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 for week of Sept. 28, 2020
It’s been over three years since Emma LoStracco – then only a freshman - made her debut for Dan Schram’s softball team, but the Bensalem coach remembers it well. “I was benching the starters for something that had to be addressed in the last game,” the Owls’ softball coach said. “When you bring in the young kids for that, they’re in a really tough spot. We were playing at Lansdale Catholic, and she played second base for us. She went for a ball, and she had one of the worst high ankle sprains - wiped her out, but that kid came to every game – not as a spectator, but she would sit and notice when I was calling pitches and counting balls and strikes and what not. After a while, Emma starts chiming in – she’s very detail-oriented, and she’s paying attention to all the little things. I’m like, ‘This kid is unique.’”
Not a whole lot has changed since then. Whether it’s in the classroom or in the athletic arena, LoStracco still pays attention to details. It’s a trait that has served her well, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “Emma is very cerebral, she’s very well read, very well spoken, and it’s authentic – she’s not faking it,” Schram said of his senior catcher. “She remembers everything I say and she’ll quote me. She’s listening – it makes you feel special.” LoStracco, according to Bensalem coach Tim Resh, is the heart and soul of the volleyball team this fall. It doesn’t matter that volleyball is her second sport, the Bensalem senior’s commitment never waivers. “When we had summer workouts, we only did them two days a week with the whole COVID thing, and she was at every single one,” Resh said. “She’s always trying to be better and she does whatever the team needs. A couple years ago, she switched from setter to libero to help the team be better because there was a libero opening. She didn’t mind at all. She’s always positive, and her positivity winds up rubbing off on the rest of the team. The underclassmen look up to her. I joke around with her that she’s the team mom.”
LoStracco has her sights set on one day becoming a surgeon, an interesting career choice for an honors student who was a lawyer – a successful one at that - on Bensalem’s mock trial team that advanced to regionals last year. So why not pursue a career in law? “I go back and forth sometimes, but I really want to be a doctor,” said LoStracco. “My dad was injured in a football accident when he was 17. He broke his neck and is a quadriplegic. Being surrounded by that growing up, it made me want to be a doctor and hopefully help people be able to walk.” And beyond that, save lives.
Softball will not be part of LoStracco’s future when she leaves Bensalem. Instead, she will focus her energy on a pre-med track at college. Active in school life, LoStracco is a class officer and is involved in the Student Government Association. She is also is part of Bensalem’s Building Bridges, a volunteer program where high school students talk to the middle school students in the district about issues they may be going through. She is also part of the Blue Crew, which works on building bridges with the underclassmen, and she holds down a part-time job at Chick-fil-A. LoStracco, according to her coaches, is a student-athlete who gets it right. “She is one of the nicest kids that you could ever meet,” Resh said. “You talk with her for five minutes, and you love her – she’s great. She’s one of those kids you hate to lose. There needs to be more people in the world like her.” “Emma is a very nice person – she’s also very intelligent, and she’s very mature,” Schram said. “If she was my daughter, I’d be proud of her. She’ll do big things.”
To read LoStracco’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/emma-lostracco-0091321
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete for week of Sept. 28, 2020
Mention the name Conner Weinberg to Alan Nicholl, and the Council Rock South soccer coach can talk for quite a while before the subject of soccer even comes up in conversation. Not because Weinberg isn’t a standout player for the Golden Hawks - he is. The Rock South senior is a four-year varsity player and a three-year starter, but there’s a whole lot more to Conner Weinberg than soccer skills. “When it comes to Connor Weinberg, I go straight to the kind of kid he is,” Nicholl said. “Listen to Conner talk about his schoolwork is like listening to Conner talk about the North/South rivalry. He’s passionate. He has incredibly high expectations of himself, and as a result of that, he’s ‘s just an incredibly driven kid. I’ve never had him in class, but I’ll tell you what – I wish I did. He’s just a terrific kid.”
A terrific kid who, according to Nicholl, also happens to be a great communicator, so it’s hardly a surprise that last year Weinberg was the public relations officer for Rock South’s Student Executive Board, serving as a liaison for the students. “He’s an excellent communicator,” Nicholl said. “His ability to communicate the game is way beyond what you would expect from a high school kid. That very much is in his personality. He’s very good at talking, he’s very likable, but yet, he has very high standards of himself, of the team, of coaching. He demands from me and I like that. It’s that challenge you get from having talented players on the team. You don’t get that very often at the high school level. I lean on Conner quite a bit to be able to get that kind of communication across and to be able to take that winning spirit and that drive and dedication to playing well. That stuff filters through to the team, it really does.”
Weinberg would seem to be a natural choice for a career in marketing or sales, but he has his sights set elsewhere, choosing instead a profession far removed from a world where smooth talking is paramount. The Rock South senior will pursue a pre-med track in college next fall with the goal of one day becoming a surgeon. It’s a career choice he made a long time ago. “When I was younger, especially as a kid, I was always very sick – I was always in the hospital,” said Weinberg, who was diagnosed with petit mal seizures. “I would get 104 fevers and go to the emergency room – just a bunch of different issues. Whenever I was there – seeing certain things wouldn’t freak me out. Whereas a lot of people when they’re watching those hospital shows and there’s blood gushing – they shy away. I always thought it was so interesting. I started watching hospital shows with my parents, and it piqued my interest.” If there were any doubts about his choice of profession, those were put to rest last summer when he was part of the Penn Medicine Medical Camp – Julian Krinsky Summer Program at the University of Pennsylvania. “I basically did hospital rounds, learned about different medical fields, and it definitely solidified my choice wanting to be a surgeon,” Weinberg said.
Off the soccer pitch, Weinberg is an excellent student and carries an ambitious course load that included four AP classes and two honors classes. He is hoping to serve as co-president with teammate Andrew Rosenfeld of Rock South’s chapter of Athletes Helping Athletes. Weinberg’s college options include Michigan, Wisconsin, Lehigh, Maryland, Ohio State and Tulane, and according to his coach, he will leave a mark wherever he goes. “He’s a kid you pay attention to – he doesn’t give you a choice,” Nicholl said.
To read Weinberg’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/conner-weinberg-0091320
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