Top 5 unsung heroes

Joe Szczepanek

Coming into the 2018 varsity football season as a senior, Joe took on a new position: center. This position wasn’t entirely foreign to Joe, as last year he played both guard and center. 2018 FHC graduate Seth Udell helped mentor Joe with the center position last season and that is what helped mold him for that position this year. Joe stepped in with ease and did great work for the team. He knew that the team needed a center, so he made it his mission to work hard for the Rangers.

“In center, you have to get every snap perfect,” Joe said. “If you don’t get the snap right, the whole play is done. It felt great to [be a part of the offense for every play], I always have control of how the play starts, and I’m always in on every single play. The offensive line and defensive line players don’t get recognized as much as the guys who score the touchdowns. We all do our job well, but you’d never know that we were there.”

Kyler Williams

This year, the FHC boys varsity soccer team had a very successful season. A huge part of the team was the junior goalie Kyler Williams. This was his first year as a varsity goalie. He unarguably had one of the hardest positions on the field. His job was to stop everything that came his way. The biggest rush in soccer is scoring a goal and hearing the crowd go crazy, but because of his position in goal, Kyler wasn’t able to take shots on goal.  He had roughly 150 saves this season, an impressive feat for a first-year goalie.

“[Being goalie] is a lot of mental work,” Kyler said. “You don’t really get much praise for it; if you have a good game, that is kind of what they expect from you but if you mess up, your whole game is kind of bad. Goalie is a lot harder than it looks.”

Morghan Tilton

Sophomore Morghan Tilton was a key player this year on the varsity volleyball team. This is her second year as a varsity player. Although Morghan didn’t play as much this year compared to last year, a big part of her season was being a motivator for her team. The difference this year compared to last year were the wins that the varsity girls earned. FHC’s game against Northern was a big one. It was back and forth and the team needed motivation, which Morghan provided it. Cheering her team on during every game and giving pep talks were one of the main influences on the great gameplay.

Jayla Williams

This year, senior Jayla Williams was a big part of the varsity swim and dive team. The team did exceptionally well this year, with the girls taking second place to East Grand Rapids in the conference. Jayla’s motivation for the team was inspired by the team investing in her. This just goes to show that anyone who encourages other will pass it on and be the one who encourages. Jayla is a prime example of an unsung hero, a person that doesn’t get much recognition but is one of the backbones of the team.

“I swam the 200-Freestyle and eventually got moved into the relays and the 50-meter races,” Jayla said. “When other people are doing well it just makes me want to do well. I’m like, ‘man, they’re just awesome at this, I want to be like that.’ I’m one of the slowest swimmers on the team, but everyone else on the team is so happy for me if I get the best time.”

Nick Hatley

Junior Nick Hatley is a first-year cross country runner. Nick made varsity for his first year and had a huge impact on the team. He worked hard in his practices and gave positive affirmations to his teammates. He was always found putting in the extra work to become better and along the way, he picked up his team members when they fell. Although he didn’t make it to the State Meet, Nick had a great season and decreased his time over the course of the season.