Conrad Kaplan,16, was born and raised in the Suburbs of Westport, CT and goes to school at Staples High School. Kaplan has been an avid runner since he was a freshman at Staples and has big aspirations for his upcoming season Senior year. With years of training under his belt and an all-star team by his side, Conrad thinks his Cross-Country team can definitely make it to Nationals. “With hard work and training, we can get it done for sure” Kaplan states with confidence. Aside from running, Conrad is interested in Environmental Science and Photography and loves any opportunity to take pictures of nature. For example, his favorite vacation is when he traveled to Colorado over the Summer and hiked through the picturesque mountains to experience some of nature’s most beautiful views. In the future, Conrad wants to pursue his interest in the environment and photography through the classes he takes at Staples, and possibly even his major in college.
Fleur Byrne is a determined, ambitious Staples High School student who is driven to continuously show these qualities off as her senior year comes to a close. She has a laid back family life where she was her own motivator and her parents took a step back. Even when things got difficult she noted “regardless of how well or how poorly I could do something...my drive helps me learn despite that.” However, at times the pressure she puts on herself has created many issues to deal with stress. Recreational activities such as sports, art, hanging out with friends have all been used as a de-stresser and as Fleur said, “to remind myself that school isn’t the be all and end all.” With all the stress it doesn’t help to come from Staples High school where the entire student body creates unsaid student expectations that exceed the rest of the country. For Fleur the hardest part has been “the constant reminder that everything you do affects your future, which honestly, isn’t actually trust, but it’s always in the back of your mind”. As senior year is already full swing into second semester she found it really important for all students to remember that the Staples mindset shouldn’t make your high school years only stressful. For the rest of the year focus is to not let senioritis take too much control and enjoy the rest of High School. Continuing onto college is hopeful and excited for academic freedom and a new chapter of life.
Andrew Warshavsky is a determined athlete that is looking to make a name for himself in the sport of rowing. Andrew recently picked up the sport in august to get in shape for the upcoming lacrosse season. Andrew said, “ Rowing is a grueling sport that gets you in phenominal shape, and has increased my endurance much more than i could of asked”. Andrew never expected to get so good so fast at rowing. He has gotten so good that he has decided to drop the sport of lacrosse. Andrew previously played lacrosse for 3 years and would have been double rostered on JV and Varsity this season as a junior. Andrew said one of his goals is to get his 2k, which is 2,000 meters on the rowing machine down to 6 minutes and 40 seconds. 6:40 is the time that Andrew can get recruited for college. Andrew currently has reached 6:57 and needs 17 more seconds to be considered for a Division 1 scholorship. The hardest part of this journey for Andrew has been the mornings where he feels he cant be a normal kid and sleep. But in the end he knows what he wants, and his goal is to row in college in the ‘19 season. To achieve this goal Andrew will continue to wake up every morning at 5:30 so he can get a full hour in on the rowing machine before school, and then go to afternoon practice with the team.
Cooper Boardman, 18, is a senior at Staples High School in Westport, CT. Like most kids Cooper grew up playing sports, specifically baseball, football, and basketball. However, in 7th grade Cooper won a contest called the Yankee Junior Broadcasting contest and got an opportunity to spend a day in the booth alongside Yankee broadcaster's John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Cooper stated that, "That combined with the fact that I grew up listening to Staples Thanksgiving Day games on WWPT, were the reasons why I joined WWPT my freshman year." Cooper no longer plays any sports and finds that his true passion is in fact in sports broadcasting. Like many Seniors Cooper heard back from colleges this year. When asked why he decided Syracuse was the right place for him, he responded, "I looked at a lot of schools but when I first walked onto the Syracuse campus in January of my junior year, I knew instantly it was where I wanted to go. The names -Mike Tirico, Bob Costas, Sean McDonough- that have come through there and the quality of facilities are insane." He added, "Where else can you sit curtsied and broadcast a game in an arena of 30,000 people?" Cooper has found a passion quite different from most people. His life has now become very much revolved around broadcasting, and he doesn't seem to mind. He puts a lot of time into game prep, testing equipment, and interviewing players. He will continue his success and aspirations to be a professional broadcaster at the University of Syracuse next year.
