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 Jan. 21, 2015)
Bailey Krewson was born to play sports. There probably isn’t a sport the Springfield-Montco senior hasn’t tried, and she will graduate in June with 11 varsity letters. She’d undoubtedly have quite a few more if there was a way she could have played more than three sports during a school year. As it is, Krewson is one of those rare and special athletes who has found a way to make significant contributions in soccer, basketball and lacrosse. “She hustles,” Springfield lacrosse coach Maggie Canavan said. “She’s a low attacker for us, so she just plays offense, but if there’s a point where we miss a shot or make a turnover, she’s 100 percent hustling to the restraining line. She’s a great leader, she gets along with everyone. She’s the kind of athlete every coach wants on their team.”
It’s the same on the basketball court where defense is her forte. “Part of it is (she’s stubborn) – she doesn’t want anyone to score on her, and she doesn’t want anyone to beat her,” said coach Bill Krewson, who also happens to be her father. Krewson took the same philosophy to the soccer field where she was the starting left defensive back and was part of a strong senior class that led the Spartans’ to a berth in districts last fall. “Bailey is an outstanding athlete,” coach Suzette Wolf said. “She is tenacious and never gives up without a fight. Bailey played every minute of every varsity game since joining the soccer team as a sophomore. She defends and recovers better than most players her age. I consider her an unsung hero.”
Krewson is defined by a determination and drive that is impossible to teach. They are traits that have allowed her to overcome a hearing problem known as bilateral moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. In layman’s terms, there are certain frequencies she cannot hear even with the assistance of hearing aids in both ears. The Spartan senior has not let the hearing problem - diagnosed when she was an infant - define her. “I was born with it,” she said. “I was never angry. I just accepted it because it’s who I am. No one treats me differently, which makes it a lot easier.”
Krewson, who has already been accepted at La Salle and Cabrini, hopes to use what she has learned to help others. “I would like to do something like nursing or speech pathology,” she said. “If kids have hearing loss like me or anyone who gets in some kind of accident and loses their hearing, they need to go through speech therapy to learn how to talk.” Krewson, who herself went to speech therapy until sixth grade, also plans to continue playing sports at some level. She enjoys volunteering in what little spare time she has and is a coach for the Springfield Girls’ Lacrosse Club and also helps run basketball clinics for young girls in her township. She is involved at Holy Martyrs Parish and has volunteered her time to Cradles to Crayons and Treats for Troops. She also works at Flourtown Country Club.
To read Krewson’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/bailey-krewson-0050290
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Jan. 21, 2015)
Cement mixer? Cow catcher? In the alternate universe that is the wrestling world, these moves equate to flea-flicker or a double-reverse in football, and they can leave an opponent as deflated as a New England Patriots’ football. Early last season, when Abington’s Alex Winshel successfully deployed one of the moves – which are similar but with subtle differences – it was the seminal moment in his wrestling career. The stage was the New Hope-Solebury Tournament, and his pin of Westtown’s Jared Marshall propelled him to a new level. Winshel, who began wrestling at age five, has been on the Abington varsity since his freshman year, but it was the first time his confidence exceeded his adrenalin. “Wrestling, being a one-on-one sport, the importance of mental preparation cannot be understated,” he said. “So my win at New Hope helped me move past any mental blocks I had and allowed me to believe I have the ability to compete.” Buoyed by that win, Winshel went on to qualify for districts. This year, at 132, he is focusing on going one step beyond. “I know it’s an ambitious goal, but I’m not going to go down without a fight,” he said. “Win or lose, that has never been Winshel’s style or outlook on life. He keeps fighting.
When he was an active lad, wrestling in a youth program as soon as he was eligible, he was diagnosed with Chrone’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, in fourth grade. “I was a happy-go-lucky kid,” he said. “Then, I was down to 50 pounds in fourth grade. I was just emaciated.” It took several years and multiple opinions before surgery helped to stabilize the condition that he has since kept under control with proper diet. In 2008, the same year as the surgery put his Chrone’s under control, his father, Harold, was diagnosed with a lethal form of brain cancer. Despite a valiant 25-month battle, he succumbed when Alex was in eighth grade. “It was a hard experience,” Winshel said. “It forced me to mature. Adversity can inspire you to reach your goals. I had some hard stuff to overcome, but the best policy is to move forward.”
Moving forward will likely involve a career in biology or medicine, although he is not ruling out majoring in something other than pre-med as an undergraduate at either Penn State or Rutgers, where his father worked in IT. Google student-athlete, and Alex Winshel, the president of his senior class, just might be the first hit. In addition to his involvement in student government and his standing in the top 10 percent of his class, Winshel is in the Key Club and is one of the primary organizers of MiniTHON, modeled after the Penn State event that raises money for the fight against pediatric cancer. “Alex is a great young man who has had to overcome a lot of obstacles in his life to succeed,” coach John Gillespie said. “His efforts have not gone unnoticed by his teachers, coaches, teammates and fellow students, and as a result, he has a well-earned reputation as a student, athlete and leader. When I think of Alex Winshel, the words that come to mind are hard-working, dedication and perseverance. Life has thrown Alex a lot of curves and obstacles, but he has kept working, kept pushing and kept leading.”
To view Winshel’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/alex-winshel-0050292
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