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Hutchen follows All-American’s lead
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By Paul McMullen
The Catholic Review
Add Briana Hutchen to the long, distinguished list of basketball players who used St. Frances Academy as an avenue to further their education.
Hutchen, a senior from Randallstown, has guided the Panthers to Cumberland and another appearance in the Bishop Walsh Girls Invitational Tournament. Upon graduation, she will take her resume to Rutgers University, where she will play for coach Vivian Stringer, a leading figure in the women’s game.
“How,” Hutchen said, “could I say no to a legend?”
At St. Frances Academy, Hutchen has grown into a star for coach Jerome Shelton. Last month, the Panthers won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland tournament for the third time in her four varsity seasons, and for the seventh time in eight years.
“Briana is the hardest worker on our team, and has really come into her own as a player,” assistant coach Nillon Lambert said. “She’s a great asset to the school, taking the initiative to get her classmates on board.”
Hutchen has earned membership in the National Honor Society, carrying a 3.1 cumulative grade point average and excelling in math and showing her leadership skills as vice president of the senior class and a mentor in the Big Sister program.
On the court, the 6-foot guard-forward averages 17 points and a team-high 16 rebounds. She has a perimeter game that should take her a long way in the Big East Conference.
It helps that Hutchen trains occasionally with Angel McCoughtry, a St. Frances Academy standout in the first half of this decade who was a three-time All-American for Louisville, the No. 1 selection in the 2009 WNBA draft and then the league’s Rookie of the Year, for the Atlanta Dream.
“Angel is my mentor,” Hutchen said. “When she’s in Baltimore, I get to work out with her. When we first started doing that, I was really nervous. She counsels me, makes sure I’m improving.”
Hutchen plans to return to Cumberland next weekend, to cheer on the St. Frances Academy boys in the Alhambra Catholic Invitational at Frostburg State University. Other than host Bishop Walsh, St. Frances Academy is the only school represented in both the boys and girls Catholic tournaments in Allegany County.
No wonder that Oblate Sister of Providence Sister John Francis Schilling, the president of St. Frances Academy, has had her own basketball blog.
BRIANA HUTCHEN
St. Frances Academy
Senior
Credentials: Member of National Honor Society; 3.1 cumulative grade point average; headed to Rutgers University on a basketball scholarship; leading rebounder and second-leading scorer for IAAM champions.
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Mount Carmel soph captain ahead of his time
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Malachy Onwudiegwu
Mount Carmel
Sophomore
Credentials: 3.8 cumulative grade point average; member of Art Service and Ultimate Frisbee Clubs; co-captain of varsity basketball; also plays baseball.
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org
As adrenaline courses through his body before game time, Malachy Onwudiegwu wants to share his excitement with his teammates on the varsity basketball team at Mount Carmel.
“I like to motivate them,” Onwudiegwu said. “I tell them that I have their backs and they’ve got mine. I want to pump them up.”
It might seem odd for a sophomore to take on such a role, especially when there are seniors on the team and Onwudiegwu spent the 2008-09 season on the junior varsity at the Essex school.
When the current season began in November 2009, however, teammates named Onwudiegwu a co-captain, a rarity for a player his age.
He initially rejected the idea.
“I was really shocked,” he said. “I told them they should give it to a senior.”
Coach Tom Rose had no qualms with the pick.
“It’s a real compliment to him,” Rose said. “I think he’s very humble, an extremely hard worker and a good person.”
Onwudiegwu, a 5-foot-11 guard, averages about six points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He pays special attention on defense and is working on improving his shot selection and his ball-handling for a program that lost to Archbishop Curley in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference playoffs.
“If he continues at this rate, with his work ethic, right now … it’s too early to say how high that ceiling will be for him,” Rose said.
Onwudiegwu, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and also a baseball player, admits that he struggled in the classroom before high school. He made a commitment to his studies in the eighth grade and now has a 3.8 grade point average, good for third in his class.
He aspires to be a member of the National Honor Society, and then a doctor, perhaps a plastic surgeon.
Mount Carmel has provided a steadying influence, he said.
“Coming to a Catholic school has kept me away from all that stuff on the street,” Onwudiegwu said. “It’s helped me stay on point. It means a lot to me to go here.”
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Boonsboro freshman is off to fast start
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Sarah Zielinski
Boonsboro High School
Freshman
Credentials: Finished 13th overall and first for Washington County at the Maryland State Cross Country Championships; ran two miles in 12:48; plays the flute at St. James in Boonsboro.
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
Fearless.
That’s the word Shawn Cutsail uses to describe 14-year-old Sarah Zielinski’s approach to every race she enters.
“She has an ability to come in without the background and experience of some of the other girls and be unafraid to go out hard,” said Cutsail, one of Zielinski’s running coaches at Boonsboro High School. “The first day I saw her (at tryouts), she was the youngest kid out there and here was this freshman leading everyone the whole way. She’s set some amazing times – with no training, just guts.”
So far this season, the parishioner of St. James in Boonsboro has run a 2-mile indoor race in 12:48 – just 18 seconds short of her school’s record. She ran a one-mile indoor race in 5:54 and a half mile in 2:50. At the Maryland State Cross Country Championships at Hereford High School in November, Zielinski finished 13th overall and first for a Washington County Class 1A girls competitor – finishing the challenging 3-mile course in 23:04.
Cutsail is convinced Zielienski “has it in her” to set a school record in the 2-miler as early as her sophomore year. She will also contend for other titles at the state level, he said.
“If she has a summer of training behind her,” Cutsail said, “she’s going to have great potential next year.”
Zielinski only began focusing on the sport a few years ago when she ran with her mother around her neighborhood and in a community program. She took to the sport immediately in high school.
