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 Dec. 4, 2013)
Jennifer Harchut is the fifth of five sisters to compete and excel in sports at Upper Dublin. The senior captain recently capped her final field hockey season with her third consecutive first team all-league recognition. She is the only one of five siblings to play hockey. “I remember her mom talking about how Jen was really focusing on field hockey and getting actively involved,” field hockey coach Heather Boyer said. “She was a pretty good basketball player and a good swimmer, but she fell in love with field hockey. Knowing the Harchut family’s history and their strength in academics and athletics, I was pretty excited.” With good reason. Harchut stepped into the starting lineup as a freshman and never left. “You could just see the first day she stepped on the field in preseason for the high school team she was above and beyond with her skill level, her fitness level and even just her physical strength and endurance,” Boyer said.
Harchut went on to earn third team all-league honors as a freshman, marking the beginning of a stellar career. “This year she played center midfield,” Boyer said. “She has successfully played every single field position on the hockey field with the exception of goalie at some point in her career for me. She can do it all.” Sports have been a family affair for the Harchuts, and Jen acknowledges her sisters had a huge influence on her. “Growing up they took a lot of interest in me,” Harchut said. “They all made me feel really special and loved. They made me want to be better in sports that they played or the sports I was playing. I saw their success and wanted to be just like them. Even in school, they were all very good students. A big part of it is my parents (Helene and Bob Harchut) – I’m proud to call them my parents.”
Next fall, Harchut will be taking her talents to Columbia where she plans to major in economics with an interest in following her sisters into the business world, potentially working in the area of finance. This year, Harchut was chosen to be part of Upper Dublin’s British Exchange. A group of students from England visited the United States earlier this fall, and over spring break, Harchut will travel to England with students from UD.
An excellent student, Harchut takes a course load of honors and AP classes. She is a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Club. She is vice president of SGA, Upper Dublin’s student governing body. This past summer, she volunteered at the YMCA. She also is a lector at her church.
To read Harchut’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/jennifer-harchut-0039757
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Dec. 4, 2013)
Mark Schmidt is only half kidding when – while talking about Dan Johnson – the Neshaminy coach suggests that his senior lineman “can manage my money later on.” Johnson, it turns out, has a knack for numbers, and a career in the financial field is very realistic for a young man who excels on the gridiron but keeps it in perspective. “I’m going to have a life after football, and that’s what I have to prepare for,” he said. “Academics was always my calling card, and football came after that.” Johnson’s academic resume speaks for itself. He is ranked in the top five percent of his class and had a 4.85 grade point average at the end of the first marking period. His schedule includes five AP classes this year. “Academically, he’s off the charts,” Schmidt said. “He’s one of the best math students in the school – they say he’s one of the better ones in the county.”
Johnson has been asked to be a ‘mathlete’ when the season is over, and he was the team math tutor in the offseason, but don’t be fooled into thinking that football would be little more than an afterthought to Johnson. He is equally committed to excellence on the gridiron and was a key member of an offensive line that allowed the Redskins to accumulate close to 5,000 yards of total offense en route to a district title. The senior guard is quick to point out that it was a team effort on the offensive line where he is joined by John Koch, Matt Wynne, Mike Palmer and Hunter Kelly. “We’ve all jelled together this year, and it’s turned out great,” Johnson said. “The key to a great line is making sure everyone is on the same page, everyone knows what their responsibility is and everyone goes as hard as they can every single play. It’s all about effort and determination, and I definitely think our offensive line has that in bunches.” Johnson, according to Schmidt, has been coming on strong since midway through last season, and this year he became a fulltime two-way player. “This year he was a guy we were counting on to be pretty darn good, and it worked out,” the Redskins’ coach said. “He just really became a guy we could count on.”
Whether Johnson, a member of the National Honor Society, continues his career at the collegiate level remains to be seen. He is basing his decision on academics first. For three straight summers prior to this past summer, Johnson went on mission trips with his church. “The mission trips put a lot of things in perspective for me,” he said. “It made me appreciate everything I have in my life and what my parents provided for me. Those trips most of all humbled me.” Johnson, who plans to major in Actuarial Sciences, has applied to the University of Pennsylvania and admits he has loved Michigan since he was a youngster. Penn State is also on his radar. Numerous D-3 schools also are interested in acquiring his football talents. “Whatever he gets, he deserves,” Schmidt said.
To view Johnson’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/dan-johnson-0039785
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