Junior Caroline Mameesh trains hard for three to four hours a day, but unlike most Aragon student-athletes, Mameesh will not be seen training for her sport down at the track or in the gym. Instead, she can be seen training for her next competition on her horse, Gettysburg.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the beauty and the power of horses. The bond that you get with them is strong, and just [being] able to know that you have a connection with a thousand-pound animal — it’s really cool,” says Mameesh.
Like Mameesh, many other Aragon student-athletes participate in non-traditional high school sports.
Junior Christopher Duan, a rock climber, says of his sport, “It’s not really like any other sport. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You can go outside and just do it.”
Beyond regular climbs, Duan competes against other climbers in competitions. “I went to nationals last year. Basically it’s just how difficult the climb is. If you can get to the top of a harder climb than the next competitor, then you’re in a higher rank than he is,” Duan says.
Regarding rock climbing, Duan says, “You have to want to take the time to learn the technique, and it takes a lot of time to learn all the techniques. It’s a time-consuming sport.”
Discovering rock climbing after reading a book, Duan decided to pursue it. “It was about some mountain climbing disaster like some accident like ‘127 Hours’ but in the mountains,” Duan says.
Freshman Ben Finberg, an ultimate frisbee player, was introduced to his sport through school. He explains, “We started doing it in PE in sixth grade as just a PE activity, but I didn’t realize it was actually a sport.” A few years later, Finberg’s friends would reintroduce him to the sport again.
Regarding his teammates, Finberg says, “Everyone’s really welcoming, and we interact really closely, even though we don’t see each other that much. Even though it’s a competitive team, we act like we’re just friends.”
To many, dragon boating, similar to ultimate frisbee, is one of many sports that includes a particular sense of team dynamic. Senior Wesley Lee used to partake in dragon boating, a team sport similar to rowing. Lee explains, “The amount of emphasis on teamwork is just insane. If you don’t pull your own weight, then you will just be slowing down the group.”
The hard work and time put into these sports often offers a huge payoff. Mameesh says, “I did my first three-day event only two or three months after training for it. It was a huge show. I think, in my division alone there were at least 25 people, and there were at least 10 or 15 divisions. And I got sixth on my first time, so that was really exciting. That’s what really encouraged me to keep three-day eventing.”
According to Mameesh, that is no small feat either. She says, “Three-day eventing basically takes the three different disciplines of English riding, which are dressage, [where] the horses dance and do fancy movements in an arena, cross country, where they’re out in a field taking jumps outdoors, and jumping. So it basically combines all three of those over a three-day period and sums up your score to see who did the best. It tests every aspect of riding.”
Freshman fencer Gabriel Lukaszewicz credits his national ranking to the mentality of the game. He says, “It was confusing [at first], but it got simpler after a while. It was more mental toughness than physical toughness because of the movements needed and the way the game worked. It’s not like most games. [In] most games, you use a ball and you have goals, but this one’s very different.”
Since his first experience, Lukaszewicz has developed his talent. “I beat someone last month in the Regional Youth Circuit. And I beat one of the fencers in the Final Eight, 15 to 9,” he says.
No matter how uncommon the sport, Aragon students have found ways to pursue their interests, whether they be with a team or even an animal.
Mameesh says, “If you really want that connection and you want an adrenaline rush, then go for it.”
