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. 21, 2021
If all goes according to plan, it will be Pitt. But she is not ruling out Northeastern or Villanova. Wherever the next stop is in the journey of North Penn senior Ashley Bohling, she plans to bring her tennis racket and look for a court to play on. Her favorite person to play against – her dad, Jim – won’t be around, but she is sure to find other like-minded individuals. At this point, the game she has played since fourth grade is too engrained to give it up. It has become a part of who she is. However, there was a point when Bohling was citing burnout and not so sure she wanted to play anymore. She had her schoolwork as an AP/honors student, and she had other outlets, such as playing classical piano. “At that point, I was feeling kind of burned out,” she recalled. “I was feeling kind of tired. I had been playing so long without a break. It was one of those times when I was feeling overwhelmed.”
Before last season, Bohling was bumped down from third singles to first doubles, a move which requires a much bigger adjustment than it sounds. This certainly had a lot to do with her soul searching. However, she and doubles partner, Brynn Janney, instantly clicked and Bohling was reinvigorated. “I don’t know if I would have come back to tennis without her motoring me through everything,” said Bohling of Janney. The pair had an undefeated regular season and Bohling believes they would have done better at districts had she not jammed some fingers, limiting her backhand. “At first, I was disappointed. (Playing doubles) was all new to me,” said Bohling, who is enjoying ongoing success with new partner Sanjana Jacob (Janney was a senior last year). “Brynn was really encouraging, and she helped me to be a better doubles player. I’m more of a defensive player and she is offensive, so I was able to set her up and she was able to put the balls away. We really clicked.”
Bohling credited her mom, Rose, for reminding her to be “ready for all things.” “That’s something (she) told me,” Bohling said. “It’s kind of ironic because you can’t really be prepared for everything. You can do your best, but you don’t really know until you are there. I like to believe that I’m at least ready to do the best I can for all things.” What Bohling wasn’t fully ready for was making varsity as a freshman. “I was put on varsity right away,” she said. “There were already some really good people on the team, so I was really proud to be put there.” That may have made getting moved to doubles as a junior tougher for her to swallow, but she battled through it. It did not go unnoticed by North Penn coach Renee Di Domizio. “Ashley has been devoted to our tennis team for four years,” said Di Domizio. “She was always willing to fill a void wherever the team needs her. She is always on time for practice and enjoys working with our younger JV players, sharing with them her knowledge of doubles strategy and overall tennis IQ.”
Off the court, Bohling has been a member of the ENACT Club since 7th grade. Enact is a club that focuses on community outreach, education, and environmental efforts. She is also a teen ambassador for Mitzvah, an organization that helps families in crisis. “I’ve been doing that for three years,” said Bohling. “What we do is we take clothes, and sometimes food, for families that are in need. As teen ambassadors, we lead groups and volunteers to help them find clothes that will be helpful for the families. We help them pack it all up, and we’ll send it off.” After school, Bohling has a job at Brittany Point, a retirement community, working with a medical dietitian as an aide. In addition to playing the piano, which she has done since kindergarten, Bohling has found a fun diversion in North Penn’s Badminton Club. Di Domizio, meanwhile, is grateful that Bohling was able to channel her energies as a doubles player and stick with tennis, contributing positively to the team for four years. “She is a great example of what a student-athlete can be," the Knights' coach said. "I am so proud to have Ashley on my tennis team. She is a wonderful example to the rest of the team, on and off the court.”
To read Bohling’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/ashley-bohling-0096537
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete for week of Sept. 21, 2021
Following two school years impacted by COVID-19—two years made up of remote learning, with sports seasons and social activities limited or cancelled completely—Luke Price and his classmates were looking forward to some semblance of a normal school year when they reported to Upper Dublin High School for the first day of their senior year. And for one day, they had that normalcy. That evening, the remnants of Hurricane Ida tore through the area, causing widespread damage and disaster. After making sure that friends and family in the area were safe, a realization came upon Price and his fellow Upper Dublin water polo team members – severe damage to the roof of the natatorium would mean that there would be no “normal” water polo season. Instead, much like during the lockdown, the team would be playing its home games in visitor pools and would be practicing at local swim clubs and neighboring school pools. For Cardinal water polo coach Chris Ianni, if there’s one guy who would be the ideal student-athlete to keep the team positive and focused in the face of such adversity, Price is the perfect leader at the right time.
“When that storm hit, it was devastating,” said Ianni. “Obviously, a lot of people got it a lot worse than we did, but looking at what the storm did from a team aspect, it took all the wind out of our sails. Luke has been eyeing up his senior year the past three years, everybody on the team was all-in. We’d had an incredible spring season, doing things well in practices and games all throughout the spring, continued into the summer. We looked good in offseason workouts in the summer, games in the summer through North Penn’s league. Luke is the heart and soul of this team. He’s a huge leader for us both in and out of the pool and he knows how to communicate well with everyone. Everyone likes him and respects him. That’s the kind of guy you want as a leader in a situation like that.”
For Price—one of three captains on this year’s team—the past two years have helped him and his schoolmates prepare for just about anything. And it was actually a quote from his coach that he called upon as a guide in the tumultuous first month of the school year. “Ianni says, ‘adversity breeds greatness,’” Price said. “So I think about that. And I just try to be optimistic. Of course, no one wants something like this to happen and it’s horrible to see, but for us, we had done remote learning during COVID, so we were able to just get right back to that until they open the school back up (this week). And as much as we all like the Upper Dublin pool, there are other places to practice and play.” A Second-Team All-State selection last year, Price can play anywhere in the pool that he’s needed. He leads the team in goals, assists, and kickouts drawn, despite primarily being a defensive specialist in one of the most demanding spots in the pool. “He’s the backbone of our defense,” Ianni said. “We rely on Luke to take away the opponent's biggest threat, which won't necessarily show up on the stat sheet. He’s a strong two-way player. He has great vision to create plays, and he often puts himself in a favorable position to score. He plays with a positive mindset, respects the game, respects his teammates, shows integrity and gratitude. He respects his opponents, too. I always see him high-five opponents at the end of a game.”
In addition to a heavy course load—most notably AP Physics—Price is the Information and Communications Chair of the Steering Committee and also serves as Class President. He’s focused on helping to make this year’s prom the best it can be and will also be involved in planning and fundraising for events such as the Senior Class Disney Trip, Coronation Ball, and Spirit Day. On a whim, he also joined the Robotics Club after being convinced by a friend. Price is looking to pursue a degree in engineering, though he’s unsure of exactly where he’ll spend the next four years. He expects to play club water polo in college, since there’s simply no chance he’ll abandon the game he has dedicated so much time to over the last seven years. And when he takes the next step on his educational journey, his presence will be missed, but his legacy should leave the Cardinals in good shape for the foreseeable future. “Luke has been so good working with the new players and the underclassmen,” Ianni said. “They will listen to every word he says. This might be the best freshman class we’ve had and it’s because of leaders like Luke. I’m excited to see what they can do, and it’s because they’re listening and watching and learning from the senior class. And a lot of that is Luke. That’s the atmosphere he’s giving off, it’s exciting. He’s instilling that work ethic and mindset and making sure you can work hard and still have fun. The younger kids are seeing that and learning it and they’re going to take it with them into the next couple years.”
To read Price’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/luke-price-0096607
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