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 Feb. 28, 2024)
Kiera Gallagher, according to coach Jason Anderson, just ‘gets it.’ Exactly what the Quakertown track coach means by that could be summed up in a simple example. “Kiera wants to be a teacher, and I have to say – I’ve never met a young person who was better suited for that profession,” Anderson said. “During practice, you have group things going on, you’re coaching, and all of a sudden you want people to partner. Kiera is so good – she always picks the new little freshman who looks scared, and she immediately understands the situation. It’s happened a couple of times where I’m trying to clumsily do that – ‘Come over here, young person,’ and Kiera just automatically does it. It’s really cool to see. She understands what people are going through and thinking. She immediately notices someone who could use a little bit of attention.”
The Quakertown senior is not a track star – as a matter of fact she’s never won a race. It’s on the hockey field that Gallagher excels, earning first team all-league honors and signing to continue her career at the Division 2 level at Kutztown University. Track is something Gallagher does to stay in shape for field hockey, and it’s pretty clear that she brings that same inclusive approach to the sport that is her passion.
Mention her name to coach MacKenzie Moser, a late hire the end of Gallagher’s sophomore year, and she immediately recalls her first contact with the senior captain. “The day the school board approved it, I actually got an email from her right away. She was like, ‘Hi, I’m Kiera….,’” Moser said. “She wasn’t coming across as demanding or aggressive. She wasn’t like – ‘It needs to be this way.’ She was just really passionate about the sport. (The players) had no idea who was going to be the coach. They were kind of lost – what are we going to do in the offseason? When they heard there was a coach, Kiera was on it and was like, ‘Hey, I just want to introduce myself.’ It speaks volumes that at such a young age she was reaching out.
Gallagher was a key part of Quakertown’s remarkable turnaround from a winless season three years ago when she was a freshman to co-champions of the SOL Liberty Division as a senior. “She’s a team player – ‘it’s not just me, I’m in the spotlight,’’” Kramer said. “She’s the first person to say, ‘That was an awesome score, just congratulating her teammates, never taking in the spotlight.” Gallagher has committed to continue her career at Kutztown. “I knew that I loved the sport so much, and I definitely wanted to continue playing,” she said.
When it came time to pick a career path, Gallagher didn’t have to think long and hard. She plans to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Patricia Gallagher, who is a learning support teacher at Souderton. “I spent the summers with her in ESY (Extended School Year), and I kind of fell in love with it myself, and our school does Career Pathways, so I was able to do a field study at (Trumbauersville) Elementary School in their life skills room last year, and I just fell in love with it,” Gallagher said. Moser - a health and physical education teacher at the high school – has had an opportunity to observe Gallagher in action. “I teach our adaptive program,” Moser said. “My first year of teaching that last year - she actually came in and helped me. She would show up in her free time and help with the kids. She’s very involved in that. She’s very passionate about it.”
Gallagher is involved in Quakertown’s Best Buddies program and is part of student council. She also excels in the classroom and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is enrolled in two classes – Sociology and Interpersonal Communication - at Bucks County Community College. The very definition of a student-athlete, Gallagher will be missed for much more than her contributions on the hockey field and track. “It's been two short years since Kiera sent me that email,” Moser said. “Her mom is the booster club president, so I’ve become very close with her family. She’s like my own kid. She’s just an overall good athlete, good person - she’s a really great kid.”
“She just gets it - it’s not an act,” Anderson said. “I’m just constantly taken by how easy it is for her. Cheerleader is not the word but she’s just an encourager. That’s part of the whole – ‘I see that you’re not partnered.’ It’s so uncanny how she almost knows as we’re dividing up – that person’s not going to have someone, so all the popular girls – which she is – are immediately coalescing, and she’s immediately across the track to the person that might not have someone. She’s just a great person.”
To read Gallagher’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/kiera-gallagher-00111250
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Feb. 28, 2024)
When Tyler Dandrea entered Central Bucks East High School, he made a difficult but important decision regarding his athletic career. He was going to put his glove, bat and ball in mothballs. With all due respect to the national pastime, he saw a brighter future for himself on the hardwood with basketball. “I knew, at the time, that I wanted to go 100 percent into basketball,” said Dandrea, who has since played AAU ball and in multiple summer leagues to hone his chosen craft. So began a journey from junior varsity as a freshman to a swing player as sophomore to varsity starter the last two seasons on a state-caliber team. He was a captain of this year’s SOL Colonial Division championships squad.
Dandrea may not feel the need to vocalize much to the teammates he has been playing with since middle school, if not longer, but coach Erik Henrysen sees a born leader that others will follow. “Tyler is a great kid,” the Patriots’ coach said. “He’s one of those ideal players to coach. He never has anything resembling an excuse. He’s always a team-first guy, and he has just been awesome to have as part of the program.” Dandrea was a 6-2 swingman in a four-guard attack. According to his coach, he averaged in the ballpark of 9 points per game as a junior and was at 11 per game this season. “He made a big jump as a junior,” said Henrysen. “We saw the progression. He turned himself into a varsity basketball player. He started for us. The rest is history. He has been a starter ever since. He is a guy who can take over a game at times. He can be real streaky and get going.”
An aspiring scratch golfer, the 6-2 Dandrea was 6-0 when he entered the hallways of CB East, and he has been able to round out his game and become a complete player. “I’ve always been a shooter,” he said. “A lot of the small things, I think I’ve gotten better at as the years have gone on. I’ve put on a little bit of muscle, but it’s really a lot of the little things you need to do to be a good varsity player. That’s what I’ve learned over the years. Just attacking the rim, that’s what I really have gotten better at doing.” Along the way, his teammates can’t help but be affected by Dandrea’s work ethic. “He has the respect of his teammates,” said Henrysen. “They see the way he goes about doing his business. There is never an excuse or a complaint. He has worked through injuries when they’ve popped up. He’s been a warrior for us.”
Dandrea’s game has gotten him noticed by college programs, but he has decided to just play basketball informally at a larger school (South Carolina, Penn State, etc.). “I love the sport,” said Dandrea. “It was a tough decision not to play in college. I think it’s what is best for me, and I’m still going to stay active and keep playing and find ways to hoop.” Dandrea carries himself as well off the court as he does on it, boasting a GPA above 3.9 with primarily AP and honors classes. “He’s an awesome kid,” said Henrysen. “He’s not only a great teammate, but a great classmate. He is always kind of performing the same way that he does on the court as he does in the classroom, which is by leading by example and being an all-around great person.”
Dandrea is giving serious thought to pulling his baseball gear out of storage and trying out for the baseball team as a senior. “I’ll definitely be pretty rusty,” said Dandrea, who was a pitcher/outfielder before shifting gears to just basketball.
To read Dandrea’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/tyler-dandrea-00111249
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