Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com is once again recognizing 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 of March 11, 2025)
John Gallagher laughs when he recalls his first impression of then incoming freshman Alena Cofield when he took over the helm of the Neshaminy basketball program. “I walked in the gym our first summer workout, and here comes Alena and returning players,” said Gallagher. “We’re going about our workout, and she is flying up and down the court. She couldn’t take two dribbles without the ball going off her leg out of bounds. She just kept looking at me for approval, and I’m like – ‘You’re okay, you’re okay.’”
No one could have predicted that the speedy freshman with little knowledge of basketball would three years later be named the Most Outstanding Player of the SOL Patriot Division, but that’s exactly what happened.
Cofield’s motives for going out for basketball underscore that it was never meant to be a serious commitment. “I decided – okay, I’ll play basketball because I need something to look good on my college resume,” said Cofield, who measures in at 5-4. “Track was going to be my number one option, and basketball would keep me in shape in winter, no problem. I was horrible. I came to the first tryout – I didn’t even know any of the rules. I couldn’t even dribble a basketball. I think I traveled every single time I had the ball. It was so bad. I was like ‘I’m going to get cut from the team.’”
It was actually the beginning of an improbable but remarkable journey. This spring, Cofield is once again running track after a year away from the sport, but basketball is her sport of choice. “It feels like a full circle moment,” she said. “It just feels so weird – yeah, I’m running track so I can stay in shape for basketball.” said Cofield, who will continue her basketball career next year at Arcadia University.
Cofield got her first taste of AAU basketball with the Lower Bucks Lightening after her freshman year. “Coach Gallagher gave me a shot,” she said. “I’m like –‘Wow, he’s showing confidence in me.’ From then on, I was like – I can’t blow this. I’m going to keep going. I’ve gotta keep showing up,’ and I did. I really started working after my freshman season. My shot was awful – I didn’t jump when I shot, so I would watch college games to see how people played. I put so much time into it. It was like a hyper fixation. I was like – all right, this is what I’m going to be good at.”
As a sophomore, Cofield was in the starting lineup for a team that captured the SOL Patriot Division title. She gave glimpses of her potential in a district playoff game against Upper Dublin, scoring 20 points and connecting on four 3s. As a junior, Cofield excelled in a supporting role behind seniors Reese Zemitis and Lola Ibarrondo, who are now playing collegiately at Bucknell and Holy Family respectively. Neshaminy defended its SOL Patriot Division crown and captured the SOL Tournament title. The fiery sparkplug earned second team all-league honors, but she wasn’t satisfied. “I didn’t want to be known as a player – okay, she can just get rebounds,” Cofield said. “And for the longest time, people wouldn’t guard me because why would you guard me? I couldn’t shoot the ball I can get a couple of steals, but people weren’t guarding me, and I took it as a sense of disrespect. All right, that’s only going to make me work harder.” The rest is history for the senior, who was selected captain of a young team comprised of mainly freshmen and sophomores. “Alena helped bring these younger kids along who were trying to feel where they fit in the program,” Gallagher said. “I just can’t believe what she came from as a freshman to this year being selected the best player in the division by the coaches. No one would have predicted it.”
Off the basketball court, Cofield – an excellent student– is involved with Athletes Helping Athletes, Unified Track and the ceramics club. She also helps her mother, a teacher who works with students who have autism. Next fall, Cofield is leaning towards a physical therapy major at Arcadia. “There’s no better physical therapy school around, and Alena is a very, very good student,” Gallagher said. “She really has her game together. Not only on the basketball court, but her social skills in bringing our team together. We lost a lot besides points but also the staples of the program that ran the program between herding the kids together and making them all go in the same direction. That was our biggest loss. It wasn’t 1,000 points from two players. It was filling that void, and Alena just stepped into it so willingly and just dominated. She was just fantastic.”
To read Cofield’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/alena-cofield-00117302
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of March 11, 2025)
On the first day of this spring’s track and field practice, longtime Lower Moreland track and cross country coach Greg Green gathered his team around to share the news that this season would be his last. Aside from league and individual titles, one of Green’s crowning achievements has been that several of his athletes have followed in his footsteps to become teachers/coaches themselves. As fate would have it, senior captain Vincent Frankina has already decided that he will enter West Chester University with that career goal in mind. And Green is the main reason why. “He influenced me,” confirmed Frankina. “I would like to be the head coach of a sports team as well as teach. He always pushed me and showed faith in me.” For Green, it was music to his ears. “It’s feels good,” he said, pointing out that his 36 years in teaching will end in June. “I’m glad that I can keep the legacy going. I have about five or six kids that I have taught or coached over the years who are teaching phys ed now. I hope I inspired a lot of people through my coaching and teaching.”
Frankina grew up as primarily a soccer player, which was sort of the family sport, but he developed a love for running. He first gave it a go in the middle of his freshman year, running distance events in the winter and spring before making the full-time change as a sophomore. That led to almost immediate individual and team success at the league and district levels and a chance to compete in state meets. “I was happy with my performance with outdoor track,” said the son of Maria and Joseph Frankina. “I sort of got convinced by my teammates and by my head coach to switch over. I thought I had more potential as a runner than as a soccer player.” This concept called for a bit of a family meeting. “My family and I went through a lot about the switch, but that was the choice that I made,” said Frankina, who runs in the 1600 and 3200 in the spring seasons and consistently places high. “It has been everything that I have hoped for.”
Green is grateful that it all fell into place for one of his prized pupils. “He came out for indoor track in his freshman year,” said the coach. “He fell in love with running, and he just kept getting better every year.” That would be a bit of an understatement. “By his sophomore year, he made the state championships in cross-country,” said Green. “He played soccer in his freshman year for Lower Moreland, and then he ran indoor and outdoor track. He decided he was going to run cross country in the fall and not play soccer. His dad was not happy at the time, because his dad is a big soccer guy. Since then, though, his dad has been great. He watched his son grow as a runner and realized that running was probably his thing.”
A solid student with a 3.8 GPA with a course load of AP and honors class, Frankina is a member of the National Honor Society. A sign of how well-regarded he is by teammates is seen in the fact that Frankina is a captain. Said Green: “He’s a great kid and a great leader. It’s just a shame he wasn’t here this (fall), because we won the district championship (in cross country) without him, which I couldn’t believe. He would have been a big part of that, and he would have made it to states for a third year in a row.” While cross country and track have solitary elements to them, a team leader is a necessity. “The kids look up to him, and they respect him,” said Green. “It’s in his work ethic. He just worked really hard at it. While I think he is a really talented runner, I think he is more talented because of his work ethic and because of his commitment to getting better. He is the kind of a person who, when he sets his mind onto something, he is going to work really hard to make it happen. That why he will make a really good phys ed teacher.”
To read the complete Frankina story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/vincent-frankina-00117301
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