Sunday April 28, 2024 
Averill Park Sports By Isaac Joseph
AVERILL PARK – Fall sports at AP are winding down!
The boys cross country team defeated Bethlehem by a score of 25-30 on 11/7. Noah Bonesteel led the way for the boys followed by Matt Dejulio and Roy Jacobson. The girls cross country team lost their meet to Bethlehem on 11/7. Logan Barslow finished the race in first place. The cross country teams will face Albany on 11/14 in their next meet.
The Troy-AP girls swim team lost 40-54 against Ballston Spa on 11/5. The swim team was able to win the 200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 500 freestyle, and the 100 breaststroke. The girls swim team will face Bethlehem in their next meet on 11/12.
The girls soccer team ended their match on 11/3 with a 1-1 draw against Burnt Hills. Gabby Geise scored the lone goal for Averill Park. The girls team will travel to Saratoga for their next contest on 11/12.
The boys soccer team fell 3-1 to Burnt Hills on their senior night. Donovan Haffner scored for the boys in the losing effort. The soccer team will take on CBA in their next game on 11/12. Good Luck Warriors!
I will be back next week to report on Averill Park scores and highlights. Go Warriors!
Scholar Athlete of the Week By Tyler Michaels
AVERILL PARK – This week’s Scholar Athlete is Julia Hanlon. Julia plays as a striker for the Varsity soccer team, and runs on the Varsity track and field team in the spring. To prepare for her sport,
Julia plays for Alleycats Club soccer year round, and lifts weights in school and at home. Julia says her favorite part about her sport is being able to pour her energy into eighty minutes on the field, and being a part of a team. Julia also said that the most difficult part about soccer is the physical effort that is needed for the sport. Julia commented, “as a soccer player you are expected to be in shape enough to run nonstop for up to 110 minutes with only a half time for a break.” She also noted that preseason is an extremely rigorous time period for everyone on the team, but by the end of the season Averill Park has some of the best conditioned athletes in the league. Julia was pulled-up to the Varsity team for the Sectionals tournament her freshman year, and scored her first Varsity goal in her sophomore year. Now a senior, Julia hopes that the soccer team will be able to win more games than they tie.
In addition to her hard work on the field, Julia puts a lot of effort into her school work. Julia has a 94 GPA and is taking Spanish five, Advanced Ceramics, and is participating in the New Visions Medical Program. Julia is a member of the National Honor Society, and enjoys babysitting and teaching kids how to swim. Julia is also double advanced in math, and has been on the high honor roll every quarter since sixth grade. To balance school and sports, Julia separates her time to practice and to study, and puts her full effort into everything that she does. Julia also budgets her time and avoids procrastination as much as possible.
Julia says that her coaches, parents, and teammates all help her excel in her sport. She also looks up to medical workers and college athletes because of how difficult it is to succeed in either field. Julia would advise younger athletes to “love the sport you play, enjoy every minute of it, because sooner than you know it could be your last season or your last game and you’re going to miss it and everything that comes with it more than anything.” Julia has committed to play soccer at Endicott College next year, and plans to enroll in Endicott’s nursing program. In the future Julia wants to be a nurse anesthetist. We wish Julia the best as she finishes her senior year and prepares for college.
