Maples select Cree, Rush
Dylan Rush is Mapletown's fall male selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Makenzie Cree is Mapletown's fall female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
MAPLETOWN — Dylan Rush and Makenzie Cree are the epitome of scholar-athletes. Both seniors have grade point averages over 4.0 and both are considered one of the best at the sport they participate in.
That made Cree and Rush very deserving choices as Mapletown High School’s fall sports representatives in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Rush is one of the most decorated running backs in Greene County history. He has rushed for over 5,700 yards to crack the WPIAL all-time top 10 and broke the school rushing and scoring records formerly held by Derek Bochna. Against Avella this season, he shattered the WPIAL record for rushing yards in a game with an amazing 524 yards.
He was recently named to the Tri-County South All-Conference team even though he missed the final three games of the season due to injury.
Cree had a fine year in her own right in volleyball. The Lady Maples finished 5-9 in the rugged Section 2-A, but showed they could compete with any team in the section and earned a win over a California squad that reached the WPIAL final four.
Cree was named to the Class 1A Section 2 All-Stars first team and to the All-WPIAL third team as a libero.
The two have great numbers in the classroom, too, as both sport a GPA of 4.3.
“Sometimes people don’t see football players as good students but people need to realize that’s wrong, there are some smart football players out there,” Rush said.
Cree pointed out that a elite GPA doesn’t happen by accident.
“It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights but I put in the effort to do it,” Cree said of how she maintains her high GPA. “You have to be willing to do it.”
Rush and Cree are well-rounded students as well. Rush is the vice president of the National Honor Society of which Cree is also a member. Both students are members of the Future is Mine organization. Cree is also holds a spot on the Mapletown student council.
Both play multiple sports as well. Rush plays shortstop in baseball and Cree plays second base in softball in the spring for Mapletown. Cree is also a cheerleader.
Both point to their fall sports as their favorite to participate in.
“I thought our volleyball season went really well,” Cree said. “We improved as a whole a lot from last year and I think it’s nice being in such a tough section because we get to see good competition all year long, so it really pushes us to do our best. I had a lot of fun playing volleyball my senior year.”
Cree also is on a traveling team.
“I play on a club team through Uniontown, Penn Highland Volleyball,” said Cree. “I made a lot of new friends, so when we played teams like California and Beth-Center, I have friends on those teams, like Kennedy Kuhns at Beth-Center. It’s a lot of fun to meet new people and still get to play the sport you love.”
Cree isn’t sure if she’ll continue her athletic career in college.
“If the opportunity arises, I would like to play volleyball in college, but I’m not sure if that will be an option yet or not,” said Cree, who would like to major in biology.
Rush is leaning to secondary education and math as points of interest in college.
While most see him as a possible collegiate football player, Rush could end up playing baseball at the next level. His accolades in football overshadow an outstanding baseball career. Last season Rush led the entire state in stolen bases and was in the top 10 in batting average.
“I’ve played baseball since I could walk, longer than I played football,” Rush said. “I have been thinking about playing baseball in college. I had been thinking about playing both football and baseball in college.
“We’ll see what happens.”
Rush never foresaw the kind of career he wound up having in football.
“Coming into it I wasn’t thinking any of this would happen,” Rush said. “I was just hoping to help the football team win some games. I never imagined all of this.”
It all went by almost too fast, in Rush’s eyes.
“Whenever I started as a freshman the people that graduated kept telling me to appreciate everything, that I don’t realize how fast it will go,” Rush said. “Well, that’s the truth.
“It’s just crazy how fast it went and everything that’s happened through the four years.”
Mapletown will have a huge void to fill in all areas of its school when Rush and Cree graduate this spring.