Sam Kantor is an 18 year old athlete whose time, dedication, and work ethic is what got him to where he is today. Next year, Sam can be found on the field at University of Rochester, playing left back for the soccer team. He wasn't always a star player though, acting as more of a role/bench player. After an 8th grade growth spurt things changed for the better and his game really took off.
Sam made varsity as a sophomore which is impressive to say the least, but struggled to earn playing time in both his sophomore and junior years as upperclassmen played ahead of him on the depth chart. He didn't let it stunt his growth as a player though, continuing to be one the hardest workers in the entire program. He consistently attended the most early morning workout sessions every year, and was always talking to coaches on how to improve his game. This fall, all that work paid off. He was one of the standout players every game, and even won scholar athlete of the month.
Sam wasn't born with natural talent, but a tremendous work ethic got took him to the next level and earned him a spot on the collegiate level. Sam still has a long way to go, but I have no doubt that he will put in the work to get there.
Matt Greenapple was born and raised in New York then moved to Westport when he was 6. He was born in 1999 and now is 17. When talking to Matt he made it clear that skiing is his hobby and passion. He has been skiing his whole life. His home mountain is Killington located in Vermont about a 3 hour drive from Westport. Matt is also on the Staples Ski team. I asked him how the team looked this year and how next year is shaping up? He replied “After states this year, the team was really pessimistic about our season as a whole and our abilities as a team. But, since we came second in the regular season, I feel really good about our accomplishments this year” Looks like Staples had another great year this season. This year he said there has been “proud of the improvements I’ve seen from a lot of the guys on JV and Varsity.” He stated that his dream house would be a ski-in ski-out condo at Vail located in Colorado. Matts very talented on the slopes but also has some other interesting aspects of his life. Matt is in his Junior year at Staples High School. He is taking an abundance of classes this year. He was saying that physics really stuck out to him this year. “Out of all my classes this year, I think that Physics is the most interesting. It gives me a new perspective on how the world works that I never quite understood before.” The last question I asked matt was what his plans are for his summer and if he has a summer job? He replied “ Yes, I make graphic designs for a website. It’s a really good way to get experience having a job and working with others to get things done. Not only will that look good on my college resume, but it is also useful training for the real world.” Matt said he is looking forward to the summer and getting to make some graphic designs. Matt is a very active student athlete that is fully engaged in Staples High School.
Senior Griffin O’Neill, was born and raised in Fairfield County, CT and attends Staples High School. Griffin has spent many of those years on the field playing the sport that he loves soccer. Although he never had much playing time his senior year due to injury, he was always one of the hardest workers on the team down the left side. He spent his sophomore and Junior years on JV assisting and scoring with passion. He is currently gearing up for the spring travel team accompanied by players such as Shane Dasbach, Luca Cocito, and more. Before each season he spends his days preparing for what lies ahead. “I try to be out on the field as much as I can whether its futsal, soccer, or just running.” Hopefully injury doesn’t keep him off the field as he tries to win the state cup that a few years prior, he took a hard lost over a controversial penalty kick in the finals. With college ahead Griffin wants to continue his soccer career at the school of his choice either playing at the club or intramural level. He knows that no matter what he will have taken a lot of essential life skills and lessons that will help in the future.
Zach Howard, a tri-sport athlete with a non-stop thrill for adventure. He has been playing soccer since he was in preschool. He has loved it and has never stopped playing so he has now taken it to the high school level to compete every fall. In the winter he competes in his favorite, skiing. He has had a blast being on the team due to the success they have had now and in the past. The team has recently achieved second place in states which gives him good thought that the team will perform well once again next year. After all the snow melts Zach grabs his stick and hits the fields for Lacrosse. He has high expectations for the team this year due to their success last year. Overall, Zach loves playing these sports every season of the year and loves experiencing the different atmospheres each sport gives. When people think of someone else there is something that will always sticks out about that person. For Zach that is skiing. Something that everyone should know about him is that he is an avid skier. This guy has been shredding the slopes since he was three years old. Since then he has hit the mountain every year as much as he can covering as much ground he can. Zach enjoys the mountain with his three youngers brothers. They all started at the same age and like their oldest brother, they are avid skiers with the non-stop thrill for adventure. Skiing is everything for this family and as said from Zach, “Skiing completes me.” This shows how much they care about this sport and they would never give it up. What's important to know about a person like Zach who strives for thrill and adventure is what motivates them to do these things? Zach is motivated by his great passion. He has achieved many goals in his athletic career by wanting to reach that goal. He works for the goals all the way until he finally has achieved it. And for his skiing, he checks the weather everyday and sees when it snows. It then gets him excited for the weekend to go up to Vermont to hit the mountain. Zach Howard overall is a tri-athlete with a non-stop thrill for adventure that achieves his goals.
