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Recruit of the Week: Episcopal School of Dallas cross country phenom, Tori Schmidt
Staying Focused
With a couple of shortened seasons mixed in with the usual offseason, no one would have blamed any student athlete that may have gotten distracted, but Schmidt was able to remain focused leading up to this season. "I have a great competitive coach- shout out to Coach Dawn- and a great team that I get to work with during the off season," Schmidt told VYPE. "It is awesome to have an outside of school team made up of girls from all over Dallas that enjoy running and we can push each other and support each other to be the best we can. It showed me how much we can benefit from a supportive environment with a group of strong girls to run with."
With a strong focus even through the offseason, Schmidt says she is always able to go into every season with a great mindset. "At the beginning of every season, I have a feel for how it's going to start," she started. "This year I started off strong and was able to keep at it and improve throughout the season. My mindset was to come out of every race with a positive feeling that I ran my hardest with no regrets. Co-captain Sydney [Knodle] and I pushed each other in practice and during races to perform our best and keep positive mindsets. Even though we are a small team, it was our senior year and we wanted to represent our program well- which... I think we did."
Accomplishing Goals
It's easy to see that Schmidt is an extremely talented runner. With one of her goals being to represent her team well, anyone can also see that she has a good spirit anytime she gets ready to race; because of that, setting and accomplishing goals might be natural for Schmidt. VYPE was able to talk to Schmidt a little bit about what her goals for this season were. "My individual goals for this year were to lead the team with positivity and confidence, leave a legacy at school, and set a personal best in the 5K. I wanted to say 'goodbye' to high school cross country knowing that the next year's captains would know how to lead the team- I feel as though the captains and I accomplished that," Schmidt said.
"I wanted to leave the school with people associating a smiling face and a bright personality with my name, which I also felt I accomplished. I accomplished setting a new school 5K record and a personal best by almost a minute from the previous years of my cross country experience and I look forward to continuing to bring that time down," she added. As she heads into the offseason again, her goals are to continue to train and work hard during training in order to see success in the track season ahead.
While setting goals that can be accomplished, some fans or fellow athletes might look at Schmidt and wonder what the secret to her success- or the secret to ESD's success- has been. In her eyes, it's all about routines. "I think having a routine is the secret to my success. The day before each meet, I always prepared the same way by shaking out with my school team and stretching before bed. My mom makes me homemade chicken pasta that is amazing before all race days. Getting plenty of sleep has helped me to recover." As far as the secret to the team's success? Leadership. "ESD's cross country team has always been small, however, the leadership this year by the captains pulled the team together. We all encouraged each other during workouts and challenged each other to do our best in the races which set fort personal bests for most everyone on the team."
Swimming in Memories
Photo provided by Tori Schmidt
As a great high school athlete, it's not that hard to make memories that you are going to cherish for the rest of your life. While Schmidt has many memories that she can draw from, her favorite memory comes from her freshman year on the team when she raced in the Southlake Invitational. "I was basically swimming in mud," Schmidt said. "It had rained so hard that at the end of the race the mud was up to our knees. The varsity girls ran, but the boys races got cancelled because of the weather."
A Bright Future Ahead
Although she has not yet decided where she will go to college, she does want to attend a school where she can continue her running career. "I look forward to running in college and the next chapter in my running career," Schmidt told VYPE DFW. "I am interested in running at a school that has a program that can help me improve as an athlete, has a cohesive and supportive team with room to grow, and coaching to help individuals achieve their best ability."
Following in her sister's footsteps, Schmidt is interested in digital marketing. "Technology is very involved in every aspect of life," said Schmidt. "Especially when it comes to business technology." She is hoping to major in International Business. "I have taken Spanish my whole life and I would love to be able to use it in life."
Fun Questions
What is your favorite professional sports team?
"New York Rangers hockey."
Who do you look up to as an athlete?
"I look up to my parents and sisters as seeing their success in life inspires me to be a better person and continue to work hard."
If you could go to dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would it be? What would you want to talk about?
"I would like to go to dinner with Queen Elizabeth and talk to her about her experience of being queen for so long; including all the people she has met from a political and social standpoint as well as discuss all of the history."
