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 Dec. 25, 2013)
Tommie Dillione is defined by her work ethic in the pool. Ted Schueller calls the Council Rock North senior “one of the most focused and hardest working swimmers” he has ever worked with in his 38 years coaching at the high school level. “It’s just an attitude she has,” Schueller said. “She wants to work harder at things she feels she has to get better at, and she wants to challenge herself every set. She doesn’t sit back and rest just because she’s one of the best kids on the team and in the district. She just keeps working to be one of the top kids.” Dillione is not only one of the ‘top kids’ in the area but the entire state. Last year, she captured district titles in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, breaking the district record in the 200 free. She went on to finish second in the 500 free and third in the 200 free at the PIAA State championships, earning NISCA All-American honors in both events.
Dillione has her sights set even higher this year, but her primary goal is to see her team succeed. “I really want to see what I can do for the team and how far we can get as a team,” she said. Each year, Dillione has elevated her performances, and the only step up this year would be winning a state championship. If early results are worth anything, Dillione is going to have herself quite a season. She broke her own school record in the 50 free at the Cardinal Carnival last weekend with a time of 24.09, breaking her previous mark of 24.51. Dillione accomplished this feat in an event that is not her focus and one she admits she doesn’t take too seriously. “I was pretty surprised,” she said. “It was nice.”
Dillione, who has been swimming competitively since she was six years old, has performed on the national stage, competing in California in August. “The kids follow her example,” Schueller said. “She’s just a great person to have around for the rest of the girls. They follow her lead. They see what she’s gotten out of swimming with the work she’s put in with everything she’s accomplished to this point. She’s very well liked, and she’s looked up to.
A typical day for Dillione includes a 5:15 a.m. wake-up call and practice with her high school team 30 minutes later. In the evening, Dillione makes the 25-minute trip to club practice for her Eastern Express squad at either The College of New Jersey or Princeton. She is reaping the benefits for her hard work. In November, she signed a letter of intent to accept a scholarship to swim at Penn State, choosing Penn State over the University of North Carolina from an impressive list of schools vying for her talents.
An excellent student, Dillione, who boasts a GPA in the neighborhood of 4.0, is enrolled in several AP classes as well as honors classes.
To read Dillione’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/tommie-dillione-0040366
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Dec. 25, 2013)
The Abington School District has a saying: “Excellence is our standard, achievement is the result.” If ever there was a student-athlete who exemplifies that, it is 132-pound wrestler Zach Levy. “Zach is a great student, a dedicated and hard-working wrestler both during the season and in the offseason, and an all-around outstanding young man,” coach John Gillespie said. “This past offseason, Zach played a key role in organizing lifting and conditioning workouts with a core group of wrestlers, which helped to build team unity. He has demonstrated great enthusiasm and leadership that you just have to love as a coach and that you wish all your athletes possessed. As a coach, I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Zach over the past four years.”
In addition to battling it out on the mat as a four-year member of the varsity squad, Levy ranks fourth in his graduating class and was recently accepted to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “That’s been my goal basically since seventh grade,” Levy said of attending the prestigious academic institution. “Just about everything I’ve done has been to achieve that dream.” While wrestling may not be part of his future, Levy has kept it all in perspective. “The one thing I’m not going to miss is the dieting,” he said. “Plus, I know there is going to be a lot more on my plate academically next year.”
Levy enters his final high school wrestling season with the goal of reaching districts. He and fellow senior Jake Ritter and junior Alex Winshel have taken on leadership roles on a young team.
At Penn, Levy plans to major in finance and eventually delve into the oft-unforgiving business landscape, but he also wants to “do something good in the world.” Judging by Levy’s track record, it would appear his aim is true. He volunteers on Sundays to work with Jewish children with disabilities and at a food kitchen in Philadelphia. Putting in 200 hours of community service along with 100 hours of physical fitness has earned Levy the Congressional Award. He also is the treasurer of his senior class and is in the school’s Key Club and Red Cross Club. “I don’t like sitting around,” he said. “I like giving back to the community. For me, wrestling is part of that. That’s why I love the sport.”
To view Levy’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/zach-levy-0040310
- Log in to post comments
