Cross Country, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Edwin Moses
Favorite team: Baltimore Ravens
Favorite memory competing in sports: Racing with my teammates at Indoor States
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: After a race, I put my shirt on backwards while cooling down and didn’t notice.
Music on iPod: The Doors, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Sonic Youth
Future plans: I want to travel the world and pursue a career in art.
Words to live by: “Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion; you must set yourself on fire.” –Unknown
One goal before turning 30: I want to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m an artist.
By GORDON GLANTZ
He is a standout senior for the undefeated CB West track and field team.
He is a founding member and president of the school’s National Art Honor Society and an award-winning artist.
He is a frequent distinguished honors student boasting a 3.9 grade-point average.
And he listens to The Doors and Sonic Youth – music that most of his hip-hopping peers probably never even heard of.
He is Andrew Baker, the Univest Featured Athlete of the Week.
And he is as comfortable in his own skin as much as he is unique, taking pride in being his own person in a world of peer pressure.
“I’ve always been that way,” he said. “I’ve always been unique in my way – as you can see by my musical taste.
“I’ve always followed a straight and narrow path, and I just really like where I’m at right now.”
And where he is right now is at the epicenter of a special senior season.
A participant in a myriad of running events, Baker has some specific goals – individual and team-wise – to attain before shifting his scene to the University of Vermont, where he will continue to run.
“We’re trying to break a couple schools records this spring,” he said. “We’re hoping to win the league. We’re undefeated right now at 4-0, and we have three more dual meets left. We’d like to bring back some medals from both districts and states.”
Baker is also intent on participating in states as part of his swan song. He is well on his way, having already qualified for districts in the mile.
He is going to give himself every opportunity to achieve his goals, which includes the unique diet he has chosen to follow.
“I'm a vegetarian,” he said. “Nutrition is a primary concern for me, and practicing self-control and dietary regulation creates a healthier lifestyle. I'm very mindful of my diet and track my calories as meticulously as I do my miles. I've always believed that a healthy mind and healthy body generates good performance.”
Coach in his Corner
If Baker had a fan club, his coach – Greg Wetzel – would be a founder.
It is athletes like versatile leaders of Baker’s ilk that keep coaches invigorated about what they do.
“Andrew is a fine young man,” said Wetzel. “He is a pleasure to coach because he wants to be the best he can be for the team, and he consistently backs that desire up with action.”
Baker’s evolution as a runner for the Bucks can almost be taken for granted, at least until Wetzel sits back and considers its wide realm.
“He started off for us as a competent hurdler, sprinter, and jumper,” said the coach. “ He ran cross country to help fully develop his abilities and found a love for distance running. So, now he is a true utility man. We can put him in any of the following events and fully expect he would come through for us by scoring in a dual meet: 110 high hurdles, 300 intermediate hurdles, 4x1, 4x4, 4x8, 400, 800, 1600. When I counted them, that's eight of the 11 track events, leaving out only the 100, 200, and 3200.”
And that’s a whole lot of versatility, but not his greatest attribute, according to Wetzel.
“Besides being versatile, what makes Andrew so valuable to us is that he gets the big picture that any great team needs great leaders to step up,” he said. “His leadership has played an integral part in us finishing sixth in the state in cross-country, having four relays run times that placed in the top ten in the state indoors, and starting the outdoor track and field season undefeated.”
Family Affair
Baker said that having his younger brother, Brian, on the team, has made him more of a vocal leader as a senior.
“I try to lead by example,” he said. “Our whole team is like a family, so I am more comfortable, vocal-wise. We don’t really have captains or anything, but I definitely consider myself a leader.
“And with my brother being a freshman on the team, it has helped also, because his friends are my friends.”
Baker described his brother as more of a “football and lacrosse” guy, but also sensed some natural resistance about giving track a try.
“I just told him he would be a great track athlete,” said Baker, adding that Brian’s path has been similar to his, as he has morphed into more of a middle distance runner after beginning with sprints. “It has really worked out well for him.”
With two sons immersed in track, it has been a learning experience for their parents, Terry and Lynda.
Baker says his father was into football and wrestling while his mother, a former class president, only had sports experience from managing a baseball team in school.
“My parents have been very supportive,” said Baker. “It has been interesting, introducing the whole track and field element to them.”
And what was introduced back was the importance of learning.
