Penn Hills junior not your average 3-sport athlete

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, April 14, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Practicing for the Penn Hills physical fitness team is the easiest for Amaree’ Freeman. He can work out anytime with a pull-up bar and some weights in his basement.

Attempting to practice his other two sports indoors would be reckless at best.

The Penn Hills junior is a three-sport athlete, also playing for the rugby and volleyball teams. He enjoys balancing all of his activities.

“Sometimes, it’s easy,” Freeman said. “It can be chaotic and stressful.”

Freeman embraced taking on new challenges when he got to high school. Before that, he hadn’t tried too many different sports.

“I love learning new things,” Freeman said.

Freeman helped the physical fitness team place second nationally during the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Championships last year. Freeman earned a silver medal individually at nationals. During Penn Hills’ most recent fitness meet this season, the Indians won the team championship at Emmaus High School.

Because of the limited number of fitness teams competing, Penn Hills is often required to make long trips to meets. Freeman said he enjoys the trips, which have taken the team to Eastern Pennsylvania several times, New Jersey and Arkansas. Freeman has done the best with pushups and maxed out his pushups at 60 in 34 seconds.

“I enjoy traveling with my teammates,” Freeman said. “We got close quickly. I’ve met a lot of great people.”

Freeman went out for rugby thanks to being invited by a friend. Freeman has excelled with Big Red Rugby by playing fly half and scrum half. The Big Red rugby program is still in its infancy. Penn Hills has played three matches so far this season and has taken losses against Indiana County, North Pitt Rugby and West Allegheny.

“I was able to use my athleticism to help me adjust,” Freeman said. “My goal is to improve every day.”

Freeman also plays middle blocker and outside hitter for the Penn Hills volleyball team. Indians coach Will Piccolino said Freeman’s improvement has been part of Penn Hills’ ability to diversify their offense.

“Last year, with the options we had, other teams were able to key on guys,” Piccolino said. “This year, people aren’t going to know what we are going to throw at them. We can run trick plays, combo plays. People won’t be able to shut down one person.”

Volleyball has been one of the most challenging sports for Freeman to take on. He said that he has been working on improving the little details.

“It’s very technical,” Freeman said. “You can’t rely on athleticism. You have to have great technique. It takes time to learn.”

Tags: Penn Hills