Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com will once again recognize a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week 7)
Every team needs a Lily Crocker. A selfless player who will do whatever is needed for the good of her team. The Cheltenham senior’s natural position is on the outside wing, but she willingly moved to center mid since it benefitted her team. Granted, that might not be especially noteworthy since players routinely give up their position of choice for the good of the team, but Crocker did much more than that, moving into goal when the Panthers found themselves in dire straits. “I volunteered when not just our first string but our second string goalies were both out for the season very unexpectedly,” Crocker said. “Our first string goalie, who is a junior, is very, very good, and she was out very early in the season, so our sophomore second string has been playing, and then she, of course, broke her finger because what else would someone on our team do, so we were left goalie-less. We do have a third string goalie, but she’s a sophomore and doesn’t really play goalie, so we were really struggling for a game. I had talked to our coach, and I’m like, ‘I used to play goalie for a travel team a while ago’, and I knew that I had a mindset that could work, and I’m overall athletic enough to be there.”
So, into net Crocker went although she made a deal with coach Leah Matusow to play just one half and the other would play her field position. “She’s played four years. I’ve coached her for three and also in middle school before I moved to the high school,” the Lady Panthers’ coach said. “She is someone who’s so passionate about her team and putting the team first. We’ve had a lot of injuries to our goalkeepers, and she said, ‘Coach, if you need me to play goalie, I will.’ I think she’s had a little bit of fun even though it hasn’t always necessarily gone her way, but it just shows you the kind of kid she is that she’s literally willing to do whatever our team needs. She’s just someone that loves being part of the Cheltenham girls’ soccer team, which makes it fun to be her coach.”
Crocker’s high school journey took a hit when – in the fall of 2020 after COVID 19 had cancelled all spring sports, Cheltenham did not compete in fall sports and instead competed in the United X League the following spring. The Panthers captured the United X championship that spring with a win over Reading. “It was actually one of my favorite memories from soccer ever,” Crocker said. “I still remember the feeling when we crashed the field when the buzzer went off. I was a sophomore and I started that game, so it was just a really good feeling to feel like we’re in the championship game, this big game, and I’m making a difference. It was really fun. I remember we were pulling off 309 by our school, and all of a sudden, these fire trucks came by, and we had a fire truck escort. It was a really cool experience and super fun.”
Last fall, Crocker’s junior season, the Panthers won five games. This year was a difficult season that included a rash of injuries, and the Panthers did not win a game, tying one. Crocker was one of four captains. “I think our players will say she is always someone they feel they can go and talk with,” Matusow said. “She’s always one to check in on everyone. She’s been a great role model, in my opinion, for our younger players. There have been a few practices where I’ve asked my captains to really step up, and to watch Lily play that player-coach role has been really cool. She’s a good student, and that’s something we take pride in. She’s got school spirit, and she works really hard. She’s just a great kid.”
In the spring, Crocker is a member of the lacrosse team. “Lily is an absolute pleasure to have on the team,” Panthers’ lacrosse coach Marina Schreiner said. “She’s an asset and plays wherever I need her. I’ll be like – Hey, can you go out on defense? Can you go on offense? Whatever I need, she’s there. She’s a good leader on the team and really leads the younger girls. She’s very genuine and authentic person as well. She’s a great team player. I would love to have a lot of Lilys on my team.” A member of the National Honor Society, Crocker is undecided on a college but plans to major in environmental engineering.
To read Crocker’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/lily-crocker-00103482
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week 7)
Payton Smolenak is a Neshaminy Redskin to his very core. “The thing that makes Neshaminy unique – here’s a guy, his dad (Joe Smolenak) went to Neshaminy, he graduated from Neshaminy and he played football at Neshaminy under coach (Dick) Bedesem,” Neshaminy football coach Steve Wilmot said. “There’s a lot of people like that. It’s not unique to Payton. Payton has a history of Neshaminy football. He’s the type of kid - growing up he was at our football youth camps every single year. He gets to the high school, he plays for the ninth grade team, and before you know it, he’s working out every day.”
Payton is the very definition of a program kid, and with a father, two uncles and a grandfather who played football, it was in Payton’s blood. “My parents said when I was a baby, I always had a football in my hand,” he said. “I always had one with me, no matter what. I just grew up with it pretty much. I loved it. Football helped me – if I was having trouble at school or something, I would be like, ‘Okay, I have football practice later. I have something to look forward to.’” And Smolenak’s passion for the game has never changed, and although not a star, he’s a valued member of the team. “In the offseason, he was there every single day and has a smile on his face and has been really positive throughout the whole year,” Wilmot said. “Payton is just so well-liked.”
Smolenak played jayvee his sophomore and part of his junior year until he began earning significant varsity minutes at linebacker and fullback. This year, the senior saw some time at fullback but most of his action was on special teams. He could have been bitter and allowed it to color his love for the sport. That hasn’t happened. “At first, it’s hard to hear,” Smolenak said. “It’s your senior year, and you might not be playing as much as you’d hoped. Someone younger than you is playing that they think is better than you – it’s hard, but once you become friends with those kids, you just want the best from them. You want to become a role model for them.” The senior says he learned an important life lesson through the experience. “Never expect anything to be handed to you,” Smolenak said. “I went from playing a lot last year to not playing as much but still playing. Yes, it sucked, but stuff happens. You have to get used to it, you’ve got to get over it and find a different way to contribute, and I’m trying to help the younger kids out as much as I can.” Smolenak’s selfless approach is not lost on his coach. “He’s just an all-around great team player,” Wilmot said. “He gives four or five kids that he lives by a ride to practice. Although we’re not winning every game that we want to win, the fact of the matter is – this is a great bunch of kids to coach because this senior class is really tight, and Payton is part of that.”
When the Redskins hosted Central Bucks East in a late season contest, they dedicated the game to Payton’s mother, Kerry Smolenak, a breast cancer survivor who had her first bout with the disease when Payton was a freshman. “It started the beginning of my freshman year,” said Payton, who a year earlier lost his grandmother to pancreatic cancer. “It was tough. When I first heard about it, I cried – I’ll keep it real.” Kerry went through treatments and seemed to be doing well, but the cancer returned a year later, and she had a single mastectomy. Last year, she underwent a second mastectomy to remove her other breast. “She was living good finally, and she went to the doctor’s and it was like you have to have the second one taken off – it was just out of nowhere,” Payton said. “That was the worst of it. If I could rate it, that was 90 percent worse than everything else.” Kerry has come out on the other side of her ordeal with breast cancer and is doing well. She is an advocate for cancer awareness and spoke to the team prior to its game against East.
Although Smolenak does not plan to play football at the collegiate level, he hopes to stay close to sports, majoring in sports management. His dream job – doing ESPN analysis or compiling sports statistics, and don’t be surprised to see him on the sidelines at some point coaching a sport he loves. “For the past two years, when Neshaminy had its youth camp for the little kids, I was one of the counselors, and that’s a lot of fun too – that is so much fun,” Smolenak said.
To read Smolenak’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/payton-smolenak-00103478
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