Displaying items by tag: Derek Willson

[Group Photo by Ruthann Thivierge]

[Senior Photos Provided]

SCHUYLERVILLE – Schuylerville seniors Sidney Gregorek and Derek Willson were selected as the one female and one male from New York to each receive a $1,000 college scholarship, after advancing through three levels of competition. They will now go on to compete for the title of National Finalist.

“The Wendy’s High School Heisman was created by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas in 1994. Twenty-two years later, Wendy’s High School Heisman has honored more than 600,000 of the nation’s most esteemed high school seniors who share Wendy’s values of giving back to their communities, treating people with respect, continuing education and excelling in the athletic field,” according to the official statement.

The committee selected Gregorek and Willson as students who display excellence and integrity both on and off the field. To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and be leaders in both the school and the community. Willson is currently in the Valedictorian with a .31 lead over Gregorek.

Gregorek is a captain on the varsity soccer team, an AP Scholar, a Student State Board Member, and was named Class B West Division All-Stars Team last fall as well as WNYT NewsChannel 13’s “Fidelis Care Athlete of the Week” this fall.

Gregorek and Willson both have big plans for their futures; Gregorek will be studying pre-med in the fall and intends to be a doctor. Her top choices are Duke and Princeton. Willson intends to study biochemical engineering and hopes to attend either MIT or Cornell. Willson is the president of Honor Society, Gregorek is the treasurer. Both are members of the Math League and Spanish Club. Both are exceptionally active in the community as well. They participate in Relay for Life, Gregorek volunteers at the Glens Falls Hospital information desk and coaches three local youth soccer teams, Willson volunteers and fundraises for Adirondack Save-A-Stray.

As an athlete, Gregorek participates in indoor/outdoor track, rugby, and soccer. Willson plays football, baseball, and indoor track.

“I was at soccer practice and [Willson’s] mother texted me right after saying that he and I were both winners. It was cool because I had all of my teammates there and we all celebrated as a group,” Gregorek explained how she found out she had advanced for the scholarship.

“I was at a team dinner and my mom texted me so it was kind of cool because I was also with my whole team,” Willson explained.

The scholarship has two phases, phase one was due in October, they had to explain all of their academic and athletic accomplishments. Phase two consisted of four mini-essays and finding articles online that mentioned them and their athletic and academic and community service accomplishments.

“It was big to me because I’ve never been the star athlete, I’ve always played more of a supporting role, I play defense on the soccer team. I’m not the one scoring goals and I’m on relay teams for track. It isn’t like I’m winning individual races. So to me, it was just really cool to be recognized as a student-athlete. Not just the academics, not just the sports, a combination of both,” Gregorek said.

If Gregorek and Willson advance to the final round, each will win $5,000 toward their college education and a gold medal. National Finalists will be announced on November 6. By making it this far, they’ve received silver medals and each have a $50 gift card to Wendy’s.

[ Photos by Lori Mahan. ]

SCHUYLERVILLE – Coach John Bowen takes the field at morning practice, very active in his instructions for the team. You can sense the excitement.

“Practice up to this point is going very well. We’ve stayed what we consider to be very healthy, all things considered. Which is always your number one concern going through those first two and a half weeks leading up to your first game,” Coach Bowen explained.

Captains of the Horses are Thomas Donovan, senior and offensive and defensive lineman, Derek Willson, senior and running-back and defensive-back, and Stratton Sherman, junior and quarterback and defensive-back.

“We’ve got a solid veteran group coming back that I think are going to do a nice job. Processing a lot of this stuff is very familiar to them so we’re kind of re-teaching a lot to the guys not having to introduce much new stuff at this stage. So that’s always a positive when you’re able to have that veteran presence in your ability to move at a quicker pace during the pre-season because that knowledge and that mental end of things are already in place,” Bowen said.

The Schuylerville Horses plays their first game on Friday, September 1 against the Schalmont Sabres.

As far as goals go, Coach said, “I know it’s cliché, but we always try to stress not looking ahead but taking every game one week at a time. We’re not getting out in front of ourselves with regards to looking at the bigger games down the line. I love the fact that these first two games are against the two best teams from the previous year. I really feel that it kind of sets the tone for our season and it helps the pre-season. Keeping all those things in perspective, we’re hoping that the boys continue to keep that singular focus of the next opponent. I think if they’re able to do that and we’re able to really stay single minded from that standpoint, I think the rest of it, as long as we’re working and staying focused, guys aren’t getting too self-absorbed, I think we’ll be fine.”

There are 38 players on the Varsity team this year.

“We’re certainly looking forward to the season but we know that we’ve got huge mountains to climb. We share a division with last years state champions so we’ve got some major hurdles,” Bowen said.

The Schuylerville Horses plays their first game on Friday, September 1 against the Schalmont Sabres at Schalmont High School.