photo credit: Ren Rader
Orange runs to the endzone with the ball in hand, the whole crowd watches in anticipation, touchdown! Student section leader senior Alexis Knisely hops up to the board to start her pushups. The whole crowd counts along as she does her seven pushups.
Knisely is 17 years old and in addition to being a student, soccer player and track athlete, Knisely is also one of the student section leaders, along with James Winsatt, Joey Woods and Jake Barnhart. It may be a lot, but Knisely makes sure to stay on top of it.
“My agenda is already packed with high school soccer, my own lifts, recovery, extra training and fitness, let alone balancing my school schedule and work on top. Therefore, the Pit has a group chat where we set up all of the games we are looking to go to during the week so then we can block out those times. With being organized and planning I can schedule out when I would need to fit in my homework or studying around everything else,” Knisley said.
As the tradition goes, the previous student sections leaders are the ones who elected
Knisely for the job. The student section leaders need to have a lot of school spirit, pride
and confidence in themselves.
“You’ve got to be unapologetically yourself, you have to be confident and have some charisma. I think that you have to be willing to get outside of your comfort zone sometimes, be in the forefront, and have a lot of school spirit and school pride. You have to be excited about where you are and know the people that you’re cheering for, and Alexis exemplifies all of those things,” Athletic Director Andre Nash said.
While Knisely has always been into sports, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be one of the student section leaders. Her first couple years at the high school, Knisely was more of an introverted and quiet kid.
“I didn’t know if anyone would vote for me because I was more introverted my first few years of high school and didn’t like to put myself out there. I’ve always had terrible stage fright and didn’t know if I was going to ever overcome those fears. I did end up overcoming those fears mainly because I learned it didn’t matter what people think of me. It only mattered what I thought about myself,” Knisely said.
Even though Knisely was quieter her early years, by her junior year it was obvious she was a great option for student section leader. In addition to being an athlete at Orange, she is a natural leader who people can look up to.
“It’s really important when you have your top athletes come out and show people school spirit. With Lexi being not only one of our best female athletes but also one of our best athletes in the building, she’s naturally seen as a leader. So, to get out there and to show her Pioneer pride and her school spirit for everybody, it’s amazing for us to have,” Nash said.
Knisely wants the student section to be a place where everyone can have fun and make memories, but for it to be that way theres a couple of things that people should do, show up, dress up and be loud.
“I want it to be a fun experience for everyone. Football Friday nights hold some of my favorite memories over the years. Being a place for people to get outside of their comfort zone with either crazy outfits fitting the theme, or being super loud. We want the pit to be known as one of the best student sections in all of central Ohio, which means to have a ton of attendance from the student body at all of the games and for everyone that goes to be loud supporting our athletes,” Knisley said.
