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About The Cover

GLORY DAYS 2020 General Contact Information Phone: 856-336-2600 Email: advertising@acglorydays.com Publisher Dave O’Sullivan Email: sully@acglorydays.com @GDsullysays on Twitter Contributors Amy D’Adamo, graphic design Mark Trible, special football writer Larry Henry Jr., contributing writer

laudia McCarthy recently finished up a 50-year field hockey coaching career at Millville High School, her alma mater, and she leaves as one of the nation’s winningest coaches with more than 600 victories. But the wins don’t come close to surpassing the impact she’s had on generations of young women in South Jersey. Click on over to Page 10 of this digital edition to read our fitting tribute to one of the greatest coaches in New Jersey history! Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher

Story Idea? Email sully@acglorydays.com or direct message Sully on Twitter, @GDSullysays

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headlines u PRESENTED BY BUNTING FAMILY PHARMACY u u No. 1 in South Jersey One thing the weird COVID-19 season allowed for was a true South Jersey champion in football, as the West Jersey Football League scheduled its own postseason that featured four teams in each of the four pods. The top pod came down to Holy Spirit vs. Lenape for the right to be called the best in South Jersey, and Spirit did what it had all season, leaning on senior running back Patrick Smith (pictured) and a stingy defense to secure a 21-7 victory. Spirit finished the year 8-0 and Smith turned in an allstate performance with more than 1,700 yards and 16 touchdowns, eclipsing 4,000 yards in his career in the process. u Soccer stars There were many players who made their impact on the pitch this fall, including some household names such as Faith Slimmer from Ocean City and Ahmad Brock from Egg Harbor Township. But there were some other breakout stars as well. The Wokocha sisters, Chiamaka and Ikechi, helped spark Absegami to one of

its best recent seasons, as the Braves advanced all the way to the sectional final before running into a powerful Ocean City team. Kavan Houck, a senior at Cedar Creek, scored nine goals in 11 games and added five assists to help lead the Pirates into the Southwest C, Group 2 final against West Deptford. Asembo Augo of Oakcrest began making headlines last season and that carried over into the 2020 campaign, as he

racked up 21 goals and six assists to help lead the Falcons to a 10-2-1 record and a spot in the sectional semis. Teammate Colin Veltri, a junior, added 12 goals and a whopping 20 assists. Junior striker Jayda Shehadi did it all for the Oakcrest girls team, racking up 15 goals and 12 assists to help lead the Falcons to 10 wins and a sectional championship.

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SENIOR SPOTLIGHT JADEN ALLEN

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP

FOOTBALL

LB/TE

Making a name for himself Washington Township’s Jaden Allen playing his way out of the shadow of older brother Julian By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer aden Allen, a senior tight end and defensive end at Washington Township High School, has some pretty big shoes to fill. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound NFL kind, to be exact. Allen’s older brother, Julian, played college football at Southern Mississippi before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2018. Jaden Allen recently finished up his senior season with the Minutemen and is committed to Utah State University, and said he hopes to follow his brother’s path to the NFL someday. He said he began his high school career as a tall, skinny kid, but knew eventually he’d fill out, just like his older brother, who is now 26 years old, did. “I wouldn’t say I felt pressure, but I always made it a goal for myself to follow in his footsteps, take in all the things he did to help his career and make myself better. He and I have been training together for a while now, and seeing the things he did helped set me up on a good path,” Allen said. “I knew that from seeing older kids that you’re going to grow throughout high school, and you get into the weight training program and stuff like that. So, I knew size would be put on. I felt like I had a lot of potential (when I started high school). My freshman year had a very positive impact on me and created a lot of confidence, just getting that first year under my belt and seeing what high school football was like. It was a great year for me. I played freshman football and played a few JV games toward the end of the year. The last game we dressed for varsity, against Williamstown on Thanksgiving. It was a little intimidating but it was an awesome experience getting to see it first-hand on the sideline.” “He’s a big boy and a good athlete. He comes from a football family. His brother graduated in 2012 and had a little bit of a different high school career. He was a tall, lanky freshman, a third-string kid, junior

Glory Days photo/Sully

Jaden Allen may have started his high school football career at Washington Township High as a skinny freshman, but now he’s 6-foot-3, 220 pounds and an NCAA Division I recruit. year he broke his wrist, so he didn’t really play for us until his senior year and then ended up going to Lackawanna before transferring to Southern Miss, and got picked up by the Browns. Jaden is kind of a different breed. He was similar to his brother as a freshman, tall and lanky, but he has probably put on about 85 pounds over the last four years. He’s been a three-year guy for us on both sides of the ball as a tight end and defensive end,” said Township head coach Mike Schatzman. “This year he’s really come into his own. He’s very confident and very athletic for his size. He has the strength, the size and the speed to be able to disrupt things defensively, and offensively, he’s a bear to get down for average secondary kids. He looks the part, that’s for sure, and he’s really worked on his game the past couple of years.

