Neuqua Valley's Biziorek puts
mind and body in constant motion
By Matt Le Cren
Piper Biziorek presented quite a sight.
The Neuqua Valley senior midfielder must have turned a few heads in south Naperville as she rode her bicycle to and from school in the middle of winter.
“I started riding my bike to school this year,” Biziorek said. “It’s only a about a mile-and-a-half, so I don’t want to waste gas and hurt the environment if I can bike there.”
Mother Earth no doubt appreciates Biziorek’s eco-conscious behavior. The polar vortex did not make an appearance this year.
“It was a mild winter so luckily there wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground,” Biziorek said. “I don’t ride when there is snow anymore because I fell once when I slipped on the ice.
“I was OK, but I’m not going to make that mistake again.”
Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau, who is old enough to remember the days when kids did ride bikes to school, albeit only in warm weather, was a little incredulous.
“What high schoolkids rides their bike to school, and in the winter?” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau mused. “One thing I yelled at her about was she never wore a helmet.”
But Biziorek did wear just about everything else.
“I just bundle up – thick coat, thick gloves, and I’m just fine,” Biziorek said. “I actually prefer it to driving. Even though it’s only a 10-minute ride each way, just 10 minutes is adding on to the time you have each day of working out.”
True, but she has drawn some astonished reactions from those who hear of her commuting habits.
“For sure,” Biziorek said. “Whenever I tell people that, they’re like, ‘You’re crazy.’”
Biziorek is not crazy, just fanatical about her physical fitness, which is the stuff of local legend. The North Carolina-Charlotte recruit is renowned as much for her training habits as much for her prowess on the pitch.
“Her work ethic is unbelievable,” Moreau said. “The P.E. teachers talk about her.
“She takes Advanced Physical Fitness and she works harder than anyone in the class. She’s in the weight room a lot and her pushup technique is fabulous.
“She has a never-ending motor. Her engine never stops.”
This is not an exaggeration. Just ask fellow senior Julia Rushing, her frequent workout partner and a two-time state qualifier in cross country.
“She’s so fast but she also has so much endurance, which is great to have somebody to compete with in wind sprints,” Rushing said. “I always have eyes on her, just trying to keep up with her because she just has so much speed and it doesn’t seem to every go away.
“She just keeps on going and she’s a great player and great athlete.”
Biziorek ran cross country as a freshman in her native Ohio before transferring to Neuqua her sophomore year, when she played only club soccer.
She joined the Wildcats last season and led the team in scoring with eight goals and five assists, demonstrating a willingness to go wherever and do whatever to help the team win.
“Her work rate on the pitch is nonstop,” Moreau said. “She just goes all over the place.
“She will be a hard player to defend because she’s never in the same spot.
“She can play attacking center midfielder or a center forward. We could go with one forward and she would be all over the place. She just always wants to train.”
So where does Biziorek get all this energy?
“Obviously, energy comes from getting a good night’s sleep,” Biziorek said. “I get lots of sleep every night.
“I try to get eight hours every night and sometimes my body (tells me) I need to sleep for nine or 10 hours.”
That’s a lot more than most teenagers, but is only part of the explanation for Biziorek’s Energizer Bunny routine.
“I usually eat pretty healthy but I think the reason why I’m so athletic is just exercise is kind of my happy place,” Biziorek said. “I just need it to feel good.
“When I get started, I have to go really hard and then I get in this zone where I can run for a really long time. It’s kind of an adrenaline rush, kind of similar to a runner’s high. That’s where I get most of it from.
“I have a long history of running and working out every day. That helps, too.”
As much as Biziorek loves a good workout, it doesn’t compare to the joy she gets on the soccer field, where she can engage her mind as well as her muscles.
“The thing I love about soccer is I’m always running,” Biziorek said. “Soccer is a way to run and get out all that energy and create plays with my teammates.
“That’s my favorite thing about soccer – it’s a beautiful game the way that you can have perfect passes and a perfect sequence and I love how everything comes together.
When every player is on the same page, it can seem like the team is reading a book no one else can see.
