By Nick Brockman, Messenger Sports Reporter, nbrockman@the-messenger.com
Once co-captains at Madisonville-North Hopkins, swimmers Maggie Davenport and Daniel Porter will assume the title again at Transylvania University this season.
Both earned recognition as captains after the team voted for its leaders in April and were approved by the coaching staff.
For Davenport, the nomination came as a bit of surprise. During her first two years at college, Davenport played soccer before making the jump to swimming as a junior last year.
"It was really humbling, the fact that I was picked to be a captain after only a year on the team," she said. "That meant a lot to me that the coaches and the players would think of me that highly."
Porter said he has known Davenport since pre-school and happily takes credit for talking her into shifting her sports focus.
"I finally convinced her to switch over to swimming and I don't think she could be happier actually," Porter said. "Maggie and I have become a lot closer in college and swimming has intensified that."
Davenport agreed and said she made the right decision.
Both earned recognition as captains after the team voted for its leaders in April and were approved by the coaching staff.
For Davenport, the nomination came as a bit of surprise. During her first two years at college, Davenport played soccer before making the jump to swimming as a junior last year.
"It was really humbling, the fact that I was picked to be a captain after only a year on the team," she said. "That meant a lot to me that the coaches and the players would think of me that highly."
Porter said he has known Davenport since pre-school and happily takes credit for talking her into shifting her sports focus.
"I finally convinced her to switch over to swimming and I don't think she could be happier actually," Porter said. "Maggie and I have become a lot closer in college and swimming has intensified that."
Davenport agreed and said she made the right decision.
"It was a pretty big adjustment, but I don't regret the move at all," she said. "I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out, and I think it's a lot better for me this way."
Davenport and Porter represent just two of six former North swimmers now with Transylvania. Claire Dorris, Yunan Yang and Porter's younger twin brothers Joseph and Stephen are also on the squad.
Despite sibling rivarly, Daniel Porter said he believes his brothers were among those voting for him.
"I actually do surprisingly think they voted for me," he said.
Davenport said the familiarity among the former North swimmers breeds comfort and a knowledge of how to motivate each other, as well as other intangibles.
"It's keep us pretty entertained and we get a lot of the hometown gossip that way too," she said.
Daniel Porter, who works as a student orientation leader on campus, said he understands how to work with others and accept the responsibility of a leader.
"First and foremost, you have to have good relations with everyone on the team," he said. "You've got to be the one that steps up in practice and the weight room and just in social life in general because it's college."
Helping teammates maintain focus is a big role as well, Davenport said.
"Our season is the longest in all of the sports, it's just keeping the motivation up and keeping everyone dedicated throughout the season," she said.
Davenport said she plans to incorporate lessons she learned from her predecessors too.
"The previous captains were always really open and you were able to go to them with anything and that helped my transition quite a bit," Davenport said. "That's what I hope to do: to make sure they know they can come to me about anything."
Stocked with years of experience and sage words of advice, Davenport and Porter plan to lead the Pioneers to a successful swim season.
Davenport and Porter represent just two of six former North swimmers now with Transylvania. Claire Dorris, Yunan Yang and Porter's younger twin brothers Joseph and Stephen are also on the squad.
Despite sibling rivarly, Daniel Porter said he believes his brothers were among those voting for him.
"I actually do surprisingly think they voted for me," he said.
Davenport said the familiarity among the former North swimmers breeds comfort and a knowledge of how to motivate each other, as well as other intangibles.
"It's keep us pretty entertained and we get a lot of the hometown gossip that way too," she said.
Daniel Porter, who works as a student orientation leader on campus, said he understands how to work with others and accept the responsibility of a leader.
"First and foremost, you have to have good relations with everyone on the team," he said. "You've got to be the one that steps up in practice and the weight room and just in social life in general because it's college."
Helping teammates maintain focus is a big role as well, Davenport said.
"Our season is the longest in all of the sports, it's just keeping the motivation up and keeping everyone dedicated throughout the season," she said.
Davenport said she plans to incorporate lessons she learned from her predecessors too.
"The previous captains were always really open and you were able to go to them with anything and that helped my transition quite a bit," Davenport said. "That's what I hope to do: to make sure they know they can come to me about anything."
Stocked with years of experience and sage words of advice, Davenport and Porter plan to lead the Pioneers to a successful swim season.
No comments:
Post a Comment