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 Jan. 17, 2024)
Every basketball team needs a Peyton Miller. No, the Bensalem senior doesn’t score a lot of points. As a matter of fact, Miller’s name doesn’t always show up in the box score. And, no, she doesn’t stuff a stat sheet. “She does all the uncool things in basketball,” Bensalem coach Steve Johnson said of his senior center. And what exactly are the “uncool things” in basketball? The Owls’ coach explains. “She communicates on defense, she boxes out, and she does everything that no one really gets credit for and wants to do, and she does it really well,” Johnson said. “She’s the type of kid – she’s never going to be in the box score scoring 20 points a game, 15 points a game. After a game, if we win and she has zero points, she’s just as happy as if she would have scored 6-8 points. She’s just a total team player. It’s never about herself. We preach ‘we not me.’ She’s the true definition of we not me.”
Miller understands her role on an Owls’ squad that has already equaled last year’s eight-win total with nine games still remaining on the schedule. “I’ve always been the hustle player,” the two-year captain said. “I’ve always been the defender that rather helped the team out on one side than being the hero that gets all the credit for it. I really feel I have taken my role as the positive person on the court that will always be there to help out anyone. Even if we’re not scoring on offense, then we’re going to play some defense. I know I’m not going to be the person that scored 10-20 points a game, and that’s all right.”
It’s pretty much the same story in soccer where the senior captain volunteered to sacrifice her playing time on the Owls’ Senior Night. “Peyton came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I just want to win, I don’t care if I go in,’” Bensalem coach Bob Crawford said. “I said, ‘Peyton, you’re one of the girls I want on the field,’ but how many kids are going to give up playing time in one of their last few games? That’s how quality of a girl Peyton is – she’s so, so, selfless. She always, always put the team first. When she’s on the field, it calmed other girls down. Her heart is always in the right place – she’s always trying to help the person next to her.”
Miller was poised to be a varsity contributor in both sports last year but lost both seasons to an injury. She was missed. This winter, she is co-captain with North Carolina AT&T commit Amber Howard. “Amber’s more a lead by example,” Johnson said. “And Peyton is more vocal. I can almost guarantee she has a 4.0 GPA or close to it (Miller has a 3.9 GPA), she’s involved in countless clubs in school. She’s somebody that all the teachers and – if you talked to her lacrosse or soccer coach, everyone has positive things to say about Peyton.” A three-sport athlete, Miller was a captain of the soccer team last fall, she is a two-year captain in basketball and will be a two-year captain of the lacrosse team. If you’re counting, that’s five seasons as a captain in her final two years of high school.
The Bensalem senior has her sights set on becoming a pediatric physician assistant. “I’ve always been the person – my mother calls me a nurse when she’s sick,” she said. “I’ve always been a person to help other people. I think helping other people comes with being a health worker.” An excellent student with a course load of honors and AP classes, Miller has been a member of the National Honor Society since her sophomore year. She is involved in Owls Television Network. Miller is also editor of the school yearbook and is a member of Owls Ambassadors. Miller’s number one college choice is Syracuse, and listening to her coaches tell it – the school that lands the Bensalem senior will be fortunate. “Peyton is always going to do the right thing,” Crawford said. “She doesn’t need the spotlight. Everyone is so worried about themselves, and to have a kid that’s more worried about the people around them and winning, it speaks to their upbringing.” Miller is one of four seniors on this year’s basketball squad. “Peyton’s impact is going to last into the next few years,” Johnson said. “She’s kind of mentoring (freshman) Sydney Daut, she’s really close with our sophomores and freshmen, and I think that’s going to translate when they’re juniors and seniors. It’s going to be the trickle-down effect. I really can’t say enough good things about her. Every coach wants a Peyton Miller.”
To read Miller’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/peyton-miller-00110675
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Jan. 17, 2024)
For Hatboro-Horsham senior Chris “Stauby” Staub, his two callings -- carpentry and wrestling -- teach similar life lessons. “My dad is a roofer,” said the 145-pounder. “We have a lot of blue collar people in our family. I always liked working with my hands and building things. I really started to like it after going to tech school and learning more about it. I like to see a finished product. That’s why I really like carpentry. It’s hard but, in the end, you get to see a finished product. I really enjoy it. If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to work hard for it. Things don’t come easy. Sometimes you really have to grind for stuff. That makes what you do seem even better. You have to buy in. You can’t do it halfway.” H-H coach Trent Mongillo believes Staub, the grinder, is peaking at the right time in his stellar scholastic wrestling career. “He’s doing really well,” said Mongillo. “He has certainly improved in all areas of wrestling.”
At both endeavors, the part-time student at Eastern Center for Arts and Technology in Upper Moreland can see the fruits of his labor as he inches closer to his ultimate goals with each try. “For sure,” he confirmed. “We grind, when we’re in the wrestling room. We work so hard. I wrestle all year round, and I have been for a long time. It’s one of my favorite things in the world. I love the grind of it, because you have to grind in the sport to get better. There is always someone out there working harder than you are. That makes me want to work harder and grind more. To see all this hard work paying off, it feels so good. I’m not done yet.”
While it is semi-common for there to be two-year captains, a three-year captain is a rarity. But Staub is a rare breed. It was about halfway through his sophomore year that Mongillo and his staff made the obvious move. “His leadership continued to shine through at our practices on a daily basis, really from the first day,” said Mongillo. “It really starts with the work ethic. That gets you to notice him, initially, and then it was all the character things.” There has been nothing since that has made the coach regret the bold decision. “He’s an all-around great kid,” said Mongillo. “He’s a leader on our team, and he does everything that we ask of him.” And on a 2023-24 team that is heavy on freshmen and light on seniors, that leadership is invaluable. “He is certainly a vocal leader,” said Mongillo. “He says what is on his mind and is not afraid to let others know what he is thinking or feeling or how others should be acting or behaving. It’s nice, as a coach. It takes a lot of pressure off of me.” Growing up in the Hatboro-Horsham Wrestling Club since the age of 4, Staub winning the recent Wetzel Classic at H-H was a major achievement. The Wetzel performance was an example is how he is climbing the podium at wrestling tournaments, going from third as a sophomore to second as a junior to several firsts so far in this his final season of major goals (regional championship, states, 100 wins, etc.).
Staub has longed to not just serve his country in the military, but to do so in an elite unit (Navy Seals, Army Rangers, etc.). “That’s definitely something I have always wanted to do,” he said. “I like to push myself a lot. I think wrestling has instilled that in me. I have always been interested in the Seals or Rangers or some kind of Special Forces.” However, there are colleges – including those with a military environment – that could provide an opportunity to continue wrestling. “I’ m just exploring all my options right now,” Staub said. “I could go anywhere and then join the military after (college). I could get a degree and then go to officers’ candidate school and become an officer. That is definitely an option.” As far as Mongillo is concerned, Staub will make any scenario work because that’s just who he is. “He turns in his work and gets good grades,” he said. “He is well-liked by his teachers and his peers. He had to conquer major adversity, like the entire ninth grade class, when COVID shut everything down. He wasn’t able to have a freshman season.” Adding that wrestling can help with the extreme rigors of special forces training, Mongillo acknowledges that his star wrestler will have tough choice to make. “I think he wants to continue to wrestle,” said Mongillo. “It’s just a matter of how that’s going to be and how that’s going to look for him.”
To read Staub’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/chris-staub-00110673
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