This Week's Student Spotlight: Caitlin Lenihan

School: Senior at Nanuet High School
Age: 16

Caitlin Lenihan has shown true leadership skills as Captain of the Varsity volleyball team for the past two years. This scholar-athlete has been recognized as a standout on the court and track, as well as in the classroom.

Lenihan has been on the Varsity volleyball team since her freshman year. As a sophomore she was named All-League. Her junior year she was named All-County, Super 70 and voted MVP of the team.

As the fall sports season is in full swing, there is one game she is looking forward too.

"This year I look forward to playing Pearl River because there is always a rivalry between Nanuet and Pearl River in every sport, and to say we beat Pearl River feels great. One memorable game is when we played Pearl River my sophomore year and won. It was a very close game, and we had to go to five games, best out of five. We won three out of the five games, and took the win," said Lenihan.

Playing a varsity sport for three seasons during the school year requires a tremendous amount of discipline and time management. Lenihan handles the balance of school work and sports with ease.

She has been on the Varsity track team in both winter and spring, receiving accolades in both:

• Winter Track—junior year she was All-League Honorable mention, and also went to the Nationals meet and ran the 800 meter leg in the SMR.

• Spring Track—freshmen and sophomore years she was All-County Honorable mention.  All Section Sophomore year.  Junior year she was also All Section, and All-County Honorable mention. Her freshmen, sophomore and junior years she attended the State meets in spring track as the alternate of the 4x800 meter relay.

"A memorable track meet I had was my Junior year, in the sectional meet in spring track. I was in the pentathlon which is five events: hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and the 800 meter run. I was in the lead in the first four events, but I didn't have a big lead. In order to win, I had to come in first in the 800. On the last lap a girl from Pearl River passed me, but I knew I couldn't let her win. I passed her on the last turn and sprinted to the finish line to take gold in the pentathlon."

Lenihan has a big year ahead of her. Her success in both sports has grown each year and her senior year is gearing up to be spectacular. Not only is she an exceptional athlete but in the classroom she is a standout student.

Throughout high school she has been on high honor roll.  She is a member of the National Honor Society as well as the Foreign Language Honor Society. Since freshman year she has been in English honors. This year she is currently taking AP English and AP Spanish.

With a full course load and as leader on the volleyball court, there isn't much time to spare. Lenihan manages her time so that she is able to participate in other clubs as well as volunteer.

She is a member of Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse (VAASA), Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) and the Irish Heritage Club. Lenihan also volunteers at the Children of Promise Stable (COPS) Barn in Nanuet.

"COPS Barn is a therapeutic horse back riding barn for kids. At the barn the kids work on numbers, colors, reading/letters as well as learning the proper way to ride a horse. I volunteer there as a side walker, and make sure the kids are safe on the horse."

Lenihan plans on attending college next year and is currently going through the application process trying to decide where she will go and what she will study. Playing volleyball or running track is an option that she is also keeping open.

As her seasons progress, be sure to keep an eye out for this scholar athlete as she is destined for great accomplishments this year and beyond.

Best of luck Caitlin Lenihan in volleyball, track and school. Great job!

Author's note: This is the last Student Spotlight column. It's been a great adventure writing about the super people in our community. Until next time, goodbye.

Editor's note: Helene has done an amazing job with this column. In the meantime, please send all future student and community spotlight recommendations to Kim@Patch.com