What’s worse than pressure from your parents or older siblings to succeed in sports? Maybe knowing that even it hurts when they stand up, they could still beat you at your own game.
Throughout the past few years at Harrison High School, new generations of sport legacies have begun to arise. Sport legacies can be passing the crown from parent to child like Michael Schumacher and Mick Schumacher, or from the older sibling to the younger sibling like Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. While people might think that being a sports legacy could take a large toll on someone’s life and mental health because of the pressure to live up to expectations, the Harrison legacy athletes reported positive effects. Some benefits are sharing the same passion and love for a sport as someone in your family or always having someone to practice and help you improve.
Harrison High School has been around since the late 1800s, meaning we have had our share of sport legacies throughout the years. Recently, legacies include sophomore Grant Meibers and his mom Miranda (Back) Meibers were both involved in our high school’s track program, as well as sisters Chloe Dearwester and Rylee Dearwester who both are involved in our high school’s wrestling program. We even have Cohl Wandsnider who wrestles at the same building with his father’s plaque displayed on the outside wall for all to see.
Miranda Meibers and Grant Meibers are a parent and child duo who both not only attended this school but also participated in track. Grant has been in our school’s track program since 6th grade and is going on to 5 years so far, planning to continue into his senior year and considering continuing at a collegiate level, while his mother started in her 7th grade year and went on to complete 6 seasons total ending her track career in her senior year of high school. They both share the 400m but differ when it comes to other events. Grant also does the high jump, sharing the event with his father, while Miranda did the long jump as well as the 200m before graduating in 1999. During her glory years Miranda has the accomplishments of holding both the middle school and high school long jump records and went to claim 3rd in state. Being a sports legacy can provide great support into helping someone achieve those types of accomplishments. “[My parents] always come to every meet and always give advice when I need it, and support my decisions no matter what,” Grant said.
Chloe and Rylee are a sibling duo who both participate in our school’s wrestling program. Rylee is currently a freshman and is graduating in 2027, and her sister, Chloe is a senior graduating in 2024. Chloe has been wrestling for 8 years and Rylee has been wrestling for 7 years, with more years to come for both of them. Rylee was encouraged by friends and Chloe to wrestle and can always count on seeing Chloe on the sidelines of the mat, cheering her on. So far at her time in Harrison, Chloe has the accomplishments of being a 3-time state champion and winning a national title, with more to come in her senior season. While Rylee has won a national title and is a runner up in state so far, with her freshman season beginning she is destined to have more success to come. Chloe and Rylee both share a love for this sport but are in different weight classes when it comes time to compete. Chloe just recently committed to wrestle at Presbyterian College and Rylee has plans to also attend college as a wrestler. So, they will have many more wrestling matches in their future to support each other.
These athletes go through great pressure: they not only have to make their coach and school proud like everyone else, but they have someone at home who knows exactly what they did right or wrong in each game or match. But the opportunity to make siblings and parents proud by letting them watch their family succeed in something they love and share a passion for as well makes it all worth it.
