Student-Athlete of the Week: Riley Mulshine

Niwot senior Riley Mulshine is facing a difficult choice in the coming months: should he study for an engineering degree at Michigan, Notre Dame or Stanford? He has already been accepted to the first two schools, and Stanford’s decision is expected by April 1. If that weren’t impressive enough, he also received a full Air Force ROTC scholarship, so cost won’t have to be a factor when deciding between three of the top programs in the country.

But good news on the collegiate front was just one part of the senior’s eventful fall semester. In October, Mulshine capped off his laudable high school tennis career with a second-place finish in No. 2 doubles at the Class 4A state championships and helped lead the Niwot boys tennis team to their best performance in more than a decade.

“This was the best finish both individually and as a team in my four years,” he wrote in an email interview. The co-captain was a four-year starter on Niwot’s highly competitive varsity squad and represented the Cougars at state in each of those four years. “As a team, we were very tight-knit, and this was our best team in my time here. This motivated the team to meet our highest potential.”

Performing at his highest potential seems to be Mulshine’s specialty, whether on the court or off it. In the classroom, his current course load includes a mix of six AP and IB classes, in which he earned a 4.86 GPA last semester, bringing his overall weighted average to 4.46. Unsurprisingly, the future aerospace engineer claims a special affinity for mathematics. “I like dealing with numbers much more than writing.”

“Mrs. Ewing has been an important mentor for me,” he continued. “She has guided me through college selections and helped me understand engineering much more.”

Mulshine is also generous with his time outside of the classroom. He is a member of Niwot’s National Honor Society, as well as a LINK Crew leader. He has also traveled twice to Nicaragua with other students to build housing for families in need, experiences which he termed “truly life-changing and humbling.”

Balancing these rival priorities has been tough at times, but the senior urged younger students to avoid focusing just on school work.

“I would highly encourage joining a sport or club, because it makes high school so much more memorable,” he wrote. “It definitely taught me as a freshman how to effectively manage my time between academics and life.

Mulshine pointed to his own “high expectations” as another important factor in his success in both arenas.

“I hold myself accountable for all my actions,” he wrote. “This makes performance in athletics and academics on the top of my priority list. I think people with high academic standards generally have high athletic standards. They both teach invaluable life lessons, and success in them goes far.”

At this time, Mulshine doesn’t plan to play tennis for his college team, but he does hope to play at the club level. He said he will definitely miss “bonding with my team” during the state tournament in Pueblo as well as the sport’s “competitive spirit.”

“Nothing beats the team competitions of high school. I will miss my team so much.”