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. 14, 2016)
Like a family. That’s the way Emily Mackin describes the Council Rock North soccer team. “I’ve been on a lot of teams for soccer and basketball – they are not this close,” the Rock North senior said. “It’s hard to explain. It’s something great to be a part of something like this.” The CR North soccer family welcomed some new members recently with a team sleepover that featured a low-impact freshman initiation session. The freshmen were asked various questions, such as their favorite senior. Their answers included the selection of Mackin as the senior they fear most. “I asked them why, and they said because I was intimidating,” Mackin said. That intimidation stems mostly from the fierce determination that the center midfielder brings, especially after missing last season with a torn ACL in her knee. “Right down the middle is where you want your best players, and that’s where she is,” coach Wendell Beres said. “Last year we lost in the state quarterfinals. We lost four seniors, but we picked up Emily and she is our neutralizer. She’s a special kid. Everybody looks up to her. She’s one of four captains, but the other three look up to her. She cares about her friends, but she wants to win. With her, we win one or two more games last year, which puts us in the state semis or finals. She means that much. She’s that important. She’s our engine.”
Mackin’s playing style carries over into her overall school community. She takes honors and AP classes, sports a 3.8 grade point average and is involved in activities such as SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) and SHARE, which helps the homeless. “She’s everywhere,” said Beres. “I just saw her in the hallway the other day. It seems like every person in the school knows her. I never have to worry about teachers coming to me about her. She’s just the All-American kid.”
Barring intramural sports in college (Penn State, Maryland, James Madison and a few schools in Florida top her list), this year is her last hurrah. Mackin, who is also a member of the basketball team, is looking to make it count on both squads. She moves forward emboldened by what she has endured to get back into action with her teammates. “I had my outlet ripped out from under me,” Mackin wrote in her college essay. “I didn’t think it would happen to me, until it did.” While sidelined last year, Mackin took on the role as a junior member of the coaching staff. The age-old adage about whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – the injury has made her stronger, mentally and physically. “Definitely 100 percent,” Mackin said. “I never realized how lucky I was to be able to play and then I had it taken away from me.”
To read Mackin’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/emily-mackin-0064408
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Sept. 14, 2016)
Lightning in a bottle. It’s a phrase coach Stefan Szygiel uses to describe Noah Griffin, and making that description especially interesting is the fact that the Central Bucks West senior – who excels in track and field – is a reserve for Szygiel’s soccer team. Griffin, however, falls into a very special category of players who come off the bench. “He’s an absolutely exceptional athlete,” the Bucks’ coach said. “His athleticism and his attitude and his buy-in – he’s just the perfect guy you look for that understands that role of the super sub that you want, and that’s what is special about him. We always use soccer as a microcosm of who a person really is as an individual. He’s just a kid who gets it. He’s exceptional in track and field, and he brings his athleticism to the soccer field, but his buy-in, his attitude and his work ethic are just commendable.”
This past summer Griffin qualified to compete in track and field at the prestigious Junior Olympics in Sacramento, Calif., and he is getting serious looks from numerous schools, including three Division One schools. It would have been easy to pass on soccer his senior year to focus on his number one sport, especially since he had seen limited varsity minutes as a junior swing player. “It was hard for me to find varsity minutes for him last year because we had such a strong front line,” Szygiel said. “We actually called him up at the end of the season, and he played in the last few games and in our playoff game. You’re talking about a guy that had minimal varsity minutes, and we threw him in against Marple Newtown in the first round of the playoffs.” And here’s where the ‘lightning in a bottle’ description is explained. “It’s his energy, desire and coachability, which are three prime things a coach looks for in a player, and he brings all three of them,” Szygiel said. “Marple Newtown last year was excellent. We ended up winning that game 1-0 and moving on. Noah played 10 minutes total, but we’re talking about a playoff game where you’re not going to go deep in your bench. You have kids who play 80 minutes and take it for granted. Noah played 10 minutes, and those are the most important 10 minutes to any player. This year he already earned himself more playing time as a senior.”
West track coach Greg Wetzel is looking for good things, expecting Griffin to be among the best in a very tough league in the triple and long jumps and the 110 hurdles and as a key member of the 4x100m relay. “Noah is an outstanding competitor, and we are fortunate to have such a versatile athlete back for his senior year,” Wetzel said. “We know he has something special up his sleeve for this year. The track and field coaches have witnessed Noah display a tremendous amount of personal growth this past winter and spring.”
To read Griffin’s compete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/noah-griffin-0064413
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