On Friday, March 3rd, I went out to interview Zach Feinstein, a junior at Staples High School. Rumor on the streets was that he was dirty at lacrosse, breaking his opponent's ankles left and right, but has decided to take his talents elsewhere, focusing on education. Committed to learning in the classroom, Zach has dropped all sports to focus on school due to the upcoming college decision. I wanted to see how his life used to revolve around the game and his experiences while he played. His response to, How did you start playing? What is your fondest memory?, was that he was a kind of a bandwagon player, “everyone of his friends were playing in 5th grade, and used to play in 3rd grade, but quite, and then came back to it.” Also, some interesting details that he entailed his decision to play was because his cousin was playing D1 lacrosse at Hofstra while they were the third best in the country, and told Zach that he had the best future in lacrosse. During his career from 3rd grade to 10th grade, his best moment was on the 8th grade team when he came around from the back of the net and scored a behind the back goal while getting sandwiched by two monstruos players.
I also interviewed him to see how his last season was playing lacrosse and if the failure of the team influenced his decision. He responded that throughout the season, after games that were won or lost, he felt that it was not too serious and he was always happy. He stated that the last season, the JV lacrosse team had a “good…. just good” season. Zach ended up with eight goals and felt accomplished but was still enraged that as a freshman, he was put on JV and was looking to play Varsity as a sophomore, which did not happen. Will Zach ever come back to play lacrosse? If Zach feels comfortable with his grades and what school he wants to go to, it is still a possibility that the return of the “Feinstein” can happen.
Michael Fanning, 18, a stellar player and valuable contribution to the Staples Varsity Baseball team told me a few words about last season and the season to come. Fanning, a senior at Staples High School, underwent a recent elbow injury that required Tommy Johns surgery, forcing him to be only able to play the first two regular season games as well as the FCIAC game before not being able to play in the Connecticut State game. Fanning was a starting pitcher throwing an impressive 85 mph and he told us about how his injury molded his experience.
"The injury accumulated over time which eventually made me have to get surgery and forced to be out from baseball for around a year and a half." Fanning has been going through many visits to physical therapy and is making a slow recovery like any Tommy Johns patient. Fanning will luckily be able to participate in the 2017 season but will unfortunately not be able to pitch again. It is questionable whether or not he will be able to field or just hit for the Staples team. Fanning himself has high hopes for this season and although he is not at full ability, he thinks his team will strive and hopefully win the state cup.
Lexi Wetmore, a senior at Staples High School, recently talked to me about the role of sports in her life across the years. While many people know Lexi as the Captain of Staples’ gymnastics program, she wasn’t always interested in the sport.
Talking about her childhood Lexi told me, “As a kid I was pretty shy but my mom always tried to get my involved in sports with my friends. I started out with soccer but lost interest pretty quickly. When I was 5 I moved onto dance but would get really scared at recitals when I had to go on stage in front of people. Finally, my mom started to ask me about what I thought of doing gymnastics. There was a college meet on TV one night and I was amazed by everything the girls were doing. I knew that is what I wanted to do and it became a sport I stuck with and fell in love with.”
This new interest in gymnastics sparked a thus far, 13 year career in gymnastics. Over the years, gymnastics has shaped her as an athlete and a person, as she says, “Once I got into gymnastics I became an extremely dedicated athlete. I always wanted to get better and would be practicing gymnastics at home all of the time. This allowed me to get onto an accelerated level of classes to eventually reach the competitive team and exhibition team at my gym. I went to every practice, I never cheated on conditioning and took the sport very seriously. I also was a perfectionist and would often get in my head about certain skills which came to be a huge challenge for me as I got to higher levels in the sport.”
