Top 5 underclassmen

Sophie Shields – Volleyball

Being on a varsity sport as a freshman is already an incredible accomplishment, but being one of the top performers on the team makes it even more impressive. Freshman Sophie Shields dominated on the volleyball court with an average of 5 kills and 3.5 digs per game. Her season-high was an impressive 12 kills in one game. Despite only being a freshman, she was a threat against any team; she still has three years to go on the varsity team, and in that time will most likely become an even bigger offensive threat.

“I made a promise to myself to always work as hard as I could, whenever I could, to prove that I was on this team for a reason,” Sophie said. “It was likely I was put on the team to grow and develop for future years. [My teammates] were always ready to support me and [made me] feel secure, and because of it I was able to grow so much.”

Samuel Yeager – Cross country

Similar to Sophie, freshman Samuel Yeager was one of the top performers on the cross country team. He was the youngest of three Rangers to finish in the top 150 at the 2018 MHSAA Division 1 State Race with a time of 17:05.4. In addition to this, Sam was able to finish fourteenth with 16:41.34 in the Regional Meet and sixth in the Conference Race. He also had two other top-twenty finishes throughout the season.

Jessica Doyel – Swim and dive

With her 100-yard Breaststroke time of 1:10.52, freshman Jessica Doyel was one of two swimmers to qualify for the State Meet. In addition to this, Jessica placed first in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard Butterfly when the team swam against Spring Lake. She also swam alongside three other Rangers in the 400-yard Freestyle relay to ultimately place second in the same meet.

“I think I performed quite well this season, including everyone else on the team,” Jessica said. “I am glad that I made States.”

Carson Deines – Football

After finishing off an 8-1 season on JV, sophomore Carson Deines was pulled up to varsity for the 2018 season. Carson started for the Rangers on the line this year and helped a younger line grow and improve as the year went on. The line really started to look like a whole different unit after the tough loss to Cedar Springs in the Homecoming game, thanks to Carson and the other young linemen. With one year of varsity experience under his belt, Carson and the other linemen hope to be one of the key components of the Ranger football team next year.

Chris Battiste – Tennis

In his second year on varsity, sophomore Chris Battiste was a big difference maker for the boys varsity tennis team. Battiste and his long-time partner, junior Advith Reddy, had another successful season, finishing second in Regionals behind Forest Hills Northern. Chris demonstrated veteran leadership and helped elevate some of the talents of some of the first-year varsity players. He also dominated in most of doubles matches with Advith, with key wins over East Kentwood and Northview. 

“The moment we heard we made States was the most memorable [this season],” Chris said. “We worked really hard and to see that it paid off meant everything to everyone.“