Around the Schools

Susquehanna
Saturday night turned out to be a pretty big night for the Sabers, and an even better night for the local chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer.

Under the direction of boys head basketball coach Lawrence Tompkins, the community turned out to pack the gym for an alumni game, as well as emptying their wallets for a basket and item raffle, a 50/50 drawing and other activities to kick off the Coaches vs. Cancer festivities.

In all, 48 alumni from 1984-2014 turned out for the game.

T-shirt sales and a Pink Out game are upcoming in the next two weeks, but the Sabers got off to a strong start with their efforts, bringing in approximately $1,500.

Blue Ridge
Senior soccer player Shawn Woodruff has been playing the game since age 4. The goalkeeper had 107 saves this season and also participated in the UNICO Soccer Cup at the University of Scranton in November.

“I like it because the game can change so fast and it’s so different than the other sports I play,” said Woodruff, who used to play basketball and is a member of the boys volleyball team.

He also is an avid bowler. He competes in two leagues, including a youth leaders league where bowlers travel to four alleys in Great Bend, Nicholson, Montrose and Susquehanna.

Although he has never bowled a perfect game, Woodruff recently rolled a career-high 288 game at Riverside Lanes in Susquehanna. He had 10 strikes in a row before leaving the 6-10 combination on his 11th ball, then converting the spare.

“The pressure builds up as you’re going,” Woodruff said. “When people realize it, they’ll stop bowling and come watch you. It was a good experience. Even though I didn’t get it, I had half the bowling alley clapping for me.”

Also a member of the choir at Blue Ridge, Woodruff plans to study physical therapy after graduation. So far he has been accepted to Mount Aloysius College in Cresson.

Woodruff said he owes his academic and athletic success to his family — father Duane, mother Tina, sister Kaitlyn, stepbrother Gunnar and stepsisters Destiny and Sierra.

“They’ve helped me and always been there for me,” he said.

Forest City
It’s easy to say senior John DarrenKamp loves basketball.

He has been a member of the varsity basketball team since he was a freshman and also participated in summer leagues with the school team.

DarrenKamp was co-captain of the varsity team as a junior and has played basketball on an AAU team since seventh grade, spring and fall.

“Through this program, I was invited, my sophomore and junior years, to participate in a summer basketball training camp at Hamilton College in New York,” he said.

Off the court, DarrenKamp has been an active member of National Honor Society since his sophomore year and has been a member of Spanish club.

For his senior project, DarrenKamp created a guitar from scratch and donated it to the school band program for use in jazz band and to teach younger students how to play.