“It’s fun, and I like being with people,” Zielinski said.
For longer events, Zielinski focuses on pacing herself.
“I wouldn’t call it my strategy,” she said. “I just call it smarter running because if you start really fast, then you burn out all your energy. But if you start slower and build up and pace yourself, you know how fast you can go, and in the last leg you can give it all you’ve got.”
Zielinski excels in the classroom, where she is on the honor roll. She plays the flute in the school band and for Masses at her parish. Cutsail called her a natural leader and someone who very well might become a team captain next year.
“When you see her after school or practice, she has four or five different book bags,” Cutsail said with a laugh. “She carries around more stuff than she weighs. She’s dedicated in sports and everything she does.”
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IND senior keeps spirits high in tough year
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Colleen Berlin
IND
Senior
Credentials : 3.6 grade point average; member of varsity basketball team; member of service clubs; will play lacrosse for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
With only one victory, the varsity basketball team at the Institute of Notre Dame is having a tough year. Competing in a heavyweight Interscholastic Athletic Association A conference against the likes of St. Frances Academy, Archbishop Spalding and Seton Keough, the Indians have struggled to find their footing.
Yet Colleen Berlin, a 17-year-old senior and a parishioner of St. Agnes in Catonsville, isn’t letting the record get her down. A forward and captain, Berlin is known for lifting the spirits of her teammates.
“I try to encourage everyone during warm-ups and tell everyone to play their best,” she said. “Even though it’s been a rough season, everyone plays hard. It’s important to at least go down with a fight because we want to keep our pride.”
Berlin and her teammates are focused on a trip to the Towson Center Jan. 29 (7:30 p.m.), for the 44th annual Mercy-IND game.
Bob Jones, IND’s assistant coach, said Berlin’s positive attitude goes a long way.
“She’s always hustling, always smiling and always comes to practice ready to give 110 percent,” he said. “You wish you had several more like her.”
Berlin played junior varsity basketball in her freshman year. In her sophomore and junior years, she played varsity indoor soccer before joining varsity basketball this season.
Lacrosse is her strongest sport, and Colleen has started on the varsity throughout her IND tenure. She had 42 goals and three assists last season, helping her team make it to the semifinals in the B Conference.
“The thing I enjoy about lacrosse is the quickness of it,” said Colleen, a midfielder who accepted a partial scholarship to play for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Holding a 3.6 grade point average, Berlin excels in the classroom. She is involved in several service clubs at IND and works in the school’s peer ministry program. She also is active in her parish’s youth ministry.
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Rutledge makes others better at Calvert Hall and beyond
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Forrest Rutledge
Calvert Hall
Junior
Credentials: 3.98 grade point average; member of the National Honor Society; three-year member of the wrestling team.
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org
Roy Lobdell knows greatness is inside Forrest Rutledge.
The wrestling coach sees it on the mat and in the hallways of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson each day.
It was away from school, however, where Lobdell saw Rutledge truly shine.
During a four-day service project, Rutledge and his teammates worked at a local camp for autistic children. They helped the children horseback ride, participate in scavenger hunts, kayak and participate in other fun activities. Rutledge’s camper was scared to enter a pond at the start of the week, but by the end of camp had the confidence to reach the middle.
“Forrest seemed to really click with the kid,” Lobdell said of the junior. “He is the prime case of leading by example.”
Rutledge wrote about the team’s experiences for the school’s quarterly magazine, and also contributes information for the school’s daily bulletins.
He has a 3.98 cumulative grade point average and plans on applying to the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy. He is a member of the National Honor Society and has taken both Spanish and Russian language courses.
“Once I got here, I thought it was going to be like every other high school,” Rutledge said. “But, it really does try to help you. You meet a lot of new friends.”
Rutledge initially thought he would play lacrosse for Calvert Hall, but found his niche on the wrestling team, where he serves as a captain. Rutledge put in work in the weight room and participated in several grueling camps this summer to improve his skills.
“I think it’s a really cool community sport,” said Rutledge, who wrestles at 160 pounds. “It seems more like a family. It takes a lot of personal dedication. I just go to practice every day and work my hardest.”
Lobdell said Rutledge shows his younger teammates how to be a Cardinal wrestler.
“If he’s going to do something,” Lobdell said, “he’s going to do it hard.”
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Maryvale senior reaches rare heights
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Lacey Shuman
Maryvale Prep
Senior
Credentials: Cumulative B average in classroom; one of the few girls in Maryland history to clear 5 feet, 10 inches in the high jump; also plays volleyball for the Lions.
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By Paul McMullen
pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
Lacey Shuman soars where few girls in Maryland have ever gone.
Her accomplishments are all the more impressive, considering that the Maryvale Prep senior does so despite not having an on-campus facility on which to practice her craft, nor a weight room in which to strengthen the lift that is a trademark of high-jumpers of her caliber.
At two different indoor track and field meets in December, Shuman cleared 5 feet, 10 inches. According to www.milesplit.us, which compiles national high school rankings, as of Jan. 7 she was one of only two girls in the United States to have cleared that height this indoor season.
Records compiled by the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland and the state’s public schools association show that only one girl in state history has ever gone as high or higher in a championship meet, and that occurred outdoors, in 1989.
Shuman stands 6 feet tall, but she didn’t try track and field until her sophomore year and seems a bit befuddled by her success.
“I have no muscles,” she said. “I don’t know how it happens.”
Her height has something to do with it, as do a keen work ethic and her willingness to try just about anything. A parishioner of Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Mount Washington, Shuman recounted how her mother, Susan, registered her for nearly every organized youth activity imaginable.
