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Cycling for a cure
Freshman Schenck leaves field hockey fans ‘speechless’
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By Rich FisheR It’s kind of funny to ask Lawrence High field hockey coach Megan Errico about prized freshman Talia Schenck, because it’s not the response you would expect from one usually so well-spoken. “She is…she’s just…,” Errico then lets out a frustrated sigh. “Oh, I don’t even know where to start.” The veteran coach wouldn’t mind being at such a loss for words more often, as players like Schenck are as rare as a field hockey game with no whistles. The Cardinals finished the season 10-9. Fourteen games into the season, her 27 goals already shattered the school season record of 22, and she eventually broke the school career record of 35. Both were set in the early 2000s. What’s even more impressive is that Schenck is not surprising herself, as her experience includes U.S. Futures and club field hockey, along with numerous tournaments, camps and clinics. Entering high school, Schenck knew she was ready. “I receive great coaching, and play against great competition,” she said. “That’s helped prepare me for high school play. I have confidence in my ability and believed that I could break the single season record, although I didn’t see it happenSee SCHENCK, Page 10
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Lawrence resident rides over 500 miles DOWNTOWN TRENTON PATRIOTSWEEK.research COM for WWW. cancer A safe, nurturing environment for loved ones. Page 4
HISTORIC WALKING & BUS TOURS + CANNON FIRING BATTLE REENACTMENTS + THE COLONIAL BALL CONCERTS + KIDS ACTIVITIES + MUSKET DEMOS
Girl Scouts Charley DeMarco and Avery Gallagher conducted a bike safety audit along the Lawrence-Hopewell trail and other township roads as part of their Silver Award project.
Scouts analyze bike trail safety By JenniFeR GoeTZ Friends Avery Gallagher and Charley DeMarco always liked biking to each other’s houses to visit each other. They often take the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, a trail going through Hopewell and Lawrence Township that’s 22-plus miles long. The LHT is connected to Lawrence’s middle school and high school, and is a trail that families, bikers, joggers and walkers can enjoy. Gallagher and DeMarco have loved and used the LHT, but they have also noticed that there is no safe way to cross Princeton Pike or Route 206, and that other nearby roads are
not safe for bikers. The girls, both 12-year-old Lawrence residents, are dedicated to making sure this changes, and that students of both Lawrence middle school and high school can cross these roads safely to visit the other side of town. Since they are girl scouts, DeMarco and Gallagher decided, with the help of their moms, that a biking audit would be a great way to give back to the community for their Girl Scout Silver Award. The Silver Award is a honor given to middle school-aged students that carry out a project to give back to their community. What a biking DECEMBER 2018audit entails is doing a thorough investiga-
tion of the biking path to look for any signs of safety concerns. As for feedback they received about the idea for this project, the girls said that other students were interested in helping out. “People were like, ‘I want to do it,’” said DeMarco. “I feel like a lot of people want to ride to school together.” As a part of their project, the girls looped in members of the community from the Greater Mercer County Sustainability Team, Sustainable Lawrence, the Lawrence Police Department and other local groups. During the biking audits, Lawrence Police were aware that students were See TRAIL, Page 12
If you’ve ever heard the song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers and wondered who exactly would go this distance to accomplish a goal, Scott Rizza has your answer. Every year, Rizza, 52, bikes around 500 miles from New Jersey all the way for Massachusetts in support of cancer treatment and research. He does this by participating in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon starting in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and held around the state, to fundraise for cancer research through the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Pan-Mass Challenge was founded in 1980 by Billy Starr, who has since described the event as “the most successful athletic event in the world.” It features hundreds of miles of biking routes of various intensities that go around the state of Massachusetts. Starr’s claims are backed by solid evidence; in 2017, the PMC fundraised $51 million for the Dana-Farber Institute, a comprehensive cancer research and treatment center and teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, which supported over 12 different divisions and projects within the organization. In 2018, the PMC has around 7,000 participants and the goal of raising $52 million. Though Rizza, a Lawrence resident, is currently an avid biker and passionate participant of the PMC, he didn’t start cycling until ANNUAL REPORT around 20 years ago. “I was a bit TO See RIZZA, Page 9
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