Chloe Heshiser
Derrick Webb

Derrick Webb

Derrick is SOSA's chief content coordinator and has worked for the Chillicothe Gazette, the Portsmouth Daily Times and Eleven Warriors. He's a 13-time award-winning journalist, a self-proclaimed baseball purist, a suffering Bengals fan and has never met a stranger.

Zane Trace’s Chloe Heshiser selected as SOSA’s Pickaway-Ross Athlete of the Month

Heshiser is studying to be a nurse at Pickaway-Ross.

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

KINNIKINNICK — Chloe Heshiser knows exactly what she wants to do after she graduates high school.

Zane Trace junior Chloe Heshiser (right, center) listens to Pioneers assistant coach Tori Washington (left) during a timeout in a game earlier this season.
CREDIT: Marissa Spradlin/SOSA

Heshiser, a junior at Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center, is enrolled in the school’s nursing program. When she graduates next spring, she plans to follow in the footsteps of someone who’s close to her.

“I’ve always just wanted to be a nurse and it’s something that’s been in my family,” Heshiser said. “My grandma was a nurse and I wanted to do it, too. I feel like going to Pickaway-Ross gives me the chance to learn something hands on. I’m not sitting and looking at a board. I’m learning something and actively doing so.”

And when she’s not learning hands-on in the classroom, she’s sharpening her skillset on the basketball court.

Heshiser has played an important role for Zane Trace’s varsity program and continues to do so.

At her guard position, she’s helped a youth-filled roster continue to progress and, while she admits this season hasn’t gone how her and her teammates have wanted it to, she can also see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“My friend showed me basketball in seventh grade and I decided to try it,” Heshiser said. “I didn’t get much playing time that year but in high school, I stuck with it and I fell in love with it. We have a young team this year and most of us don’t have any varsity experience.

“I feel like our defense has gotten much better. We’ve definitely improved from the beginning of the season and we’ve been working on that a lot. If we can keep improving over the summer, and now that we have varsity experience, I definitely think we can be pretty good [in 2023-24].”

Heshiser has gotten a lot better this season.

Her steady improvement has been evident throughout the year. But, as any good player knows, there’s always something to work on.

“I think my defense has gotten a lot better but I think I could still improve in that area,” Heshiser said. “I’m left-handed, which is good for most point guards, but my ball-handling could get much better.”

As one of just five upperclassmen on the Pioneers’ roster, Heshiser has tried her best to take on a leadership role.

Zane trace has three seniors in Avery Johnson, Madison McDonald and Braylee Burkitt while Heshiser and Lily Rose are the team’s only two juniors.

Then, there’s one sophomore and four freshmen, providing a good mix of untapped talent for first-year head coach DeMarco Washington. During his first season, Heshiser says he’s tried to change the team’s culture and right the ship.

“I feel like [Washington] stresses the small stuff and tells us how that little stuff can make a change,” Heshiser said. “Getting a win before the end of the season would honestly mean a lot for us. This hasn’t been the outcome we wanted this season but I do think if we could just get a win, it would really make everything better.”

The Pioneers have two more chances during the regular season to get that win with dates against Piketon and Adena. Then, on Feb. 15, they’ll meet with Huntington in a Division III sectional semifinal.

For now, Heshiser and company are taking it one day at a time while she continues to work at getting better — both in the classroom and on the hardwood.

“It’s nice to see my teammates at practice because I don’t get to see them at school anymore,” Heshiser said. “I miss that part of [going to Zane Trace]. But I recommend going to Pickaway-Ross because it’s actually really nice there. I enjoy going there every day. And it’s nice because if I want to work in a hospital, I don’t even have to go to college. I can be a STNA or an LPN, save thousands of dollars and go right into my field.”

SPONSORED BY PICKAWAY-ROSS CTC

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