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 Sept. 24, 2015)
Marguerite Salamone is hardly an imposing presence on the athletic field, but don’t be fooled. The diminutive Pennsbury senior – who measures in at 5-3 ½ - is affectionately referred to as a ‘beast’ by her coaches. It might well be one of the highest compliment an athlete could receive. “I had her as a student in eighth grade, and she went at things in class like she goes after everything on the field,” Pennsbury softball coach Frank McSherry said. “She is just in attack mode all the time. It’s amazing, it really is, and she’s just a great kid on top of that too.” “At practice and at games, she is always 110 percent,” field hockey coach Jamie Parell added. “I have on multiple occasions said, ‘Wow, I wish everyone would go off of (her) example.’ There’s no difference with her whether it’s a game or practice, and that’s what I love most because it’s hard to coach that.”
Salamone’s engine is always at full throttle, and it’s the reason why the Pennsbury senior has excelled at two sports since she stepped on the field as a sophomore. A major contributor on both the softball and hockey fields, Salamone is a captain of her hockey team this fall. “She has just been a leader since the day I met her,” Parell said. “She has very good hand-eye coordination and very good dribbling skills. On the defensive end, she does not let you (get by her). There’s just no let up with her.”
Competing in two sports is just one small aspect of Salamone’s life. She is active in her school and her community, and although her busy schedule prevents her from donating blocks of her time, Salamone has found a way to give back. She collects used sports equipment and then donates it to places that include the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey, the Salvation Army and the Bristol Township baseball and softball leagues. “I came up with it because I wanted to do something, and I knew something like volunteering at a hospital would take a lot of time and a specific schedule that I didn’t have with sports,” Salamone said of a project she started as a freshman and continues to the present. “It was actually amazing because people really responded.”
Salamone is also involved in peer mentoring at Pennsbury, and for the past two years, she has been a student representative on the school board. A member of the National Honors Society, Salamone, who is enrolled in several AP classes, is an excellent student She has her sights set on a possible career in medical research and plans to major in biomedical engineering while continuing her hockey career at the collegiate level. “Marguerite is a phenomenal student and athlete in so many ways,” Parell said. “She carries herself as a role model and leader on and off the field where not only students look up to her but members of the community as well.”
To read Salamone’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/marguerite-salamone-0055990
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Sept. 24, 2015)
There are times when Pat Lang mans his battle station on the sidelines and can’t help but let his mind briefly drift through the what-if scenarios. The senior will size up opposing quarterbacks and know that if he had gone to that school, instead of Council Rock North, he might be out there taking varsity snaps. But his time and place is at a school where the starting quarterback happens to be one of the best in the state, if not the nation, in fellow senior and South Carolina-commit Brandon McIlwain. “Somebody has to be the backup, and backing up a guy like Brandon has made me better,” Lang said. “That is a motto, if you will, of our football team. There’s always going to be someone taller, stronger, faster, better than you are, and you have to focus on making yourself better rather than comparing yourself to others. Especially with Brandon, he’s my impetus to get myself better, even if I know I’m not going to start.”
Lang’s positive attitude and willingness to embrace his role is not lost on his coach, Adam Collachi. “Pat is our backup quarterback, and even though he may not be the starter each week, he prepares himself as a starter and is ready to play at a moment’s notice,” said Collachi, using the word “leader” to describe Lang. “There are more ways of being a leader than just being out there on Friday nights,” Lang said. “I try to be a motivator in the offseason. I find ways to lead and to find my niche.”
Lang takes his refreshing approach to raising the bar for himself into the school community. Up until this year when he dropped Spanish to take an AP Physics class, he was a member of the Spanish Honors Society. A year ago, he not only got involved in the National Honors Society but decided ‘on a whim’ to run for president. “I saw it as a chance to show my leadership in academics,” he said.
Lang has started the arduous process of applying to West Point. He has wanted to serve his country for as long as he can remember and has positioned himself to get there. He spent this past summer at West Point and came away more inspired about becoming a cadet than ever. Lang, who is looking at a school like Virginia Tech as a backup because of its strong ROTC program, says he and his sisters – Kali and Charlotte – were pointed in the right direction by their parents. “I knew that being successful after school meant doing well in school,” Lang said. If Lang achieves his goal of getting into West Point, he may look into playing for what is called the “sprint” football team for undersized cadets.
To read Lang’s compete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/pat-lang-0055991
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