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 Feb. 26, 2014)
Quinn MacMillan has had a record-breaking career at Central Bucks West. Listen to the senior standout tell it, and it’s almost as if she became a swimmer by default. “Honestly, I was only really good at swimming,” MacMillan said. “I wasn’t good at softball – I tried that. Soccer – not so much. I really didn’t have the hand-eye coordination. Swimming is just what stuck.” Thank goodness it did. Last March at the PIAA Class AAA state championships at Bucknell University, MacMillan shattered the 33-year-old school record of United States Olympian Karen LaBerge in the 200 freestyle during her preliminary heat. She topped that mark in the finals, finishing fifth and taking more than two seconds off LaBerge’s longstanding record of 1:52.63 with a time of 1:50.48. For good measure, MacMillan also set a new school record in the 100 free with a time of 51.70 to earn a fifth place medal.
If it seems as though MacMillan would be resting on her laurels, guess again, Earlier this year she broke those times at a club meet with her Central Bucks US Swim Team. According to her coach, MacMillan has improved each year of her four years on the varsity. “She’s a team leader,” West coach Vibeke Swanson said. “She’s an extremely hard worker. She’s a captain, and I always appreciate the way she rallies up the team, the way she gets everybody pumped up. She also leads by example.” MacMillan has been swimming competitively for as long as she can remember, and she came by her love of swimming honestly. Her mother, Kathy MacMillan, swam for the University of South Carolina after a standout high school career at Upper Moreland. Quinn also has two older sisters who swam at West, and she has had the unique opportunity of swimming under her mother, who is an assistant coach at West. “My mom has been a great coach,” she said. “She really helps me with my swimming, and I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
MacMillan has chosen to take her talents to James Madison University. An excellent student, she is enrolled in honors and AP classes and plans to major in communications. Swanson, for one, expects her to excel at the next level as well. “She wants to do well in everything she does,” the Bucks’ coach said.
To read MacMillan’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/quinn-macmillan-0042041
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Feb. 26, 2014)
Aaron Burton learned basketball under the tutelage of his father, Kevin, himself a standout on Cheltenham’s powerhouse teams in the 1990s. At nearly six feet tall when he attended Cedarbrook Middle School, the now Cheltenham senior was the equivalent of a seven-footer, and his numbers – at around 27 points per game for a successful team – were the direct result. Since then, he has only grown an inch or two. Instead, the growth spurt, as a basketball player and a person, came from within. According to his coach, John Timms, Burton is a survivor.
Burton went from being a quiet kid no one knew to being the talk of Cedarbrook Middle School when he emerged as a hoops standout in eighth grade. He went to La Salle High School for two years, earning varsity letter but not consistent playing time, and he transferred back to Cheltenham for his final two seasons. Although it didn’t go as planned, there are no regrets. Under Timms this season, the Panthers got off to a slow start, winning two of their first 10 non-league games, before finishing on a 9-3 tear. They were one win away from qualifying for the District One Tournament, but Burton – speaking like a college professor – was more philosophical than bitter. “It’s all part of the process,” explained the team’s leading scorer and rebounder at more than 17 and 11 per game, respectively. “We had a new coach, a new team. It all clicked in January and February. We played our best basketball. We were listening, executing and winning. Things happened how they happened, but they happened for a reason. We got better, and that was our goal. I enjoyed the process.”
Burton’s evolution will continue at the college level where he hopes to take his inside-outside game to one of several Division II or III schools showing serious interest. “I’ve been coaching Aaron since November, and he’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve seen in my coaching experience,” Timms said. “Aaron is a self-determined kid who has a determination to be successful. He’s a remarkable athlete that any coach would love to call their son, and that’s because he’s a better person. He has had three different coaches as a high school player in four years. If there’s one word that would describe Aaron Burton, it would be survivor. He’s done that and much more. His favorite quote is ‘opportunity doesn’t wait for the unprepared’ so he’s always ready.”
Burton, who has a 3.1 GPA and made the honor roll, plans to major in business with an interest in real estate.
To view Burton’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/aaron-burton-0042040
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