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 of May 4, 2023)
Addie DiPaolo remembers the moment when she set a personal goal to win last season’s Freedom Division Championship in the 400-meter dash. A goal she set at about the 200-meter mark of the race. Having missed several weeks during the season to rest an injury and having limited chances to run the 400, DiPaolo was actually focused more on another event at league championships during her junior year. “I went into the league meet thinking about the 200,” said DiPaolo, who had missed time in March and April to rest a tibial stress reaction (more commonly known as shin splints). “I hadn’t run many open 400s, and I raced 5 races over the weekend of leagues. I went into the 400 with no expectations, I was just excited because I hadn’t gotten many chances to race in the 400 that season.”
So DiPaolo was as surprised as anyone else that halfway through the race, she was out in front. “I realized I was going to be the league champion halfway through the race,” she said. “I was at the 200 mark and I thought, ‘You know what, I have a lot left in the tank, I’m just going to go.’ I hit the straightaway, ‘I’m in the front, I’m going to keep the lead.’” She did just that, finishing the 400 in 1:00.88, about a second-and-a-half in front of teammate Karolina Ciesla’s second-place time of 1:02.32. “Walking off the line, it was really special because that’s where it hit me,” DiPaolo said. “It was a really happy moment.”
As a result, DiPaolo entered her senior spring track season as the defending Freedom Division 400-meter champion and the one to beat for every other middle distance runner. And while DiPaolo’s determination to make this season the best it can be is apparent in the way she aggressively attacks her events on the track, it’s also showing up off the track as well. While she’s always been one to work with and help her teammates, being a senior and a leader, DiPaolo also understands that this is her last opportunity to mentor the younger athletes on the team and help prepare those who will eventually fill her shoes. “Addie is a very good leader for the younger kids,” Reynolds said. “We don’t have captains, but when it’s time for stretching, warming up, getting things done, she does bring the younger ones along or lets them know what they need to do. A lot of the girls gravitate toward her and that’s just her personality where they believe in her and trust her, and that makes it easier for the coaching staff. We can let Addie know what we’re going to do today and if we get called away for whatever reason, she’s there to keep it going. She’s been a big part of our team over the past couple years.”
DiPaolo doesn’t only excel on the track. She’s also a stellar student, carrying a course load filled with AP classes and extracurriculars. DiPaolo is a member of Tennent’s History, English, Science, and National Honor Societies, and is a member of student government and the athletic council. Next year, she will attend one of the most academically demanding colleges in the country, heading to American University, where she will also run track. The support that American University provides to its student-athletes will have DiPaolo primed for success both in the classroom and on the track. “I don’t think there’s anything that she can’t do,” Reynolds said. “Even with something as simple as having shin problems, she fought back from that, learned how to take care of her body where her injury is not affecting her at all. Addie is somebody who really cares about the sport, cares about herself, and cares about being successful. Once she gets down there, she’s going to have the right training, nutrition, all the options to be successful as an athlete, and all the options to be successful as a student. She is an outstanding student going to an outstanding academic school. American is getting somebody who does not know what quit means.”
To read DiPaolo’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/addie-dipaolo-00106623
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of May 4, 2023)
It’s as easy as riding a bike, huh? Not for Cheltenham senior Anthony “Bo” Feeney, who does not engage – at all --in that American rite of passage. We can forgive him, as there is pretty much nothing else he doesn’t do. He plays three sports – football, swimming and baseball – for the Panthers and also does snowboarding and skateboarding. He has even tried surfing a few times and would not rule it out in the future. Before it’s all said and done, Feeney would absolutely like to add skydiving into the mix. Oh, and for good measure, he also plays the piano at a fairly high level.
Although he had never formally played football before, Feeney decided to strap on the shoulder pads and get into the mix for Cheltenham as an upperclassman the last two autumns. He did not regret it. “It was really a lot of fun. It was one of the best things I have ever done. Not only did it help physically, but I also made a lot of great friends on our team.” With swimming as his primary sport, the concern over getting hurt was legitimate, but he put it out of his mind and just played as a reserve linebacker. As it turned out, baseball coach Kevin Hite was the defensive coordinator. “He’s that kid that you don’t ever mind having on your team,” Hite said. “People on the outside wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t understand, because he’s not front and center. The little intangibles, you know, everybody loves him.”
Feeney made it out of football in one piece and had a successful swimming career as a “sprinter” -- the 50 free, 100 free and the 100 fly. While he just missed districts by less than a second, he made it on a relay team and garnered an All-League nod. “Bo has been on the team for four years and has been such an instrumental part in helping various new swimmers adjust to the team and to the practices,” coach Karen Wirtshafter said. “He always enthusiastically cheered for his teammates. He was prepared for practices and his races He had so many personal best times throughout the season in his signature events – 50 and 100 free. All of the qualities I described are why I chose him for the Coaches Award this year. He was extremely helpful to me and the team.” Feeney is now giving back to the sport and is coaching the sport to kids 5-15.
He has decided to follow that coaching instinct this spring by helping out Hite with a Cheltenham baseball team that is struggling a bit with a lot of younger players. “Due to some unforeseen circumstances with one of my assistant coaches, I was left without a coach, and right on the day of a game, he was the first one to grab a helmet to say, ‘Coach, I’ll take first base,’” said Hite. “For the last several games, he has been out there coaching, helping me with the baseball team. He is just an excellent young man.” A future in coaching? Hite would not be surprised. “I’ll sit and have some words with him and pick his brain, just to see what he’ll say,” said Hite. “He gives me good feedback, so he may have a future in coaching. I’m not sure. He’s in tune. He knows what is going on.”
When it came to his college choice, Feeney chose Arizona State over schools as far ranging as in California and Miami (Fla.) and Pennsylvania state schools. “When I did my visit there, it was a lovely campus,” he said. “I also found the people there to be really helpful.” Feeney, who may look into the club swim team there, added Arizona State was a good fit for his intended major, Global Health.
“I’ve always been interested in helping others,” he said. “Even if that didn’t pan out for me, Arizona has always been known for its environmental science, so I could always take environmental science, which would mean ways to help stop climate change. Out in Arizona, they have a bunch of renewable energy – solar panels, wind turbines and that sort of stuff – so I would be spending my day trying to figure more efficient ways to save energy.”
To read the remainder of Feeney’s story, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/anthony-bo-feeney-00106622
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