“Dancing, gymnastics, bowling, swimming and diving, soccer, basketball, softball, you name it, I tried it,” said Shuman, who also plays volleyball for Maryvale Prep.
As a track and field novice, Shuman set an IAAM record with a 5-7 clearance at the 2008 indoor championships.
“We didn’t know how special she was,” said Maryvale coach Jason Miller.
Her last two summers included high jump camps at Princeton and Shippensburg, and her video library has some of the world’s best high-jumpers in international meets.
Shuman also benefits from competing in one of the nation’s premier facilities, the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover. It’s where both of her 5-10 clearances occurred, and where she will be Jan. 15, when the facility is the site of the IAAM and Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championship meets.
Shuman is committed to clearing 6-feet before her high school career is over. Carrying a solid B-average in the classroom, she is being recruited by the University of Maryland, Notre Dame University, the University of Virginia and colleges in the Big Ten Conference.
Shuman’s dream job would be working for National Geographic magazine. She said that “I love writing,” and that she has always enjoyed her history classes.
That combination makes sense, as she writes her own history.
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Mount St. Joe basketball star is Notre Dame-bound
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Eric Atkins
Mount St. Joseph
Senior
Credentials: 3.4 grade point average in first quarter; four-year varsity basketball starter; 2008-09 Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year; accepted scholarship to University of Notre Dame.
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
For four seasons, Eric Atkins has been a mainstay of Mount St. Joseph’s varsity basketball.
Last year, the point guard averaged 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals a game – winning accolades as the Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year.
The 17-year-old senior recently signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Notre Dame. Before heading to the Big East Conference, he’s working to make his fourth and last season for the Gaels something special.
“We have great chemistry,” said Atkins, who has helped his team compile a 13-2 record through Jan. 3.“We don’t have to rely on one person to be the main scorer. We all contribute.”
Pat Clatchey, the Irvington school’s head coach, said Atkins plays a “tremendous role” in the Mount St. Joseph program.
“One of his greatest strengths is his versatility,” Clatchey said. “He can score, shoot, pass and play good defense. He has an even-keeled demeanor and he doesn’t get rattled. He’s always consistent.”
Atkins, who earned a 3.4 grade point average last academic quarter and who expects to match it this quarter, said his best subject “by far” is history. He plans to study business at Notre Dame, and dreams of a career in sports marketing.
“I can’t wait to get on campus next fall,” Atkins said. “You hear so much about the tradition there. I want to be there and feel it.”
Clatchey said the South Bend-bound senior will be sorely missed next season.
“It’s going to be really strange to take the court when he’s not in the lineup,” said Clatchey, noting that Atkins is one of three gifted seniors on the team. Riley Beaumont, a forward, signed with Elon University in North Carolina, and shooting guard Matt Miller signed with Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania.
“It’s going to be hard to replace them,” Clatchey said.
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Singletary keeps Seton Keough near top
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Amber Singletary
The Seton Keough High School
Junior
3.4 GPA in first quarter; member of knitting club; two-year varsity basketball starter; All-City performer in track and field.
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org
Seconds after Seton Keough won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference basketball championship last February, Amber Singletary looked at her coach, Jackie Boswell.
Singletary saw a joyously tearful Boswell and smiled, before jumping in the air to celebrate the title.
“I hope we have many more of those moments before she graduates,” Boswell said of her junior guard.
“I can’t explain the feeling,” Singletary said of winning the championship. “It’s seeing everybody happy and you remember how hard it was to get there. There are a whole bunch of emotions and then you just end up crying.”
The current Gators are young, with three sophomores, six juniors and three seniors. Still, Boswell believes her team is as talented as any in the conference.
Boswell named Singletary a captain of the team this year and the guard hasn’t disappointed.
Through games of Dec. 17, Singletary was closing in on the 500-point career mark, and Boswell believes she could flirt with the 1,000-point plateau by the end of her senior season. This season, Singletary is averaging about 12 points, six rebounds and two assists
Bowell added Singletary is her team’s best defender.
“She is going to play the best player they (the opposition) have every game,” Boswell said.
Singletary, who attended Catonsville’s St. Mark School, accepts the challenge.
“I won’t let them make me adjust,” she said of opposing players.
Singletary is already being hotly pursued by college basketball programs like Villanova University, the University of South Carolina, Loyola University Maryland, University of Maryland Baltimore County and others.
Singletary has stepped up in the classroom, as she earned a 3.4 grade point average in the first marking quarted this year. She found that she excels in both math and science courses.
“I could have been doing this the whole time,” Singletary said of her recent academic success. “When I’m sitting around waiting for practice, I’m studying rather than sleeping or eating. It makes a difference.”
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Jablonski on the move for Loyola Blakefield
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MATT JABLONSKI
Loyola Blakefield
Junior
Credentials: B student; parishioner of Cathedral of Mary Our Queen; Baltimore Sun cross country runner of the year; soccer starter for A Conference semifinalists.
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By Paul McMullen
pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
Loyola Blakefield had a solid crew of distance runners in the spring of 2007.
The Dons found an extraordinary one when all of those upperclassmen were bested in the Billy Korrow Memorial 5K, a campus tradition, by an eighth-grader.
Now 17 and a junior at the school, Matt Jablonski has matured into a distinctive athlete. He has the potential to become the best distance runners ever out of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association, but Jablonski wins cross country races as an afterthought, as his priority in the fall is soccer.
Jablonski is a central midfielder for the Dons, who lost in the A Conference semifinals to McDonogh Nov. 3. The next day, Jablonski held off Calvert Hall’s Nick Rowe to win the MIAA cross country championship at Oregon Ridge.
“Playing McDonogh in the playoffs, obviously, that’s a pretty intense game,” he said. “I was pretty sore the next day.”
