By Tyce Dishman
Winning one sectional championship in your four years of high school is a realistic achievement that may happen. However, this athlete is chasing his fourth straight sectional championship, all in a span of just 12 months.
Senior Chase Ritchie is a three-sport athlete and is striving to reach four straight sectional titles.
Ritchie plays football, basketball and baseball. All of these sports won sectional titles last school year, with baseball and basketball also winning regional titles. The football team plays Friday night at Mississinewa in the semifinal round of sectionals.
All three of his head coaches said his best trait is his determination to win.
“I think Chase’s teammates would agree he has this special skill where his best quality is competing,” varsity basketball head coach Mark Detweiler said.
With being a three-sport athlete there are a few sacrifices that the athletes make. One of those is the amount of time they spend at home.
Out of 180 days of school Ritchie said he goes home directly after school maybe 15 days.
He is rarely home because he is always busy with various workouts and practices.
“I like that because I’m the kind of person that always needs to be doing something,” Ritchie said.
Ritchie starts off the school year playing football in the fall for head coach Chris Overholt.
Ritchie is a receiver for the football team, but that’s not his only job.
Coach Overholt entrusted Ritchie with varying roles on the offensive side of the ball.
“We ask him to do probably more things than anyone on the offense for us to be successful,” Overholt said.
Chase has to know the responsibilities and roles of a quarterback, running back, offensive linemen and a receiver. Overholt said that they’ve never asked anyone to do that before.
The roles Ritchie contributes to the Eagles haven’t gone unnoticed. Ritchie has received a few NCAA Division 3 offers from Wabash, Bluffton and Lawrence universities.
He plans to continue his football career past high school and play in college but is seeking a bigger opportunity at the moment.
Not only is Ritchie a key player on the gridiron he is looking to take a bigger role on the hardwood.
Richie split time last year playing junior varsity and varsity.
With the entire starting five and sixth man graduating that left a big hole in the lineup leading into this season.
“The thing with this senior class was they all were ready last year but we could not find minutes to get them on the court,” Detweiler said.
Ritchie experienced two talented basketball teams. He was a part of a program that won regional championships in back-to-back seasons.
However, this was not the only sport Ritchie held a regional championship trophy.
Ritchie won another title in baseball last spring. Richie was the Eagles’ starting center fielder and helped contribute to the team’s success.
Through all of the practices, workouts and games, Ritchie has grown into a leadership role within his teams.
“To have somebody who’s a senior now, to be a leader for our program, who’s played at a high level and experienced success at a high level in different sports is super helpful for our younger guys,” head varsity baseball coach Devin Wilburn said.
Chase is a three-year varsity baseball player and that built confidence and leadership skills through the guidance of the seniors before him.
But Ritchie is not looking too far ahead at the moment and is focusing on the football sectional championship in front of him.
Being a three-sport athlete presents some challenges when it comes to getting ready for another sport as far as conditioning.
This is why Ritchie chooses to go on long distance bike rides when he has the chance to maintain his conditioning level. This level of commitment has been noticed by all of his coaches.
“Chase is a poster child for that as far as a guy that has persistence, grit and toughness,” Detweiler said. “He is one of the guys that’s got it. That’s what makes Delta different — guys like Chase.”
