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 Oct. 15, 2015)
It’s not unusual to hear about student-athletes who do it all, but if there’s a category for someone who goes beyond that, Maura O’Leary would certainly fit the bill. The Upper Moreland senior is a four-year varsity player in both field hockey and lacrosse. She’s been president of her high school class for four years, she is co-president of UM’s Key Club, and she is a student ambassador to the Home and School Association. A member of the National Honor Society, she’s enrolled in three AP classes this year. O’Leary has organized fundraisers, food and coat drives. She volunteers her time to coach youth field hockey and points to serving meals at Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia as a highlight of her volunteer experience.
That’s enough to make anyone’s head spin, but there’s more. The Upper Moreland senior still finds time to play lead roles in the school’s fall dramas and spring musicals. Every single year. “The drama isn’t as tolling as the spring musical during lacrosse season,” she said. “That’s really hard, but it’s so worth it. I love both so much that I couldn’t imagine giving either one up.”
Both her hockey and lacrosse coaches support O’Leary’s desire to do it all. “She’s one of those kids who’s involved in everything but always puts her best into everything,” coach Karen Grossi said. “She’s not just doing it to do it, she’s putting her all into it and does her best with it, but at the same time, she manages her time so well that you would never know how she does it.” Added lacrosse coach Pam Remmey, “She’s kind of kid who can do it all. She does everything, and she does it with a smile on her face. Her energy level is fantastic, and she is a positive ray of light every day. She is completely for the team, and she’s always a positive factor out there.”
The summer after her sophomore year, O’Leary took went on a 10-day service trip to Costa Rica with Global Leadership Adventure. Her group helped build a playground for a local school and renovated a church. “It’s really transformative,” she said of the experience. “I live in a pretty small area – a small school district, so you’re used to seeing the same people all the time and you’re very used to a certain way of life. Going to Costa Rica, I didn’t have my phone, I wasn’t connected to Instagram, I wasn’t connected to what was going on back home. I just really got to experience new people and new cultures. Even though I didn’t speak the language of the people that we were working with – you knew what you were doing was impacting their lives. It made me understand the importance of community and empathy and getting in other people’s shoes and understanding what it’s like in other parts of the world.”
O’Leary is one of four seniors who have been the cornerstone of the field hockey program’s turnaround. Three years ago, the Bears won just one game the entire season. This year, they have won 13 of their last 14 games after an 0-3 start. A tri-captain, she received a vote from every single player. “You want her on the team because of her ability, but her attitude, her work ethic and the way she gets along with other girls is amazing,” Grossi said.
O’Leary, who credits her family for their influence, is uncertain of her major but is leaning towards something in the liberal arts.
To read O’Leary’s complete profile, please kick on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/maura-oleary-0056791
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Oct. 8, 2015)
He may have quickly become a standout on the cross country course, but as recently as two years ago, Brett Wolfinger’s autumn athletic season looked very different. A football player since he was five years old, the Quakertown senior spent his freshman and sophomore seasons not lacing up his running shoes but strapping on the helmet and pads. An unfortunate hit during his sophomore year and resulting concussion ended Wolfinger’s gridiron career and led him to cross country, a sport where he quickly learned to excel. “I looked at the positives of the situation,” Wolfinger said of the injury. “I was able to pour all my energy into track, which was becoming my favorite sport.”
Wolfinger’s success on the track during the indoor and outdoor season has been incomparable. He is the school record holder in the 800 meters (1:57) and is a member of the school’s record-holding distance medley relay team. He credits a lot of that on his decision – after hanging up the football pads – to help train for the indoor and outdoor seasons by taking up cross country during the fall. It didn’t take long before coach Ryan Stetler and the rest of the team realized that Wolfinger was not simply running cross country to get in shape – he was there to compete. He was named captain of this year’s squad and has become one of the top two runners on the team. “On the course, Brett is one of the most intense athletes you will see,” Stetler said. “The leadership he provides speaks volumes. When he speaks to people, he has a non-confrontational way of inspiring people around him.”
Off the track, Wolfinger serves as a student representative to the school board, he is an executive cabinet member of the class council, and he was a student founder of Math and Writing Labs at Quakertown. It’s the motto to always leave things better than you found it that drives Wolfinger. “That quote from is from my dad, actually, but it’s always stuck with me,” he said. “If everyone lived by that code, think of how great things would be.”
Wolfinger, who holds a 4.275 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society, takes six AP classes and is dedicated to putting in the proper hours for homework and study. He has an additional source of inspiration that drives him to be the best athlete, student and citizen he can be. When he was a freshman, his older half brother, Nick Umberger, was killed in a car accident. Although they were nine years apart in age, the two were very close. “What happened to Nick has been instrumental in my life,” he said. “I feel like I am living for two people. That’s why I feel like I have to give more than 100 percent; I feel like all my experiences are for me and for him.”
Next year, Wolfinger is looking to take his talents to Johns Hopkins University where he plans on entering the school’s prestigious Biomedical Engineering program and running track. “I’ve coached a handful of athletes close to Brett’s caliber as far as accolades and what he’s accomplished in athletics,” Stetler said. “But what he does in the classroom is unmatched. I’ve never met a person who’s more well-rounded than Brett. He is really just a high caliber guy. It’s rare to see someone so universally respected as he is. Everyone in school knows Brett, everybody respects him.”
To read Wolfinger’s compete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/brett-wolfinger-0056797
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