TOWAMENCIN- One of the great things about NPSD is their impressive athletic program. Within the athletic programs there are some highly talented athletes receiving scholarships and committing to sports teams at the collegiate level. NCAA Research says “out of nearly 8 million high school athletes only 480,000 of them will compete at NCAA schools.” NP has a variety of athletes, who have moved on or are moving on to the collegiate level, and each athlete has differing perspectives on competing at the collegiate level.

Sam Carangi

Serving as a major contribution to the girls’ basketball team, Carangi will be moving on next year to play Division 1 basketball at Villanova, where both her parents and aunt grew went. Carangi is looking forward to playing but is nervous about the different expectations that come with playing at the collegiate level.

“Luckily, I’m redshirting the first year, which gives me a chance to adapt,” said Carangi.

Besides a heart issue with no restrictions, Carangi has no injury problems. If anything were to happen to her in the future, she would still be happy going to Villanova. Her dream schools were originally among Drexel, Delaware, and Villanova. Villanova was an easy decision, because she loved the campus and grew up there. Carangi isn’t positive yet, but she thinks she will major in business marketing.  Carangi does take her grades as serious as she does basketball, so she was not relying on basketball. Being able to play is just a bonus to her.

“I played soccer until freshman year when I decided to stop and focus on basketball. I wish I would have focused on only basketball sooner, because that might have helped with my success, but I am happy with where I am right now,” said Carangi.

Mikaela Vlasic

As a valuable member of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams, Vlasic gave up soccer freshman year for cross country at the high school and has been successful since then. Next year she is excited to be running Division 1, joining her sister, at Pittsburg University. She isn’t too nervous, because her sister is currently running at the collegiate level, so she receives advice from her sister on what to expect.

“Even if I wasn’t running, I would still want to go to Pitt, and that helped make the decision on where to go,” said Vlasic.

Vlasic is not prone to injury, but she knows at any time anything could happen. For now, she thinks she wants to major in engineering at Pitt. She receives good grades and has a backup plan if running didn’t work out in the future.

“If I had to stop running, I would probably try to be more involved and try to get better grades,” said Vlasic.

Ricky Johns

Appreciated out on the football field and on the basketball court of North Penn, Johns is ready to move up to the collegiate level and willing to focus completely on football. He was relying on a scholarship for football, and he earned it. He always had a dream of going to Ohio State, but next year he will be playing at West Virginia, and he’s looking                    forward to playing for the Mountaineers at the division 1 level. Being a multi-sport athlete, Johns had to give a sport up to play at the collegiate level.

“It’s kind of hard to give up basketball, because I’ve been playing it for so long, but I think it may be for the best,” said Johns.

Johns understands at this point playing two sports is a little risky. He has been playing football and basketball all year around since he was five and never had issues with injuries. Even though Johns is not the type to get injured easily, he still understands anything can happen. If anything were to happen now that he couldn’t play sports, Johns would not know what to do besides focus on his education. Johns explained that he would also probably just be going to a state school studying athletic training, if he did not get this opportunity to play football at West Virginia. However, Johns has his whole life set on football and is ready to work hard to follow his dreams of playing professionally.

“You can never work too hard to get better,” said Johns.

Matt Rinck

Rinck, the goalie of North Penn’s Lacrosse team, is having his dream come true at Gwynedd Mercy University. Both nervous and excited to play at the collegiate level, Rinck thinks it will be a different experience going from high school to college. Being a Division 3 school, Rinck signed to join the team, but he received more of an academic scholarship.

Rinck previously played basketball and football until he decided to stick to lacrosse at the start of middle school.

“I wish I did play another sport now, either baseball or maybe picked up track and field, because a lot of people say if you do focus on one sport you’ll get tired of it. I still enjoy playing lacrosse,” said Rinck.

Unfortunately, sophomore year Rinck got injured, and it has become a chronic injury. He put these things into perspective when deciding where to go to college.

“I would still want to go there if I wasn’t playing lacrosse, and that one thing I wanted to make sure since I have a chronic knee problem from a previous injury,” said Rinck.

Rinck focuses on grades just as much as sports, especially since he is playing Division 3, and the academic scholarship matters. He was also accepted into the MBA program for accounting, so if lacrosse does not work out, he would be just as happy.

Jackie Bilotti

Alum Jackie Bilotti is continuing her softball career from North Penn at Arcadia University. This will be her second year at Arcadia playing shortstop and being a pitcher. Arcadia is a Division 3 school, so she did not receive a “formal” athletic scholarship, but she received grants to play along with academic scholarships.

Bilotti knows what it is like to play at the collegiate level and get injured. Last May she partially tore her Labrum. She started Physical Therapy to strengthen the muscle back, hoping to delay surgery or get eliminate it altogether. She ended up having to sit a week out during the season last year. In addition, she had trouble diving for the ball and swinging the bat. Luckily her physical therapy is helping her get healthy and get back onto the field. However, whether she is on or off the field, Bilotti expressed her love for Arcadia University.

“Even if I wasn’t playing softball, I would still love it here. I appreciate being close to home a lot this year, because I am able to work and see my family more. Also, my professors are really great, and the students are close knit, since the campus is pretty small,” said Bilotti.

Nyfease West

North Penn Alum Nyfease West was a star running back for the Knights and is continuing his football career at Delaware State University. He has not been able to show off on the field this year due to injury. West tore his meniscus due to overstretching his LCL in high school, and is sitting on the sidelines from his surgery that he had over the summer.

“Honestly, not being able to play is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to experience in my life, because football is the only thing I look forward to. It was heartbreaking,” said West.

He decided to play football in the 6th grade, stopped playing basketball, and from there, football proved to be his passion. Not being able to accept failure, he pushed himself to the limits in high school to continue furthering his skills. Unfortunately, West is starting to figure out besides football, Delaware State is not exactly where he wants to be.

“Besides the education, right now there is nothing for me here,” said West.