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 March 5, 2013)
Sarah Alps has been in love with swimming right from the start, and the William Tennent senior is the kind of athlete coaches love to coach. “Sarah is always happy, and she sees the glass as half full,” coach Jamie Forlini said. “If she doesn’t get her best time, she doesn’t get down about it. She just says, ‘Next time’ and doesn’t dwell on it. She gives her best every single time, and she’s really come a long way. We’re going to miss her next year.”
Alps has been swimming since she was a youngster, and as a home schooled student, she was delighted to find out she could swim for Tennent’s varsity. “I’d been working my way up through the aquatic club, but it didn’t occur to me that I could swim on the high school team,” Alps said. “But then the Forlinis told me I could swim because home schooled students are allowed to do extracurricular activities. It was pretty important to me, not because I have a problem meeting people or I lack social skills but because being on the team made me so many new friends, it taught me how to work with others, and it taught me responsibility and how to be a leader. It’s definitely been a big part of my life.”
Alps, who also plays the piano and sings in her church choir, was a team captain this year. “It was a big responsibility,” she said. “When you become a captain, you have a different role on the team. Instead of just being another swimmer, you are the person they are watching, and I took that very seriously.”
Although she is undecided on a college, Alps plans to swim at the collegiate level. She is hoping to major in biology with an interest in pursuing a career as a teacher, nurse or physician’s assistant.
To read Alps’ complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/sarah-alps-0032744
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of March 5, 2013)
Bob Bantley was all but automatic choice for captain of his swim team this season. The Upper Dublin senior is personable, he’s outgoing, he’s positive, and he also happens to be one of the state’s top swimmers. But it’s much more than that. Bantley is one of those special athletes who understands the responsibility that goes hand-in-hand with being a leader and role model. “You definitely are held to a higher standard,” he said. “I remember when I was a younger kid looking up to the older boys and really idolizing them. There were some great seniors my freshman year, and I remember always having such a high respect for the older kids, always marveling at how fast they were and the integrity they had.”
To say Bantley has filled the shoes of those who have gone before him quite nicely would be an understatement, and coach Geoff Scheurer, for one, isn’t a bit surprised to see him embrace his role as leader. “I had many talks with him about how it was his role to take,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “He had a lot of ideas about what he wanted the team to be, and he knew he had to lead them in that direction. It’s great to see a kid who has that kind of thought in his head. They know what they want the identity of the team to be, and they’re willing to step up and lead it that way.”
Bantley’s resume in the pool is an impressive one. He recently was named the Outstanding Swimmer at the District One AAA meet where he helped lead the Flying Cardinals to their second district crown in as many years, capturing individual golds in the 100 and 200 freestyle and two more as part of relay teams. Bantley’s success didn’t just happen. It is the culmination of countless hours spent working at his sport. “In swimming, there’s no getting around it,” Bantley said. “It’s a sport where the work you put into it directly pays off.”
Bantley has turned his talents in the pool into a swimming scholarship to Penn State University. He is undecided on a major but is leaning towards business. In the immediate future, Bantley has some business to take care of in the pool, and all eyes will be on the senior star when he leads a Flying Cardinal contingent to the PIAA Class AAA state meet at Bucknell.
To view Bantley’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/bob-bantley-0032749
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