The Silvertip’s second Athlete of the Week is Nate Sheriff. Sheriff is a junior this year, and he plays water polo. He has been a Varsity athlete for two years now, including his sophomore year and now during his junior year in which he is serving as a captain. Sheriff has been crucial to the boys Water Polo team, beginning with his freshman year when he was pulled up to Varsity for the CIF playoffs.
Water polo isn’t the only thing Sheriff excels in. By taking AP Calculus and AP U.S. History, he exceeds both athletically and academically. He says that his trick for getting all of his work done is just fitting it in when he can, even if that means using extra time in class to get work from other classes done. The boys Water Polo season just ended, and he said that they won about half the games they played in Division 2 and commented on what helped his team perform well this season.
“I think we all bond together really well, and we have strong leaders that will get our team to work hard,” said Sheriff.
Sheriff said that the seniors he will miss are Chase Lund and Anthony Kellerman. He also attested to the teammates he considers family.
“A co-captain of mine, Kaden Smith… We’ve grown up together, got into the sport at the same time, and we’ve progressed together. [Also,] Logan Johnston. He’s our goalie and he’s just gotten a lot better,” said Sheriff.
Sheriff plays Varsity Baseball as well, and he plays first base. Because of his participation in baseball, Sheriff doesn’t have an off-season. When asked how he plans to keep his grades strong in the second semester, he said that he’ll give himself a bit of a break every now and then and try his best to keep up with his schoolwork throughout the season.
The main setback Sheriff mentioned he has faced as an athlete is injuring his arm while playing baseball. This injury set him back and prevented him from throwing for a few months. However, outside of baseball and water polo, Sheriff says he spends his time weightlifting and surfing.
His advice for aspiring water polo players is to not be intimidated to go out and try the sport.
