Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com will once again recognize a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of May 18, 2023)
You don’t need to look at the scorebook to see how important Alli Gay is to the Upper Dublin girls’ lacrosse team. You just have to look at her arms and legs. “Alli does all the little things that are so important, and she has the bruises to prove it,” said Cardinals’ coach Dee Cross. “Alli’s not the flashiest player, her stats aren’t off the charts, but she sets people up, she causes turnovers, she does all the little things you need to be successful, and she gets it done on the field.” Which is not to say that Gay doesn’t get her opportunities on the offensive end. Take, for example, the Cardinals’ regular season-ending 15-5 win over Cheltenham, in which Gay tied for team-lead with four goals and one assist. “Alli had figured out how to be the person to start the offense, but now she also has the confidence to go to goal and score,” Cross said. “She’s very unselfish, she knows others can score, but if she can do it, she will.”
More than just a decisive regular season-ending victory, the win over Cheltenham also secured Upper Dublin a share of the SOL American Conference championship, the team’s first title since 2013. Record-wise, the Cardinals finished the 2023 season at 10-1 in league play, 14-5 overall; both the league and overall records were the team’s best in at least a decade. The work that Gay has put in to excel at her position has been a hallmark of her efforts both on and off the field, and they’ve paid off not only in big goals and key assists (and lots of black-and-blue marks) but also as an example for her younger teammates to follow. The senior co-captain’s efforts have played a huge role in the team’s return to championship form. “Alli being voted a co-captain is a testament to the girls seeing how valuable she is to the team,” Cross said. “The girls could see what kind of leader Allie is and what kind of leader she would be. This year, everyone knows their role, everyone is excited to be part of the team, and that starts with the seniors and co-captains. Alli is the perfect example of leading by example and a silent leader. She has a great lacrosse IQ. She’s always in the right place, constantly challenging up top and double-teaming and knowing when to dump the pass. She’s got a very calm, steady personality on the field.”
Gay is involved in just as many organizations inside the school walls as she is on the athletic fields. She is a member of the Upper Dublin chapter of the National Honor Society, she is a member of Student Government, and she is part of the Key Club and Global Awareness Club. That’s in addition to carrying a courseload that included five AP classes this year. There’s no slowing down for Gay, even with graduation looming less than a month away. “It’s crazy how fast senior year went,” she said. “Everyone’s going to be going off to college.” For Gay, that means heading south, where she will attend the University of Georgia’s Morehead Honors College, where she plans on studying data science. But graduation and heading to Georgia will also signal the end of her participation in a sport she’s played since she was in grade school. As bittersweet as that will be, Gay played her final season on the lacrosse field in a manner in which she could walk away with no regrets.
“I put a lot into this season,” she said. “It’s the last time I’m going to compete with these people, and it has been super-fun and rewarding to compete at that level. I might look to play club lacrosse at Georgia, but they don’t have an NCAA team, so their club team is very competitive, and I think I’m going to have a lot on my plate already. But I think this past season has been a good way to go out and end my career if that’s what happens.” And while Georgia will gain an outstanding student, Upper Dublin will find itself with large shoes to fill. “As far as our team, we are losing a true leader … I keep saying the word ‘leader’ when I talk about Alli,” Cross said. “She is the epitome of what you want as a teammate and as a leader. She’s kind, smart, driven … When something needs to get done, she steps up and does it. Georgia is getting a great student and someone who will get involved and will always do her best in everything she does.”
To read Gay’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/alli-gay-00107064
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of May 18, 2023)
The scene was Council Rock North High School. The hosts ambushed the favored visitors and built a shocking 2-0 lead over Bensalem’s volleyball team before the Owls came roaring back for a gut-check win of three straight sets to earn the 3-2 win. Leading the comeback, with a plenty of help from his friends, was outside hitter Jack Wineburg with a career-high 22 kills. “We never really got off the bus,” said Wineburg of the slow start. “We pulled a reverse sweep, and it was definitely awesome. In the last set, we were down, 9-14, and we came back and won. It was awesome and definitely one of the best games that I have ever been part of. The coach told me I had the green light.” When the Owls clinched a share of their program’s first ever SOL National Conference crown with a win over Abington, he connected for another 18 kills. “Things really clicked for him late in the season,” said coach Tim Linehan. “He plays basketball, so he doesn’t have an offseason. He rounded into form at the right time.”
It has been a long and strange trip for Wineburg, who really hadn’t played volleyball until high school. Linehan remembers the recruiting pitch well. “I taught him in middle school, I coached him in basketball in middle school, and I always tried to drop volleyball in the back of his head,” the Owls’ volleyball coach said. “I’m always recruiting guys, and he came out as a freshman.” His freshman season was lost to COVID, making Wineburg a virtual rookie when asked to help out the varsity team in a time of need. As a sophomore, he actually had to step in and play a little bit of varsity minutes because Dylan Young, the team’s first team All-SOL hitter, broke his ankle with a month remaining in the season,” said Linehan. “He got a little taste of varsity experience as a sophomore, started last year. Last year we underachieved a little bit. We were right around .500, didn’t make districts. This year we've put our best foot forward, and he’s obviously a big reason why.”
An all-league honorable mention golfer in the fall, Wineburg plays basketball in the winter as an undersized power forward and then hits the ground running come spring for the volleyball team.
Translation: He is not a part of much, if any, offseason work with the volleyball team.
“No, and that’s the crazy part,” said Linehan. “When it’s basketball season, it’s basketball season, and I respect that. He’s a great kid. I’ve known him since seventh grade. He’s a leader, people rally around him. He’s taken on a leadership role; he’s a competitor. I have some guys where volleyball is their only sport, whereas Jack is a three-sport athlete who’s been through the grind of basketball, so he’s really taken on a leadership role, the emotional leader we really needed.”
Unlike volleyball and golf, Wineburg had been playing organized basketball since fourth grade. He may not have been a headliner on the basketball team, but his contributions did not go unnoticed. “Jack was a really important part of our program,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “It was awesome to have him for four years. He did a lot of little things that we asked of him that didn’t show up in the box score. He’s somebody we could count on to show up and just do anything we asked. He’s played 1 through 5 over his career. He’s defended pretty much every position as well. He was just someone we could always count on to show up when we needed him. It’s great seeing him grow from when he came in as an eighth grader to now. He’s going to be hard to replace because he does all the little stuff. I’m not going to lie – it is weird this offseason. We’re starting our games, and there’s no Jack or Eric (Gonzalez). It’s definitely different. I’m just happy for him. He’s doing well academically. It’s tough that he’s moving on, but it’s a pleasure to see the growth. That’s why we do what we do.”
While he plans to major in business at West Chester where he will be rooming with several Bensalem friends in a suite, Wineburg is not putting any restraints on where he will end up in life and on what he will be doing. He will be minoring in media, as he is deeply involved in the television network (Owls Television Network) at his school. He is one of the executive producers of the morning show and edits videos for the school and school district. He also produces award-winning short films, winning first place at Film Fest in his school.
To read the remainder of Wineburg’s story, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/jack-wineburg-00107077
- Log in to post comments
