Ariel Rivera, senior, is a very accomplished athlete at Pleasant Valley High School. He participates in two sports, boys soccer and baseball. Despite being his first season playing soccer at the high school, Rivera earned a spot on the boys soccer team this spring. Rivera said, “I joined soccer because it would help get me in shape for the upcoming baseball season instead of just sitting around the house.”

Rivera is going to be attending Penn State Abington in the fall. He hopes to continue his athletic career there by playing baseball for them. He said “I chose Penn State Abington because it is close to New York, and I would like to live on the east coast again after living there before I moved to Iowa five years ago.”

After living in the Dominican Republic and Panama for much of his early life, Rivera moved around many times as a child before final settling down in Iowa. Although he moved quite a bit, he still manages to maintain fairly good grades. He can speak fluently in both Spanish and English, but around the house, Rivera said, “We only speak spanish.”

Rivera is a starter on the boys junior varsity soccer team after never having played soccer before. Fellow soccer teammate Josh Stivers, grade, said, “Ariel is one of the hardest workers I know. He is a very good teammate on and off the field.” Most teammates seem to have high praise of Rivera. The captain of the baseball team, Ryan Morrisey,  senior, said, “Ariel has an incredible work ethic and that is why I think he succeeded in sports and that is why I feel that he will be a very good baseball player in college.”