I wouldn’t say he’s naturally gifted where he’s been dominating since his youth days, he’s more of a guy who has continually gotten better by putting in a ton of work. “(As a freshman) the pedigree was there and the potential was there, and we saw glimpses of it,” Schatzman continued. “He had that frame we knew was going to fill out once we got him into the weight room on a more consistent basis. But it’s been not only the things he’s done with us in the offseason but what he’s done on his own, and that has separated him from being a good player to being a really good player.”

See Allen, page 9

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Dec. 1, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 9 Allen, from page 6 Four years ago, Allen didn’t even garner a mention on the Washington Township football varsity roster. But he knew if he worked hard and put the time in, eventually he’d get his shot. And he began to see early on that he was on the right track. “Going into my sophomore year I was repping the twos, second-team on defense, leading up to our first game. And I noticed that during practice I was showing out — I was giving my teammates work. I was on the scout defense going up against the starting offense, and I could see myself excelling every day in practice, getting off blocks and making tackles,” he said. “And I was just a 170-pound sophomore playing defensive end. Inside my mind I felt like I was doing well, I could hold my own and I belonged at this level. It was all about just building confidence, and once I built confidence I just put my head down and kept working.” What’s even more impressive than Allen’s size now of 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds is the ownership he and his fellow seniors have taken to start putting

the building blocks in place for a more competitive football program at Washington Township. Three years ago the Minutemen were just 2-8, but this year, despite being just 2-2 in limited game action, they showed signs of taking things to the next level. They beat Shawnee and Eastern and only lost by one score to a very good Kingsway team that was ranked in Glory Days Magazine’s Best 11 earlier in the year. “I love every second of this. I love being under those Friday night lights. We’ve taken our lumps throughout the years, but this year we had something special going on,” Allen said. “The leadership on this team and getting everybody bought in has been great. This year, the team we have is so different than in past years. Everybody bought in and we wanted to win, bad. I think about this program every day. I set a goal for myself freshman year that I wanted to leave this program better than when I found it.” That has been the mantra for not only Allen, but the entire program under Schatzman and his staff. Leave the program better than you found it. Sounds simple, but it echoes a long-term com-

mitment to doing the little things that it takes to become a winning program. He’ll no doubt bring that same attitude to the next level, where he projects as a tight end. “Overall, I’m just a football player, and I know you hear that a lot from other kids. I love defense, I really do, and I feel defense comes more naturally to me, but I just love the game, honestly,” Allen said. “I’m super excited (for college). I’m focused on finishing out my senior year strong, leaving this program better than when I found it, setting the young guys up for success next season, but I can’t wait to get out (to Utah State) and get to work. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.” “He’s a great kid, a high character kid. He’s a captain for us and he’s very good around the guys. He has good energy about him and he’s a humble kid. He does all the right things. Teachers love having him in class. He’s probably more mature than a normal 17- or 18-year-old,” said Schatzman, who said Allen was also recruited by the likes of Navy, Army, Temple and Connecticut. “He’s definitely a Division I football

player. He has all the intangibles.” Allen, who recently turned 18 years old, said he’s going to miss his time in the Minutemen program, which has made a profound impact on his life. “The relationships and the bonds you create, (high school football) truly is a brotherhood. You’re around the coaches every day and we look at them as father figures. Being able to have people like that in your corner is an awesome feeling. It’s sad to think about (my career ending) but we just have to make the most of it. We’re blessed to be able to play football this year under the circumstances and we’re just trying to make the most of it,” Allen said. “Township is a great school and I’ve created some relationships in this town that will last a lifetime. Everything about it, it’s a great school, and the football program — say what you want, we’ve taken our lumps, but we have something special going on. This school has it all, a great weight room, two turf fields, great equipment. We’re going to be a great program soon.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

Allen, a tight end and defensive end, has committed to Utah State and also was recruited by the likes of Army, Navy, Temple and UConn. Glory Days photo/Sully

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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY

50 years, countless memories Millville field hockey coach Claudia McCarthy has made quite an impact on South Jersey high school sports during her illustrious career By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ime travel hasn’t been invented yet, and it still won’t be long after Claudia McCarthy has left this Earth. But on a cool November day a few weeks ago, the legendary Millville High field hockey coach got to take a stroll down memory lane in a unique way that few prep coaches ever will. After the final whistle of a late-season home game, former players lined the field from end to end, and coach McCarthy — who retired this season after 50 years of coaching field hockey at Millville — started greeting players, beginning with her 2020 team and ending with graduates from the early 1970s. And, waiting at the end of that line of admirers was McCarthy’s family, which has continued to grow in the five decades since she first put a coach’s whistle around her neck at the tender age of 22 in 1971. “Everybody had a shirt that said, ‘I played in the McCarthy era of 1971 to 2020.’ The people who could make it came to that game, and at the end they lined up from one end of the field to the other according to their year of graduation. I started out with my 2020 team, and as I walked down, the people got older and older until I got to people who had gray hair. It was so cool, just walking down and saying hi to people,” McCarthy said. “Some people had traveled from more than an hour away. It was really neat. And at the very end of the line was my whole family — my kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, cousins — and they said, ‘now you’ve come to the end, and here’s your family that you’re going to be able to spend a whole lot more time with. It was a really nice ceremony, and that’s something I’ll never forget. “People put the videos up on Facebook, and you know how when you put something on Facebook people share it and comment on it? All night long I was reading comments, really, really nice things people were saying, how they remember the season they played and all the good memories,” she continued. “It’s something they’ll never forget, playing field hockey for Millville, and it just felt good reading all those comments.” McCarthy’s numbers are worthy of any and every

Glory Days photos/Sully

Claudia McCarthy is one of the winningest high school field hockey coaches in the nation, having racked up more than 600 victories during her 50-year career. kind of hall-of-fame there is in South Jersey. She finished her career with 610 wins and a winning percentage well north of 60 percent. Her coaching style always has been to get the best out of every girl who comes out for the team, and in an age when “recruiting” is rampant at the high school level, McCarthy has never tried to lure a great athlete away from another school. Whatever names are on the sign-up sheet in August, that’s who she’s going to coach, and she’s going to do her best to turn that group into a championship contender. This season offered a prime example of why McCarthy has been such a good coach for so long. Through graduation and a player moving away, the

Thunderbolts were left without a single goalie on the roster. What did McCarthy do? She took a field player, taught her how to be a goalie, and led her team into the playoffs — again. Their run came to an end against Mainland Regional in the sectional quarterfinals, but even the Mustangs knew they were up against a tough team even if sophomore goalie Lily Mahabir didn’t have much experience. “It’s tough to play against them because she’s such an experienced coach,” said Mainland captain Jules Medina. “I think it’s great for them to have a coach

See Memories, page 11

Dec. 1, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 11 Memories, from page 10 for that long, and it’s a little intimidating when you see a coach who is that good.” “I enjoy coaching, I enjoy taking my team in the summer and molding them into a team that works well together. I love the challenge. Millville doesn’t always get the best athletes; people don’t move to Millville to play field hockey. I’ve never had an incoming transfer who made a difference on our teams. But my philosophy is that every school, every town needs a coach who is dedicated, loves the sport and is willing to work with the girls — it’s my philosophy, and I’ve always held true to it, that I coach the hand I’m dealt. Whatever we have, we make a team and work with them. They may not all have the best abilities, but we mold them into a team,” McCarthy said. “This year, we came into the season without a goalie. Our goalie coming up from JV moved to another state, so we had nobody. I didn’t have one single goalie on our team this year, so I took a field player

who was willing to give it a try and we worked with her and developed her in practice the best we could. I thought she did a great job, and I love that challenge, to be able to mold somebody and develop them. She’s a sophomore and she’s getting better, and whoever takes my job is going to have a good goalie for the next two years. That’s the kind of stuff I love, working with the girls and making our team the best we can make it with the girls we have.” Throughout the years, family has been a constant in McCarthy’s life, and the Millville field hockey program. McCarthy raised three sons and a daughter while teaching and coaching; she coached her own younger sister, Nancy, during her first year of coaching in 1971; she coached her daughter and several granddaughters, and has even more grandkids coming up through the ranks who no doubt will make an impact in South Jersey sports as they get older. “I’ve really enjoyed playing for her.