Jablonski is accustomed to explaining the challenges of his juggling act.
What are the benefits?
“I’ve had to learn how to manage my time,” said Jablonski, a B student. “If I have a test three days from now and know that tonight is my only free night to study, then I’ll get on it.”
At soccer practice, Jablonski was challenged by teammates Elliott Andelman, Nick Krochta and Joe Taylor. In cross country, he was followed by Matt Erford, John Lobo, Brendan Tizard and Hugh Monahan as the Dons won the MIAA title by a single point over Calvert Hall.
Jablonski spends the winter and spring with the latter group, turning his focus to indoor and outdoor track and field, albeit squeezing in the occasional soccer game with a Baltimore Bays club team.
“We understand that soccer comes first in the fall,” said Jose Albornoz, the Loyola head coach in cross country and outdoor track. “We just hoped to draw Matt into track after we saw him in the Korrow Run. That was a recovery run for our varsity guys, but they were junior and seniors and he was in the eighth grade.”
Jablonski is a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. His family traditions include volunteering at Beans and Bread.
Asked to list his favorite athletes, Jablonski exposes a fondness for Brits and history. In soccer, he mentions Liverpool’s Stephen Gerrard. On the track, he starts with Sir Roger Bannister, who in 1954 became the first man to break four minutes in the mile.
Jablonski is making his own history. The week before Thanksgiving, he won the Jesuit cross country championship in New York’s famed Van Cortland Park, with the meet’s fastest time since 1980.
Last spring, he won the 1,600 meters at the MIAA track and field championships in 4 minutes, 18.3 seconds, believed to be a Baltimore area record for a sophomore.
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Catholic High swimmer is record setter
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Daniela Mittelkamp
The Catholic High School of Baltimore
Senior
Credentials:
3.58 grade point average; member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the Music Honor Society, the Green School Committee and a recycling group.
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@catholicreview.org
It didn’t take Daniela Mittelkamp long to break swimming records at The Catholic High School of Baltimore.
In her freshman year, the parishioner of St. Joseph in Fullerton set the standard in the 100-meter butterfly when she completed a race in one minute, 12:72 seconds.
Just two years later, Daniela eclipsed her own school record by more than two seconds – finishing a 100-meter butterfly in one minute, 10:42 seconds.
Now in her senior year, Daniela is focused on trying to shave a few more milliseconds off her time so she can qualify for Catholic Nationals, to be held at the end of January at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
“She’s definitely my best butterfly swimmer,” said Kelly Ballwanz, Catholic High’s swim coach. “Even though she has broken the school record twice, she doesn’t tell people about it.”
Although Daniela is one of the best swimmers at Catholic High, it’s what she does outside the pool that makes her really special. In her freshman year, there were only 11 swimmers on the squad. After Daniela took it upon herself to recruit more, the numbers grew rapidly. This year, there are 23 swimmers and the coach had to make cuts.
“Even when we were small and not doing fantastic, she was still positive,” Ballwanz said. “We’re much more competitive today simply because of the numbers – and that largely due to Daniela’s efforts.”
Daniela, who began swimming around age 5, said she enjoys the camaraderie of the sport.
“I like the team bonding between the swimmers,” said Daniela, captain of this year’s squad. “I try to get them to know each other because we’re all really supportive of one another, and we encourage one another.”
Ballwanz said Daniela is “very open” to suggestions for improving her performance.
“No matter how I tell her to modify her strokes, she always tries it,” the coach said. “It might not end up working for her in the end because every swimmer is different, but she will at least give her best effort.”
Keith Harmeyer, Catholic High principal, said Daniela is a bright light in the classroom. Holding a 3.58 grade point average, she is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the Music Honor Society, the Green School Committee and a recycling group.
Daniela has applied to Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Hood College in Frederick and Randolph-Macon College in Virginia. She hopes to pursue environmental science and is considering swimming at the collegiate level.
“She has just been a guiding force, along with the coach, in the development of our team,” Harmeyer said. “She’s smart, she’s friendly and she accepts people in.”
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Sparrow flies to success at St. Frances
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Wayne Sparrow
St. Frances Academy
Credentials: Member of the National Honor Society; helps with school recycling program and local community efforts; earned basketball scholarship to University of Richmond.
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org
When St. Frances Academy boys’ basketball coach Mark Karcher looks at Wayne Sparrow, he sees a model for his own sons.
“He’s the kind of kid every parent would want,” Karcher said of his shooting guard.
Sparrow, who has a 3.2 grade point average, will play for the University of Richmond next year in the Atlantic 10, the same conference where Karcher starred for Temple University after himself leading St. Frances Academy to unprecedented heights.
“He’s been where we want to go,” Sparrow said of Karcher. “He has that knowledge of college and also the pros.”
Even with a busy practice schedule, Sparrow has placed an emphasis on studying.
“It’s pretty tough, but you have to have a strong work ethic,” Sparrow said.
Sparrow takes a calculus class taught by St. Frances principal Curtis Turner, who is also a deacon for the Archdiocese of Washington.
Sparrow “always presents himself as a confident leader who (is) a positive contributor to the school community,” Turner said. “I am impressed by the way he has earned the unqualified respect of his teachers as well as his fellow students.”
Sparrow will need to play a bigger role this season on the court for St. Frances, which lost its star scorer, Terrell Vinson, to graduation. Vinson now plays for the University of Massachusetts, yet another member of the A-10.
Sparrow’s seminal moment for the Panthers came last year, when he scored his team’s first 12 points against Lake Clifton. “They were all deep three-pointers with guys all in his face,” Karcher said.
“I was just feeling everything from the crowd,” Sparrow added. “I was feeling energy from everywhere.”
