Athlete Spotlight: Riverheads junior Mackenzie Roller finds balance as two-sport athlete (2024)

CHRIS LASSITERFor The News Virginian

GREENVILLE — As a freshman, Mackenzie Roller faced a difficult choice.

An exceptional multi-sport athlete at Riverheads High School, Roller has played soccer since she was four years old. Her uncle, John Roller, holds throwing records at Wilson Memorial High School. She, too, wanted to try her hand at throwing events on the track and field team.

In the end, Roller made the only logical choice — pursue both.

The junior has been a standout in two sports over the past few springs, anchoring the Riverheads girls soccer team’s defense as a goalkeeper and as a thrower on the Gladiators’ track and field team.

“I came out to tryouts for both teams freshman year,” Roller said, “and I’ve stuck with them since.”

Slammed schedule

In the spring, many schools have more slots for athletes in various sports than they have athletes to fill those slots.

This is especially true at Riverheads, one of the smallest of the seven area public schools in terms of student population.

The coaches find a way to share athletes.

Jeremy Heizer was a multi-sport star at Riverheads High School. He now coaches Roller in the throwing events.

“I’ve always been a firm believer in the more sports you play, it just makes you a better overall athlete,” Heizer said.

On Monday, Roller starts with the track team, but she’s in goal by the time her Gladiator soccer teammates need to get shots on goal. Tuesdays are usually reserved for soccer games. On Wednesdays, she competes in a track meet.

She’s back to double practices on Thursdays, and Fridays typically mean the second soccer match of the week.

It’s a lot.

“Especially on the weeks where I have two soccer games and two track meets, those weeks get kind of crazy,” Roller said. “I’m a student at the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School, and that workload is a lot. It’s teaching me a lot of life skills for later on in life.”

Roller leans into her faith and her family when things feel hectic.

“I have a great support system around me: my mom, my dad, my grandparents, and my little sister,” the Gladiator junior said. “All my friends and family are supportive of it. And I’ve prayed over it a lot. I take my faith very seriously.”

Dazzling with the discus

Roller entered the track meet at Waynesboro needing a discus throw of 103 feet to qualify for states.

All she did was go out and throw a personal best of 105 feet, 5 inches in the meet.

Roller competes in the shot put, too, but she thrives in the discus.

“She’s always thinking about what went wrong, what she can fix, how to do something better,” Heizer said. “That’s what makes her good at what she does. I think her tallness and wingspan help. Plus, she’s really strong, and she can generate a lot of power in the spin.”

Superb at soccer

Roller has earned a reputation in soccer as one of the area’s best goalkeepers.

Her high school coach, Rachel Prater, has had the unique opportunity to watch Roller’s soccer progression from a young age.

“I started coaching Mackenzie when she was in seventh grade,” Prater said. “She would come straight from ballet class with her hair still in a bun. We put her in goal for the first time due to her height, and she would stay after every practice with her dad to work on her skills. She was determined to master it.”

Roller is getting closer and closer to mastering it.

Last year, she recorded 200 saves, and the Gladiators reached the VHSL Class 1 state semifinals. In the spring of 2024, she has 53 saves with two shutouts.

And Roller’s still getting better.

“She has grown immensely since last season in her confidence coming off her line and execution,” the coach added.

Prater isn’t surprised that her standout keeper can thrive at multiple things simultaneously.

“She is able to impressively balance excelling at both track and soccer, maintaining excellent grades at the Governor’s School, and working and being involved in her church,” Prater said. “She is the type of athlete that makes you remember why you want to coach in the first place.”