On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, Central Bucks West seniors Ryan Hynes and Taylor Berkeley were recognized at a special news conference for signing letters of intent to compete in track at the collegiate level.
Ryan Hynes – Cornell University (Track)
Major: Business (Hotel Administration)
Final list of colleges: Cornell, University of Virginia
Reasons for choosing Cornell: “I visited both schools, and Cornell had the better atmosphere. I really liked the coaching up there, and it seemed more homey. The coach was really nice and made me and my family feel really welcome. Everything seemed right.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in track at the collegiate level? “Both of my brothers were high school athletes, and they both went on to compete at Princeton, so it was just kind of expected of me. I love the sport, and it just seemed right.
“I got my first letter at districts of my junior year from Villanova, and that’s what started it all.”
Coach Jason Gable says: “He’s an extremely versatile athlete. It’s been a growing progression since his freshman year. When we have guys coming in as ninth graders, we don’t put them in tons of events. We usually race them in one to two events their first two years and focus more on the training. We’ve always had the philosophy of having our guys be the best at their events their junior and senior years. The first couple of years we have them learn the ropes and just have them model what the upperclassmen and seniors do.
“Ryan’s body type – he’s a natural born sprinter, a natural born jumper. He has great speed, great jumping ability, and we have been able to hone that over the past four years for his main events. I’m positive if we had him focus on high jump, he’d be a great high jumper or even triple jump. The 300 hurdles and long jump are his bread and butter events. He’s going to Cornell to be a decathlete, so he’s had the training in even more jumps and more throws.”
About Ryan:
Favorite food: General Tso’s Chicken
Favorite movie: Zoolander
Favorite music: Kanye West
Taylor Berkeley – East Stroudsburg University (Track)
Major: Secondary Education
Final list of colleges: East Stroudsburg, West Chester, Elizabethtown
Reasons for choosing East Stroudsburg: “Just talking to the coach and seeing what it was like up there – all the people that run there currently are friendly, and I just liked the atmosphere. It seemed like the right choice.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in track at the collegiate level? “When I started running track for high school in tenth grade, I saw some of the older guys go off to college, and I thought it was kind of cool how you can make that progression. Track is a sport where you can always build off your last race and become better. I wanted to take it to the next level and go to college and see what they can offer me.”
Coach Jason Gable says: “He has our main guy for the past three years in the short sprints. He developed in his sophomore year, and his junior year he took over on our relays when we graduated our state champion 4x100. He’s done the mid-sprint training all these years, and his best event really is the start of the 100, so he was our prime candidate to lead off our 4x100. He qualified for districts in the 100, but his focus has been the 4x100.
“After seeing the success of our relays two years ago and all those guys going off to college, that put a little fire in him last year, and he started thinking about running track in college. He definitely came into his own this year both as an athlete and as a leader on the team. He looked around at Division II schools, and he talked to me and to former teammates who were running in college, and he found East Stroudsburg to be the best fit.”
About Taylor:
Favorite food: Chicken Parmesan
Favorite movie: Step Brothers
Favorite music: Marvin Gaye
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