St. Frances finished last season as champion of the Baltimore Catholic League, one of the nation’s premier prep leagues. Sparrow said that playing for St. Frances is a privilege.
“It’s very important putting on the uniform,” he said. “You’re representing St. Frances as a whole. You’re part of a team.”
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Hearing loss doesn’t deter NDP swimmer
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Becca Myers
Notre Dame Prep
Credentials: B average in first grading period; swims for Blazers; won bronze medal for U.S. at 2009 Deaflympics in Taiwan.
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By Paul McMullen
pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
Becca Meyers does not consider herself a deaf swimmer.
The Notre Dame Preparatory freshman is a swimmer who just happens to be deaf.
Meyers missed the first three weeks of school in September, albeit with a good excuse. Then 14, she was the youngest member of the 220-person American contingent at the 2009 Deaflympics in Taiwan.
After earning a bronze medal in the 4x200-meter relay and representing her country in six individual events at a quadrennial competition that attracted more than 4,000 deaf athletes from 81 nations, Becca rapidly got up to speed in the classroom, diving into a load of nine courses.
That resolve is typical.
“Becca just has this spirit inside of her,” said her mother, Maria Dachille Meyers. “Being our third child, we couldn’t hold her down. We’re skiers, and when Timmy (now a junior at Virginia Tech) went down the black diamond as a kid, Becca was right behind him. Nothing holds her down. She’s such a special gift.”
In the pool, Becca is a freestyle ace who struggles only with the backstroke. She was born with Usher Syndrome, which causes hearing loss and progressive vision loss.
“I can’t see the flags, I miss them and swim into the wall,” Becca said of the warnings for backstrokers. “I played soccer and softball when I was little, but I couldn’t see the ball, and kept tripping over myself. I loved being in the water.”
The first in her household to swim competitively, Becca won her very first race, a 25-yard freestyle, in 2001. The next year, she joined Loyola Blakefield Aquatics and has absorbed instruction from the likes of Keith Schertle and Tom Himes, among the first coaches of Michael Phelps.
Before Phelps became the greatest Olympian ever, Maryland was an age-group force in swimming. Several top 10 rankings among the state’s 13-14 girls earned Becca a spot at the Deaflympics.
She was placed on the U.S. squad despite missing the 2008 qualifying meet, which conflicted with her receiving a new cochlear implant.
The high-tech hearing aid comes with a wireless microphone transmitter that Becca hands to each of her teachers. She is totally deaf on the deck and in the pool, as she swims without the device, which made her eighth grade at St. Joseph School in Cockeysville fly by.
“Before I got the new implant, I used to have a (speaker) box on my desk, I’d have to lean over to hear sometimes,” Becca said. “I can hear a lot better now, the microphone the teachers use goes right into my ear.”
Her sister Lisa, a freshman at the University of Delaware, was in the NDP Class of 2009, and her mother was in the Class of 1981.
“I wanted to go here since I was in the first grade,” Becca said. “I worked so hard to get in.”
Becca, her mother and her father, Mark, can’t say enough about what her parish school at St. Joseph, under the direction of Religious Sister of Mercy Anne O’Donnell, did to make that a reality.
“Sister Anne was her biggest advocate,” said Becca’s mother. “She took in a deaf kid starting with kindergarten, and we’re so grateful.”
Mainstreamed educationally, Becca does not know sign language, which had her at a disadvantage at the Deaflympics. Arriving at NDP in late September, she quickly became one of the girls.
“We don’t have a lot of experience with hearing-impaired students,” said Marianne Reichelt, Becca’s English teacher, “but this technology is so unobtrusive, and she is so eager to excel.
“Over the summer, she met with her teachers and received some of the material she might miss in September. When she got here, we hadn’t gotten to stuff that she had covered on her own.”
Reichelt, the department chair, said that Becca is a great communicator.
“She’s a lovely advocate for herself,” Reichelt said. “I wish girls who don’t face half of her challenges had her ability to say ‘this is what I need.’ She’s got a natural curiosity, and is a treasure to have in the classroom.
Becca celebrated her 15th birthday Nov. 20, taking in the “Twilight” sequel with friends. Already a veteran of international swimming, she looks forward to making her debut for the Blazers and coach Theresa Byrd Dec. 7, against John Carroll.
“Becca is the epitome of an NDP girl who always strives to be her best,” said School Sister of Notre Dame Patricia McCarron, the NDP headmistress.
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Kirsten Frank is ‘iron woman’ of Spalding soccer
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Kirsten Frank
Archbishop Spalding
Senior Credentials:
Honors classes; 3.7 grade point average; soccer captain; plans to play for Ohio University
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
She’s known as the “iron woman” of Archbishop Spalding soccer.
Before the flu forced her to sit out a single contest this season, Kirsten Frank played in more than 80 straight soccer games over four varsity seasons at the Severn high school.
“Out of those 80 games, close to 60 have resulted in shutouts – and that’s with a couple of different goalkeepers,” said Bob Dieterle, Kirsten’s soccer coach. “The common denominator has been Kirsten for all those games.”
Dieterle noted that the 17-year-old senior defender “easily” racked up the most career minutes of any player Spalding has fielded.
“Not only has she started them all,” he said, “but she’s played almost every minute of every game.”
Kirsten helped Spalding win another Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship Nov. 1, when the Cavaliers defeated Mercy, 2-0. The victory capped off a 20-0-1 season and represented the third championship Kirsten helped her team win in the last four years.
A team captain, Kirsten deflected attention from her own contributions, noting that she loves soccer because it’s a team sport.
“It’s not a one-man game,” she said. “You need a whole team to be successful.”
