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 March 10, 2016)
Dan Schram calls Stephanie Yost an inspiration. “Sometimes I take softball a little too seriously,” the Bensalem coach said. “I just look at Steph, and I remember – this is a kids’ game, and it’s a great game, and we’re all blessed to play it.” Yost is passionate about softball, but ask the senior infielder if she is looking forward to her final high school season this spring, and her response might surprise you. “I’m not too eager because I want to save it,” she said. While many of her peers can’t wait to move on to the next chapter of their lives, the Bensalem senior would like this one to last longer. “I’m excited to play, but it’s senior year, and I’ve missed a lot,” she said. The high value Yost places on every second of her high school experience is born out of her courageous battle against Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) that kept her off the diamond and in and out of CHOP as a freshman, but she is a survivor, one of the fortunate ones. “That changed a lot of things,” Yost said. “There are days when I’m like, ‘I don’t really feel like doing this,’ and then I think back to all the kids that are still in (the hospital) that don’t get a chance to do it.”
Yost’s story begins like many of her peers. She grew up playing softball and soccer, and as a freshman at Bensalem, she immediately threw herself into Schram’s offseason workouts. In January of that year, Yost got a bad cold she could not shake and, in late March, came down with fever that wouldn’t subside. “My mom had doctors run blood work, and they found it,” she said of her diagnosis of AML on April 2, 2013. “Initially, I cried, but then I decided I’m not going to let this beat me. I’m going to get through it, and I’m going to get back to everything I was before.” Yost was in the hospital for weeks at a time during intense rounds of chemo. After her three rounds of chemo were completed, Yost was admitted to CHOP for a stem cell transplant in August of 2013. She was hospitalized for close to two months. She developed engraftment syndrome and graft versus host disease. “I also got mucositis, which kind of tore up my digestive tract,” she said. “I became lactose intolerant for a good nine months.” But Yost was on the road to recovery.
The road to recovery was not always an easy one. Yost also dealt with MRSA during and briefly after her treatments were completed. She was home schooled her sophomore year, and a week or two before softball tryouts, Yost went to her first practice. Her return to the softball diamond marked the beginning of a road to normalcy. This spring, Yost will be a key player on the varsity. She is no longer on medication but still has checkups every four months. When Yost talks about her experiences, there is no trace of anger, no ‘why me?’ Her singular focus was on getting well. “She’s just an absolute inspiration to all of us,” Schram said.
Yost’s career goal of becoming a pediatric oncology nurse was inspired by one of her nurses. She has applied to Drexel University. “She’s an amazing student, and she’s an amazing school citizen,” Schram said. “She’s a natural born leader, good to everyone around her, humble. She’s just very, very intelligent, tactful and articulate. She’s a very special wonderful person.”
To read Yost’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/stephanie-yost-0060224
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of March 10, 2016)
Offseason practice for the Souderton boys’ water polo team began last Tuesday evening. When coach Joe Hay arrived at the pool, he was greeted by Daniel Trout. That didn’t surprise Hay at all…even though Trout will be graduating in a few months. “I heard he was texting various underclassmen that offseason practice starts and he expected them to be here,” Hay said. “I never expected him to do any of that. He took it upon himself and when I go there, ‘Here I am.’ That’s who he is.” Though Trout’s high school water polo career may be over, his attachment to the team is anything but. The two-year captain said he plans on attending the twice-weekly spring practices and thrice-weekly summer sessions to do what he can to help the team continue its winning ways. “I guess you could say this is my chance to give back to the program that gave me so much,” Trout said. “I want to be there for these kids and I want to give back to the system.”
Helping to make the Souderton water polo team better is nothing new for Trout. From the moment he cracked the varsity lineup as a freshman, Trout has been making his teammates and his team better, both with his skills and his leadership. Trout has been rewarded for his hard work with all-state honors for the past three seasons, but more importantly, he has been rewarded with the team’s regular season as well as postseason successes. “Danny makes everyone else around him better,” Hay said. “He leads us in assists, leads us in steals and is one of our top scorers, but our top scorers wouldn’t be our top scorers without him. He’s the man who directs the traffic in the pool. He’s our point guard, our quarterback. He’s our Peyton Manning.” That’s a hefty comparison, but it’s one that Trout not only welcomes, he enjoys being able to fill that role.
Six months prior to his junior season, Trout had rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder. “The doctor said it looked like a tiger ripped apart my rotator cuff,” he said. “That’s how bad it was.” But thanks to a rigorous rehab program, he was back in the pool when water polo season rolled around. In the classroom, Trout brings the same drive and determination he shows in the pool. His weighted GPA is well above a 4.0. He is a member of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America and the National Honors Society. Being involved with FBLA and NHS provides Trout with opportunities to pursue another passion – helping others and making his school and community better. He has participated in FBLA pancake breakfasts and NHS food drive as well as charitable events held by the water polo team. He also served as a peer tutor in school and coaches the youth water polo club where he first started playing. “My parents always stressed to me to give back to the people who give you so much,” he said. “Those are the values your parents give to you. They give you tools, you decide how to use them.”
Though he keeps strong ties to his community and his school, Trout can’t help but look toward the future. Come August, he will head to Wagner College on an academic scholarship. Accepted into the college’s Honors Program, he plans to pursue accounting and financial planning with a concentration in pre-law. Trout also will join the Seahawks’ water polo program at its inception.
To read Trout’s compete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/daniel-trout-0060226
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