CREATING A NEW
LEGACY Cross Country The Bolles School
2-Sport Standout Locked in With Alabama Carson Beck Mandarin High School
Triplet Golfers Lead Eagles for Senior Season
IN THE
GAME NORTHEAST FLORIDA
OCT/NOV 2018
Samuel, Walker & Nathaniel King Episcopal High School
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In the Game Be relentless. Pursue your goals with passionate determination. Do not allow anyone, even yourself, to stop you. Stay In the Game. Live In the Game.
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Creating a New Legacy
Cross Country, The Bolles School
2-Sport Standout Locked in With Alabama Carson Beck, Mandarin High School
Coaching Crusaders to the Next Level Bobby Raulerson, Bishop Kenny High School
Triplet Golfers Lead Eagles for Senior Season Samuel, Walker & Nathaniel King, Episcopal High School
Anthony Recognized Among Nation’s Top Girls Hoops Coaches Sherri Anthony, Nease High School
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LIVING IN THE GAME Imagine being a recent high school graduate, entering flight school, and on your first solo flight, you realize your plane doesn’t have any landing gear. That’s very similar to what happened to Maggie Taraska, a high school senior from Gloucester, who was just a pilot in training. On her first solo flight, she lost her right wheel during takeoff and had to be guided by flight instructor John Singleton to make an emergency landing. Despite being inexperienced and unprepared, Maggie remained calm and safely landed the plane with minimum damage. Maggie showed more bravery and composure than more experienced pilots would have, according to John Singleton. Maggie lives in the game by not allowing a bad experience to deter her from her dreams. #LiveInTheGame.
Switch Up Your Workout Routine With Outdoor Exercises
In The Game | 7
Creating a New Written by: Susannah Parmenter Photography by: Milla Creationz Photography
In 2016, for a few brief minutes, the Bolles High School boys cross country team had broken a decades-long drought and won the Class 2A state championship title. Senior Ben Foltz was a sophomore at the time. He recalls the day they almost won the state title. “After our race, for 10 minutes we had won state,” he said. “The parents rushed over to us and were just yelling at us. Everybody was so emotional, and people were crying, and we were tackling the seniors, and it was such a great time. But the Trinity Prep coach had to come over, and he was in tears because it's like this team thinks that they won, but they really didn't win.” It was a counting error, and the team ended up getting second place to Winter Park’s Trinity Preparatory School. However, those 10 minutes of being winners gave the team the determination to come back and win the title in 2017 – the first one since 1985. Instead of just winning it, the team crushed the competition. Charles Hicks, a junior at the time, also won the individual title. “It wasn't really just winning the state title for us,” he said. “It was years of work and our dreams really coming to fruition in one day and finally seeing what you have. And winning it as an individual was like the cherry on top. But doing it as a team was so much more meaningful.” The team went on to compete at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, something only five other schools have achieved in the state of Florida. This season, the boys hope to recreate the magic from 2017 and make a return trip to Portland, which has never been done before in Florida. It’s been a long road to the championship for Bolles – 32 years to be exact. The team started a pattern of success by winning the state title in 1983, ‘84, and ‘85. The current team started wearing the letters ‘BBTE’ on their backs at races because they were driven to start “bringing back the eighties.” Head coach Mike Rivera took over the team in 2013. Originally from Indiana, Rivera has been running his entire life. In fact, he loves it so much that his three children all have names honoring the sport: Chase, Layne, and Miles. And the love of running is a family affair — Chase is a member of the team. 48 | itgnext.com
“I enjoy having my dad as my coach,” he said. “It allows it to be a lot more personal, and if I have any problems or anything I need help on, I can just talk to him at home. I think it has enabled me to improve my running more than it would've if I had somebody else.” In addition to Foltz, Hicks, and Chase Rivera, all seniors, the team has four other members: seniors Alex Hastings and Kamren Khan, sophomore Cole Rutkowski, and freshman Will Brady.
Training for cross country is intense. The team meets seven days a week, and sessions don’t just involve running. The boys also spend time in the pool and the weight room, and they even practice yoga weekly.