“It’s so clever the way everything is done and if you really look, you can see how the players are thinking and how they are creative even though there are a limited amount of things that you can do,” Biziorek said. “I love the creative aspect of it, and I love the athletic aspect of it.
“Putting those two together is part of the reason why I love playing midfield so much; it has pretty much the most running, but you’re also the center of every play. You’re always the connecting runner, which means you have so many options.
“When you get it from the defense, you could play a long ball or you could switch the field or you can dribble and try to get to goal. That’s something you can’t always do at the other positions.”
Biziorek compares soccer to e-chess, where players have five seconds to make a move. It requires quick thinking and an ability to see patterns.
If that sounds like something that requires intelligence, Biziorek has plenty of that. She exercises her mind just as much as she does her muscles.
Moreau said Biziorek is super smart and the facts back him up. She has gotten all As in high school save for one B her sophomore year, is a member of the Chinese Honor Society and German Honor Society and is taking Calculus 3, the highest math class offered at Neuqua.
“I just love learning new things, and I love doing everything,” Biziorek said. “I can’t do everything, but I like to try to do everything.
“Throughout high school, especially my senior year, I just want to get as many experiences as I can because I know some people just go along with one path, and I don’t want to have one world view.
“I’m in creative writing so I kind of want to know how other people are thinking. Let’s say I don’t really know anything about knitting, but maybe another person is in love with knitting. I kind of want to understand that person without getting too much into myself.”
Biziorek said she learning doesn’t come easily for her, but she loves the process.
“I work really hard for my grades so I’m pretty proud of them,” she said. “I have so much I want to do at school and I don’t have a lot of time because soccer takes up a big chunk of my time and the rest is schoolwork.”
Little wonder then that Biziorek isn’t entirely sure what she wants to do with her life. She plans to major in international business and hopes to see the world.
“I wanted to do something where I can travel while I’m young and before I settle down,” Biziorek said. “I did learn Chinese, and I’m learning German so I wanted something where I can utilize those two languages and continue to learn.
“It seems like (international business) would be a good fit. I’m hopeful.”
mind and body in constant motion
By Matt Le Cren
Piper Biziorek presented quite a sight.
The Neuqua Valley senior midfielder must have turned a few heads in south Naperville as she rode her bicycle to and from school in the middle of winter.
“I started riding my bike to school this year,” Biziorek said. “It’s only a about a mile-and-a-half, so I don’t want to waste gas and hurt the environment if I can bike there.”
Mother Earth no doubt appreciates Biziorek’s eco-conscious behavior. The polar vortex did not make an appearance this year.
“It was a mild winter so luckily there wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground,” Biziorek said. “I don’t ride when there is snow anymore because I fell once when I slipped on the ice.
“I was OK, but I’m not going to make that mistake again.”
Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau, who is old enough to remember the days when kids did ride bikes to school, albeit only in warm weather, was a little incredulous.
“What high schoolkids rides their bike to school, and in the winter?” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau mused. “One thing I yelled at her about was she never wore a helmet.”
But Biziorek did wear just about everything else.
“I just bundle up – thick coat, thick gloves, and I’m just fine,” Biziorek said. “I actually prefer it to driving. Even though it’s only a 10-minute ride each way, just 10 minutes is adding on to the time you have each day of working out.”
True, but she has drawn some astonished reactions from those who hear of her commuting habits.
“For sure,” Biziorek said. “Whenever I tell people that, they’re like, ‘You’re crazy.’”
Biziorek is not crazy, just fanatical about her physical fitness, which is the stuff of local legend. The North Carolina-Charlotte recruit is renowned as much for her training habits as much for her prowess on the pitch.
“Her work ethic is unbelievable,” Moreau said. “The P.E. teachers talk about her.
“She takes Advanced Physical Fitness and she works harder than anyone in the class. She’s in the weight room a lot and her pushup technique is fabulous.
“She has a never-ending motor. Her engine never stops.”
This is not an exaggeration. Just ask fellow senior Julia Rushing, her frequent workout partner and a two-time state qualifier in cross country.
