September 2011 - Eventful Magazine

sports
By Ray Gallagher
Dana Tatnell doesn’t just excel at the three
varsity sports she plays at Putnam Valley
High School. Tatnell is living proof that the
standout three-sport student/athlete, though
a dying breed, can also excel in the classroom.
Every year since her freshman campaign,
Tatnell has played three sports competitively
and has been an All-Section leader in
field hockey and All-Section HM in lacrosse,
while playing to an All-League level on the
basketball court in
addition to shining
in the classroom.
“Dana is the
epitome of the
scholar athlete and
demonstrates the
best of the best
character traits of a
PV High student,”
Assistant Principal
and Putnam
County Legislator
Sam Oliverio said.
“Dana is a remarkable
young woman.”
Perhaps more
impressive than
any of that has
been her Advanced
Placement/hon-
Photos by Ray Gallagher
ors course load,
which somehow
floats in the 3.80+
GPA range, maintaining
a superior class ranking despite the
lofty aptitude level.
“Having taken four AP courses by the end
of her junior year, and never receiving less
than a 90% in any of her classes, Dana enters
her senior year with a rich and varied academic
background. Dana has drive, stamina,
focus and that enviable trait of going that extra
110% as if it were a walk in the park,” said
Oliverio.
A science enthusiast, Tatnell recently applied
to study science at Columbia University
on Saturdays during the upcoming school
year. This is a special program that Columbia
offers to the best and brightest high school
science students across the globe. She was
one of only 200 accepted students from a
pool of more than 5,000 applicants. She was
Student Athlete Spotlight
Putnam Valley Senior, Dana Tatnell
accepted based on the results and her academic
record and qualifying tests.
Consequently, she’ll lean heavier on
academia in college, opting for club sports
over competitive NCAA athletics after her
senior year in high school. For now, though,
she’ll still wear No. 13 and won’t worry
much about the allusions cast by silly superstition,
and her numbers over the course
of her varsity career bear that out. It seems
that whatever Tatnell does, she’s near the top
HIGH HONORS — Putnam Valley High senior Dana Tatnell has been described by high-ranking
administrators as the epitome of a scholar athlete.
of her class, despite the constant carousel of
coaching changes at PV High.
Tatnell has been the one constant on a basketball
team that transitioned from former
Coach Kelly Thompson’s almost unlawful
eviction, to Ed Wallach’s one-and-done session
that made her a better overall player. The
team seeks a third coach this season, Tatnell’s
senior year.
Whoever it is, he or she would be wise to
heed the lexis of Tatnell, who also serves as a
student representative liaison to the PV School
Board. Girls lacrosse coach Katie O’Dell has
been with the program since Tatnell arrived
as a fresh-faced rookie her freshman year. She
has relied on her to be a leader and a trusted
confidant into important internal matters that
surround a building program. She led the
team with 56 goals as a junior after netting 33
as a sophomore.
In field hockey, Tatnell works more on the
defensive end of the field at sweeper, where
scoring opportunities are minimal, but she
adapted well enough to secure an All-League
nod in 2009, before going All-League/All-
Section/All-Elite in 2010. She remains the
lone link to PV’s last field hockey championship
in 2008.
On the hardwood, she had 230 points this
past season and nailed an
All-League nod at point
guard, where she has
started since her freshman
year. She had prided
herself on being the team
leader in assist until renowned
Coach Wallach
and former Euro-pro
Kristi Dini — now head
coach at Briarcliff — impressed
upon her the importance
of being a scorer
during her final two varsity
campaigns.
Tatnell, a summer lifeguard
at Camp Floradan
in Putnam Valley, is an old
soul of sorts, one who listens
to the heartland rock
of Bob Seger at times, yet
she’s just as comfortable
kicking back with the
down-south jukin’ of
Lynyrd Skynyrd or Australian-bred
AC/DC. She
is wise beyond her years and above board
with her peers, and perhaps that explains
why this National Honor Society student is
hanging up her sticks for a go at Biochemical
Engineering next fall, her intended major,
which will also cover her pre-med requisites
so she can apply to med school upon graduation.
Because of her splendid SAT score of 2100
(out of 2400), Tatnell, an exceptional flutist in
the school band, was named a National Merit
Scholar, along with Mu Alpha Theta (Math
Honor Society), Tri-M (Music Honor Society),
and the Science National Honor Society,
all of which should help get Tatnell into
a university of high honor where she’ll likely
flourish and work her way toward the top of
the class.
18 Eventful Magazine - September 2011