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 for week of May 3, 2022.
It is one thing to claim to have words to live by, it is another to actually stay true to those words. Abington senior two-sport athlete Mei Mei Cheng is a shining example of someone who tries her best to follow her North Star, as she remains unafraid to try new things. It began when she started playing soccer at age 4 and gave up softball (which she played since she was 6 after beginning Tee-ball at age 4) to try lacrosse in third grade – and cried -- but stayed with it and grew to love the sport. She most recently went way outside the box with her college choice and decided to attend UCLA. “It is a little bit out there, but everything just worked out,” said Cheng, who plans to major in economics. “I do have family in California, so it helps. I applied to a lot of schools, just all around, in general. There were some in other states. I didn’t really have any one top choice. I got my letters of acceptance and that was it. I mean, yes, it’s far but I do have support there. I think the academic choices are good for me. Compared to the other schools, I just think it’s the best fit.”
As for majoring in economics, Cheng is doing so without a specific career path in mind. “No, not really,” she said. “I chose economics because it’s such a broad topic and I can go into anything after I decide what I want to do.” As for her inauspicious lacrosse debut, she credits both the support of her friends and teammates and her parents, Ingrid and Jon, who always taught her to keep on trying. “They have this three-strike rule,” she explained. “I have to try stuff three times before I can give it up. It’s just that a lot of my friends had been playing it, and I was scared to be the worst one, which I obviously was. But I went back and learned to play, and all my friends really helped me. Fast forward to the present and she is an invaluable senior tri-captain that coach Amalie Kreitman generally plays at midfield but moves to other positions as needed.
On the soccer pitch, Cheng is also a midfielder. “She is one of the hardest working players I have ever had in all my years, and she’s a ridiculously good student,” said Abington coach Rick Tompkins, who has been at the helm 12 years. “She goes about her business very quietly and gets the job done, but the engine just doesn’t quit.” A three-year varsity player, Cheng excelled for the Ghosts, whose season culminated with a trip to the district playoffs. She’s a great teammate – she’s great every which way,” Tompkins said. “Let’s say we’re stuck in a game, and we need someone to hold down the defense – I can move her back there, and she can handle it. And we played her up front. She took some free kicks for us. She has a very good shot, and my biggest criticism of her is she didn’t take it enough. I used to tease her about it and say, ‘Just shoot the ball’ because she brings it.”
Kreitman said Cheng’s athleticism and sixth sense carried over from the soccer pitch to the lacrosse field. “She is an all-around fantastic player,” said Kreitman. “You can put her anywhere on the field and she is dynamite. You can put on attack, she scores goals. You put her on defense, she keeps people out. You put her in the circle, and she is going after that ground ball. She plays soccer as well, so she is super athletic.”
Someone doesn’t get into school like UCLA, especially from out of state, with being a strong student. Taking honors and advanced placement classes, she carries a weighted GPA of 4.7 The juggling act, being a two-sport athlete, is not easy but she has made it work. “It hasn’t been very difficult, but there have been a lot of late nights,” she said. “It’s really just about putting in the effort to get everything done.” Cheng is unable to overextend herself with too many other extracurricular activities, but she does serve as the co-president of ASA (Asian Student Association) and was previously involved with the National Honor Society. While these are all off-field activities and achievements, they do not go unnoticed within the team. Said Kreitman: “Because of how true of a leader she is, they want to match her at where she is at. Other players look up to her. They look up to how well-rounded she is.” Kreitman is bracing for an interior injury -- a broken heart -- as Cheng will be sorely missed. “We lean on her a ton,” said the coach. “The girls really look up to her. She is an overall great person who works her tail off. Personally, it will be very tough not to have her.”
To read Cheng’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/mei-mei-cheng-00100578
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete for week of May 3, 2022.
David Levin’s varsity basketball career was as memorably remarkable as it was brief, which set the stage for an even more impactful run on the volleyball court. But first, that basketball cameo, because it says a lot about Levin as a competitor. Levin, a senior at Upper Dublin High School, always preferred basketball to any other sport, even though his older brother, Joey, was a standout volleyball player at the school. From the time he was a boy, David always had a goal in his head that he would make the school’s varsity basketball team as a freshman. Spoiler alert: Levin indeed made the team as a freshman, and although it was essentially a blink-and-you-missed-it endeavor, he has a way of articulating things that make it seem like he had a Hall of Fame-worthy run. Let Levin explain, in his own words. “Going back to elementary school, making varsity as a freshman was always my goal,” Levin said. “I was always told that this never happens, and I like to prove people wrong in that aspect. So, a couple games into the season, I got into my first game, and it was the most exciting experience. I also had one of the greatest stat lines you could ever have.”
Come again? “We were down by 23 points with four minutes left in the third quarter, and the coach looked down the bench and put me in. I played 10 minutes and we won by two, so I was a plus-25 that night.” Despite the maximum efficiency, Levin unfortunately had to give up basketball as quickly as his dream actualized due to one too many concussions, allowing him to shift his entire focus to the volleyball court in the spring. He made varsity as a freshman as well, even getting to play on the same team as Joey for a season before his older brother graduated. David didn’t immediately love volleyball when he started playing for a club team in seventh grade. Well, he loved the sport itself, but all the learning he had to do initially sapped his enjoyment. “I just wanted to play, not learn,” he said. “After the first three practices, I went home and told my parents I didn’t want to play anymore, and I talked to the coaches about it too. But after a week or two, I just loved the sport so much and found it so much fun. Then, I made it a goal to play varsity volleyball as a freshman so that I could play on the same team as my brother. That was really nice for me and my family as well.”
Paul Choi is the head volleyball coach at Upper Dublin, and he has built the program into one of sustained success atop the standings. Choi made it clear that whether you’re a senior or freshman, if you make varsity, then you are expected to perform. “No matter your grade or age, everyone is on the same playing field,” Choi said. “I do remember David always being intelligent, in school and in volleyball. He’s young, so there’s a big learning curve, but his enthusiasm and competitive nature made him stand out, even as a ninth grader. He would do everything in his power to win, even if it’s just a drill in practice. To this day, that competitive fire in him hasn’t changed. He was always more than willing to play any position, as long as it benefitted the team. It shows the character of David as a person in his willingness to be a team player, and to trust me as a coach to be all-in with whatever we think is the best course of action. And he’s still not afraid to voice his opinions. He brings kids together to have them understand that being a close-knit group goes a long way. Outside of the actual volleyball, he is doing the things you would want any leader to do.”
When this season and Levin’s senior year come to an end soon, he will be bound for Penn State University in the fall to study chemical engineering. During his time at Upper Dublin, Levin discovered how much he enjoyed math, chemistry and engineering, so why not study something that combines all three elements? Levin, who arrives 45 minutes early for most practices and matches, credits Choi with establishing an environment that is as competitive as it is fun. Many athletes, Levin said, are only excited for the games themselves, but actually dread the monotony of practice. This was certainly not the case at Upper Dublin. “I show up so early because I’m just so happy to be there,” Levin said. “The atmosphere is just amazing. I never once said I wasn’t looking forward to practice. When I look back on the season after it ends, I know I’m going to wish I could recreate it, even if it was just for one more minute. I can’t thank Paul enough for building the atmosphere he has here. It truly is one of a kind.”
To read Levin’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/david-levin-00100579
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