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 Nov. 3, 2016)
Reilly Finegan was destined to play field hockey. After all, why wouldn’t she? Her mother, Michelle (Reilly) Finegan, had played for the U.S. National Team and was a coach at the collegiate level. Surely, Reilly would be an eager student. That, however, wasn’t the case. “I was always very stubborn,” Reilly said. “My mom would want me to try things, and I’d be like, ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’ For some reason, when I was little, trying new things was against everything I stood for. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to try anything.” “That is 100 percent true,” her mother said. “We got her playing hockey because we brought the whole neighborhood. Once all of her friends were there, she was okay with it – ‘This is all right. I still don’t like hockey, but I like hanging out with my friends.’” A funny thing happened while Finegan was hanging out with her friends. She developed a love for the sport.
These days Finegan – who has committed to continue her hockey career at Drexel University – is having a whole lot of fun as captain of a Patriot squad that captured the program’s first conference title since 2002 and recently clinched the program’s first state berth since 2010. “It was probably one of the greatest feelings ever,” Finegan said after her team secured a state berth. “I honestly thought I’d never go to states for high school, especially after my freshman year, considering we had four wins. My sophomore year we didn’t even make the (district) playoffs.” Last year, everything changed, East became a player in the SOL Continental Conference, finishing second to champion Central Bucks West. This year, the Patriots took the next step. Their ascent to the top of the SOL coincided directly with Michelle Finegan – who coached many of the players, including her daughter, on her FSC club team – taking over the helm last year.
According to both mother and daughter, it’s worked out fine. “It’s really, really cool, but I don’t know that all mothers-daughters could get through this,” Michelle said. “I don’t think all of my daughters and I could get through this. It’s interesting. It requires a lot of give and take because of the situation.” “My mom and I are definitely on the same page most of the time so that helps,” Reilly said. “We talk about other stuff, but mostly field hockey, and that’s fine because we both like it a lot, so it’s not too much. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it balances out with everything else going on.”
And Finegan has plenty going on besides hockey. An excellent student, the East senior – whose course load has included numerous AP classes – is a member of the National Honor Society, and she received distinguished honors on the 2015 NFHCA All-Academic squad. She is a member of Heifer International and has volunteered in the afterschool Cares program at Bridge Valley Elementary School. Finegan also helps develop aspiring young field hockey players by spending her weekends coaching or officiating in area youth programs.
To read Finegan’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/reilly-finegan-0066060
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Nov. 3, 2016)
Google the term “late bloomer,” click on “images” and there is a good chance you will see Harry S Truman two-way lineman Tom Hirsch gazing back at you. After not playing football until seventh grade at Franklin D Roosevelt Middle School, Hirsch originally measured in around 5-10 or 5-11 and somewhere between 180 and 190 pounds and was pretty much “just a guy” as a backup on the junior varsity team at Truman. The following year, as a sophomore, he was starting for the jayvee squad and spotting in as a strictly special teams player for the varsity. The winds began to shift last season. Hirsch did not earn a starting job when the season began but was playing on special teams. Due to an injury, he found himself in the starting lineup at defensive end against a humungous offensive tackle. “That was baptism by fire for me,” he recalled. “But after that game, I felt like I could hold my own. I got a lot more reps after that.”
Then came this past season, his last for the Tigers. Bulked up to 6-1 and 225 pounds, Hirsch return to defensive end and started on the offensive side of the ball for the first time at tackle. Halfway through the season, due to injuries to the team’s co-captains, Hirsch earned a battlefield promotion to captain. “He’s a selfless leader who leads by example, encourages his teammates and always supports them in their endeavors,” coach Jon Craig said. It was quite a journey from jayvee backup to senior captain, and not even a 3-7 campaign – highlighted by a season-ending win over Bensalem to knock the Owls out of the district payoffs – could hinder his good vibrations. Reflecting back, Hirsch sees his ascension to prominence as a matter of just wanting it more than some other players who caught the eyes of Craig and the coaching staff out of the gate.
“What Hirsch may not realize is that he will leave as much of a legacy as any 1,000-yard rusher or 3,000-yard passer with Division I scholarship offers. “Tom is the type of kid we like to point to in our program as one that benefits from hard work,” Craig said. “He did not find immediate success as a younger player, but he worked hard in the offseason, gave us every bit of effort he could in practices throughout his career and found himself as a two-way starter in his senior year.” Hirsch also plays lacrosse and is a top-notch student. He is a member of Truman’s Varsity Club and the Key Club, and there is his involvement in the Christian Life Church in Bensalem through which he has gone on mission trips. “It’s something that definitely drives me,” he said of his faith.”
To read Hirsch’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/tom-hirsch-0066059
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