Recruit of the Week: Aledo volleyball's Vivian Parker presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors
Outstanding Season
Photo provided by Vivian Parker
Parker posted an incredible season as she helped lead Aledo to the first round of playoffs. Parker led the team in kills with 429, tallied 489 digs (second highest on the team), 32 blocks, 31 aces, and posted a .250% hitting percentage. An athlete doesn't just get good overnight. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and time to mold yourself into the player that you hope to become. Parker says the secret to her success this season is that there's no secret. "My amazing coach, Clair Gay. She is so great about communicating, putting us in situations to succeed, and talking us through our failures in order to help us learn how to use those failures to grow," Parker told VYPE. "Over the season she puts us in more and more of those situations and we succeed in small steps. Over time, the small steps are a big change."
One of the things that helps make a team stronger is the relationships that the athletes build with one another. For Parker, she believes not only does this make all the difference, but it has been key to Aledo's success. "The secret to our team's success this year was that we had a very close bond outside of volleyball," she started. "We spent all of August through November together and it made every practice more enjoyable because we were all very close friends."
Accomplishing Goals
Photo provided by Vivian Parker
Going into her sophomore season, Parker had plenty of goals that she wanted to focus on. "I came in with some really concrete goals this year. I wanted to get at least 400 kills and 500 digs while hitting at least .250% for the season. We also got eliminated in the first round of playoffs last year, so I wanted to get passed that game this season. I beat my kills goal and fell 11 short of my digs goal. I hit exactly .250%, so I felt good about those. We lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the playoffs to a really great Birdville team (13-15 in the fifth set). It adds fire for next year." Parker was also named as the utility player of the year for Aledo's district, an accomplishment she marks as her biggest so far in her first season to play six rotation outside hitter.
With her goals laid out before her, Parker had an excellent mindset... continuing to grow. "Last year, for school, I played outside hitter, but didn't play as much defense or serve receive. So, this was really my first year to play all the way around. I wanted to absorb and work on each part, defense and serve receiver to feel for how to do those things correctly- especially when it all starts to go wrong," Parker told VYPE. "I also wanted to improve my range of shots from the pins. I also really wanted to watch the upperclassmen on how they lead and develop because being an upperclassman myself is coming fast."
Making Memories
Photo provided by Vivian Parker
Although she is just a sophomore, Parker has made plenty of memories with her team so far. That's not hard to do when you're close with your teammates and spend a lot of time together. When asked what her favorite memory with Aledo volleyball has been so far, Parker drew from this season. "A big game we had this season with our rival for the district title," Parker started. "They are a really good team with nine seniors on their roster. Earlier in the season, they came to our place and beat us in straight sets. It looked like they were going to run away with the district title this year. For our second meeting at their place, they made a huge deal about it on social media- they made the game a 'blackout game' and really pushed to get the stands full in order to watch them close out district against us. We went in and beat them in straight sets. It was my favorite moment because it's the best we played as a complete team all season. It was a great team win for us."
On offseason and the future
Photo provided by Vivian Parker
One of the things that makes a good athlete become a great athlete is their willingness to continue to put in the hard work when no one is watching- during the offseason. When asked about how she stays focused during the offseason, Parker said: "Offseason? We basically get three-ish weeks off in between the school season ending and the club season starting, so it feels more like a short break. I do take the time to get my body right and back to a good baseline to reduce injury risk. The gym where I go- APEC in Fort Worth- has a great program to get everything balanced back out, fix nagging issues, and get you where you need to be going into the club season. I use the time from early November through December to build a good foundation for club season."
Since Parker is just a sophomore, she has not yet committed to a college program, but this doesn't keep her from being excited about beginning the process. "What I'm looking for in a college is strong team culture with similar goals- both as a team and as people with coach/player relationships," Parker said during her exclusive interview. "Yes, I want to win and play at the highest level possible, but volleyball will be over in a few years. The lessons we learn in sports are valuable for life. I'm looking for a program that values us as people and teaches us how to win correctly, mentors us, and prepares us to be the most successful adults after we graduate."
For now, Parker isn't exactly sure what she wants to major in, but with a heart for helping others, she is interested in and considering education/special education or something in health sciences.
Fun Questions:
Who is your favorite professional sports team?
"My favorite professional sports team is the Dallas Mavericks."
Who do you look up to most as an athlete?
"Alli Stumler, the outside hitter from Kentucky."
If you could go to dinner with one person (dead or alive) who would it be?
"Also Alli Stumler. I think she's an amazing player, but more importantly an amazing person."
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