me, but I do just like the challenge of getting better everyday.
Q: What are one or two things you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
A: Working hard even on the hard workout days, and competition with my teammates.
Q: Who is your biggest rival/competition and why
A: My biggest rival is my friend Jeremiah. We compete at practice daily to make each other better.
Q: Do you have a saying or motto that you live by?
A: “Always get back up”
Q: What do you think your greatest accomplishment in your sport?
A: Right now I believe that my greatest accomplishment is coming back from a bad knee injury and continuing to PR.
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
A: To always keep trying even when times get tough.
Q: What is the biggest key to your team’s success
A: I think the our competitiveness with each other is why we continue to preform so well.
Q: What is your pregame musical choice and why?
A: I like to listen to Lil Uzi Vert, or rock.
Christian Reiter
Grade: 11
Sport: Boys Volleyball
Q: If you are planning to play your sport in college, where are you playing? Why did you choose that program? What are your college athletic goals?
A: I don’t plan on playing collegent level volleyball in college, but I do plan on playing club volleyball. I want to focus on my academics first and volleyball second.
Q: Who or what inspires you to play your sport?
A: My mother and sister first inspired me to play, but now I’m inspired by my past upperclassmen who I want to be as good as or even better.
Q: What are one or two things you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
A: Defence and ball to hand contact are extremely important and are focused on in practice a ton.
Q: Who is your biggest rival/competition and why
A: This year, our biggest rival is Hempfield or Penn Trafford. They have been rivals to Norwin for a long time, and this year it’s no different.
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
A: The best advice I was ever given was “What’s the point of a mistake if your going to make it again?” This inspires me to work hard and to learn from my mistakes and not make them a habit.
Q: What is your pregame musical choice and why?
A: My pregame music choice is “love.” By kid Cudi.
Owen Fonzi
Grade: 11
Sport: Volleyball
Q: If you are planning to play your sport in college, where are you playing? Why did you choose that program? What are your college athletic goals?
A: I am currently talking to the coach at Washington & Jefferson College, but I am still undecided. I would really like to strive to be a good college athlete by working hard to get a starting spot on the team.
Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions? (Music, snacks, habits, etc)
A: I always like to listen to some music and take some time to warmup alone to focus.
Q: What do you do to calm your butterflies?
A: I take deep breaths
Q: What is your favorite sport moment (from your sport)? And why?
A: My favorite moment was lettering as a freshman because I was the only one on my team to do it with a team full of skilled seniors
Q: Who or what inspires you to play your sport?
A: My family really inspires me. My mom and dad used to play, and my sister is on the club team at Pitt. They push me to do my best.
Q: What are one or two things you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
A: I think recovery is a huge part. I find it very important to keep my body feeling strong for my next practice or game
Q: Who is your biggest rival/competition and why
A: Penn Trafford is our rival for sure. We had heated games my freshman year, so it naturally carried on to us.
Q: Do you have a saying or motto that you live by?
A: Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).
Q: What do you think your greatest accomplishment in your sport?
A: Playing varsity as a freshman.
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
A: My coaches and parents tell me that I need to be a leader for my time. My actions and posture influence them, so it is important that I be a good role model for my teammates
Q: What is the biggest key to your team’s success
A: Working together and uplifting each other after a bad play.
Q: What is your pregame musical choice and why?
A: I like to listen to some soft rap like J.Cole to keep me calm and focused.
Gia Fernandez
Grade: 12
Sport: Girls lacrosse
Q: If you are planning to play your sport in college, where are you playing? Why did you choose that program? What are your college athletic goals?
A: I am playing D2 lacrosse at Caldwell University in NJ. I chose this program because of the small school size and close knit team community. My college athletic goals are to help improve the competitiveness of the team, and continue playing how I know how to.
Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions? (Music, snacks, habits, etc)
A: I always have to have three braids in my hair, my hair ribbons, and before the game starts I always have to end warm ups on a good shot.
Q: What do you do to calm your butterflies?
A: My teammates always help to ground me. When I look around at everyone I remember that they are counting on me and that normally helps to calm me down. Also, just remembering all the work that I have put in in the offseason to prepare me for this moment.
Q: What is your favorite sport moment (from your sport)? And why?
A: My favorite moment from my sport was last year when we won our playoff game in overtime against Fox chapel. Going into it we were the last ranked seed, and ended up winning our first playoff game in school history. This moment was so special to me because just a week before, we lost to Fox chapel by a lot, so to come back and beat them when it mattered was incredible.
Q: What is the best advice you were ever given?
A: The best advice I was ever given came from a coach at my club team. We were talking about managing nerves before important games, and she said something along the lines of “if you’re scared, do it scared.” That line has stuck with me for years in many aspects of my life, but in lacrosse it has helped me to realize that nerves are proof that I care and reminding myself that I can do hard things even while I’m nervous has helped me tremendously.
Q: What is the biggest key to your team’s success
A: The biggest key to my team’s success this season will be our mindsets. We have all the tools for success, and have put in all the physical work, but now we just need to keep the mindset that helped us to win our playoff game. Going into the game, we were the underdogs and already had a chip on our shoulder. No matter how many times we prove ourselves, I still feel like we are the underdogs and that mindset really helps me to push myself and my teammates to show the WPIAL that we are a serious contender.