Undiscovered Athletes

Despite going to a school dominated by popular sports like basketball and lacrosse, these unique athletes have risen to the top of their respected sports.

Rachel Cooper:

Rachel Cooper has spent most of her life dancing. "It's one of those things where every young girl does dance," says Cooper. "To be honest, I don't know why I stuck with it," says Cooper. Cooper started when she was four. But Cooper is glad she's developed so much time for it.

Because her commitment is so high, dance takes up a large portion of her free time. Cooper spends three nights a week on the dance floor at the Syracuse School of Dance. "I cut back from five nights a week," says Cooper, "because five nights a week was a lot."

One thing that Cooper likes about dancing is all the different styles. Cooper takes ballet, jazz, point, modern and hip-hip. "You are not limited to one type of music, or one teacher. Though she likes the variety, ballet is her favorite.

Cooper likes to dance because she is able to express herself through movement. "You don't have to be afraid to show emotion or enjoy the music," says Cooper. She also likes the relationship that dance creates. "I love the dance girls that I grew up with," says Cooper.

Iosu Bascaran:

Sophomore Iosu Bascaran started his dancing career at age 8. "My Mom put me in class, and I really liked it," says Bascaran.

Bascaran has dance lessons at the Ballet and Dance Center. He is on the dance floor four nights a week for three hours straight. Bascaran has concerts annually in June, and performs with the symphony on occasion.

Like Cooper, Bascarn's favorite style of dancing is ballet. Other than ballet, he also participates in jazz and modern. "I like everything about dancing," says Bascaran.

Some day, Bascaran says that he will have a career in dancing. "I have no clue where I'll be, but I want to for sure," says Bascaran.

Kelsey Cook:

Even though she thinks it deserves more credit than people tend to give it, junior Kelsey Cook doesn't mind that gymnastics isn't as popular as other sports at Jamesville-Dewitt High School.
Cook has been a gymnast since three-years-old. She practices 20 hours a week all year round at CNY (Central New York) Gym Centre in East Syracuse and participates on the Varsity J-DHS team during the fall. Having four-hour practices, five days a week at CNY means time management is an issue. Cook admits "it can be difficult because gymnastics is so time consuming, but I try to prioritize and not procrastinate"¦ although that doesn't always happen."

All of Cook's hard work seems to pay off in the end. Gymnastics has national skill levels participants move up. Cook made Level 9 regionals for the past three years. Last year, she placed second in the all-round at regionals and made Level 9 Eastern Nationals before getting pushed up to Level 10. Hard
work, dedication and a lot of practicing helped her reach this last level before Elite.

Cook has to make a bit of a transition for the year ahead. This is her first season competing at a new level. She hopes to have a great season and make Regionals. "Ideally, I would make Nationals this year or next but, we'll have to see"

Looking into the future, Cook wants to keep her options open for college and have the ability and opportunity to compete in college gymnastics. She acknowledges her family for making all her gymnastic goals reachable. "My family supports what I want to do in gymnastics and they allow me to make my own decisions. Whether I do well or not my family supports me."