Senior Spotlight: Polgar, Wean and Mowrey

Craig Mogel, who just completed his sixth year as Saucon's head coach, expected more from this year's girls basketball team (12-12). However, he was pleased to notch a 41-28 first-round District XI playoff win over Wilson Area (14-9) on Jan. 22. Not only was it the first playoff win during his tenure at Saucon, but it was also the Panther girls' first post-season win in 12 years. 

Karine Polgar, a senior member of the team, has been a point guard since she began playing basketball as a fourth-grader, and she credits her dad for always being there to encourage her. Her exceptional talent was evident as she played on the JV team as an eighth-grader and started on the varsity team as a ninth-grader. Karine wears #3 and is quite accurate as the team's best 3-point shooter. She made 49 this year and 120 during her career!  

Karine was named Colonial League honorable mention as a sophomore and junior, and this year was named to the Colonial League First Team. A season highlight for her was when she scored 26 points, in Saucon's 57-45 defeat of Dieruff on Jan. 14.

Karine is a member of the National Honor Society, lists math as a favorite subject and considers her favorite food to be cereal. She loves to race BMX bikes and has placed first in the state and third on the east coast as a sponsored rider. If she had had the opportunity, she says . 

Karine will play basketball at Moravian College, where she expects to major in education. She has two older sisters, Keri and Erica, who also played basketball. She is the daughter of Steve and Sue Polgar.

Senior team member Emily Wean was first encouraged by her dad to play basketball when she was in fourth grade. Emily began as a forward in middle school because she was tall, however she never grew any taller, so she moved to playing guard. A season highlight for her was scoring 17 points in the first quarter of a game against Palmerton on Jan. 6.   

In addition to basketball, Emily likes karate and earned her black belt when she was in seventh grade. Emily likes to shop, kickbox, exercise using zumba, and in the summer tan at the family pool. She likes mac 'n cheese, avocados and zucchini.

Her favorite subject is science and she is active in . Emily expects to major in biology at Kutztown University and eventually work in occupational therapy for pediactrics.

Emily has a sister, Molly, and is the daughter of George Wean and Barbara Kutzera.

Senior Jessica Mowrey began playing basketball when she was in second grade. She credits her father for encouraging her to do her best, and says he was always there to help her develop her basketball skills. Jess continued playing basketball through middle school. A low point in her life occured in seventh grade, when she lost her good friend and fellow basketball player Courtney Achey in a tragic car accident.

It was not until she was playing regularly on the JV team as a 10th-grader that she developed inner confidence and realized that she could indeed have success as a basketball player, she says. A season highlight for Jess was scoring 15 points in Saucon's 49-35 win over Northwestern Lehigh on Jan. 21. 

During the basketball season, Jessica served as a mentor at Coach Mogel's weekend workouts, which were designed to teach basketball basic skills to elementary and middle school players .

In addition to basketball, she has played an outfield position on the softball team, and this season she will be playing at either short stop or third base.

Jessica's favorite subject is history and she loves eating a good pizza. She would like to major in early childhood education at a school yet to be determined. During the summer she looks forward to her family's vacation at  either Ocean City, Maryland, the Outer Banks of North Carolina or a beach in New Jersey.

She has an older brother, Steven, and a younger sister, Gillian. She is the daughter of Russell and Ann Mowrey. 

Coach Mogel summed it up best, when he said the following of Polgar, Wean and Mowrey: "They are great young ladies and I will miss them in my program."