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. 8, 2014)
Sydney Szopo was heading toward a career as an elite gymnast. But the Upper Moreland senior’s gymnastics career ended rather abruptly when her family moved from the suburbs of Pittsburgh to the suburbs of Philadelphia in 2005. “We were really focused on finding a gymnastics team,” Szopo said. “There were a lot here, just not as competitive as we were used to, so we joined the swim team.” Diving was a natural progression for Szopo and her older sister Natalee. In the summer of 2005, the Szopo sisters began diving together at Sunny Willow Swim Club. They never stopped.
Both sisters boast dazzling resumes with Natalee laying claim to three District One AA titles (she finished second as a sophomore due to a broken arm). Sydney, meanwhile, finished second to her older sibling as both a freshman and sophomore before claiming the district title last year. “Sydney was in the shadow of her sister - they look like twins sometimes because they’re so similar in appearance, and one always congratulated the other,” Upper Moreland swim team coach Melanie Rowland said. “They backed each other and supported each other. Sydney is one of those kids that causes people like me to want to come back and coach, and I don’t even coach her. She’s a joy to watch practice, to watch grow over these four years and to watch compete and to watch in action when she doesn’t even realize that what she’s doing is a positive influence on other people.”
The Szopo sisters have done nothing but win since they stepped onto the deck, but it’s more than that. “Sydney is very focused, very driven,” diving coach Bob Israel said. “She’s a hard worker and really wants to excel. She’s very competitive and loves the competition.” Szopo was a captain of the diving team last year and also served in a secondary role as captain of the swim team as well. This year she is a team captain first and also serves as captain of the diving team. “She’s a great leader, and she’s a great role model,” Israel said. “The kids admire what she does. They look up to her. She’s real good at encouraging and supporting the other divers on the team. It’s a great situation for me having her on the team.”
Szopo, who has made three consecutive trips to the state meet, dives year round and competes in USA diving with TNT out of Upper Dublin. She plans to continue her diving career at the collegiate level. La Salle is a front runner to land her talents. An honors student, she plans to major in nursing.
To read Szopo’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/sydney-szopo-004063
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Jan. 8, 2014)
Before wrestling became his full-time focus, Quakertown’s Lucas Garges was all about swimming. While he’ll still take the plunge and use it as an ancillary form of training, swimming has now become more of a life metaphor for the senior. There were times in his career when he felt as if he were drowning. He then began to tread water but is now making the type of splash he always envisioned. That was never more evident than it was at the annual proving ground that is the post-Christmas Bethlehem Classic. Garges placed seventh out of 28 quality wrestlers in the 152-pound weight class. For Quakertown coach Kurt Handel, Garges’ progression has been a pleasure to watch. Part of the joy is that he was anything from a finished product when he walked into the wrestling room three years ago. “In an era of freshman phenoms, this is nice to see,” said Handel. “He has had time to shine. This is how it’s supposed to be. He was a typical freshman – a 14-year-old boy without much muscle definition on him. While he won a handful of matches, he took a beating. Now, he is 152 pounds of solid muscle. This year, he is doing quite well.”
One thing is certain, when it comes to sinking or swimming in the sea of life, Garges will be voted least likely to drown. He is a finalist for a National Merit Scholarship sponsored by UPS where his father, Brian, is employed. Called “the complete package” by his coach, Garges is among the top students in the school. He is ranked in the top 20 percent, boasts a 3.8 GPA and a 1970 SAT score and has been offered academic scholarships to Elizabethtown and LeMoyne. Garges plans to major in computer science and will not wrestle at the college level. “It has been part of my life for 12 years, and I think that’s enough,” said Garges.
But he won’t go down quietly. Doing so would fly in the face of his maturation. Aside from personal goals, he takes the role of being one of the team captains seriously. “He’s not loud or boisterous,” said Handel. “He doesn’t need to be. He’s just a real positive person. He’s the first one to run sprints. He’s the first one at practice. He’s the first one willing to work with all the younger guys on the team. You’re talking about a young man who is an incredible student and outstanding wrestler, but also a good person with good moral values. When you think about what you want in a captain, he is the epitome of that.”
To view Garges’ complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/lucas-garges-0040672
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