Field Hockey, Track
Favorite athlete: Claude Giroux
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating Council Rock South in the pouring rain to win the league title this past fall in field hockey and also competing in New Balance Indoor Nationals for track when I was a sophomore.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: After running a 4x400 meter relay in indoor my sophomore year, I was walking back to put my sweats on, and I walked across the pole vault runway, without looking to see if anyone was going, and almost got smacked in the face with someone’s pole!
Music on iPod: A little bit of everything, mostly country.
Future plans: I plan to attend and play field hockey at Saint Joseph’s University
Words to live by: “You can only believe what you wish to achieve.”
One goal before turning 30: To have a college degree and to be able to travel.
One thing people don’t know about me: I have been and always will be terrified of thunderstorms.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Eighteen.
That’s the number of goals Abby Alexis scored last fall for the league-champion Neshaminy field hockey team, which saw its season end in the second round of the district playoffs.
She thinks.
It is a safe bet that most athletes – including her favorite, Philadelphia Flyers’ center and captain Claude Giroux – would be able to rattle off the number of goals they have scored, as well as how many games they have gone without scoring, in a matter of seconds.
But that is the type of selfless team player Alexis, the Univest Featured Female Athlete of the Week, has always been.
“As a captain this year, she supported her fellow teammates and made everyone feel welcomed,” said Neshaminy field hockey coach Caitlin Koczynski. “She showed the younger players what Neshaminy field hockey is all about. In her four years at Neshaminy, she has helped the team win two league championships.”
“Neshaminy field hockey will miss her.”
Alexis, a first team all-state selection as a senior, spent her final year as a captain of the field hockey, indoor and outdoor track teams.
And oh, by the way, she is also the president of the senior class and a member of the National Honor Society, sporting a grade-point average of 4.19 -- or “something like that” – and ranks in the top five percent of her class.
“Abby is a great role model and leader both in the classroom and on the track,” said track coach Margie Stefan. “ Abby has been the winter and spring track and field captain her junior and senior years and has qualified and competed in districts, states and nationals in the 4x200m and 4x400m relays. This season Abby is second leg on our 4x100 relay (12.0 split) and third leg on the 4x400 relay (60.1 split) which both qualified for districts.”
But Alexis won’t readily tell you all that.
Even in a more individualized sport like track, there is more “we” than “me” in her verbiage, as she takes as much pride in the accomplishments of younger runners who have improved as with herself.
She wants no parade down U.S. 1 for individual achievements, and makes no excuses for not reaching goals.
It’s all about doing her best, and pushing her teammates to do the same.
“Abby is very selfless and a team player, as she has had back injuries throughout her track career (this year it was found to be a herniated disc) and she continues to be a member of the relays advancing with them instead of risking her season and the relays trying to qualify for an individual event (which she could in the 400 dash and possibly 200 as well),” said Stefan.“Abby is a hard worker, full of determination and dedication, and always gives 100 percent at whatever task is put in front of her.
“Abby is an unsung hero. She is always putting away items on the track or setting up for the hurdle races, helping younger girls with blocks or their form, and doing things when not asked.”
Complete Package
With field hockey being her main sport and the ticket to the next level, it would have been understandable if she had chosen to give running a rest.
But she saw the benefits of running track starting in eighth grade, and how it went hand in hand with giving her lethal speed in field hockey.
“It really helps a lot,” she said. “As soon as I started running track in eighth grade, I could see how it helped me as an athlete, just with my running form.”
The other part of the complete package that the St. Joseph’s field hockey team will be getting is a young woman whose priorities are in order.
“Playing sports three seasons always kept me busy, with everything to be conquered in a day,” she said, adding that “you don’t know what to do with yourself” when between seasons.
“My parents (Carol and Gary) always said to just do the best you can. I’ve always been self-motivated. Plus, it’s nice to get good grades. It definitely all paid off in the end.”
As she narrowed her college choices down to three, St. Joe’s stood out over Shippensburg and the College of New Jersey for that reason.
“I was looking for the balance of athletics and academics,” she said. “I was looking for the right fit. I wanted to major actuary science, so the academics had to be there. If sports fell into place, they fell into place.”
It also helped that her club team, the Mystics, played in many tournaments on the turf at St. Joseph’s campus.
“I love being there,” she said. “It’s so pretty.”
After making such a deep impression at Neshaminy and facing the prospect of starting over, Alexis described her mindset as being “excited but nervous” about the next chapter.
“I’m excited to get to know (the other players),” she said. “I got to meet a couple of them.”
Koczynski has no such concerns.
“Abby is a true role model, on and off the field,” she said. “St. Joe’s is lucky to get this talented player.”
‘Something you have to do’
Alexis is hopeful she will be embraced by the older players at St. Joe’s the same way she was at Neshaminy, which inspired her to pay the act forward when her time came to step up as a leader and role model.
“I hope so,” she said. “I tried to be that as much to the younger girls as the girls before me were to me.
“I just wanted to help them the way they helped me. I just think it’s something you have to do for the younger kids.”
And one of the “younger kids” on the field hockey team the past two years was a player with a special connection to Alexis – her younger sister, Emily.
“It was a great experience playing with her,” said Alexis. “A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to play on the same team with a sibling. I loved having that opportunity.”
When Emily was freshman, she was stationed at right center-midfielder – right behind Alexis on the right side.
“It was great,” said Alexis. “We had that ‘sister thing’ going on.”
This past season, with a void at the all-important center back spot, Emily was moved to the middle of the field.
“We lost our center back to graduation, so we needed her,” said Alexis. “She was just a force back there.”
With Emily, Alexis also had a ready-made training partner for the offseason.
“We were always running,” she said, adding that Emily lends her speed to the lacrosse team. “I’m going to miss her. She was always there to push me.
“She just great. I love her.”
The Finish Line
Once the field hockey season ended, the track grind posed a special challenge for Alexis and the other captains, as Stefan was pregnant. She missed the winter season and parts of the spring season before leaving the team for good within a week of giving birth to a baby girl on Mother’s Day.
“It has been a great being able to turn to Abby with any help I need running the team during this time,” said Stefan, prior to giving birth.
“It was a unique situation,” said Alexis. “It was up to me and the other two captains to make the best of it for the girls. We were just there to help the younger girls, whether it was to offer some encouragement or to lead drills and workouts.
“When she took the winter off, we knew she was not going to be there a lot. We knew we had to help out.”
With that enriching experience behind her, as well as the prom, Alexis sees the finish line and is trying to keep it in perspective, knowing the end will lead to new beginnings.
“Right now, I just want to do the best I can in districts,” she said. “If I get out of there, I want to do the best I can in states.”
