SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Jan. 25, 2012)
Lauren Shevchek is a gifted swimmer and singer. The Council Rock South senior, a classically trained vocalist, has found a way to combine the two passions in her life by singing the National Anthem prior to home swim meets. “For me singing is something that’s very natural,” Shevchek said. “Does it break my focus? In a way, yes. But I swim maybe 45 seconds after singing, so I just have to come right out of that and refocus. If I sing well, it motivates me to swim well.” Shevchek has already qualified for districts in the 100 butterfly, and her medley relay is on the verge of securing a qualifying time. “Lauren’s a swimmer who really needs a good race to swim her best races,” coach Ken Brask said. “As the season goes on, she works harder and harder, but it’s really the close races that get her going. She’s really good in the clutch. If we’re trailing in a relay, and it’s her leg, everyone believes she can come back and pull off the impossible.”
But just as important as her efforts in the pool are her contributions to the team out of the water. “She takes her job as captain very seriously,” Brask said. “She’s checking the pulse of every swimmer on the team.” While Shevchek is trying to instill life lessons as well as swimming lessons to the younger swimmers, she is taking lessons of her own out of her interactions with the team. “Being allowed to help this group of amazing girls has really been a privilege for me,” Shevchek said. “Not only am I trying to help them, but they’ve also helped me grow.”
An excellent student, Shevchek is enrolled in three AP classes and is a member of the Music Honor Society as well as the National Honor Society. She is also a member of the Students Against Destructive Decisions and Animal Rescue Club and is involved in the high school’s Golden Wings Theatre Company as well as the community-based Newtown Arts Company. “It’s not just about swimming – it’s about being all you can be,” Brask said. “Whatever it is with Lauren – academics, sports, she’s just a natural leader, and she plays her heart out, works her heart out.”
This fall Shevchek will attend Penn State University where she plans to minor in vocal performance. She’s undecided on her major but is leaning toward speech pathology. She also plans to get involved in an a cappella group.
To read Shevchek’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/lauren-shevchek.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Jan. 25, 2012)
Mark Wonderling is one of the top basketball players in the SOL Continental Conference, but mention the Souderton senior’s name to his coach, and it takes a while before his basketball skills even enter the conversation. “He’s the most selfless kid I’ve ever seen, both coaching and also as a player when I played high school, college and professionally,” coach Dennis Stanton said. “He’s the epitome of team first. The coaching staff and myself – we just feel so blessed to have him in the program. He’s a wonderful kid.” Wonderling is held in equally high regard by his classmates, and although he is uncomfortable at the mention of it, he was elected Homecoming King last fell. “Everybody looks up to him, but he’s very unassuming,” Stanton said. “We joked about it – ‘Vote for Wonderling,’ and he would put his head down. He could care less about it. It’s a testament to the person he is. Everybody loves him, he treats everybody with respect, and he’s a man of faith.”
A two-year captain, Wonderling – a starter since he was a sophomore – can do it all on the basketball court for an Indian squad that owns a share of the Continental Conference’s top spot. “The kid is relentless,” Stanton said. “He wants to win, and he’ll do anything he can to win. He’s had games where he’s had 20 points, but he’s also had games where he’s had eight assists, 11 rebounds, and defensively, he just gets after it. It’s so cliché when coaches say, ‘He does everything to win the game,’ but this kid really embodies that in the way he plays the game.”
Wonderling hopes to continue his basketball career at the collegiate level. He plans to major in education or business and has been accepted at Lebanon Valley, Washington College and Ursinus. A leader off the court as well, Wonderling is involved in student government as well as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He also helps out with Sunday School and Bible study at his church. “He’s one of a kind,” Stanton said. “We talk about it all the time – I don’t know how you move on without a player like this. (My wife and I) just got married in August and want to have kids at some point, and I can only hope to have a young man like him. His parents did a great job.”
To view Wonderling’s complete profile, please click on the following link:
http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/mark-wonderling.
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