Kirsten said she was disappointed that illness brought her playing streak to an end this year.
“If you have a cold or something, it always seems like it goes away once you start playing,” she said with a laugh, “but this time I had a fever and my mom said I needed to rest.”
Dieterle said Kirsten excels in many different areas.
“She has great speed,” he said. “She gets a great read on the field. She anticipates very well, she’s got great strength and she’s very good at beating people one-on-one.”
A parishioner of Sacred Heart in Bowie, Kirsten is just as committed in the classroom. Holding a 3.7 grade point average, she takes all honors classes and two advanced placement courses. Her favorite subject is art.
In the last three years, Kirsten was active in the Key Club – a community service organization at Spalding that organizes projects for others in need. She plans to play soccer for Ohio University.
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Calvert Hall soccer standout wants a championship
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Pete Caringi
Calvert Hall
Senior
Credentials: 3.4 GPA; member of the Italian Club; considering Providence College and North Carolina State University.
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org
When Pete Caringi was born, he was already a member of the Calvert Hall family. His father, of the same name, led the University of Baltimore to an NCAA Division II soccer title and is in his 19th season as the head coach at UMBC. He began his soccer sojourn as a prep All-American for Calvert Hall in the early 1970s.
The son eventually dreamed of carving out his own niche for the Cardinals. He has achieved that goal and become one of the biggest ambassadors for the Towson institution.
“In my 18 years of coaching at all levels in the Calvert Hall soccer program,” said Andy Moore, the Cardinals' varsity coach, “I have never had a player who loved the school and wanted to win for Calvert Hall as much as Pete.”
Moore has watched the forward mature physically and mentally over the last four years. When he arrived at the school as a freshman, Pete was barely above 5-feet tall. He has since grown nearly a foot.
Moore said that Caringi was “always a crafty player with great skill and finishing ability.”
Pete said that heading the ball was his forte for years and “now I'm winning every ball.”
Caringi finished the regular season with 12 goals and four assists. A parishioner of St. Joseph, Fullerton, he has eyes set on a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.
“That was my goal since freshman year,” Pete said.
Calvert Hall is to host Mount St. Joseph in a playoff game Nov. 5. It is the first night contest ever at Paul Angelo Russo Stadium. The facility does not have lights, but Calvert Hall is renting 12 sets of portable lights for the game.
Caringi carries a 3.4 grade point average, balancing academics with his soccer demands, which also include playing for the Baltimore Bays.
“It's very hard,” he said. “There's like no time in the day. You've got realize everything takes hard work, but it all pays off in the end.”
Moore said the player has a unique determination.
“That type of mentality is what makes champions,” Moore said, “and whatever happens with our team in the playoffs, I would have to say that Pete Caringi is a champion.”
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Tauber still finds time to give
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Elizabeth Tauber
John Carroll
Junior Credentials: 3.8 GPA; Spanish honors; volunteer at special needs school; 2008 IAAM cross country champion
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By Paul McMullen
pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
It’s a good thing that Elizabeth Tauber is one of the state’s premier cross country runners.
The faster she goes, the more time she has to give to John Carroll and other institutions in Harford County.
The Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland was to hold its championship meet Oct. 28. Tauber, a 16-year-old junior, was seeking to make it two titles in a row.
She’s won major invitational meets in Bel Air and Emmitsburg this fall. Last spring, Tauber won an IAAM track and field title in the 3,200 meters, where her best is 11 minutes, 28 seconds. She covered the 1,600 in 5:24, and her classroom numbers are equally impressive.
Tauber compiled a 3.8 cumulative grade point average in her first two years of high school. She’s earned membership in the Spanish Honor Society; is on the staff of The Patriot, the school newspaper; and is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
A parishioner of St. Margaret in Bel Air, Tauber attended the parish’s school. She’s volunteered the last three summers with the Students Serving Students program, helping teachers in Harford County schools.
When it doesn’t conflict with a race, Tauber spends Saturday mornings as a volunteer at John Archer School, the only public special education school serving students with disabilities in Harford County.
“Last year I was at a sleepover at a friend’s house,” Elizabeth said. “Her brother has autism, and we went to John Archer the next morning to help out. We have motor skills clinics, get the students involved in different activities, get them moving.”
That experience has piqued her interest in becoming a special needs educator. College is still two years off, but it seems like only yesterday that she had to decide between running cross country for John Carroll or playing soccer.
She chose to follow in her father’s athletic footsteps, as Steve Tauber was an All-Metro runner for Archbishop Curley in 1981.
“Steve got out of Curley the same year I got there,” said John Carroll coach Rob Torres, himself an All-Metro runner for the Friars. “I’ve known about Elizabeth for a long time.
“She’s a pretty quiet kid, but a fierce competitor. Like a lot of teams, we finish practice with a staggered run, the fastest runner going off last. She will work to catch everyone.”
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Gibbons senior makes mark in community
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Markus Massimini
Cardinal Gibbons
Senior Credentials: Honor roll student; volunteer at Leadership Through Athletics gym; Crusaders’ top runner in cross country
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By Paul McMullen
pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
Markus Massimini’s brief cross country career for Cardinal Gibbons might not include a first-place finish, but that hardly means that he hasn’t been a winner for the Crusaders and his community.
Massimini, a senior who’s a regular on the Gibbons honor roll, played basketball and soccer for the Crusaders before turning his athletic focus to running. His training mileage in the summer of 2009 wasn’t what he wanted it to be, as spare time is hard to find for this entrepreneur and volunteer.
Jeff Cheevers, the athletic director at Gibbons, said that Massmini is a “great kid who does little things in and out of school to help the community.” All one has to do for confirmation of that is to head to the youth center in Lansdowne that is operated by the Leadership Through Athletics (LTA) foundation.
