The ECHO, March 2024

echhsechoonline.com SPORTS 12
Gallery: The best of East’s spring sports
Featured: Boys’ Golf, Boys’ Lacrosse, Girls’ Lacrosse, Baseball and Girls’ Soccer
Athlete Spotlight
Graham Jones/The ECHO and courtesy of Itza Espinosa-Porras and Phil Stapleton
Griffin Galloway
Boy's Lacrosse
Hannah Johnson
Girl's Lacrosse
Kate Hylton
Track & Field
Atali Shaw
Softball
Junior Griffin Galloway has
been playing lacrosse since the
second grade, starting his love
for the sport nine years ago,
advancing with many different
club lacrosse teams including
his current one, Team America.
Galloway’s first interest
in lacrosse started as just an
opportunity to have fun and
compete with his friends, but
now as a third-year varsity
athlete, he is planning on
continuing his athletic career
in college.
Galloway's proudest athletic
accomplishment was winning
offensive MVP his previous
season as a sophomore. That
year he scored 27 goals along
with 55 assists.
“Our season is off to a good
start; we are expecting to win
conference championships and
make it to the playoffs. We
have a lot of new guys and I'm
looking forward to the rest of the
season,” Galloway said.
Varsity girls’ lacrosse player,
junior Hannah Johnson, has
had a passion for lacrosse since
she was five years old. Inspired
by the long line of lacrosse
players in her family, she was
brought up with the sport as an
active part of her life. Johnson
committed to William &Mary
University in September.
“My proudest moment in my
entire career was committing.
I put in a lot of hard work and
training, and now it feels like
that's been recognized,” Johnson
said.
Johnson also plays for the
East girl’s lacrosse team, which
has helped her take a leadership
role and guide new girls on the
team.
“Teaching the new girls
on the team has helped me to
become more like a leader and
be patient,” Johnson said.
The East girls lacrosse team
has had a strong start to the
season and is 5-0 as of March 18.
Jake Kent
Boy's Golf
For varsity golfer Jake
Kent, golf is more than just a
sport, it’s a community.
“Within the team,
community is everything,”
Kent, a junior, said. “Coach
Snyder in particular has a lot
of passion for the team.”
Growing up, golf was a
family sport for Kent. He
looked up to his dad who
started Kent on golf very
early in his life. However,
he didn’t get serious about
it until last year. Since then,
he’s won several tournaments
in the 4A Conference, with
an average score of 37 for
9 holes.
“I’ve placed first in pretty
much all of them,” Kent says.
“I’m excited to continue the
season.”
Claire Parker
Girl's Soccer
Girls’ soccer player and
co-captain, Claire Parker,
has been playing soccer for
12 years. As a senior, this is
Parker’s fourth year playing
for East’s varsity team.
“I love the team aspect of
it because it helps you form
really great connections
with people– it’s a really
positive atmosphere and
everyone on the team is
super encouraging,” Parker
said.
Parker plans to continue
playing soccer beyond high
school and has committed to
Haverford College to play
and attend in the fall.
“It’ll definitely be a big
jump but I’m excited,”
Parker said.
After starting to run with her
mom during her quarantined
sixth grade year, sophomore
Kate Hylton has seen an
abundance of benefits from
continuing track and field in
high school.
“There's a lot of ways that you
can train yourself physically as
well as mentally, and both of
those are super important to be
successful,” Hylton said.
Hylton runs the 800 and 400
meter race. Between different
grades, events and levels of
experience, Hylton has been able
to build important relationships
on her track team.
“We all get to train together
and because of that, there's
really no boundaries between the
different grade levels,” Hylton
said.
Hylton hopes to continue
track throughout her high school
career, as well as in college at a
Division III school.
Softball player and senior
Atali Shaw has been playing
the sport since eighth grade,
Shaw is now the captain of the
East softball team. In the first six
games, Shaw’s batting average
was .438.
During practice, it’s easier
to fix mistakes than during
stressful games. Shaw notes
the significant change in
atmosphere.
“Tensions get high and you
make an error and it costs you
a point. Then it's hard to come
back from that as a team,” said
Shaw.
Being captain helped Shaw
navigate these situations.
“It’s helped me improve my
leadership skills and learn how
to work well in a team. It’s also
helped my communication skills
in helping my teammates feel
better about themselves, just
forgetting about the bad parts,”
Shaw said.
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