Loved by coaches and teammates, Lexi has enjoyed many incredible experiences in gymnastics over the years. When asked about her most impactful ones she stated, “I think the experiences of traveling with my team had shaped me the most as an athlete. When I was in 5th grade I went to San Diego, California for Nationals. At a young age I was able to become responsible and deal with large amounts of pressure that I was able to learn from as an athlete and person. From there I was also able to travel with my team to Florida and Finland for other National and World Competitions. The hard work put into getting to those places and what I was able to accomplish at those competitions really made me grow as a person. “
Staples High School Junior, Max Lonergan, has played crucial roles for multiple sports teams over his short career at Staples. A member of the variety lacrosse team, and a captain of the Staples football team, Lonergan displays not only his great athleticism, but also his great leadership. Lonergan is loved by all his teammates in both sports and is easily regarded as one of Staples' best raw athletes. While Lonergan enjoys playing lacrosse, his main focus is on this upcoming football season. The Staples football team went a disappointing 5-5 this season, but Lonergan and the other 4 staples captains have much bigger and better plans for the team in this upcoming season, "Yeah, last season we didn't really have a great record but we were still a great team. One of the best parts of last season was the experience that me and the other guys got by playing some really good teams. We have really high hopes for this season," stated Lonergan. Lonergan is standout a wide receiver on a team that looks forward to passing the ball more this season. Look out for him on the field next season as he plans to have a large impact and display what he can really do on the field.
Daniel Thompson, Junior at Staples High School, has made his mark on Staples football and baseball, and he's not close to done. A captain of the football team, Thompson is easily one of the most determined and competitive leaders the Staples football program has seen in a while. What many people don't know about Daniel Thompson is his work ethic. His teammates of course know and understand Thompson's drive to be better and the work he puts in to get there, that being one of the aspects of his character they respect the most, he continues to exceed expectations. The football team went 5-5 last year, not a great year however Thompson has high hopes for next season. He said, "Last year was definitely not our year, going 5-5 was not expected or thought of as acceptable in anyones eyes, players and coaches. We have made a lot of changes for this off seasons preparation and for next years team and we will absolutely be a force to be reckoned with for next season." Thompson's leadership and athleticism at the Quarterback position will be a key factor for the offense for next season. Look out for Thompson and the Staples Football team next year.
Conrad Kaplan,16, was born and raised in the Suburbs of Westport, CT and goes to school at Staples High School. Kaplan has been an avid runner since he was a freshman at Staples and has big aspirations for his upcoming season Senior year. With years of training under his belt and an all-star team by his side, Conrad thinks his Cross-Country team can definitely make it to Nationals. “With hard work and training, we can get it done for sure” Kaplan states with confidence.
ReplyDeleteAside from running, Conrad is interested in Environmental Science and Photography and loves any opportunity to take pictures of nature. For example, his favorite vacation is when he traveled to Colorado over the Summer and hiked through the picturesque mountains to experience some of nature’s most beautiful views. In the future, Conrad wants to pursue his interest in the environment and photography through the classes he takes at Staples, and possibly even his major in college.
Fleur Byrne is a determined, ambitious Staples High School student who is driven to continuously show these qualities off as her senior year comes to a close. She has a laid back family life where she was her own motivator and her parents took a step back. Even when things got difficult she noted “regardless of how well or how poorly I could do something...my drive helps me learn despite that.” However, at times the pressure she puts on herself has created many issues to deal with stress. Recreational activities such as sports, art, hanging out with friends have all been used as a de-stresser and as Fleur said, “to remind myself that school isn’t the be all and end all.”
ReplyDeleteWith all the stress it doesn’t help to come from Staples High school where the entire student body creates unsaid student expectations that exceed the rest of the country. For Fleur the hardest part has been “the constant reminder that everything you do affects your future, which honestly, isn’t actually trust, but it’s always in the back of your mind”. As senior year is already full swing into second semester she found it really important for all students to remember that the Staples mindset shouldn’t make your high school years only stressful. For the rest of the year focus is to not let senioritis take too much control and enjoy the rest of High School. Continuing onto college is hopeful and excited for academic freedom and a new chapter of life.
Andrew Warshavsky is a determined athlete that is looking to make a name for himself in the sport of rowing. Andrew recently picked up the sport in august to get in shape for the upcoming lacrosse season. Andrew said, “ Rowing is a grueling sport that gets you in phenominal shape, and has increased my endurance much more than i could of asked”. Andrew never expected to get so good so fast at rowing.
ReplyDeleteHe has gotten so good that he has decided to drop the sport of lacrosse. Andrew previously played lacrosse for 3 years and would have been double rostered on JV and Varsity this season as a junior.