LTA got off the ground thanks to the Grace family, which has ties to Gibbons. Massimini didn’t wait to become an alumnus to donate his services, as he keeps the scorebook at countless youth games at the center.
“I love basketball, and want to remain involved with the game,” Markus said. “I’m close to the Graces, and I help out with (TLA) camps and the scorebook, so that they don’t have to pay someone. I’ve helped out there since the gym opened.”
That was in 2004, when Massimini was in the seventh grade at the parish school of Our Lady of Victory.
When he’s not taking care of the books – LTA’S or his own at school – or cleaning the Gibbons campus, Massimini is working for a local caterer or operating his own lawn and yard service. He maintains close to 20 yards, mowing grass, trimming hedges and doing light landscaping.
Massimini represented Gibbons at Our Lady of Victory’s high school night. He’s a Crusader legacy, as his father, Mark, Class of ’75, played guard on some fine Gibbons basketball teams for the late Ray Mullis.
While math is his favorite subject, his best grades come in the hard sciences. Massimini wants to study computer engineering, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the University of Maryland College Park are among the colleges he’s considering.
A cross country contributor in 2008, his first season, the 5-feet-9, 130-pound Massimini has grown into the Crusaders’ No.1 runner this fall. His best finish thus far has been a second place in a tri-meet against Boys’ Latin and St. John’s Catholic Prep.
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Maryvale junior doesn’t settle for average
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Gabrielle Tana
Maryvale Preparatory School
Junior
Credentials: National Junior Honor Society; National French Honor Society; 3.98 GPA; varsity soccer team captain
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@catholicreview.org
Colin Devlin makes the same pledge to all his varsity soccer players at Maryvale Preparatory School in Brooklandville: if they make their college soccer team, he’ll be at their first game to watch them play.
Devlin has no doubt that in two years, he’ll need to make some travel plans to see Gabrielle Tana’s first collegiate game. The 16-year-old Maryvale junior is a “pure talent” and “hard worker” who is already attracting attention across the country, Devlin said.
“It’s a God-given talent this kid has,” Devlin said. “You just have to admire it.”
In her freshman year, when Maryvale won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference Championship, Gabrielle scored 9 goals and assisted on 12.
Last year, when the team moved up to the more competitive A Conference, she had 10 goals and 14 assists. Halfway through September, the central midfielder already scored three goals and had one assist.
“I love making the assist as much as making the goal,” said Gabrielle, a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Hydes who is still considering her college options. “I love creating the passes and making it happen.”
Gabrielle began playing soccer as a girl and was coached by her father with the Baltimore Soccer Club.
“My dad pushed me and challenged me,” said Gabrielle, who has also played for four years on the Olympic Development Team. “I owe a lot to him for that.”
Gabrielle said she enjoyed watching her older brother, Sean, play soccer for Loyola Blakefield in Towson several years ago. Sam, her younger brother, also plays the game for St. Paul’s School for Boys in Brooklandville.
Gabrielle’s Maryvale coach said the midfielder is excellent at multitasking on the field. As one of the captains, he said, she leads by example.
“She brings the same intensity to every game,” Devlin said. “The kid never changes. She is the first one on the field and the last to leave.”
A recipient of Maryvale’s Scholar Athlete Award in her freshman and sophomore years, Gabrielle currently maintains a 3.98 grade point average and takes honors courses.
“I don’t settle for average,” she said.
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Great things are ahead for Mount St. Joseph’s Arnold
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David Arnold
Mount St. Joseph
Senior
Credentials: Representative on the student council; piano accompaniment for school’s choir program; soccer, golf
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org
Michael St. Martin is dreading David Arnold’s final game in a Mount St. Joseph soccer uniform.
“He’s going to be missed,” the varsity coach of the Irvington high school said. “He’s going to do something great with his life when he gets older.”
Arnold has a weighted grade point average of 4.6 and hopes to attend Princeton, Cornell or the Naval Academy.
The forward/midfielder started playing on the varsity as a sophomore because St. Martin was impressed with his “relentless work-rate.”
St. Martin said Arnold, who is now 6 feet 2 inches tall, was always able to handle the intense physical nature of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.
He was the team’s leading scorer a year ago with 13 goals and six assists. Seven of those goals came in the final six games. This season, Arnold already had nine goals by late September.
“I can’t even express how grateful I am that I came here and was able to be part of this program,” Arnold said. “It’s meant everything to me.”
Arnold was home-schooled before Mount St. Joseph and developed academic independence and drive.
“I’ve always gone after the things I thought would help me in what I like to do,” Arnold said.
The senior played lacrosse for Mount St. Joseph during his freshman and sophomore years. He has an astounding 2-handicap on the Gaels’ golf team. Outside of school, he was also on the junior national volleyball team.
“He’s probably the best all-around athlete in the school,” St. Martin said in his office in the basement of the school’s gymnasium.
That’s a major claim to make in a school loaded with many talented sports stars.
“I don’t feel like I’m that special,” Arnold said, “but it means a lot to me.”
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Scheve’s leadership, play show the way for Mercy
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Lindsay Scheve
Mercy High School
Senior Credentials: National Honor Society; 4.2 GPA; mentor; volleyball and basketball
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Paul McMullen
pmcmullen@catholicreview.org
Lindsay Scheve does it all for Mercy High School.
She’s a hitter for the Magic volleyball team, and come winter, will again play wing guard for the basketball team.
Lindsay is also the secretary of the Mercy chapter of the National Honor Society, having taken advanced placement courses in English, history and psychology and carrying a 4.2 cumulative grade point average.
