Saturday April 20, 2024 
Scholar Athlete of the Week By Tyler Michaels
AVERILL PARK – This week’s Scholar Athlete is Catherine Gaylord. Catherine is a starting center back for the Varsity soccer team. Catherine began playing soccer when she was very young, and now has been playing for twelve years. To prepare for her season Catherine lifts weights in the offseason months and runs track and field in the spring to stay fit. Catherine continues to run over the summer to stay active, and plays on a club soccer team to keep in “soccer shape”. Without a Sectional Title available to win this year, Catherine just wants to play as hard as she can and give it her all.
In addition to her successes on the field, Catherine excels in school. Catherine has a 4.0 GPA while participating in the New Visions Medical Program, and taking Spanish 5 and Advanced Placement Calculus. Catherine is also a member of the National Honor Society. She teaches swim lessons at her local YMCA in her spare time. For her hard work, Catherine was awarded the 2019 YMCA Outstanding Student of the Year award and was nominated to the National Youth Leadership Forum Medical program.
Next year Catherine wants to go to college to major in Neuroscience and Spanish on a Pre-Medicine track. After that, Catherine wants to go to medical school and become a neurosurgeon. Catherine would advise a younger athlete that “The harder you work, the more potential you have; skill can be taught but effort can’t.” We wish Catherine the best as she finishes her senior year and prepares for college.