See Memories, page 13

Dec. 1, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 13 Memories, from page 11 She never really yells, she just talks to us after the game. She’s a very happygo-lucky coach and it’s a very different atmosphere than my club team. She has a love for the game and her players, and treats everyone equally,” said Casey Etter, a Millville senior this year and one of McCarthy’s granddaughters. “I thought she was going to retire when my older sister, Corrine, was done, but then she said she was going to stick it out for me. I really enjoyed that and I’ve really enjoyed playing for her. She’s a legend. Everyone knows her. If we go out to a store or go out to eat everyone knows her and is saying hi and everyone is talking to her.” McCarthy graduated early from what is now The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College) in December of 1970, and on her 22nd birthday, Feb. 1, 1971, she landed a teaching job and was immediately inserted as the Millville junior varsity girls basketball coach. Times were cer-

tainly different back then. “Lots of rules have changed over the years,” McCarthy explained. “When I first started coaching basketball, we had six players — three forwards and three on defense, and they couldn’t cross the center line, you had to pass the ball over the center line. Then they changed it where you could have a roving forward and a roving defensive player. Finally, it went to the same as the boys were playing, five-on-five.” McCarthy, who also coaches girls lacrosse at Millville, never took a break from coaching even while raising sons Christian, Shaun and James, and daughter Chelsea, and she now boasts nine grandchildren. “I’ve enjoyed it. I’m surprised I made it through (doing this) while raising four children,” she said. “At the time I started, I had a 9-month-old, and every four years I had another child. I spaced them out and always had them in the summer. One was born June 20, one June 24 and one was July 26. I had my babies in the summer and just kept coaching. Never had a maternity leave,

just kept going. I was able to raise them, get them to their babysitters, do everything I had to do, plus coach. It was crazy sometimes.” McCarthy has been coaching for so long now that some of her former players are now grandmothers. The beauty of technology and social media is that nowadays coach McCarthy can remain connected with some of those former players from the 1970s, 80s and 90s and watch their families grow. “One of the things I really enjoy is some of the former players who I’ve stayed in contact with through Facebook, I get to see them get married, become parents and be involved with their children, and I think that’s really cool,” coach McCarthy said. “I’ve met a lot of people in 50 years of coaching and teaching, and I hope through that I’ve influenced some of their lives, because they have certainly given me a lot of memories and influenced my life.” McCarthy shouldn’t spend much time wondering if she has influenced the lives of people in South Jersey.

She’s an icon among South Jersey high school sports, right up there with the likes of Mainland’s Bob Coffey, St. Joseph’s Paul Sacco, St. Augustine Prep’s Paul Rodio, Paulsboro’s Paul Morina, Absegami’s Gene Barber, Danyle Heilig of Eastern and Moorestown’s Deanna Knobloch. “The longer you have coaches, it does great things for the program. It builds history and makes everything more special. She’s had her daughters play for her and her granddaughters play for her. It’s commendable, to say the least. She just loves it. She’s one of those people who was born and raised in Millville and her heart is in that town,” said current Mainland field hockey coach Jill Hatz. “It’s amazing. I told her, I’m in season 12 and I can’t imagine coaching for 38 more. She’s been around for so long in field hockey and lacrosse and it’s been an honor to coach against her. I kind of want to ask her for her autograph.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

Coach McCarthy led a Millville team that didn’t even have a goalie at the start of the season to the sectional quarterfinals this fall. Glory Days photo/Sully

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SENIOR CAPTAIN / CASEY BIGLAN, EHT SOCCER

Holding the line Biglan anchored Eagles’ defense throughout stellar 4-year career By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer t hasn’t been easy to score goals against the Egg Harbor Township girls soccer team the past couple of years. Of the 64 games the Eagles have played the past four seasons, only 11 times have they ceded more than two goals in a game, and seven of those occasions came against Ocean City and Haddonfield, two of the best teams in South Jersey. Against all other competition, EHT has allowed more than two goals in just four of 57 games. And in the past four years, 32 of EHT’s 39 wins have come via shutout. A big reason for that success has been Casey Biglan. She, along with players like Megan Maul, Kristen Semet and Nicole Danz, came in as freshman and began making a big impact for coach Christian Wiech’s squad. “We’ve been lucky that we’ve had not only Casey Biglan, but Megan Maul, as four-year varsity starters. Megan was an outside back when she was a freshman, then transitioned into the middle with Casey and the two of them are dynamic together. We broke the record last year for shutouts (in a season) with 12 and you can see the kind of play Casey commands the field with,” Wiech said. “Megan and Casey both had the mentality and maturity as players that we had no reservations (about starting them as a freshmen). Back then they were playing alongside Siani Magruder, and we had a solid back four with them and Emily Rudolph. I had full confidence in them as freshmen and it’s been such a luxury the last four years knowing that I have the two of them back there.” “We’ve been playing since we were nuggets, and it’s sad to see it com-

Glory Days file photo/Sully

Senior central defender Casey Biglan helped Egg Harbor Township record more than 30 shutout victories during her four-year varsity career. ing to an end, but it’s been amazing to play soccer with my best friends,” Semet said after a recent win. “We all started freshman year; Nikki just broke the (career scoring) record and she’s been a key staple for us at forward. But she couldn’t just do it by herself, there’s Casey and Megan in the back and they’ve been playing since freshman year and they really hold the line.

