by: Camden Tucker, Photography Director and Mckensi Keller, Pop Culture Editor

New leadership roles are blooming throughout all fall sports in the new Mountain League. At PRHS, it takes sportsmanship to bring up a whole team and the dedication to be there when someone needs it the most. Athletic Director Anthony Morales believes that in order to be a successful leader, they must start in the classroom.

“Being the best student in the classroom,” Morales said, is vital to cohesion and cooperation, in addition to “on and off the field being a good citizen.”

There are many qualities needed in order to become a great leader, including representing PRHS in a positive way.

“You’re also a leader in the classroom. If you are wearing any athletic apparel in your classroom, your classmates look up to you.” Morales said.

With a brand new league and the challenges that come with it, it is important to have guidance from one of your own; having a great team captain can change the whole mindset of a team in just seconds. When someone is there for you to count on -- on and off the field -- it is truly something special. Athletes look up to this leader for a reason, and keeping a good mindset can inspire team members to do their best and play their hearts out.

Zane Warren, Boys Water Polo, 11

“This season we have a younger team, so I want to build the junior and sophomore skills and confidence for next year so we can be a powerful offensive and defensive team -- we’re a little shaky right now. If we can build confidence, power, and strength this year, next year could be our winning year.”

Hector Arteaga, Football, 12

“My hope for the season is to finish preseason, get better, and win out the week. We want to bring the offense together through team bonding. We have to work harder in practice to prepare for the league.”

Anastacia Medearis, Tennis, 12

“For me, I always want to make sure that everybody has a positive attitude and always be on the right track for what they want to do. It doesn’t matter if we win or lose because there is no such thing as losing -- we always either win or learn from what we do. Since our team is very young, the future is going to be even more positive than it will be this year. It will be a lot stronger.”

Steven Scruggs, Cross Country, 12

“To run fast. To go win. To all be friends.”

Jasmine Rangel, Cross Country, 11

“My plans for our team are just to go farther and advance in our placement this year. We went from being ranked 18th last year to being 3rd this year as of our first race and I just want everyone to get along. Just to encourage each other more and push each other.”

Becca Stroud, Volleyball, 11

“This season, I want to instill confidence in all of our players, buy into the program and stay together as a unit. And overall provide more wins for the season.”

Julia Stevens, Cheer, 12

“I plan on getting my teammates really hyped for the football team and to bring a lot of encouragement to our football players and to make it a better season overall. We have brought our girls together since tryouts, but we do have a lot planned out for the season, we love team bonding.”

Kayla Hernandez, Golf, 12

“We are very new, like 90% of the team. We have 11 girls on the team and only two have actually played golf before and I am one of the two. We are doing very well as a team already, we are shooting around where we should be and the most of the girls that have never played before which is very awesome. Everyday we are improving and that’s all that matters and that we are having fun and doing well as a team and enjoying each others presence.”

Mackenzie Raymond, Waterpolo, 12

“We plan on going as far as we can in CIF this year. We are in a new section, so we are really excited to see what we can do. We all have been playing together for awhile now, so we are pretty close. We have been doing a lot more team bonding this year and going out to breakfast and lunch and hanging out.”

photos by Camden Tucker