By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/18/10
Upper Darby senior defenseman Chris Neigh has been named the United Sports Male Scholastic Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
Neigh, a two-year starter, is a captain for a Royals team that qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 24 years. Upper Darby will play a first-round District 1 contest tonight at Central League rival Garnet Valley.
Neigh also has excelled in the classroom. His class rank is 64 out of 910 and he takes Advanced Placement courses in Chemistry and Calculus as well as Honors courses in Anatomy and Physiology.
A member of the Distinguished Honor Roll, Neigh will play lacrosse at Widener University and enter the Bachelor of Science and Medicine program. He hopes one day to become an endocrinologist and work with youngsters that have diabetes.
“I have (Type 1) diabetes and my endocrinologist helped me out,” he said. “I thought what she does was cool and she talked to me about it. I want to help juveniles that have diabetes.”
Neigh, who also plays basketball for his community and church leagues, said balancing academics and athletics means getting to business immediately.
“You just can’t procrastinate,” he said. “It’s just about working hard.”
Neigh’s work ethic is one reason the Royals had a winning record (10-8) for the first time in several years.
“It’s the first time our team has made the playoffs in 24 years,” he said. “We had a few ne faces on defense, a couple juniors and a first-year player, so I was glad to help out as a leader.
“We know we’re the 28th seed in our game, but we just want to work our tails off and keep it close and see what happens.”