Andrew said one of his goals is to get his 2k, which is 2,000 meters on the rowing machine down to 6 minutes and 40 seconds. 6:40 is the time that Andrew can get recruited for college. Andrew currently has reached 6:57 and needs 17 more seconds to be considered for a Division 1 scholorship. The hardest part of this journey for Andrew has been the mornings where he feels he cant be a normal kid and sleep. But in the end he knows what he wants, and his goal is to row in college in the ‘19 season.
To achieve this goal Andrew will continue to wake up every morning at 5:30 so he can get a full hour in on the rowing machine before school, and then go to afternoon practice with the team.
Cooper Boardman, 18, is a senior at Staples High School in Westport, CT. Like most kids Cooper grew up playing sports, specifically baseball, football, and basketball. However, in 7th grade Cooper won a contest called the Yankee Junior Broadcasting contest and got an opportunity to spend a day in the booth alongside Yankee broadcaster's John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Cooper stated that, "That combined with the fact that I grew up listening to Staples Thanksgiving Day games on WWPT, were the reasons why I joined WWPT my freshman year." Cooper no longer plays any sports and finds that his true passion is in fact in sports broadcasting.
ReplyDeleteLike many Seniors Cooper heard back from colleges this year. When asked why he decided Syracuse was the right place for him, he responded, "I looked at a lot of schools but when I first walked onto the Syracuse campus in January of my junior year, I knew instantly it was where I wanted to go. The names -Mike Tirico, Bob Costas, Sean McDonough- that have come through there and the quality of facilities are insane." He added, "Where else can you sit curtsied and broadcast a game in an arena of 30,000 people?" Cooper has found a passion quite different from most people. His life has now become very much revolved around broadcasting, and he doesn't seem to mind. He puts a lot of time into game prep, testing equipment, and interviewing players. He will continue his success and aspirations to be a professional broadcaster at the University of Syracuse next year.
Sam Kantor is an 18 year old athlete whose time, dedication, and work ethic is what got him to where he is today. Next year, Sam can be found on the field at University of Rochester, playing left back for the soccer team. He wasn't always a star player though, acting as more of a role/bench player. After an 8th grade growth spurt things changed for the better and his game really took off.
ReplyDeleteSam made varsity as a sophomore which is impressive to say the least, but struggled to earn playing time in both his sophomore and junior years as upperclassmen played ahead of him on the depth chart. He didn't let it stunt his growth as a player though, continuing to be one the hardest workers in the entire program. He consistently attended the most early morning workout sessions every year, and was always talking to coaches on how to improve his game. This fall, all that work paid off. He was one of the standout players every game, and even won scholar athlete of the month.
Sam wasn't born with natural talent, but a tremendous work ethic got took him to the next level and earned him a spot on the collegiate level. Sam still has a long way to go, but I have no doubt that he will put in the work to get there.
Matt Greenapple was born and raised in New York then moved to Westport when he was 6. He was born in 1999 and now is 17. When talking to Matt he made it clear that skiing is his hobby and passion. He has been skiing his whole life. His home mountain is Killington located in Vermont about a 3 hour drive from Westport. Matt is also on the Staples Ski team. I asked him how the team looked this year and how next year is shaping up? He replied “After states this year, the team was really pessimistic about our season as a whole and our abilities as a team. But, since we came second in the regular season, I feel really good about our accomplishments this year” Looks like Staples had another great year this season. This year he said there has been “proud of the improvements I’ve seen from a lot of the guys on JV and Varsity.” He stated that his dream house would be a ski-in ski-out condo at Vail located in Colorado. Matts very talented on the slopes but also has some other interesting aspects of his life.
ReplyDeleteMatt is in his Junior year at Staples High School. He is taking an abundance of classes this year. He was saying that physics really stuck out to him this year. “Out of all my classes this year, I think that Physics is the most interesting. It gives me a new perspective on how the world works that I never quite understood before.” The last question I asked matt was what his plans are for his summer and if he has a summer job? He replied “ Yes, I make graphic designs for a website. It’s a really good way to get experience having a job and working with others to get things done. Not only will that look good on my college resume, but it is also useful training for the real world.” Matt said he is looking forward to the summer and getting to make some graphic designs. Matt is a very active student athlete that is fully engaged in Staples High School.
