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 Sept. 21, 2011)
Jillian Bracken has not let a hearing impairment stand in her way of excelling both in the classroom and on the volleyball court. “Sometimes I forget I’m deaf,” the Pennridge senior said with a smile. Bracken, according to her mother Nancy, came into the world with a smile on her face, and she’s been smiling ever since. “Her philosophy is to live life to the fullest and don’t let anything stand in your way,” her mother said. Part of living life to the fullest for Bracken is playing defensive libero for the volleyball team. A four-year varsity starter, the senior captain – who measures in at 4-11 - will happily sacrifice her body to dig up a ball. “I coached her at camps when she was only 13 and 14, and I think it’s pretty natural for her to fight,” coach Eric Headley said of his all-league libero. “That’s what makes her who she is. Even at 13 and 14, she was fighting and working for it. She has this ‘I want to prove to people I can do whatever I want.”
Bracken had a cochlear implant when she was in fifth grade, which – through the use of magnet – allows her to hear. “I can’t fully hear like (everyone else) but almost,” she said. “To me, I feel like I do because I don’t know any different. It’s been great.” She has tried just about every sport but settled on volleyball and has never considered her hearing impairment a disability. “I was never one of those kids who would be like, ‘Why me?’” she said. “I was like, ‘Whatever – it is what it is.’” Putting a positive spin on things comes naturally for Bracken. “My mom brought me up that way,” she said. “She says ‘There’s a positive side to everything, and nothing comes out of worrying.’ I try to think of every positive side there is. Of course, there are negatives sides, but I don’t really think about them.”
Bracken is an A student, and she is part of the Dual Enrollment program at Pennridge and takes some college classes while completing her requirements at the high school. She has volunteered at the Bucks County Intermediate Unit where her mother is employed and last August spoke to a crowd of approximately a thousand teachers at the opening day ceremonies, encouraging them to continue to dedicate themselves to kids with special needs because of the realization that the support she received has helped her to get to where she is today.
Although she has not decided on a college, Bracken has her sights set on a career in exercise science.
To read Bracken’s complete profile, click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/jillian-bracken.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Sept. 21, 2011)
Robert Mitchell is a captain and leader of the Central Bucks West cross country squad. “He’s a great leader,” coach Greg Wetzel said. “The other kids look to him for leadership, and they listen when he talks. He’s not one to speak out of turn or talk too much. When he is speaking up, the other kids take notice and listen. It’s nice as a coach to know I have a guy like that on the team.” Mitchell – who also wrestles - did not begin running cross country until he was a sophomore. He is now the number four runner for West’s varsity squad. “He gives 100 percent in everything he does,” Wetzel said. “He’s always looking to do more. He’s looking to be excellent. We’re lucky to have him.”
With an affinity for science, technology, engineering and math, Mitchell enrolled in the Energy Related Technologies Program at the Middle Bucks Institute of Technology. He has mastered numerous classes at MBIT and completed a 10-hour OSHA General Industrial Safety Course. If that wasn’t enough, he also has taken advanced placement courses at West. Beyond his academic and athletic life, Mitchell has volunteered with the Special Olympics and has collected food to distribute to the needy with his church group. He also volunteers for the Doylestown Business Community Alliance.
A member of the National Honor Society, Mitchell has not settled on a college but plans on looking at engineering schools within the region. He plans to pursue a career in mechanical engineering.
To read Mitchell’s complete profile, click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/robert-mitchell
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