It’s a team effort, from Nikki up front to Casey in the back, we’re solid.” Egg Harbor Township has been right up there in the conversation among the top teams in the Cape-Atlantic League along with the likes of Mainland Regional and Millville, all chasing Ocean City, the 2019 Group 3 state champion and one of the top teams in the state. Biglan said playing those types of

teams was a little intimidating when she was a 14-year-old freshman. “I have a vivid memory freshman year against Mainland, we were away and there were so many fans who came to watch. I remember looking at Megan and we were both like, ‘holy crap,

See Biglan, page 17

Shore Hardware has you covered!

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Dec. 1, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 17 Biglan, from page 14 this is so real.’ And now, playing games like that as a senior, we just hope we can finish the year strong, Biglan said after a midseason game against Atlantic City. “This is my favorite time of the year and it’s something that has grown me into the player that I am, and I hope I can continue my career at the collegiate level. Starting from freshman year, when it was me, Nikki, Kristen and Megan, to continue all four years having them by my side — and now the rest of the girls we’ve grown up with to finish our senior year — it’s something I’ll never forget.” “Casey has been playing soccer with me since I was 8 years old and she’s always been a standout center back. She’s been the rock of our program. She gets recognition, but she deserves so much more. She’s so strong and really sets the tone in the back. She’s been an amazing four-year varsity starter,” Danz said. “It’s important to have that because you need someone to keep the defense in line. You have to have some-

one who is willing to step up and hold everyone in front of them accountable to make sure that the ball doesn’t get through the defensive line.” Biglan’s high school soccer career came to an end in November, and she’ll leave the program having gone 39-20-5 during her four-year career. She said she hopes she has made an impact on the underclassmen in the program. “It’s a hard reality to realize how old I’m getting and that my involvement in this sport is going to have to end sometime, so I’m just trying to have fun and remember everything I can because I’m playing with some great girls, and I hope to be friends with them for the rest of my life,” she said. “I hope that if the younger girls take anything from me, I hope they remember to have fun and that we all want the same things — to come out with the win, to have fun and to create memories. If we do that and people remember that it’s a team sport, that will help this program continue to be successful.” Wiech said Biglan doesn’t need to doubt that she made an impact with the younger girls on the team.

“That’s cultivated in our program for four years with all these girls. The seniors did the same thing with her. We have a lot of mentoring programs in place, from our youth camps in the summer where we have the seniors counsel, we have different big sister-little sister mentoring programs we do with our JV program, so we give them an opportunity to become leaders,” he said. “A lot of the time they do step up, and Casey is a prime example of that.” Now is a time for reflection for all the seniors who play fall sports, and Biglan said she has a bit of advice for her younger self, if time travel were a thing. “I would probably tell my younger self to be confident,” she said. “I remember being pretty intimidated. Coming in (to varsity) as a freshman is hard, but to see where I am now, and looking at the freshmen now and seeing how close we’ve gotten with them, I just tell them to remember to be themselves and be confident, and enjoy every day.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

With Biglan leading the way, the EHT girls soccer team averaged nearly 10 wins per year the past four years, as during her career the Eagles posted a 39-20-5 record. Glory Days file photo/Sully

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SENIOR CAPTAIN / NYA GILCHRIST, OCEAN CITY FIELD HOCKEY

Untapped potential Ocean City star forward just now scratching the surface, both on and off the field By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer hen Nya Gilchrist moved to Ocean City in seventh grade, she wasn’t even really into sports and had never even held a field hockey stick in her hands. Just six short years later, she may have the opportunity to play field hockey at the collegiate level after recently finishing off an outstanding Ocean City High career that not only included another sectional championship for the Red Raiders, but also saw Gilchrist get named as the school’s homecoming queen. “I wasn’t really into sports when I moved from Raleigh, North Carolina, to here. When I moved here, the field hockey team was going through playoffs, and I was like, ‘oh, I want to play this sport,’” said Gilchrist, who worked her way up from junior varsity as a sophomore to a captain’s role her senior year. “It’s really different there as opposed to here and the transition was really hard. But it’s OK now because I’m involved in a lot of things and I feel like I have a positive outlook on my future, so I’m very happy that I made the move.” With Gilchrist in the starting lineup the past two years the Red Raiders have begun to get back to the lofty standards they’ve had for decades. Kelsey Mitchell, a former star at Eastern High and the University of Iowa, took over the program four years ago and after a pedestrian 14-8 record (by Ocean City

