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The Wilmette Beacon 032218
The Wilmette Beacon 032218
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wilmettebeacon.com sports<br />
the wilmette beacon | March 22, 2018 | 45<br />
ATHLETE OF THE wEEK<br />
10 Questions<br />
with Alaina Vivian<br />
The New Trier senior is<br />
one of only four seniors<br />
on the varsity girls water<br />
polo team.<br />
When did you start<br />
playing water polo<br />
and why?<br />
I started playing freshman<br />
year after swim season.<br />
I had been a swimmer<br />
my entire life and I was<br />
having a really bad shoulder<br />
injury, so it was best I<br />
stop swimming. I decided<br />
to play water polo in the<br />
spring and loved it.<br />
What’s your favorite<br />
part about water<br />
polo?<br />
I love the swimming<br />
aspect but love that it’s<br />
exciting, there’s action,<br />
it keeps you on your toes<br />
and is fast-paced. It’s a<br />
great game to watch and<br />
be a part of.<br />
Best part bout New<br />
Trier athlete?<br />
We have access to some<br />
great facilities and awesome<br />
coaches. It’s really<br />
fun to be part of a team at<br />
a really, really big school<br />
where there are so many<br />
kids and you get to meet so<br />
many people in that sport<br />
and others you may not<br />
have met otherwise. There<br />
are definitely many girls I<br />
never would have met if it<br />
weren’t for water polo.<br />
If you could play<br />
another sport?<br />
I always wished I was<br />
good at basketball, something<br />
where you have to be<br />
good with your hands and<br />
run fast. I just have horrible<br />
hand-eye coordination.<br />
What’s one thing<br />
people don’t know<br />
about you?<br />
I love cats. Well, my<br />
cats.<br />
What’s one thing<br />
that’s on your bucket<br />
list?<br />
I really want to travel<br />
and go to Antarctica.<br />
If you had one<br />
superpower, what<br />
would it be and why?<br />
To fly. It’d be so cool to<br />
see the world in a different<br />
perspective and be able<br />
to go anywhere whenever<br />
you please.<br />
What’s the hardest<br />
part about water<br />
polo?<br />
Being in the mindset<br />
Photo Submitted<br />
that you have to work a<br />
ton. It’s not just twice a<br />
day, it’s going to hurt and<br />
be tiring but worth it if you<br />
put in the work.<br />
If you could have<br />
dinner with anybody,<br />
who would it be and<br />
why?<br />
A poet named John Keats.<br />
He’s really old but has<br />
really good work. He’s a<br />
weird and interesting guy<br />
and since he lived so long<br />
ago, there’s not a ton we<br />
know about him. I think<br />
it’d be cool to ask him<br />
about his work, what he<br />
thinks about society in the<br />
world and what he thinks<br />
about it today.<br />
What’s the best advice<br />
you’ve ever gotten?<br />
If you’re thinking about<br />
something so much that<br />
it’s consuming you and<br />
you’re worried about it,<br />
it’s not worth it.<br />
Interview by Sports Editor<br />
Michael Wojtychiw<br />
Girls POTY<br />
From Page 49<br />
by Schoenecker picking<br />
up his 200th career victory<br />
this season and his team<br />
winning at least 20 games<br />
in a season for the eighth<br />
time in his 10 years at the<br />
helm.<br />
“During practice, we<br />
work on a lot of different<br />
aspects, we start off with<br />
a ton of shooting, every<br />
single spot on the floor,”<br />
Martinez said. “We work<br />
on our defense, then our<br />
offense. It’s also very<br />
important to know about<br />
the mental aspect of the<br />
game. At the beginning<br />
of the season, we all set a<br />
goal as a team and we try<br />
to get to it and when the<br />
whole team has a goal and<br />
wants to do something, it’s<br />
easier to be on the same<br />
page.”<br />
During the first half of<br />
Loyola’s Jan. 30 contest<br />
against De La Salle, Martinez<br />
broke the school’s<br />
career assist record,<br />
breaking Laura Sobieszczyk’s<br />
record of 507, set in<br />
1999. Martinez now has<br />
over 540 career assists<br />
with a year to go. At her<br />
current pace, she is sure<br />
to get into the top 20 in<br />
the state’s all-time list as<br />
of at the end of last year,<br />
Courtney Musser, a 2004<br />
graduate of Pearl City<br />
High School, had 636 career<br />
assists.<br />
“I didn’t think it (breaking<br />
the school record) was<br />
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impossible, because that’s<br />
a very big aspect of my<br />
game - getting my teammates<br />
the ball,” she said.<br />
“It means everything to<br />
me to break the record and<br />
to be a leader. It just shows<br />
that the level of hard work<br />
has started to pay off and<br />
it’s not over yet, I still have<br />
a whole other year to set<br />
the bar pretty high.<br />
“I didn’t think it was<br />
impossible, but I obviously<br />
have to give my<br />
teammates a lot of credit<br />
because they’re the ones<br />
putting the ball in the<br />
basket. It means a lot, it’s<br />
pretty exciting.”<br />
With one more year,<br />
who knows where Martinez<br />
and the Ramblers will<br />
be next season.<br />
Gear up for baseball season with the<br />
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Congratulations to this week’s<br />
Athlete of the Week.<br />
We’re pleased to be a<br />
sponsor of this program.<br />
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