This is her second year as a public relations intern for Mercy, helping promote it to local middle-schoolers.
“We go on recruiting visits, and talk to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders,” she said. “I talk about how good Mercy is, and what it’s done for me. I love to talk to people about this place.”
Likewise, Kelli McKee, the Magic’s first-year volleyball coach, who graduated from Mercy in 2001, can’t say enough about Scheve’s contributions.
“I’ve only been with them since August, but I know that the girls respect Lindsay,” McKee said. “Everyone is always on the same page, because of Lindsay. Besides that, she’s an absolutely amazing hitter.”
Along with senior Ava Trageser, Scheve led Mercy to a 6-2 early-sea¬son record. She’s been a varsity mainstay since her sophomore year in both volleyball and basketball, where she’s coached by athletic director Mary Ella Marion.
Coming out of St. Pius X School, where she is a parishioner, Lindsay earned the coveted Frances Warde scholarship, which goes to the incoming Mercy freshman who most exhibits leadership. Her work ethic has allowed her to hold on to it.
In addition to carrying a full academic load last year, Scheve, 17, logged 130 hours shadowing a nurse practitioner based in Hunt Valley. That experience went a long way toward cementing the field she will pursue in college. “The nurse I shadowed cared for children, adults, the elderly; I really, really liked it,” Scheve said. “Ideally, I’d love to play volleyball in college, but studying nursing is going to be demanding.”
She intends to study nursing at either the The Catholic University of America, the University of Delaware, the University of Scranton or Villanova.
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Rybak gives all for Curley Friars
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John Rybak
Archbishop Curley High School
Senior Credentials: ranks 15th in senior class; advanced placement science courses; school office-holder; football, track and field.
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By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
While John Rybak has been a versatile standout in indoor and outdoor track and field for Archbishop Curley High School, the 17- year-old senior had never been much of a pole vaulter.
That changed this summer, when he enrolled in a pole vault camp at Georgtown Preparatory School in Bethesda to improve his skills.
The young parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex displayed that same industriousness when he tried out for football for the first time this year, making varsity as a tight end.
Rybak has shown similar tenacity in the classroom, maintaining a 3.8 grade point average, taking advanced placement science courses and holding a class ranking of 15 out of 139.
“If I really love something,” he said, “I want to do my best at it.”
Eugene Hoffman, Rybak’s track coach, said the young man’s commitment makes him a success. Hoffman knows something about that quality, as he is currently in his 100th season of coaching cross country, indoor or outdoor track at his alma mater.
“It’s nice to have a hard worker like him around,” said Hoffman. “He’s an excellent student and he’s taking some really high-powered courses.”
Rybak is particularly known for his prowess as a hurdler, as he finished second in the 55-meter hurdles at the 2009 MIAA indoor championships.
“He just works hard at it,” Hoffman said. “He’s got good flexibility, decent speed and good form.”
Rybak has been an all- MIAA selection in indoor and outdoor track and has been in the MIAA decathlon the past three years. In April 2009, he ran a leg on the Curley 4x400 relay team that shined at the Penn Relays, which annually has the best attendance in the nation. His fastest relay split is 51.2 seconds.
The quiet senior, who serves as vice president of his school’s student government, said he enjoys track because it’s a sport where there is clear accountability.
“It’s all up to you,” he said.
Rybak is still selecting a college, where he hopes to pursue track and field. He expects to major in the sciences.
“I know I’m not going to make a living off of sports,” he said. “You have to use your head because that’s going to last longer than your body.”
Rybak attends weekly Mass with his grandparents and makes faith central to his life.
“It’s what you fall back on in life,” he said. “It gives you a set of morals that you can live by. It makes your life so much easier.”
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Mount de Sales senior digs out volleyball, academic legacy
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Katy Buck
Mount De Sales Academy
Senior
Credentials: Class chaplain; president of school Sodality; Teens for Catholic Action; vice president of 2008-09 student council; volleyball.
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By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@catholicreview.org
Katy Buck has lived in the shadows of tradition since she enrolled at Mount de Sales Academy three years ago.
She is the last of five sisters to attend the Catonsville institution on Academy Road, but Katy cemented her own legacy.
This week’s selection for The Catholic Review’s “Putting the STUDENT in Student-Athlete” honor, Katy has a 4.2 grade point average and is a key component of a volleyball team that is the defending champion in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference.
“I really feel that positive vibe around her, no matter what,” said coach Monica Owensby of her senior leader. “The girls have looked up to her since she was a freshman. They’ve seen her as this one person that’s like, ‘Wow, I want to be like her.’”
Katy has accepted a scholarship to play at Towson University. During her junior season, the hitter had 230 digs, 159 kills, 15 aces and 12 blocks to become an All-Metro selection by the Baltimore Sun.
“It’s a gift in her that she can play this game,” Owensby said. “The girls see it and they feed off of that. It only makes our team better. We grow from her. If something ever bothers her, she uses the game to vent.”
Katy, who is class chaplain, president of school Sodality, leads a local prayer group for teens and is a member of Teens for Catholic Action, is always seeking academic and athletic balance.
“It can be tough at times, but I know what I have to do,” said the parishioner of St. Agnes in Catonsville. “I don’t like to go halfway on anything. I stay up late if I need to and get stuff done.”
Katy’s sisters – Amy, Christy, Theresa and Monica – found ways to shine at Mount de Sales on the lacrosse field and basketball court. Theresa joined the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration and became Sister Mary Paschal.
Katy says her experience at Mount de Sales has been mentally and spiritually fulfilling.
“I’ve grown up here, basically,” Katy said. “I used to be a little cheerleader at basketball games. This is such a faith-filled community. It’s neat to finish up the family line here.”
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