During the past few weeks, I questioned many Pine Crest students about their favorite PC sport.  From the hardcore, blood, sweat, and tears football, to graceful and serene ballet, many sports made the honorable mention. Though, the top five most popular sports were volleyball, swimming, crew, ballet, and football.

I asked Varsity Volleyball player Chelsea Hartney what it was that she loved so much about her sport, she replied, “PCVB is the best sport at the school because it requires skill, dedication, and spandex hahaha”.

Enthusiastic competitor, Thomas Doolittle, boasted about his sport, Varsity Swimming. He said, “Even on the days when practice kills and you feel like you might die, there’s something about swimming that keeps bringing you back every day, every practice, and you know in your gut you wouldn’t know what to do without it”.

Another highly mentioned sport was Crew. Coxwain Arianna Dicce expressed to me that she truly loves crew because after all “what other sport do you get to spend time in a boat?” Another avid crewbie, Monica Pradel, told me, “I love the feeling of complete and utter unity, and when we achieve that, even if just for a moment, it’s beautiful and pure and makes all the hard work worth it”.

Ballet was also greatly mentioned. Although many don’t believe it is a true sport, ballet is one the hardest of all sports in that it requires dedicated practice to get your arms in the perfect positions, land your turns impeccably, and be able to gain muscle in your legs to hold yourself up on point. When I asked dancer, Juliana Roger her opinion she said, “I love dance because it’s not like math where you can fully learn a concept and be done, but it’s something that you can always perfect and become better at. It’s something you can control; you can control your body and how it moves and how you do a step, and performing, when you are all done definitely, makes it worthwhile!”

And, of course, Pine Crest Varsity Football. As each year passes, we have tons of PC students piled in the stands dressed in their white, green, and black Panther colors. As homecoming rolls around, the suspension builds up to the one Friday night that is just around the corner. Even though many other PC sports are very entertaining to watch, PC Varsity Football takes the gold. As all the boys are sad that the season is over, I asked Max Cohen what his favorite thing about this season was and why he loves the game; he responded, “The brotherhood.  When you play with your teammates, you go through so much together, and always help each other out. It’s like having 60+ brothers looking out for you.”

Overall, Pine Crest has many great athletes who should all be recognized for their hard work and sportsmanship!