On Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, Cheltenham senior Gabby Szczepanek was recognized for signing a letter of intent to play lacrosse to Temple University.
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Gabby Szczepanek – Temple University (Lacrosse)
Major: Will attend the School of Communications with either a journalism of communications major
Final list of colleges: Temple, Marist, Franklin & Marshall
Reasons for choosing Temple: “I have a lot of personal connections to the university. My dad works there, my parents met there, my sister is there, so I’ve grown up visiting Temple, and I’ve always loved it. I can’t imagine myself anywhere else. I love the coaches, I love the team, and being able to play Division One lacrosse has always been a dream of mine.”
What was the progression that led you to playing collegiate lacrosse? “I think I always knew I wanted to play lacrosse in college, but it wasn’t until my freshman year that I became really serious about it and decided I wanted to put the work into the recruiting process.”
Coach Dave Burton says: “Gabby will be a four-year starter, and what separates Gabby from every other player is her love of lacrosse. She loves lacrosse, and it is apparent in everything she does. She loves, loves, loves the game. She loves to play, she loves to practice, she loves to talk about lacrosse, and that is one distinguishing factor. Because she loves the game so much, it was the part of the process that led her to this point. She worked individually as hard as any player I have coached. She played club lacrosse, she spends an inordinate time on wall ball, and she does it because she loves the game.
“Obviously, her size is a factor, but it has never been a limitation for her. She doesn’t see it as an issue at all. She has great skills and a great knowledge of the game. She makes everyone better because of that knowledge of the game, and it sounds cliché, but it’s really been a pleasure to coach her. She’s just easy to coach. I’ll be honest – I don’t know how much influence I’ve had on her as a lacrosse player because she does so much on her own, and she’s played so much for other coaches. It’s been really fun for me. She’s been so pleasant, and something a lot of people say about her when they watch her play is they can’t believe how aggressive and how active she is because off the field she is one of the quietest, most calm, most pleasant people you would ever meet. She’s a different kind of person on the field.”
About Gabby:
Favorite food: Strawberries
Favorite movie: Bridesmaids
Favorite music: Fun.
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