MALE
Bryce Abner // Columbus North football player
Abner led the Bull Dogs defense with 18 tackles, including 13 solo, Friday in a 41-7 loss at Center Grove in the sectional finals.
His performance last week: “They were a good team. I was just able to get in the right position at the right time.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “Just study film, study formations and know what they’re going to do before they do it.”
Favorite drink: “Half-and-half Arnold Palmer”
Favorite food: “Chicken and rice”
Favorite class: “Weights”
Favorite sports team: “Cincinnati Bengals”
Favorite athlete: “Ja’Marr Chase”
Role model: “My mom (Dena Johnson)”
Best advice: “No matter how much stress or how much you feel like you’re held back, just always persevere and keep fighting through until the end.”
Athletics goal: “To be to play at the collegiate level.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Fiji, because everything is nice in Fiji, just the water and everything.”
FEMALE
Stella Kleffman // Trinity Lutheran senior volleyball player
Kleffman recorded 11 kills, one assist, two block assists, 24 digs and one ace Saturday in the Cougars’ five-set loss to Lafayette Central Catholic in the Class A state final.
Her performance last week: “I defintitely know that since it was going to be the last time wearing my Trinity jersey, I wanted to leave everything out on the court. I didn’t want to have any regrets.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “Coach (Faith) Wilder-Newland makes us visualize how we’re going to play, take deep breaths and imagine yourself playing as well as you can. We’ve been doing that before all of our postseason games, and I think it helps a lot. It calms me down.”
Favorite drink: “Blue Gatorade”
Favorite food: “Pasta or anything Taku in Columbus”
Favorite class: “Finite math”
Favorite sports team: “Nebraska volleyball and Indianapolis Colts football”
Favorite athlete: “(Former Columbus East and Franklin College baseball player) Sam Claycamp”
Role model: “(Former Columbus East and current Florida Gulf Coast volleyball player) Cortney VanLiew”
Best advice: “Give it your all because you don’t know when it’s going to be your last game, and just take it all in and never take a game for granted.”
Athletics goal: “I really want to play in college, so I’m trying to figure out where I’m going to play at right now, and then later on, maybe coach other girls and be a role model for them.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Hawaii. I would love to learn how to surf and go to all the islands.”
