To some high school students this past summer consisted of sleeping in every day, staying up late, and binge-watching TV, but to plenty of Kennedy athletes it meant waking up early for summer workouts. Whether it was going on a 5 mile run, shooting hoops, or spending the morning swimming laps and diving, these athletes were determined to get better. Sports practices weren’t required until the middle of August, but Kennedy’s athletes still took the workouts seriously.

Summer workouts gave the athletes a chance to spend time with their old friends, make new friends, and improve at their sports all at once.

Hannah Ratzer, fr., said, “It helped me meet people prior to school so I could go into school knowing people, and that’s a good feeling. It also helped me get more familiar with the building.”

Seeing the school building in the summer, when it’s empty also helped the new students adjust to the school. They were able to scope out their classes prior to the first day of school, and navigate through the halls before they were crammed wall to wall with teenagers.

To some students the worst part of summer practices was waking up at 8 in the morning but, the pros outweighed the cons. The athletes were able to get more in shape before the season even started, so when that first cross country meet or volleyball game rolled around they were better than they would’ve been if they had spent the whole summer at home.

Isaac Toth is a freshman at Kennedy, who went to the summer workouts for cross country. He came from Oakridge middle school, not knowing many of the students at Kennedy. He said, “I was able to meet a few more people and get to know them better, and I had a fun time.”