Sports Boosters group names Athletes of the Month

The Calhoun High School Sports Boosters Association recently announced its December Athletes of the Month. They are Samantha Baldauf and Nick Abbene.

Baldauf has been a distance runner on Calhoun's winter and spring track teams for the past four years. During this time, she has earned All-Conference and All-Division honors, as well as helped the team to Division Championship titles.

As a team captain, Baldauf “provides a wonderful example to the younger team members, both on the track and in the classroom,” according to the Sports Boosters Association.

In addition to running winter and spring track, she is a four-year member of Calhoun's volleyball team (three years on varsity) and is actively involved with the school's Athlete Helping Athletes program. Baldauf is also a member of National Honor Society, Languages Other Than English, math and science honor societies. To date, she has been accepted at the University of Massachusetts, Roger Williams University, Adelphi University, Towson University, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Cortland, and is awaiting word from the University of Delaware. In addition to continuing to run in college (on or separate from her school's team), Baldauf plans to major in education in college

Abbene is captain of the Bellmore-Merrick Bulldogs, playing all four years on varsity. “He is a leader in every sense of the word,” according to the Sports Boosters Association. “ Nick is the definition of what a student athlete should be, in that he is both a wonderful student and tremendous player.” In the Bulldogs' first ten games, he netted 23 goals and led the team to a 7-2-1 record.

Abbene also plays lacrosse and is a member of the Students Against Destructive Decisions Club. He is evaluating his options for college, where he hopes to continue playing hockey.