Senior Griffin O’Neill, was born and raised in Fairfield County, CT and attends Staples High School. Griffin has spent many of those years on the field playing the sport that he loves soccer. Although he never had much playing time his senior year due to injury, he was always one of the hardest workers on the team down the left side. He spent his sophomore and Junior years on JV assisting and scoring with passion.
ReplyDeleteHe is currently gearing up for the spring travel team accompanied by players such as Shane Dasbach, Luca Cocito, and more. Before each season he spends his days preparing for what lies ahead. “I try to be out on the field as much as I can whether its futsal, soccer, or just running.” Hopefully injury doesn’t keep him off the field as he tries to win the state cup that a few years prior, he took a hard lost over a controversial penalty kick in the finals.
With college ahead Griffin wants to continue his soccer career at the school of his choice either playing at the club or intramural level. He knows that no matter what he will have taken a lot of essential life skills and lessons that will help in the future.
Zach Howard, a tri-sport athlete with a non-stop thrill for adventure. He has been playing soccer since he was in preschool. He has loved it and has never stopped playing so he has now taken it to the high school level to compete every fall. In the winter he competes in his favorite, skiing. He has had a blast being on the team due to the success they have had now and in the past. The team has recently achieved second place in states which gives him good thought that the team will perform well once again next year. After all the snow melts Zach grabs his stick and hits the fields for Lacrosse. He has high expectations for the team this year due to their success last year. Overall, Zach loves playing these sports every season of the year and loves experiencing the different atmospheres each sport gives.
ReplyDeleteWhen people think of someone else there is something that will always sticks out about that person. For Zach that is skiing. Something that everyone should know about him is that he is an avid skier. This guy has been shredding the slopes since he was three years old. Since then he has hit the mountain every year as much as he can covering as much ground he can. Zach enjoys the mountain with his three youngers brothers. They all started at the same age and like their oldest brother, they are avid skiers with the non-stop thrill for adventure. Skiing is everything for this family and as said from Zach, “Skiing completes me.” This shows how much they care about this sport and they would never give it up.
What's important to know about a person like Zach who strives for thrill and adventure is what motivates them to do these things? Zach is motivated by his great passion. He has achieved many goals in his athletic career by wanting to reach that goal. He works for the goals all the way until he finally has achieved it. And for his skiing, he checks the weather everyday and sees when it snows. It then gets him excited for the weekend to go up to Vermont to hit the mountain. Zach Howard overall is a tri-athlete with a non-stop thrill for adventure that achieves his goals.
ReplyDeleteOn Friday, March 3rd, I went out to interview Zach Feinstein, a junior at Staples High School. Rumor on the streets was that he was dirty at lacrosse, breaking his opponent's ankles left and right, but has decided to take his talents elsewhere, focusing on education. Committed to learning in the classroom, Zach has dropped all sports to focus on school due to the upcoming college decision. I wanted to see how his life used to revolve around the game and his experiences while he played. His response to, How did you start playing? What is your fondest memory?, was that he was a kind of a bandwagon player, “everyone of his friends were playing in 5th grade, and used to play in 3rd grade, but quite, and then came back to it.” Also, some interesting details that he entailed his decision to play was because his cousin was playing D1 lacrosse at Hofstra while they were the third best in the country, and told Zach that he had the best future in lacrosse. During his career from 3rd grade to 10th grade, his best moment was on the 8th grade team when he came around from the back of the net and scored a behind the back goal while getting sandwiched by two monstruos players.
I also interviewed him to see how his last season was playing lacrosse and if the failure of the team influenced his decision. He responded that throughout the season, after games that were won or lost, he felt that it was not too serious and he was always happy. He stated that the last season, the JV lacrosse team had a “good…. just good” season. Zach ended up with eight goals and felt accomplished but was still enraged that as a freshman, he was put on JV and was looking to play Varsity as a sophomore, which did not happen. Will Zach ever come back to play lacrosse? If Zach feels comfortable with his grades and what school he wants to go to, it is still a possibility that the return of the “Feinstein” can happen.
