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 Sept. 24, 2014)
Katie Bagdon. Mention the Council Rock South senior’s name to her coaches, and they can’t speak highly enough about her. Not because of her accomplishments – although she is a standout athlete – but rather because of the person she is. “Katie is probably the most coachable player I have ever had,” field hockey coach Lisa Belz said. “When I say coachable, that means a lot to me that she is willing to do whatever it takes for the best of the team.” “She’s amazing,” lacrosse coach Ashley Muenker said. “Her team trusts her, they love her, and they look up to her. She’s just a devoted athlete. She’s the kind of athlete you want every single one of your players to be like.”
Belz recalls her senior captain’s selfless response after the Golden Hawks lost back-to-back games. “We were talking about changing the lineup, and she said, ‘I will play wherever. I just want to win,’” she said of her center mid. “That says a lot about a player. It’s not about her. It’s about what’s best for the team.” Ask Bagdon about her offer to change positions, and the Rock South senior doesn’t find it unusual at all. “The team is my priority,” she said. “That’s the reason I’m playing is to make everyone else successful. I just think it’s a team sport, and I want my team to succeed.” Bagdon is the captain of both her lacrosse and field hockey teams. “She’s an excellent role model and leader to our younger players,” Belz said. “She’s really, really positive and upbeat, and the girls really look up to her.”
Bagdon, a four-year varsity player in field hockey, earned all-league in each of the last two years and was a key member of last year’s SOL National Conference championship hockey team. She hopes to continue her field hockey career at the collegiate level, possibly playing Division III or club hockey. Bagdon is enrolled in three AP classes and is a member of Rock South’s National Honor Society as well as the German, Math, English and Social Studies Honor Societies. She is hoping to turn her love of physics into a career and is considering a possible engineering major. “I’m so proud of all that she has accomplished on and off the field,” Belz said. “I am confident that she will be very successful throughout her life.”
To read Bagdon’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/katie-bagdon-0047155
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Sept. 24, 2014)
While Trysten Hunt pushes himself in the classroom for top grades, it is all about the letter “F” for him. Family and football. True, the Harry S Truman wrestles and plays baseball, but they serve secondary purposes. Football is his passion. It is about blood, sweat and tears. About leaving nothing on the field. And while he considers his Tiger teammates “brothers for life,” nothing beats the family bond built by his parents, Marlyn and Nicole. He points to his dad as his greatest source of inspiration and source of support, but he doesn’t forget mom. “Both my parents are a great support system, and I’m so blessed to have a pair of parents like them,” Hunt said. “I also love doing stuff with my family. I’m not like other teenagers who always go out with their friends and never make time for the most important people in their lives.”
The rise of the Truman football program is one of the more inspiring stories in the Suburban One League. While the Tigers are not considered one of the circuit’s elite teams, they are in the mix, which is a long way from where they were a few years back. And anyone close to the program can pretty much trace it to Hunt, who began playing varsity snaps as a freshman. “Trysten has been a starter for our program since his freshman year when he had to step in for an injured player in a game against Pennsbury,” said coach Jon Craig. “Since that moment, he has never looked back, and he embodies all of the things a football coach is looking for in a quality player. He’s fast, tough, dedicated, coachable and just an all-around good kid. Trysten is a captain and leader on our team, and they often look for him to make big plays in key situations.”
Back in seventh grade, Hunt caught a glimpse of life without football. He didn’t like the vision. “I had a D in seventh grade,” he said. “My father said, ‘You know, if you don’t do well in the classroom, you won’t get to play football.’” Enter Trysten Hunt, the student-athlete, who currently boasts a 3.4 GPA. “That’s really where it started,” he said.
It would be easy and almost understandable for a player in Hunt’s position to begin putting himself before the team. He could think about individual stats and raising his stock with colleges, but that’s just not who he is or what he is all about. He takes more pride in seeing others share the glory. And nothing would make it sweeter than a winning season after beginning with a one-win season as a freshman.
To view Hunt’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/trysten-hunt-0047171
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