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 April 30, 2014)
Lisa Patterson wasn’t sold on the idea of becoming a high jumper when she joined the Neshaminy track team as a freshman. As a matter of fact, it was a hard sell for coach Margie Stefan to convince her she could excel. It turns out Stef saw something in Patterson that the then freshman didn’t see in herself. “We have an events week where we have all the girls do different events,” the Redskins’ coach said. “Sometimes there are girls who wouldn’t think they would want to be a thrower but are good at discus. During event week, we saw that she was good at high jump, long jump and triple jump, but she wasn’t very interested in high jump. She liked it enough to do it, but she didn’t think she was that good at it.” As a freshman, Patterson’s top jump was 4-4. This year, she has cleared 5-4 and has 5-6 in her sights. She placed 12th at the indoor state meet this past winter, one inch shy of a Neshaminy school record, and she qualified for Emerging Elite Nationals at the Amory in New York, N.Y.
Patterson has already qualified for districts this spring and is ranked ninth in Pennsylvania. Quite an accomplishment for someone who didn’t like to high jump. “She’s progressing greatly,” Stefan said. “She’s always practicing, and she always wants to get better.” Whether she can conquer 5-6 or not, Patterson leaves Neshaminy as one of the program’s elite jumpers, and the senior captain – who also was captain of the indoor team – has been a positive leader for the Redskins. “As a younger girl, Lisa wasn’t involved in track, but as she was getting older and better, I could see something in her,” Stefan said. “We have eight high jumpers, and even just for high jump, let alone the other events, she leads them, she helps them with drills, with warming up, with anything basically that is needed as a captain.”
For Patterson, this year’s postseason will mark the end of the line for her track career since Philadelphia University – where she will enroll this fall – has a track team but no field events. It does however, have Patterson’s major – fashion merchandising. A member of the National Honor Society, Patterson, who takes a course load of honors and AP classes, boasts a GPA of 3.88. She is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) as well as the Foreign Language Club. She is also a member of the Photography Club and admits to developing a passion for what has become a hobby. Away from school, Patterson is an active member of her youth group, volunteering at the Gift of Life House, a Trenton soup kitchen, the CROP Walk of Bucks County and Operation Santa Claus.
To read Patterson’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/lisa-patterson-0043961
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of April 30, 2014)
Take a snapshot of Springfield senior Jeffrey Meyers, and it reveals a three-sport varsity athlete, an aspiring physician with a near perfect ACT score and GPA and a king’s crown from homecoming. While the song says that every picture tells a story, leafing through the full photo album of Myers’ life tells the tale. He is the story of being dealt a losing hand - one that would have caused many to fold – and coming out a winner. It is one of sacrifice of a sibling. It is one of forgiving while not forgetting. It is one of redemption. Meyers does not need to be coaxed into sharing his story. In fact, it is more difficult to hear it than it is for him to tell. The first eight years of his life were tumultuous for him and his younger sister, as his parents were addicts, often moving from temporary living quarters within days of arriving. “I did not have stable parents,” he said. “They were into drugs and alcohol. We lived in so many different places. I slept on the floor and under tables. These were mostly drug houses. They were poor living conditions, and I was taken out of them.”
Myers was eight at the time. His younger sister, Andrea, was a toddler. While he bore an emotional toll, his sister wore physical scars. “She’s partially deaf from all the music being played so loud,” Meyers said. “She wasn’t able to grow a full head of hair until she was around five because she had boiling water spilled on her head. It was harsh. I feel bad for her.”
When the two siblings were removed, their older half-sister, Rebecca Piranian, stepped in. She was just a kid herself in many ways, a newlywed college student with a husband overseas in the Navy, but she took in her younger siblings. “She has been a huge part of my life,” Meyers said. While he credits Rebecca’s husband, Jessie Beabes, for “always being there,” he considers Piranian as the driving force in putting him on the right path. “She is a paralegal for a pharmaceutical company,” Meyers said. “She works really hard. I’m proud of her. I feel like I want to repay her for everything.”
Meyers admits to having a lot of suppressed anger and that sports became therapeutic. Lacrosse, with its contact, was so ideal that he even took up football for a bit at the high school level before switching to soccer in the fall and wrestling in the winter. Springfield soccer coach Dan Meder felt his time with Meyers in the fold was too short. “He is a terrific athlete with a great work ethic, but best of all is his attitude,” Meder said. “Jeffrey was a terrific role model for the younger players on the soccer team and a pleasure to coach. His positive attitude, work ethic, physical and emotional strength and sense of humor will be missed.” Lacrosse coach Bill Krewson, in addition to being inspired by Meyers’ character, has nothing but praise for a young man he terms a “dream child” in the game of life. “
Meyers volunteers his time coaching youth soccer and working with his church. He is Krewson’s student teacher in Springfield’s Internship Program. “After two weeks of working with the students at Erdenheim Elementary, when he is not there, the students are immediately asking for him,” Krewson said. “Jeffrey, at age 17, is managing to do what so many adults wish they could do.”
Meyers is drive by his Christian faith, which is a large reason why he maintains contact with his parents. “I figure that if Jesus can forgive me, I can forgive them,” he said. “They are still struggling, but I can’t control that. I just have to get through high school and move on. I saw them do bad things. I went the opposite way. I want to exceed them. Like I said, my sister played a huge role. She was always there for me.” His is a story he shares because he feels it is one best told. “I have used my story to try and help other people,” he said. “I hope it has helped some people. I think it has. No matter how bad you think you have it, I know someone else out there has it worse. You have to look on the bright side.”
To view Meyers’ complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/jeffrey-meyers-0043933
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