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newlenoxpatriot.com sports
the New Lenox Patriot | April 6, 2017 | 41
Athlete of the Week
10 Questions
with Tara Hastings
Athlete of the Month
LW West freshman girls basketball
standout takes home March crown
Bill Jones, Managing Editor
Sophomore Tara Hastings
is a starting guard on the
Lincoln-Way West girls
basketball team and the No.
2 singles player on the girls
tennis team.
How did you get started
in basketball?
It started in fifth-grade
when I just started going to
the driveway to play basketball,
and then I decided to try
out for the sixth-grade basketball
team at Nelson Ridge.
What’s the best part
about the sport?
Probably the close friendships
you make. It’s such a
long season, so you learn
to get close to everyone,
and there are a lot of great
friendships that get formed.
What did you learn from
your freshman year on
varsity to this year?
I learned that if you make
a mistake to just look past it.
Play how you play and keep
going, and keep a positive
attitude.
What’s the best piece of
advice you’ve learned
from Ryan White?
He always said be quick
but don’t hurry. That’s all I
could really remember vividly
in the past two seasons
playing for him.
Are you ready to take
on the leadership role
next year with fouryear
varsity members
Courtney O’Donnell
and Emily Atsinger
graduating?
Courtney O’Donnell really
played a great role for
me. I learned a lot from her,
and if I could be a role model
like her to other people, then
I think I’ll be good the next
two years with the rest of the
team.
What’s your greatest
memory on the
basketball court?
Probably beating Lincoln-
Way Central in overtime
this past season. We were
down by two with three seconds
left, and Emily passed
me the ball when I was in
the short corner, and I just
turned around and threw it
up, and it went in and into
overtime after that.
Do you have a pregame
routine?
For the past two years,
mostly before every game,
I would go out to eat with
some of my teammates –
commonly Panera Bread.
22nd Century Media File Photo
If you won the lottery,
what’s the first thing
you’d buy?
I would probably buy my
dad a sailboat. We used to
have a place in Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin, and he would
always go to the lake and
look at the sailboats and say
how much he loved them.
What’s something most
people don’t know
about you?
This might sound weird,
but I really hate ketchup.
I’ve hated it for so long. Last
year the basketball team
would always mess with me
about it. I don’t like ketchup
and any other sauce. Everything
I eat is plain with no
dressing or anything.
Who would be alongside
you in your dream
starting five?
Skylar Diggins, Steph
Curry, Serena Williams and
Beyoncé.
Interview by Editor James
Sanchez
Underclassmen have been having a streak
of good fortune when it comes to the Athlete
of the Month competition.
Andrew High School sophomore Luc Valdez
claimed the February title, and in March
Lincoln-Way West freshman Taylor Gugliuzza
earned the most votes to take up the
mantle of 22nd Century Media Southwest
Chicago’s Athlete of the Month.
The varsity girls basketball standout — she
picked up notable points, steals, assists and
blocks when starting point guard Emily Atsinger
got hurt — earned the most votes in a
pool of Athlete of the Week candidates from
February.
The Athlete of the Month competition pits
featured Athlete of the Week selections from
our south suburban newspapers against one
another in an online voting contest.
The next contest is to begin Monday, April 10.
To vote, visit NewLenoxPatriot.com,
hover over the “Sports” menu tab and click
“Athlete of the Month.” Readers can vote
once per session per valid email address.
Voting ends at 5 p.m. April 25.
All athletes featured in the March Athlete
of the Week sports interviews are automatically
entered into the contest.
Lincoln-Way West freshman Taylor
Gugliuzza earned the most votes to be
named 22nd Century Media Southwest
Chicago’s March 2017 Athlete of the Month.
22nd Century Media File Photo
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Contact
Lora Healy
708.326.9170 ext. 31
l.healy@22ndcenturymedia.com