Michael Fanning, 18, a stellar player and valuable contribution to the Staples Varsity Baseball team told me a few words about last season and the season to come. Fanning, a senior at Staples High School, underwent a recent elbow injury that required Tommy Johns surgery, forcing him to be only able to play the first two regular season games as well as the FCIAC game before not being able to play in the Connecticut State game. Fanning was a starting pitcher throwing an impressive 85 mph and he told us about how his injury molded his experience.
ReplyDelete"The injury accumulated over time which eventually made me have to get surgery and forced to be out from baseball for around a year and a half." Fanning has been going through many visits to physical therapy and is making a slow recovery like any Tommy Johns patient. Fanning will luckily be able to participate in the 2017 season but will unfortunately not be able to pitch again. It is questionable whether or not he will be able to field or just hit for the Staples team. Fanning himself has high hopes for this season and although he is not at full ability, he thinks his team will strive and hopefully win the state cup.
Lexi Wetmore, a senior at Staples High School, recently talked to me about the role of sports in her life across the years. While many people know Lexi as the Captain of Staples’ gymnastics program, she wasn’t always interested in the sport.
ReplyDeleteTalking about her childhood Lexi told me, “As a kid I was pretty shy but my mom always tried to get my involved in sports with my friends. I started out with soccer but lost interest pretty quickly. When I was 5 I moved onto dance but would get really scared at recitals when I had to go on stage in front of people. Finally, my mom started to ask me about what I thought of doing gymnastics. There was a college meet on TV one night and I was amazed by everything the girls were doing. I knew that is what I wanted to do and it became a sport I stuck with and fell in love with.”
This new interest in gymnastics sparked a thus far, 13 year career in gymnastics. Over the years, gymnastics has shaped her as an athlete and a person, as she says, “Once I got into gymnastics I became an extremely dedicated athlete. I always wanted to get better and would be practicing gymnastics at home all of the time. This allowed me to get onto an accelerated level of classes to eventually reach the competitive team and exhibition team at my gym. I went to every practice, I never cheated on conditioning and took the sport very seriously. I also was a perfectionist and would often get in my head about certain skills which came to be a huge challenge for me as I got to higher levels in the sport.”
Loved by coaches and teammates, Lexi has enjoyed many incredible experiences in gymnastics over the years. When asked about her most impactful ones she stated, “I think the experiences of traveling with my team had shaped me the most as an athlete. When I was in 5th grade I went to San Diego, California for Nationals. At a young age I was able to become responsible and deal with large amounts of pressure that I was able to learn from as an athlete and person. From there I was also able to travel with my team to Florida and Finland for other National and World Competitions. The hard work put into getting to those places and what I was able to accomplish at those competitions really made me grow as a person. “
Staples High School Junior, Max Lonergan, has played crucial roles for multiple sports teams over his short career at Staples. A member of the variety lacrosse team, and a captain of the Staples football team, Lonergan displays not only his great athleticism, but also his great leadership. Lonergan is loved by all his teammates in both sports and is easily regarded as one of Staples' best raw athletes. While Lonergan enjoys playing lacrosse, his main focus is on this upcoming football season.
ReplyDeleteThe Staples football team went a disappointing 5-5 this season, but Lonergan and the other 4 staples captains have much bigger and better plans for the team in this upcoming season, "Yeah, last season we didn't really have a great record but we were still a great team. One of the best parts of last season was the experience that me and the other guys got by playing some really good teams. We have really high hopes for this season," stated Lonergan. Lonergan is standout a wide receiver on a team that looks forward to passing the ball more this season. Look out for him on the field next season as he plans to have a large impact and display what he can really do on the field.
Daniel Thompson, Junior at Staples High School, has made his mark on Staples football and baseball, and he's not close to done. A captain of the football team, Thompson is easily one of the most determined and competitive leaders the Staples football program has seen in a while. What many people don't know about Daniel Thompson is his work ethic. His teammates of course know and understand Thompson's drive to be better and the work he puts in to get there, that being one of the aspects of his character they respect the most, he continues to exceed expectations. The football team went 5-5 last year, not a great year however Thompson has high hopes for next season. He said, "Last year was definitely not our year, going 5-5 was not expected or thought of as acceptable in anyones eyes, players and coaches. We have made a lot of changes for this off seasons preparation and for next years team and we will absolutely be a force to be reckoned with for next season." Thompson's leadership and athleticism at the Quarterback position will be a key factor for the offense for next season. Look out for Thompson and the Staples Football team next year.
ReplyDelete