Karissa Aguilar

A wrestler from age six, senior Karissa Aguilar persists through injury to spend a final season on the mat. 

Due to her experience in wrestling, Aguilar automatically made the varsity wrestling team for Birmingham Community Charter High School her junior year. Unfortunately, tragedy struck on Nov 22, 2023 when she tore her ACL in a tournament. Due to the serious nature of the injury, Aguilar spent a large portion of her inaugural season at Birmingham on the bench.

“It was hard because your life–and nothing–is the same,” Aguilar said. “You go from doing everything, lifting however much you want, to having a knee brace and not being able to lift as much as you can.” 

Aguilar’s decision to return to wrestling for senior year was met with love and unwavering support from within her home. Aguilar’s parents, strong believers in empowerment through self-defense, encouraged her to participate in combat sports from a young age.

“It’s something I love. I’ve done it since I was a little girl—why wouldn’t I want to go back? I tried to do everything I could to return to (wrestling) and not re-injure myself,” Aguilar said

She plans to graduate from Pierce and transfer to a four-year university through the Navy. Though Aguilar does not intend to continue wrestling herself, she will assist and offer guidance in her nine-year-old sister’s club. 

Giselle Garzon Sampedro

Athletes jump into action for the season of high school, including Senior Giselle Garzon Sampedro who took this chance to play lacrosse in her last year and enjoy it with friends. 

“I think it was easier to get in because everyone else didn’t know each other and because I had Allison (her cousin), I was more comfortable,” Sampedro said. “We got to find a group with each other and practice. I’ve learned a lot about time management because of this.” 

Sampedro plays on the Birmingham Community Charter High School girls junior varsity lacrosse team as defense. Although she plays on junior varsity, she got the opportunity to play on varsity due to the season coming to a close in the spring. She enjoyed many things while being on the team, especially meeting new people and improving her skills.

“My favorite part about playing lacrosse is getting to meet the girls and building connections with them, especially after the game or winning a game,” Sampedro said. “The first time winning a game was important because it showcased how we’ve improved from the beginning of the season.”

Sampedro hopes to play lacrosse in years to come even if it means fitting it into a tight schedule. From learning new skills to enjoying a sport with her peers, Sampedro has a positive outlook for the sport.

“It was definitely hard to find time to study because we would get back kind of late after practice,” Sampedro said. “However, I definitely want to continue it in a club in college and continue playing it with friends.”

Allison Gonzalez

All of student-athlete Allison Gonzalez’s senior year has been defined by her involvement in her school’s lacrosse team. 

She began with a desire to play a sport with friends, and since then Gonzalez has grown greatly both as a player and a person.The world of high school sports is ever changing, a concept that Gonzalez is very familiar with due to shifting back and forth between the varsity and JV levels. She spoke extensively about the importance of confidence both on and off the field.

“I think it really just depends on your confidence levels,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what our coach kind of believes in.” Collaboration between the varsity and JV teams is commonplace, with the JV team often coming to play in the varsity games, or cheering on from the sidelines.

Off the field, Gonzalez values the importance of communication. She feels that positive relationships between the members of a team are essential in attaining success. That focus on people skills underscores the important life lessons acquired with participation in team sports.

 “I believe the most important thing that I’ve learned is surely communication, like, not even communication between the team and our players, but like, communicating between friends, and teammates,” Gonzalez said. “If you maintain a good relation outside the game, you maintain a good relation in the game.”

Gonzalez does not plan on playing lacrosse in college. She believes that her experiences as a high school athlete have undoubtedly changed her, having prepared her with skills and lessons that will last an entire lifetime.

Deven Szymczak 

Since joining cross country and track and field four years ago, senior Deven Szymczak says he has improved his running and social skills, making new friends through sports.

“It’s still a learning process but I could say it’s a step,” Szymczak said about how being a part of a sports team has improved his social skills.

Szymczak got into cross country when he was in ninth grade after choosing it for his sixth period. In another interview in The Pearl Post published in Oct. 3, 2022, he said he started cross country because his parents wanted him to join since he was fast.

Szymczak has made many accomplishments in cross country over the years and improved a lot. In his last run, he ran a mile in five minutes and eight seconds. His mile time as a freshman was around 12 seconds slower than that, according to him. He has considered the possibility of continuing his sports career into college.

 “I’ve been able to connect with people, make new friends, and just see different places,” Szymczak said about his time on the cross country team.

Zion Waddell

After four years on the Birmingham Community Charter High School baseball team, senior Zion Waddell looks forward to the next steps of his baseball career.  

“My favorite part of this season was probably my first home run, which was at Birmingham, so that was a cool experience,” Waddell, who plays center field, said.

Although Waddell’s high school baseball journey is coming to a close, he plans to continue playing the sport after high school at The Complete Showcase, a one-year baseball program in Melissa, Texas. There, he will learn to strengthen and develop his skills as a baseball player. After finishing the program, Waddell hopes to get drafted to a team or transfer to a D1 school. 

“The biggest thing I have learned at Birmingham was how to work with a team, compromising on what to do and how to listen and trust the people around me by putting faith that they have my best interest in mind.” Waddell said. 

While Waddell will miss being a part of the Birmingham baseball team and the connections he has made with his teammates, he looks forward to being independent and moving away from home. 

“This year isn’t any different than my other years, still with the same goal and mindset of getting a ring and winning it at Dodgers stadium,” Waddell said. “I look forward to that feeling after winning it all with the boys for the last time.”