Editor’s note: The Times-News will be featuring area student-athletes, one male and one female each time, for their work on the playing field, the classroom and their communities.
Amelia Weaver
Amelia Weaver, 18, is a senior at Western Alamance High School, where she plays tennis, basketball and soccer and has earned a 4.5 grade-point average.
WAHS Athletic Director Sean Quinn, who also is the girls basketball coach, calls Weaver “one of the truest forms of student/athletes you can find.”
“She’s a three-sport athlete who’s lettered in all three for all of her years here. She has a super-high character and strong leadership abilities, he said.
Weaver said she feels her best sport is tennis, in which she is both all-conference and all-region. She is the team captain as well.
“I’ve been playing since I was 10. I love doubles, and we made it to quarterfinals at state my sophomore year. The interaction on the court is so much fun,” Weaver said. “All of the sports I play are team-oriented. I just want to make sure that I don’t let my team down and work hard for myself too.”
She is a member of the National Honor Society and has made the Honor Roll all four years of high school.
“I just want to achieve the highest potential in my classes that I can. I push to get the best grades. I don’t want to let myself or my parents down,” she said.
Outside of school, Weaver said, she reads and likes spending time with her friends and family, but with soccer and basketball going on at the same time, there really isn’t much free time.
After graduation, Weaver will attend Elon University.
“I’m thinking about something in communications, but I’m not sure of my major yet,” she said, noting that her father is the associate dean of the communications department at Elon.
Myles Darroch
Myles Darroch, a 17-year-old senior at Southern Alamance High, plays football and basketball and runs track, has earned a 3.5 GPA and is active in school and the community.
According to SAHS Athletic Director Stephanie Smith, “Myles is a three-sport athlete who contributes in all of them. He works hard all of the time, from practice to game day. If a roll needs filling, he’ll fill it, and do it to the best of his ability.”
Darroch has lettered in all three of his sports his junior and senior years.
On the track, Darroch runs the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and relays. On the football field, he plays safety.
“Track is my best sport, but I love football. Being with my teammates, in the game and in practice, is like being part of a family,” Darroch said. “I have a drive to be better every day. I love to compete, and work to be the best that I can be in all that I do.”
Off the field, Darroch is active in Southern’s award-winning Future Farmers of America program, the Unified Patriots and the Interact Club.
In his free time, Darroch said, he likes to hang out with his friends, but he doesn’t have much time for that with his busy athletic and academic schedules.
“I’d like to play football at the next level. If not, I want to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I would go to ... (Alamance Community College) for two years, and then go into sports medicine. I’m still trying to decide,” he said.
He credits his father for his love of chemistry in school.
“I love to learn new things and try to be a better student in all that I do,” Darroch said. “I’m always up for a challenge. I push myself to complete the goals that I have in my mind to the best of my ability.”