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. 9, 2017)
While it could be easily argued that we live in a culture that is not careful with its word choices and throws adjectives around too easily, there are times when they apply. In the case of Bensalem swim team captain Peace Senkungu, all the positive adjectives sound anything but old and worn. Just ask the senior’s swimming coach, DJ Mergard. “Peace is a model student-athlete,” the Owls’ coach said. “Every adjective you can think of that defines a student-athlete Peace has. She is hardworking. Great leadership skills. Reliable. Determined. Ambitious. Focused on her future goals, just to name a few.” It was no surprise then that the coaching staff named Senkungu team captain this season. “The other coaches and I agreed that Peace exemplified what we were looking for in an effective team captain,” Mergard said. “She was dependable, regularly took a leadership role on the team. She cared about her teammates and helped with issues that would arise. She worked hard in practice, competed in events that she might not have been comfortable with and would not complain or ask questions as to why she had to swim the event. She would step to the plate when the team needed her most.”
Buoyed by joining the swim team as a freshman, Senkungu decided to become a three-sport athlete by getting involved in the cross country and outdoor track squads. Putting sports aside, there is so much more to Senkungu that another descriptive term – well-rounded – may come up short. She is a positive life force throughout the entire school community. She has a course load of honors, gifted and AP-level classes while ranking in the top four percent of her class and sporting a weighted GPA of 4.16. She is involved in a multitude of extra-curricular activities, ranging from the president of the varsity club (a community service club for athletes with two varsity letters) to being a champion in the Reading Olympics since middle school to the Multi-Cultural Club in a school that celebrates Bensalem’s unique diversity to playing the mallet in the percussion band. Senkungu also joined the yearbook staff as a member of the design team. On Sundays, Senkungu can be found at the Neshaminy Valley Baptist Church making herself of service in the children’s programs.
An aspiring doctor, Senkungu – whose parents came to the U.S. to further their education, which led to building a family here - spent time at St. Mary’s Medical Center this past summer as a volunteer. While she hopes to continue swimming and/or track at the intramural or club level in college, it is her focus on the future that is most important when choosing where she will be this time next year. She plans to major in pre-med and/or biology. She has already received a full scholarship offer from West Chester and has been accepted at Temple and the University of the Sciences.
To read Senkungu’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/peace-senkungu-0068036
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Feb. 9, 2017)
Some captains lead by example. Others take the role of the vocal spark plug, encouraging teammates in practice and firing them up during competition. Upper Moreland senior Brennan Coleman sees himself as a little of both. The two-year captain of the Golden Bears’ boys swim team is often the first one in the pool at practice and one of the hardest, most consistent workers. And when he’s not underwater, he’s usually in motion. “I’m a loud person,” Coleman said with a laugh. “I won’t scream and yell at the team, but I will scream and yell for the team. I put in as much work as I want others to put in.” He possesses an additional leadership trait that makes his contributions immeasurable. Coleman is able to achieve personal successes – and there have been many – and use them to help make those around him better. His coach defines that trait in one word – maturity. “Brennan is mature beyond his years,” said coach Jess Healy. “He communicates well, I always know what’s going on with him. I never have to worry about him or whether he’s doing what he needs to be doing in the pool.”
Healy points to Coleman’s stellar junior campaign – which culminated in his 400 free relay team earning a gold medal at the District One Championships and sixth place at the PIAA State Championship meet – as helping Coleman become a better swimmer, teammate and leader. “It really lit a fire under him,” Healy said. “And because of his maturity, that fire isn’t just him making sure he’s doing what he can do, but making sure those around him are doing what they need to do to get to districts, to states. He’s trying to push himself and everyone around him to get to that spot.”
Coleman – a captain as a junior – was named team MVP last season for his work ethic and contributions in the pool, and he is hoping his team can duplicate the success of last season. A goalkeeper on the Golden Bears’ soccer squad, Coleman suffered a pair of serious injuries on the pitch – an aversion fracture of the right femur as a sophomore and this year an impact seizure and concussion, but he returned to the cage to close out his final high school season.
Coleman is among the top students in his class and is taking five AP classes this year. He is a member of the school’s Key Club and National Honor Society, and he served as co-head of External Communications for UM’s Mini-THON event. Coleman recently became an Eagle Scout, the highest advancement ranking in scouting. For his Eagle Project, Coleman – along with members of his troop and their family members – built and installed 10 new benches at Carson Simpson Farm and cleared and lined three of the camp’s trails. He is planning to study chemical or mechanical engineering at college but is undecided as to where.
To read Coleman’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/brennan-coleman-0068037
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