“She’s so fast but she also has so much endurance, which is great to have somebody to compete with in wind sprints,” Rushing said. “I always have eyes on her, just trying to keep up with her because she just has so much speed and it doesn’t seem to every go away.
“She just keeps on going and she’s a great player and great athlete.”
Biziorek ran cross country as a freshman in her native Ohio before transferring to Neuqua her sophomore year, when she played only club soccer.
She joined the Wildcats last season and led the team in scoring with eight goals and five assists, demonstrating a willingness to go wherever and do whatever to help the team win.
“Her work rate on the pitch is nonstop,” Moreau said. “She just goes all over the place.
“She will be a hard player to defend because she’s never in the same spot.
“She can play attacking center midfielder or a center forward. We could go with one forward and she would be all over the place. She just always wants to train.”
So where does Biziorek get all this energy?
“Obviously, energy comes from getting a good night’s sleep,” Biziorek said. “I get lots of sleep every night.
“I try to get eight hours every night and sometimes my body (tells me) I need to sleep for nine or 10 hours.”
That’s a lot more than most teenagers, but is only part of the explanation for Biziorek’s Energizer Bunny routine.
“I usually eat pretty healthy but I think the reason why I’m so athletic is just exercise is kind of my happy place,” Biziorek said. “I just need it to feel good.
“When I get started, I have to go really hard and then I get in this zone where I can run for a really long time. It’s kind of an adrenaline rush, kind of similar to a runner’s high. That’s where I get most of it from.
“I have a long history of running and working out every day. That helps, too.”
As much as Biziorek loves a good workout, it doesn’t compare to the joy she gets on the soccer field, where she can engage her mind as well as her muscles.
“The thing I love about soccer is I’m always running,” Biziorek said. “Soccer is a way to run and get out all that energy and create plays with my teammates.
“That’s my favorite thing about soccer – it’s a beautiful game the way that you can have perfect passes and a perfect sequence and I love how everything comes together.
When every player is on the same page, it can seem like the team is reading a book no one else can see.
“It’s so clever the way everything is done and if you really look, you can see how the players are thinking and how they are creative even though there are a limited amount of things that you can do,” Biziorek said. “I love the creative aspect of it, and I love the athletic aspect of it.
“Putting those two together is part of the reason why I love playing midfield so much; it has pretty much the most running, but you’re also the center of every play. You’re always the connecting runner, which means you have so many options.
“When you get it from the defense, you could play a long ball or you could switch the field or you can dribble and try to get to goal. That’s something you can’t always do at the other positions.”
Biziorek compares soccer to e-chess, where players have five seconds to make a move. It requires quick thinking and an ability to see patterns.
If that sounds like something that requires intelligence, Biziorek has plenty of that. She exercises her mind just as much as she does her muscles.
Moreau said Biziorek is super smart and the facts back him up. She has gotten all As in high school save for one B her sophomore year, is a member of the Chinese Honor Society and German Honor Society and is taking Calculus 3, the highest math class offered at Neuqua.
“I just love learning new things, and I love doing everything,” Biziorek said. “I can’t do everything, but I like to try to do everything.
“Throughout high school, especially my senior year, I just want to get as many experiences as I can because I know some people just go along with one path, and I don’t want to have one world view.
“I’m in creative writing so I kind of want to know how other people are thinking. Let’s say I don’t really know anything about knitting, but maybe another person is in love with knitting. I kind of want to understand that person without getting too much into myself.”
Biziorek said she learning doesn’t come easily for her, but she loves the process.
“I work really hard for my grades so I’m pretty proud of them,” she said. “I have so much I want to do at school and I don’t have a lot of time because soccer takes up a big chunk of my time and the rest is schoolwork.”
Little wonder then that Biziorek isn’t entirely sure what she wants to do with her life. She plans to major in international business and hopes to see the world.
“I wanted to do something where I can travel while I’m young and before I settle down,” Biziorek said. “I did learn Chinese, and I’m learning German so I wanted something where I can utilize those two languages and continue to learn.
“It seems like (international business) would be a good fit. I’m hopeful.”