Athletic Director Branden Adkins nominated Piper Biziorek and Matt Appel to be recognized in the Senior Send-Off Show, presented by BMO Harris Bank.
Piper Biziorek
Even without four full years at Neuqua, senior Piper Biziorek has left such an indelible imprint on athletic director Brandon Atkins, she was his nominee for our female senior spotlight. Transfering in her sophomore more year, Biziorek started playing the Wildcats her junior season and immediately made an enormous impact. The Ohio native took over top scoring honors, leading the team with 8 goals and 5 assists. Neuqua Valley entered the IHSA 3A playoffs as the two seed in the sectional, though lost to Naperville Central in the regional final. Not only has Biziorek stood out on the pitch, she’s also crushed the classroom. Already bilingual, Biziorek is pursuing mastery over the German language to accompany her fluency in English and Chinese. It’s no wonder this student-athlete is heading to North Carolina-Charlotte and will be continuing her soccer career while majoring in international business.
Matt Appel
As for Brandon Adkin’s male nominee it’s a dual sport athlete who;s spent years using brute force to succeed on the field and the oval. Matt Appel has made a high school career of moving people on the football field. As part of a fierce offensive line, Appel cleared lanes for Armani Moreno, who’s ticketed for Northern Michigan to continue his football career. Appel helped the Wildcats tear up the regular season, finishing 8-1. Neuqua then dismantled Conant in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to Homewood-Flossmore. But just as he protected the man throwing on the gridiron, he became the thrower when spring rolled around. With Neuqua coming off a state win in track the year prior, Appel did everything in his power to propel the wildcats to another win. Placing third in the discuss and fourth in the shot put, Appel recorded 13 of the 23 team points for Neuqua. The Wildcats finished in a tie for 6th at Eastern Illinois. Appel will continue his journey next year at Yale.
With their high school achievements in the rear view mirror there appears to be nothing but bright future ahead for these two student athletes and all of their fellow seniors.
Check out other nominated athletes in our Athlete Profiles.
