UPrep prides itself on sending its students to top-tier academic colleges, but does the school environment push student-athletes to perform at their fullest potential too?

University Prep’s environment promotes experiments and stretching potential in the classroom, but are these same attributes being applied on the field?

Some of the success of UPrep athletes stems from our no-cut policy. In many big schools, those who don’t make the team are cut, promoting a competitive environment. How does the no cut policy affect competition between UPrep athletes?

Sophomore Owen Morgan plays basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring. “[I believe] that the no cut policy is good for UPrep. UPrep is a very inclusive school and everyone should be able to play sports if they want to,” Morgan said.   

The athletic talents of students often shine in high school, but academics are UPrep student’s primary focus in terms of getting into college. Many students don’t believe that  athletics is a possible path to college.

Athletic Director Rebecca Moe believes that “The college counseling office does a great job of identifying where students might want to go, mainly in terms of academics, and then looking at how sports could fit into those schools.” The Athletic Department supports UPrep’s academic environment, but also wants to promote athletics in the college decision process.

While many seniors search for an academically challenging college, others look for good athletic programs. “We do have some Division 1 players. We had a girl play soccer at Penn, and Jackson Ragen signed with the University of Michigan,” Moe said.

Keeping these high performance athletes in mind, Moe wants to build and expand the program. “This year Mr. Herrington and I and going to go visit some of the schools of UPrep alumni student athletes,” she said. The mission of the trip is to see how UPrep can best support the students here who want to pursue college athletics.

College counselor Kelly Herrington, explained that there are a lot of different aspects that go into the process of finding a school that suits the student.

However, Herrington still prioritizes academics over athletic programs. “Students need to pick a school where the academics are first, because you never know what could happen athletically. The coach could leave, you could become injured, and ultimately it is the academic experience you are going to take with you for the rest of your life,” he said.  

Senior Jack Katzman is a state level tennis player, who was offered scholarships to schools such as Gonzaga, Wesley, and Claremont McKenna, and has accepted the offer from Claremont McKenna. “There was a lot of support from the college counseling office to find a school where I would be academically and athletically challenged,” Katzman said.

By Gus Coluccio