“I'm really excited for them. I'm proud of them. They're getting to do things during a season that I never got to do when I was going through high school.” — Mike Rivera
While the time commitment is grueling, coach Rivera said the boys are benefiting from the process. “I put in front of them what I would like them to do, but it's their job to do that and be positive about it, and then what happens, happens,” he said. “I'm really excited for them. I'm proud of them. They're getting to do things during a season that I never got to do when I was going through high school.” Coach Rivera keeps detailed records of all of his runners’ times from every race, whether it’s a practice run or a championship race. He also spends a great deal of time creating strategic workouts. Khan explained that it helps out everyone on the team. “Coach does a ton of research,” Khan said. “He puts a lot of time and effort into crafting our workouts in determining what we're going to do and when. He also has all the numbers from anything you could possibly want, so you can see how you did last year on a workout.” For Rutkowski, coach Rivera’s willingness to work out alongside the team is a big motivator. “He’s always doing things for us, for the team,” Rutkowski said. “The coaches are up every day to run with us or be there for practice.” The team agrees that coach Rivera plays a huge role in their success. Hastings sees coach Rivera and assistant coaches Steve Stam and Matthew Morris as father figures.
“Our coaches are like our second and third dads,” Hastings said. “Honestly, I don't know any other team where people care so much. They're so invested in us and our wellbeing and how happy we are and where we're going to college.”
In The Game | 49
Triplet Golfers Lead Eagles for Senior Season Written by: Mary Catherine Bell Photography courtesy of the Kings
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“We started when we were 3, and we would go out to the range and hit balls, and then he took us to play our first round when we were around 5.” Not only did the triplets find their passion for golf, but they also developed a strong competitive spirit, especially against each other. Samuel remembers competing with his brothers through various sports and academically at school. “When we were growing up we were all about the same skill level, and I’ve always been competitive with them over everything, so it’s another thing that I can be better than them at,” he said. Although Samuel enjoys playing with his brothers, he prefers to play against them.
“I love beating them,” he said. “I like being able to play a sport that I can play against them because with other sports we were all on the same team.”
Nathaniel, who also plays varsity tennis for Episcopal, likes the competition between them, but also sees golf as less intense and more for fun, “You get to go out with three or four of your buddies and have a good time,” Nathaniel said. “It’s a less stressful, relaxed environment, whereas when we were younger it was pretty high pressure. I mean tennis is a little more high pressure and more competitive, so it’s nice to play a sport and not have all the extra adrenaline. It’s a nice escape from competition and animosity.” Although the triplets have competed against each other their entire lives, high school golf changed their mindset. Playing on a team together for the first time changed the way they viewed their day-to-day competition. “The transition went from every time one of us was trying to prove who was the best to get the bragging rights for the day or the week, to rooting for each other so we could win as a team,” Walker said. “But they’re also my brothers; I want to see them do well.” Walker’s favorite part of golf is being able to compete individually and win together as a team.
“I would say that golf has always been an individual sport up to this point, but now it’s not as important to do well individually as the team doing well,” he said. “It turned into me having teammates even though it’s an individual sport.”
The opponents of the boys varsity golf team at Episcopal School of Jacksonville are seeing triple the competition this season.
Seniors Samuel, Walker, and Nathaniel King are leading the team one last time to what they hope to be a state championship. Their competitive spirit and will to lead started with finding their passion at a young age. “When I was young my dad would always take us to the driving range, and we would go out there and hit with him, and then through playing with him growing up I found my passion,” Walker said.
Even though competition between the triplets has been a key part to their success in the sport, Walker revealed that golf has also helped them to foster relationships with friends and make memories that will stay with them the rest of their lives. “When we were younger, there would be a group of about 10 of us out there every day hitting balls for five hours with the dream of all of us being pro golfers together,” Walker said. “We had little agreements on who would be who’s caddy if they made it.”
6 Best Exercises for Golfers Seated Rotations Why you should do it: Improves your rotational mobility, a key component of the golf swing
Standing Ys Why you should do it: Improves shoulder mobility and counteracts the negative impact of sitting
Handwalks Why you should do it: Prevents “golfer’s elbow” and reduces the risk of shoulder injury
90/90 Stretch Why you should do it: Opens up your shoulders, helping to build flexibility and mobility
Lateral Pillar Bridge Why you should do it: Opens up the hips, preventing back pain
Medicine Ball Parallel Throw Why you should do it: Improves your ability to store and release energy and improves swing speed Information courtesy of www.mensjournal.com
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