“My dad always stressed that,” said Baker, who course load includes three AP classes and several honors classes. “Academics are important to me, and I’ve always been a good student.”
Light My Fire
Like many artistic and introspective teens, the life and times of Doors lyricist and lead singer Jim Morrison have been a source of interest and inspiration.
“I’m all over the place,” he said of his musical tastes. “I rarely listen to the radio.
“I started reading Jim Morrison’s poetry, and I became interested in him as a person. And the whole time period was so innovative.”
While Baker says he is “always most comfortable with a pencil in my hands,” he is also “all over the place” with his art -- as he draws, stencils, charcoals and has recently gotten more into working with water colors.
He specializes in distorted faces and figures.
It was a portrait of Morrison that won him a prestigious Silver Key award (he also claimed honorable mention recognition).
Unlike the rebellious Morrison, Baker moves freely between peers and adults.
Two adults topping the list as mentors are Wetzel and fine arts instructor, Allison Levin.
“It’s been awesome,” said Baker. “I’m so thankful for them.”
As a kid, Baker played all the sports that kids play – football, baseball, basketball, etc. – but found that while he “wasn’t very good at any of them,” he was “usually the fastest.”
That led to trying out for track at Lenape Middle School, where he “took off with the sport” and “dropped everything else.”
When he got to CB West, Wetzel took the sprinter and hurdler and morphed him into the versatile point machine he has become.
A big part of that was strongly suggesting to Baker that he give cross-country consideration in the fall.
“Coach Wetzel didn’t tell me I had to run cross-country, but he said it would help me with other events,” said Baker. “I’m really thankful for that.
“I started off running the 100, 200 and the hurdles. I was even scared to run the 400. That’s the beauty of track, though. You can do more than you expect.”
While Wetzel nurtured his passion for running, Levin did the same for his artistic side.
Baker regularly takes his lunch in Levin’s room, and she helped him get the school’s National Art Honor Society off the ground.
The club has about 40 members who do at least 15 hours community service with art-related projects, ranging from Christmas decorations at a local rehab center to painting a mural at a nature center to holding sales of the student’s work -- with the proceeds earmarked for charity.
“It’s a nice way to get recognition for art students,” said Baker.
For Levin, the immediate success of the group only affirmed Baker’s ability to lift those around him to a new level.
“Andrew Baker is a stellar young man who puts 110 percent into everything he does,” she said. “Andrew is mature, thoughtful, creative, wildly talented and a role model for others. Andrew remains humble about all of his many accomplishments, yet his successes and ability are insanely beyond that of a typical high school student. Andrew is the president of CB West’s National Art Honor Society where he serves as a leader and key figure in our organization.
“Andrew is a highly regarded and talented athlete, breaking records and serving as a leader on his team. I have had the pleasure and honor of having Andrew in many art classes in his high school career, and he has been such an asset to our classroom every day. Students look up to him and admire him for his insight, charm, charisma and wild talent that he possesses.”
Two Hearts Beat as One
Some would see the two pursuits – running and drawing – as diametrically opposed, but not Baker. He believes he excels at both because they fit his personality.
“I’m definitely introverted,” he said. “Art and running both offer a reprieve from more hectic things. They let you focus on a moment in time.
“What I strive for is a balance between school, track and my interests – mainly art.”
That’s why Vermont offered all the right options for his two passions.
“I’ve always been told that I was good at art,” he said, adding that the University of Delaware was a “no-go” because it no longer has a track team. “I got further reinforcement, and turned it into a passion. I hope to turn it into a career.
“I’m thinking about architecture. It combines art with math and science, which I am also good at. I’ll probably major in some type of engineering and see where it leads me.”
Baker understands that there will be no let up at Vermont, between a demanding major and being a collegiate athlete, but he is ready to embrace the challenge.
“I’m pretty set on the University of Vermont, at this point,” he said. “Their environmental engineering program is awesome. I’ve spoken to their coaches, and I’m excited to run for them. They have some really cool people up there.
“I already know that time management is important. It is something I am already good at. Track takes up a lot of my time, especially on weekends, now. That will be important going forward.”
Levin, who calls Baker a “one-of-a-kind student,” has zero doubt that he will make her proud in the future, adding that he is “a young man that will go on to do great things, not only with his amazing running skills and his insane artistic talent. I have full confidence that Andrew will be successful in all of his future endeavors. I am bursting with pride to call Andrew Baker my student and can’t wait to see what his future holds.”
