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 (Week of Feb. 6, 2014)
The vastness of the world – and the ability to make the most of her small place within it – was a lesson learned early by Hatboro-Horsham swimmer Maddy Wawrzyniak. The daughter of a career Marine, Lt. Col Dan Wawryzniak, she found herself living several different places – California, Virginia, California, Japan and California again – before the family settled in for good in the Philadelphia suburbs after her father’s retirement when she was in fourth grade. Much to the chagrin of her mother, Mindy, Maddy learned to relish the idea of packing up boxes and heading to the next adventure. She always knew who she was, where she was and where she was going. And where she is going next is Colorado Springs, Colorado, as part of the next incoming class of cadets at the United States Air Force Academy. Contrary to public opinion, she is looking to follow her own path, not duplicate that of her father. “He was an influence, but it was all my decision,” said Wawrzyniak, who is the president of the National Honor Society at Hatboro-Horsham.
Wawrzyniak – with her GPA just under 4.0 and a myriad of other accomplishments, including being the captain of the swim team – was a prime candidate to do what she felt was best for her and live out a mission to serve her country.
Wawrzyniak toured the Air Force Academy through a connection with a family friend whose sister coaches the track team. From watching cadets march in formation and attending classes to taking in the location in the Rocky Mountains, it was love at first sight. At that moment, thoughts of attending another school faded.
She first caught the swimming bug from her next-door neighbor in Carlsbad, Calif., Corwin and Spencer DiDio, each of whom went on to become big-time NCAA swimmers. They took young Maddy under their wing and became role models. When the family chose the Philadelphia suburbs – a midway point between Dan’s home turf of New Jersey and Mindy’s in Maryland – she continued swimming, but for herself, at the club level. It was a culture shock joining the H-H swim team as a freshman, with the key word being “team.” “I had to learn how to react to the team aspect, rather than the individual, which is what I was used to,” she said. The change was not lost on Hatboro swim coach Kip Emig, who witnessed the transformation first-hand. “Maddy is one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated swimmers on the team,” he said. “Maddy has always made swimming a top priority, and her work ethic is second to none. It has been my pleasure to watch her grow and mature into the wonderful athlete and young lady that she is today. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The feeling is mutual. Wawrzyniak lists Emig as a close second, behind her parents, as an inspiration and influence on her life. “He’s one of the greatest people I have ever met,” she said. “It’s not only his coaching, but his outlook on life. He cares about each and every one of his athletes as people.”
Wawrzyniak found out in late December – in a phone call from Sen. Pat Toomey and then a letter form the academy dated Dec. 25 – that she was realizing her dream of acceptance into the Air Force Academy. She hopes to swim as part of a bigger goal of a career in the Air Force as a doctor. The Falcons have had NCAA championships and have sent swimmers to the Olympics, so she is aware that walking on to the team is the only realistic route. And from life experience, she already knows all about a bigger world and her small, but honorable, place within it.
To read Wawryzniak’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/maddy-wawryzniak-0041572
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Feb. 6, 2014)
Matt Alden is a naturally gifted athlete who could have excelled in just about any sport he played. The William Tennent senior chose basketball. But not before giving football and baseball a fair shot. Alden was the quarterback of his football team until he decided to call it a career after his seventh grade season. “I just remember this one play – I went back and got drilled by some huge guy,” he said. “I was like, ‘This can’t be for me anymore,’ so I cut it down to basketball and baseball.” Baseball was an important part of Alden’s life until after his ninth grade season, but that slower-paced sport didn’t quite cut it either, and basketball became his sport. It’s a decision he has never regretted. Alden not only has a passion for the sport, he also excels. The senior standout averaged close to 17 points a game and was second on the team in rebounding despite often releasing to take advantage of potential transition points. He’s not afraid of physical contact and averaged between 10 and 12 trips to the foul line every game. “He just gets out there and he battles,” coach Robert Mulville said. “A lot of teams will box-and-one and face guard him. We just have to keep encouraging him to keep battling, keep battling. He’s a workhorse – that’s his main quality. He puts in an awful lot of work both on and off the court, and he really enjoys the game a lot. That’s part of his success.”
Another key piece of Alden’s success is his fiercely competitive nature. With the game on the line, he’s not afraid to take the big shot. A four-year varsity player, Alden saw limited action as a freshman but was in the starting lineup the last three years. He has been an ironman for the Panthers. “I don’t think he’s missed a game in three years,” Mulville said. “He’s real competitive, and he wants to go out and give everything he has every day and every practice.” It looked as though Alden’s streak of never missing a game might come to an end when he was diagnosed with mononucleosis this past fall on Oct. 31. “I parked myself in bed and did everything I was supposed to do,” he said. “Dec. 1 came along, and that was the date I could start shooting again. I was noticeably weaker, and I was slower. I couldn’t do everything but I got through it.” Right about the time he was starting to feel like his old self, Alden suffered a high ankle sprain. “He left he court on crutches, and he was back and ready for the next game,” Mulville said. “He just has a lot of determination to get out on the court.”
Those are traits that serve Alden well as the lone captain of this year’s squad. “A lot of his leadership is through example, but he is very supportive of his teammates and he appreciates them,” Mulville said. Numerous schools are in the mix to acquire his talents. I’m just trying to figure out the one that’s right for me,” Alden said. “Something my coach has always told me is that I’m a student-athlete, not an athlete-student. Being a student comes first, so basically for me, I’m going to a school with very high academics and a good basketball program. I want to be able to get out of college, get a good job and go on with life from there.” Alden plans to major in business with a possible interest in pursuing a career in accounting.
To view Alden’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/matt-alden-0041574
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