H-S Athlete of the Week: Lila Mitchell, California
Name: Lila Mitchell
School: California
Class: Freshman
Sport: Flag football, track and field
Mitchell无毛视频檚 week: Mitchell pulled in seven receptions for 65 yards and two touchdowns in California无毛视频檚 flag football loss to Brentwood on March 30, then snagged seven catches for 76 yards and four touchdowns, including what proved to be the deciding score, with an interception in a 38-34 victory over Belle Vernon. In track and field, Mitchell finished first in the high jump during a quad-meet against Beth-Center, Bentworth and Waynesburg Central on March 31, and set a P.R. on Wednesday by clearing the bar at 4-10 to win the high jump again in a meet against Charleroi. She无毛视频檚 coming off a basketball season in which she was named to the all-section team and helped lead the Lady Trojans to a WPIAL playoff berth.
Love of football: The 6-foot Mitchell has at least one TD catch in all five of the Lady Trojans games this season and also returned an interception for a score against Thomas Jefferson. Mitchell, the 15-year-old daughter of Herbert Mitchell III (better known as Mitch Mitchell to area sports fans) and Brianne Mitchell, was a natural as a wide receiver, according to her dad. 无毛视频淪he loved soccer right from the start and basketball she took to really well, but she无毛视频檚 been bugging me to play football because she liked to catch and would play during recess with the boys,无毛视频� said Mitch, who is head coach of the flag football team. 无毛视频淪he always liked it and I was watching her one day playing during a picnic and I could tell, man, she无毛视频檚 got it. So it无毛视频檚 cool we were able to start this program.无毛视频� Lila prefers playing the sport over watching it. 无毛视频淚 never watched a ton of football but I always liked to play it,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淟earning the rules for flag was a new thing, but I think it was easier that I didn无毛视频檛 know any of the tackle football rules so I could kind of learn fresh. I think I took pretty well to it. But the main thing I knew was I had to catch the ball.无毛视频�
Adjusting to the game: Lila had to adjust to playing a sanctioned varsity sport as opposed to pick-up games on the playground. 无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 a little less pressure on offense because you can rely on your teammates more, but defense is a lot more stressful with a bunch of girls running at you,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淚 play safety so I无毛视频檓 deep in the back and try not to let anything over my head.无毛视频� Having designed plays was new as well. 无毛视频淲e get a play in and then sometimes we have to improvise,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淲e try to stick to the play we无毛视频檙e given as much as possible but there are times something switches on defense at the last moment and then we know that play won无毛视频檛 work. Our quarterback (Meadow Meier) is really good at that.无毛视频� Lila无毛视频檚 height and athletic ability make her hard to stop on offense. 无毛视频淏eing 6-foot and being able to jump a little bit helps out a lot when I无毛视频檓 playing against a lot of smaller girls but who have quick hands,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淪ometimes I might just tell Meadow throw it up in the back corner and I无毛视频檒l just jump up and get it.无毛视频� Lila recalled how thrilled she was to pull in her first touchdown catch. 无毛视频淚t kind of showed me what our season could be,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淪ince then things have only gone up. We无毛视频檝e played better as a team. We无毛视频檝e come together and understood how each player works.无毛视频�
On the track: Lila transferred from Oakland Catholic to California after the fall season for personal reasons, returning to her home district. 无毛视频淚t became much more practical for us as a family,无毛视频� Mitch said. She is relatively new to track and field. 无毛视频淚n seventh grade I expressed interest in it to my coach and he went over it a little bit with me but we didn无毛视频檛 really have a ton of time to learn and get used to it,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淪o I went with my dad and we watched a few YouTube videos and that无毛视频檚 how I learned to high jump. Now that I无毛视频檓 back doing it at California I无毛视频檓 working with my coach and improving.无毛视频�
Great bloodlines: Lila无毛视频檚 father Mitch was one of the greatest three-sport athletes to ever come out of Brownsville. A 1999 graduate, he led the Falcons to highly successful seasons in football (wide receiver/tight end), basketball (center) and baseball (first baseman/pitcher). Her mother Brianne played volleyball and basketball in high school. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 helped a lot to have parents who were athletes,无毛视频� said Lila, who in addition to participating in track and flag football this spring is also playing for her Pittsburgh Chaos AAU basketball team. Mitch has helped coach her in several sports. 无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 always been one of my coaches so he无毛视频檚 certainly helped me loads throughout the years,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淚 like having him as a coach.无毛视频� She intends to play volleyball for California in the fall and has played soccer in the past. 无毛视频淚 got into soccer first when I was about four,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淚 play defense, center back. I started playing basketball in our youth league when I was in first grade.无毛视频�
Hoops star: Lila无毛视频檚 best sport is basketball. 无毛视频淎ccording to MaxPreps she was the top Class AA freshmen in the state in rebounds and in double-doubles in all classifications,无毛视频� Mitch pointed out. A natural center, Lila willingly converted herself into a point guard for this past season, working with her dad, to help out the Lady Trojans who were lacking in ball handlers. 无毛视频淚 think it was important for me to take a leadership role because we didn无毛视频檛 have a lot of upperclassmen, just one senior who was really nice and kind to everyone, and a few juniors,无毛视频� Lila said. 无毛视频淧laying point guard was very, very new to me. I had never taken the ball up because I无毛视频檓 pretty tall, obviously, so I无毛视频檝e pretty much always been in the post. It was kind of nice. The main thing I liked doing was passing the ball off and then moving under for the rebound.无毛视频� She poured in a career-high 26 points in a win over Jefferson-Morgan. 无毛视频淚 think I无毛视频檇 like to play basketball in college,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚 feel that would be a good fit for me.无毛视频�
Odds and ends: Lila has an older sister, Della, who is a senior at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). 无毛视频� Brianne and her two daughters wrote a series of children无毛视频檚 books together, called The Della and Lila Book Series, that won several regional awards. They also started a nonprofit, called the River Fund for which they donate all of their merchandise sales. River Fund helps local children and families in SWPA and beyond.
无毛视频� Compiled by Rob Burchianti