Soccer, Basketball
Favorite athlete: Hope Solo
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My most embarrassing memory was shooting on the wrong net during one of my basketball games.
Music on iPod: Any kind of music – I really love all of it.
Future plans: Study marine biology
Favorite motto: “Impossible is nothing.”
On thing people don’t know about me: I love sharks and want to study them.
Ever since she can remember, Meghan Wheatley has been fascinated with sharks, an interest that was sparked when – as a youngster - she watched the movie Jaws with her dad.
“I’ve always been really interested in them and wanted to study them,” said the senior soccer and basketball player at Springfield.
Wheatley hopes to make that dream a reality by studying marine biology. She knows it might not be easy, but the Springfield senior is no stranger to hard work.
“On the court and off, she is one of the hardest workers I know,” Springfield girls’ basketball coach Bill Krewson said. “She does everything she is asked and looks to help her teammates do the same and in a time of need she would do anything to help someone else out.”
Wheatley is considering Bloomsburg and Millersville where she would also play basketball, but she would not be able to study marine biology at Bloomsburg. She is also looking at Monmouth and Delaware, although she admits Delaware is her “reach school.”
Athletically she sees herself as fitting in more at Bloomsburg or Millersville, and remaining involved in sports is certainly a consideration for the Springfield senior.
“They’re Division II, which is still a big commitment, but it would be hard for me to see myself not playing a sport,” Wheatley said.
In order to attain her goal of studying sharks, Wheatley plans to go to Florida to learn snorkeling.
“I’ve swum with them and of course I watched ‘Shark Week’ on TV and my senior project was on sharks,” she said. “My whole room is decorated with posters and pictures of sharks. I just think they’re fascinating.
“My goal is to live in Australia and study them.”
For the past two years, Wheatley has been a team captain for the soccer team, voted to that role by her teammates. She plays forward/midfield for the Spartans and was an SOL American Conference all-league selection last year as well as Springfield’s leading scorer with eight goals.
“This is my last year of soccer and I’ll miss it,” she said. “It’s a sport that I just did to stay in shape but I ended up liking it.
“This is a good year for our team and I’m really enjoying playing.”
Basketball is Wheatley’s sport of choice, and she has been playing since she was very young.
“I play a lot of AAU basketball and I’ve been playing year round a lot,” she said.
She attended Catholic school in Upper Darby until sixth grade, when her family moved to the Springfield Township School District.
“I’ve been really happy here,” she said. “It was a good move for us, but it was hard at first. I was a step behind academically and I had to catch up.”
Those academic struggles continued into high school.
“I missed most of the basketball season when I was a freshman because I was academically ineligible,” she admitted.
Instead of letting that get her down, Wheatley persevered, working even harder.
“I finally was able to bring my grades up enough and I got to play at the end of the season,” she said.
She’s been playing ever since.
When Wheatley was a sophomore, the Spartans won the District One title and made a run in the PIAA tournament.
“That was a great experience for me and I’m so glad I was able to do it,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll do something like that again this year.”
Missing playing time might well have cost Wheatley the opportunity to reach the coveted 1,000-point milestone. Although she doesn’t have an exact total, Wheatley estimates she is between the 600-700 point range.
“I would have made it if I’d been able to play all of my freshman year,” she said. “It’s going to be really hard but I’ll try to get there.
“I’ll just do my best.”
Working hard is second nature for Wheatley, who is defined by her work ethic.
“I’m not afraid to work for something and I believe that hard work makes things happen,” she said.
Springfield girls soccer coach Suzette Wolf knows what she has in Wheatley.
“Meghan is an asset to any team,” Wolf said. “She is a dominant player at Springfield in both basketball and soccer. She plays with a lot of heart. She is a team player and always positive.
“She supports her teammates at all times. She is a reliable and motivating leader.
“She always has a smile on her face while she is playing because you know she truly enjoys the game. Meghan has true sportsmanship as well. She wins or loses with dignity always.
“During preseason when the team is hot and tired Meghan finds the strength and energy to get the team to fight past the fatigue. She has Springfield pride through and through.”
Laurie Kristiniak, the assistant girls basketball coach at Springfield, is also impressed by Wheatley.
“I do see her push at the underclassmen that she knows have the potential to produce,” she said. “She will often make sure she is defending them on a drill or vice versa to make them work.”
Wheatley was an SOL American Conference third team choice last year, averaging over nine points per game.
“Megan is such a strong player,” Kristiniak said. “She really tries to make things happen in a game and rarely can her hustle be challenged.
“We kid her about her black and blues because she is not afraid to hit the floor if that is where the ball is. If you were to think of someone who just tries to get the ball that would be her.
“Meghan also brings a sense of humor to the team, even if sometimes that means she laughs at herself. She works hard and accepts the challenge to improve.”
