Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com will once again recognize a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of April 19, 2023)
Ameerah Wheet has an unmistakable passion for softball. So it’s hardly a surprise that the Council Rock South senior is enjoying every minute of her final high school season playing for a Golden Hawks squad that is off to a hot start. The speedy center fielder bats in the heart of the lineup, and her contributions to the Hawks’ success have been obvious. Listening to her coach tell it, Wheet’s value does not begin and end with her prowess in the field and at the plate. “Ameerah is extremely fast,” Rock South coach Dan Schram said. “She’s one of the fastest kids I’ve ever coached. She plays a great outfield, she’s an offensive force, and most importantly, she has become such a leader, cheering the team on. We played a game recently without her because she was on the senior trip, and there was such a lull on the bench, not having her yelling and cheering for her team.”
The only time Wheet finds herself on the bench is when her team is batting, but the significance of her presence on this year’s squad is unmistakable. She acknowledges that her future in the sport might be more clearly defined if that passion had not temporarily taken a back seat. “I was going through a lot last year, and softball was the least of my concerns, so I really wasn’t doing the reaching out, the emailing and all that for the recruiting process that I should have been doing my junior year,” Wheet said. “I really just got a late jump on it.” That late jump is not preventing Wheet and her coach from actively pursuing her options in the sport – and she does have options, but those options don’t necessarily mesh with her academic goals.
An outstanding student, the Rock South senior has her sights set on majoring in mechanical engineering and attending one of the top Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). She has been accepted at her number one and two choices, North Carolina A&T and Howard, but there’s the not-so-little matter that she very much wants to continue her softball career at the collegiate level. “It’s hard to find a good HBCU with my major as well, and with that, there’s not that many schools to look at, so we’ve been trying to get in touch with North Carolina A&T and with Howard, but in reality, it’s late in the game,” Wheet said. “There’s not much they can do because their recruiting process is basically done for ‘23s, but we’re trying our hardest to get a school that I like with my major as well.”
Wheet has offers for softball, but those schools don’t have her major. “I don’t want to feel that I’m settling in any aspect whether it be education or athletics,” she said. “The schools that I could play softball at - there are some HBCUs, but it feels kind of wrong to choose softball over academics.” She has not ruled out the possibility of trying out as a walk-on. “That’s basically what we’re looking at for North Carolina A&T – that’s my top school right now, and Howard is a really close second,” Wheet said. Schram, for one, believes she has a bright future in softball at the collegiate level. “Her big thing is – she’s a tremendous student,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “She wants to play softball, but she wants her academics to carry her to the best place possible because she knows her career is going to come first.”
If Wheet took softball out of the equation, the Rock South senior would have more than enough to fill her schedule. Through her junior year, her course load was filled with honors and AP classes. She is a member of the National English Honor Society and Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society. She is involved in community service and is active with her church. She’s involved in clubs at Rock South. Choosing a college that will give her both the academics and softball she is looking for is the only unfinished business in Wheet’s life right now, but she has an advocate and supporter in Schram, a firm believer that she is destined for success at the next level in the classroom and on the diamond. “I’m trying to help her with schools,” the Rock South coach said. “She’s gotten passed over because not many of the travel teams really deal with HBCUs. She’s really overcome a lot, and I’ve watched her come into her own. Ameerah hits for power, sprays base hits, lays down beautiful bunts, steals bases, has a good arm and makes big plays when we need them. Her speed is untraceable. She has all the tools, and she’s a great kid.”
To read Wheet’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/ameerah-wheet-00106252
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of April 19, 2023)
In Game 2 on the first day of his senior season, Colin Poremba opened with a strike. Then a second strike. Then a third. In all, Poremba started off with 12 consecutive strikes. Had he been in the batter’s box on the baseball diamond, that would have been a disastrous start. But on the bowling lanes, 12 consecutive strikes is literally the best start Poremba could have hoped for. A perfect game. “It was my first 300, and to open the season with a 745 at the end of that day - it was very memorable,” Poremba said. “I put in a lot of time and a lot of work in the offseason. I wanted to go out there and make a name for myself, make sure the season got off to the best start possible.”
The Harry S Truman senior proved to be a key piece in the Tigers’ bowling team’s Suburban One League team title and appearances at Regionals and States, where they finished fifth. Poremba also qualified for the Singles Stepladder Finals tournament. Entering as the fifth seed in the tournament, Poremba won his first two matches and finished third in the state. Tigers’ bowling coach Jim Ryan had no doubts that Poremba could achieve what he did this year. “Colin is a true leader, he’s my anchor bowler, the one I lean on when the game is close, the one who knows what needs to be done to win the game,” Ryan said. “He has that winning mentality, and he always tries to keep the team in the game.” Between his clutch play and his nontraditional two-handed delivery, Poremba has a way of garnering attention on the lanes. It’s the same way in practice, where he’s looked up to as a two-year captain and a mentor for the younger bowlers. He’s put in a lot of work to get to where he is now. Poremba said he’s seen his spare shooting improve the most during his high school years, and it resulted in his average jumping 15 pins from freshman to sophomore year, as well as a 10-pin jump from junior to senior year, where he carried a 225 average.
While Poremba is most passionate about bowling, he is a two-sport athlete at Truman. Once he’s done on the lanes, Poremba is an outfielder on the Tigers’ baseball team that is looking to make some noise in what is shaping up to be a highly competitive Patriot Division. Sinkiewicz has no doubts that Poremba will get back into form. “Going as far as he did in bowling took away a bit in preparing for baseball, especially when you make it as far as he did,” Sinkiewicz said. “Colin is one of those kids that’s going to keep plugging away. He’s an athlete, he’s one of those kids driven to figure it out. I’m looking forward to seeing what the season brings for him.”
Next year, Poremba and teammate Bradley Allen will head to Kentucky, where they will attend Midway University and continue their respective bowling careers at the collegiate level. It’s fitting that the two are taking the next step together, since it was Allen who helped Poremba take his first step into the world of bowling when he was still in elementary school. Whatever his future may hold at Midway and beyond, there is no doubt as to what Poremba is leaving behind. His legacy as a leader, a mentor, and a top-notch bowler are secure at Truman. “Colin knows next year he won’t be at Truman, and part of his job this year was to help secure the legacy of the team,” Ryan said. “The past six or eight years, Truman bowling team has been a force in Suburban One, and Colin knew when he leaves, someone else has to step into that position. I could always say to Colin, ‘Can you work with this guy?’ ‘Yes, Coach, I know I won’t be here next year, and this kid has to develop this.’ He knew what I was asking of him and what we needed, and he never told me no. To find a youth bowler that can do what you ask him to do and not be selfish about it is very rare. A lot of kids worry about what they’re doing, but it has to be about the team, not you. Colin knew how to differentiate that.”
And while it may be difficult to fill Poremba’s bowling shoes, he’ll be impossible to replace as a person. “It’s going to be really tough to figure out who I’m going to replace him with,” Ryan said.
“Colin is a special kid to me. He’s more than a bowler. Colin is really good friends with my son, so he spent a lot of time outside of bowling at my house. There have been kids on the team over the years, they grow into sons to me. I have a couple coming behind Colin that are going into that role, they’re not just a bowler on the team, they’re like family to me. It’s going to be tough without Colin, but I’m proud of him. He’s got a great future ahead of him.”
To read the remainder of Poremba’s story, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/colin-poremba-00106250
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