Glory Days photo/Sully

Senior forward Nya Gilchrist was one of the leading scorers for Ocean City this season, racking up 12 goals and four assists in 14 games. standards) her first year, the Red Raiders have started winning championships again. In the past three seasons, Ocean City has gone 47-12-1 and won two sectional championships and three straight Cape-Atlantic League conference titles. A lot of that has to do with players such as Gilchrist, who come up through the program, bide their time and when they get the chance to start on varsity they are ready for the opportunity. “She had a great season last year, kind of a breakout year as a forward. She put a lot of time in during the offseason (before last year), she joined some club stuff and was able to play

more year-round, and I think that really improved her game and her skill set,” Mitchell said of one of her star playmakers. “Her hustle is second-to-none. She’s relentless on the ball, tackling back, and her speed really helps set her apart from the defenders she’s going up against. She’s super athletic. She had a lot of untapped potential. Her skills were really raw freshman year and she was just getting acclimated to field hockey, but once she made that commitment to pursue it in the offseason, that’s when we saw a lot of improvement.” Ocean City went 12-2 this season, its only losses coming to state powers

Haddonfield and Shore Regional. Gilchrist got off to a hot start, scoring seven goals in the first four games, and she finished with 12 goals and four assists. Her best tally came in October with 19 seconds left against Middle Township, and it helped the Red Raiders score a 1-0 victory. Even now, Gilchrist says she is surprised at how far she has come since moving to New Jersey to live with her father. “(Learning the game) was very hard because Ocean City field hockey is a tradition and everyone takes it seri-

See Potential, page 20

Page 20 w Glory Days Magazine w Dec. 1, 2020 Potential, from page 18 ously. I was behind (when I started) but I adjusted very quickly. I just believed that I had a lot of athleticism and I felt like that was my advantage. I’ve been known for my speed and I’ve been able to incorporate that into field hockey, so I guess athleticism was my gateway to catch up to the other girls, in a way,” she said. “I’m in total shock at how much I’ve grown, both on and off the field. The biggest impact has been the group of people I share the sport with. Having teammates who have the same interests and work just as hard as you made me feel like I could do it, too, and that’s why I push myself so much.” Gilchrist credits Mitchell and the coaching staff with helping her develop into the leader she is today. “Coach Mitchell knows how to work well with you individually, and she nurtures you and helps you when you need it. She helps me get out of my own head a lot. Learning from her is awesome because

she has (the pedigree) from Eastern and then Iowa in college, so she knows the different levels of play and she knows everyone’s potential,” Gilchrist said. “I view my role as captain to keep everyone motivated and get everyone hyped up, and also people can come to me about anything. Being a captain means people can come to me when they are having issues with field hockey, or anything, really. And that feels good to know I’m in a position where I can help people. It’s crazy, because I was never expecting to be a captain of any type of sports team, and it just happened. It’s such an honor, knowing what Ocean City field hockey is, and being a captain is big for me.” With the hockey season over, Gilchrist can now concentrate in earnest on finding the right fit for college, and she said she’d love to continue her playing career at the next level if the opportunity presents itself. “She’s awesome, just a great kid overall. She’s talkative and friendly. I love having her on the team.

Nya and Chelsea Stack were involved (with homecoming). They had to do a video (as part of the selection process) and instead of competing against each other, they did the video together, which I thought was pretty neat,” Mitchell said. “Playing in college is something that’d definitely attainable for her, we just have to figure out where.” “I do want to play at the next level. I did get a little behind in the recruiting process, but it’s been going pretty well. I’m looking at a few schools and plan to commit in the coming months,” Gilchrist said. “I want to study early education. I have two little sisters, Kaelyn (4 years old) and Eva (5), and during quarantine I had to help them learn things. Being involved with them and their learning has inspired me to become a teacher and teach little kids. That’s what I love to do.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays

Gilchrist helped lead the Red Raiders to a 12-2 record that included a thrilling win over Egg Harbor Township in the sectional championship. Glory Days photo/Sully

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