Student Athlete Profiles
These three gifted athletes are graduating from Millburn High School in June and taking their games to college.
RICHIE SCHIEKOFER 18 RACHEL HUBERTUS
“My dad gave me a toy bat to swing
when I was 1 years old, and later coached
my Little League team. He really motivated
me. He played baseball and football in high
school. We would always practice together
to the point where we were playing every
day and it became our routine.
When I was younger, I had to miss a
couple of Halloweens and other holidays to
go to tournaments. I sometimes resented it
but it was definitely worth it. I spent all my
summers playing baseball, which was a lot
of fun.
I played soccer until freshman year, and
football in freshman year, but I played
baseball year round. The other sports were
more to stay in shape. I always wanted to
play in college, and I started to realize it
could happen at the beginning of high
school. In 2015, I was part of the Millburn
High School team who won the state
championship. It felt like we could do
anything after that.
In the off-season, I lift in the gym, every
day for two hours, and have four practices
a week. During baseball season, I train for
around two and a half hours a day, and play
up to five games each week.
I hope to excel at Maryland, and just
keep playing ball as long as I can.” “My involvement in softball started at age
5 or 6, when my dad put me in Little League
and I really liked it. I kept playing as all the
other girls stopped. My dad made me play
softball because he said I was too good not
to. So I played that summer, and I loved it.
I made friends, and it got more serious
from there.
Time management can be tough, but I
find that my grades are better in season
because I am more organized. In the winter,
I practice five or six hours each week, and
in season, 12 to 18 hours.
I have had to make sacrifices to play,
especially club softball in the summer. I am
gone every weekend so I have missed parties
and birthdays. I can’t keep a job because of the
hours I have to work at my sport. While there
are a lot of things I can’t do, it has been
worth it.
I put my success down to my dad. He
pushed me so much, and just before high
school, when he stopped pushing me, I took
it upon myself to keep going. In college, I am
excited for the travel, and to get better, have
fun and meet good people. There aren’t
many opportunities to play softball
professionally. If I become a teacher, I would
love to coach one day, if not softball, maybe
basketball.”
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
BASEBALL
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
SOFTBALL
17
MATT GROSSMAN 18
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK
“I started running in sixth or seventh
grade. We used to have to run a mile at
school, and I ended up being pretty good at
it. I made the varsity team as a freshman,
which I wasn’t expecting, and I built on that
each year. In cross country I run the 5K (14:59)
and in track, the two-mile (9:06).
Having practice after school every day is
helpful for time management. I would come
home from school after practice at 5.30 p.m.,
and do all the homework I had to do. That
time crunch makes you start it.
I run 60 miles each week, year round.
Unless there is a lot of snow on the ground,
I run outside. Running is so individual, it is
private time to myself when I run, but it is
also a community sport. As a freshman,
there were a couple of really good seniors
on the team who gave me great advice,
mainly about time management. Without
them I wouldn’t be here today. One of them,
Rob Stone, is at Princeton, so I will be
running with him again next year.
After college, I would love to continue
running. It would be really cool t o be a
professional runner, but it is still so far away.”
MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE MAY 2017
51