BY ALEXA ROBERTS, ’21
SOPHOMORE QUINN CORNA
Sophomore Quinn Corna has been playing basketball since he can remember. Through the influence of his family members, he was exposed to the sport from a young age.
“My dad played [basketball] growing up and my two uncles played in college. I had interest in it right away,” he said.
After years of incorporating basketball into his life, Corna has become more dedicated to improving and perfecting his craft. He is now an underclassman on the UAHS varsity team.
His goals for this season were to make it to the district finals. He says Coach Tim Casey has been working on defense and shooting drills to help the team improve. Corna has set personal goals this season for himself, his biggest being to make it to district finals with his team.
Corna has yet to decide if he wants to follow his uncle’s footsteps to college basketball.
Corna has established many connections with the people around him. He detailed how basketball has positively shaped his time both on and off the court.
“I have made many friends,” Corna said.“ [I am now] lifelong friends with my teammates and coaches.”
The basketball team faces their rival, Dublin Coffman, in the Varsity gym on Feb.14 at 7:30 p.m.
The player encourages students to attend and loves to see students in the stands during home snd away games.
“ I like when the students come out and support us and the crowd is lively,” Corna said.
SENIOR AVA PETERSON
Varsity cheerleader and senior Ava Peterson began cheerleading in sixth grade.
“I wanted to get into a sport, and cheer seemed fun,” Peterson said.
Since the beginning of her cheer career, Peterson has put it in hours to perfect each cheer and chant. Cheerleading takes incredible patience, but Peterson believes it is rewarding in the end.
She explained the appeal of the sport along with its time consumption. Peterson said the hardest part is tumbling. The UAHS cheerleaders take tumbling classes on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. They practice at the high school on Monday, Thursday and Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Peterson said cheer has helped her build connections with teammates along with positively impacting her high school experience. Her favorite memory is the annual JV/Varsity scavenger hunt,
“We have to sing our order at Wendy’s or [convince] one of the basketball players to wear our uniforms,” she said, describing the event.
Peterson loves to hear the crowd chant along to “Let’s Go, Bears” with the cheerleaders during games, although games don’t always go as planned. Peterson shared a story of one of her most embarrassing on court moments.
“I wasn’t paying attention and the [basket]ball whacked me in the head. It was really embarrassing,” she said.
Even with moments like these, Peterson still enjoys the sport. She says seeing her hard work pays off during each game puts all the time she spent learning cheers into perspective. She does not plan on cheering in college due to the time commitment.
For now, she is enjoying her last months cheering for the UA Varsity Basketball team. She treasures each practice with her teammates and continues to cherish the memories she has made the past four years.