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 June 4, 2014)
Haley DeLany is an accomplished softball player. The Souderton senior has turned her talents into a scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, to play the sport she loves at the Division One level, but DeLany is not defined by her excellence on the diamond. Far from it. Softball is just one facet of the Souderton senior’s full life. She chose UMBC, an honors college, as much for its academic excellence as for its softball. A gifted student, DeLany has a course load that includes numerous AP classes. She is involved in school clubs and activities but still finds time volunteer at Grand View Hospital and Firely House, a home in Harleysville for children and families in need. She owns a Labrador Retriever that is a certified therapy dog, and she is more than happy to share her enjoyment of animals with others.
There was a time when – as a youngster – DeLany admits she aspired to become a dancer. In truth, it’s not such a far-fetched aspiration for the Souderton senior, who began taking dance lessons when she was three and continued into her sophomore year. In recent years, DeLany has devoted the time she once gave to dance to another passion – softball. As a freshman, DeLany found herself in the varsity lineup as a designated player. A year later, she started at first base and has been a fixture there ever since. She made a name for herself at a position that is often overlooked. “She’s a power hitter and she hits the gaps,” coach Steph Rummel said of her clean-up batter. “She hits line drives. She’s always working to get better and always wants to win. She has that drive that some athletes don’t have.”
One of four senior captains, DeLany is a vocal leader on this year’s SOL Continental Conference championship squad that is just one win away from winning a state title. “When she was a sophomore, she definitely looked up to the juniors and seniors for guidance, but now she has stepped into her own person as a player and has really become a good leader throughout the years,” Rummel said. “She’s very verbal, and she gets the girls up. She’s always cheering, always talking, and she communicates on the field. The kids respect her. She has done a great job leading our program to where we’ve gotten.”
DeLany takes that same drive into the classroom where she also excels. She is involved in Student Council, SAVE (Students Against Violating the Earth) and the Partners Program, which works with Learning Support Students. She also is a member of the Principal-Student Advisory. Next year, she plans to pursue a psychology/biology major with her sights set on a career in the medical field.
To read DeLany’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/haley-delany-0044849
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of June 4, 2014)
It was spring 2010. Depending on one’s perspective, it could seem like a lifetime ago or yesterday. For Bensalem’s Kyle Francis, it is a little of both. That’s when the two middle schools in the district held their annual meet at the high school track. More of an all-around athlete with a passion for baseball, Francis was a runner without a plan beyond just coming in first. His coaches were telling him he could eclipse the five-minute mark in the mile, but he really didn’t comprehend – or care – what that meant. He just ran. And he beat the five-minute plateau by several seconds, making him the talk of the township. High school runners watching the meet took notice. It also was his first encounter with a woman who would loom large in his life, high school coach Mary Ellen Malloy, who saw that he could be a force in the 800, as opposed to the mile. “He said, ‘I’m a miler. I don’t do the 800,’” recalled Malloy. “We got past that quickly. We see how well that panned out.” Francis recently capped off a career in which he got progressively more dominant, winning the 800 meters on the state level with the second fastest time in state history. During the winter season, he won the state indoor 800 with the fastest time in the country. He could not have written a better ending to a storybook career.
Heeding Malloy on running the 800 and giving up baseball pretty much made him a disciple. Her word became law. “He is a coach’s dream,” she said. “He is very knowledgeable. I can tell him once, and he will walk away and do it. That’s the best part about coaching. He follows directions perfectly. He believes in coaching and realizes that we’re all in for him.” That theory is confirmed by Francis. “I put all my faith in her,” he said. “She knows what I’m thinking. She sees my competition and bases my strategy on that.” When Malloy speaks of Francis, she makes it clear that he is the product of a “wonderful family” that has supported him 100 percent from the day of his first practice. Francis lists his parents, Kelly and Robert, at the top of his inspiration list. He also said a major influence on him has been Bensalem High School history teacher, Mrs. Mary Ellen Phillips. Francis was her student and spent this past year as her student assistant. That he wants to major in history at Duke University and then become a high school history teacher is due to her influence. Francis is active in the Varsity Club and the Student Government. For a myriad of reasons – including climate, academics and the track program’s standing as being on the rise, Duke was his top choice when it came time to choose a college. Francis scored 1800 on the SAT, according to Malloy, noting that Duke asked him to take the ACT and wanted him to eclipse a score of 27. He got a 30. “I hope (Duke coach Norm Oglivie) realizes what a special kid he is getting,” Malloy said. “Kyle is an intelligent, well-spoken and super individual. I hope he takes as good care of Kyle as I tried to because the sky is the limit.”
To view Francis’ complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/kyle-francis-0044846
- Log in to post comments
