Laurel Highlands selects Laskey, Roscoe
Rachel Roscoe is Laurel Highlands’ winter sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Rachel Roscoe is Laurel Highlands’ winter sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Rachel Roscoe is Laurel Highlands’ winter sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Bryce Laskey is Laurel Highlands’ winter sports male selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Bryce Laskey is Laurel Highlands’ winter sports male selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
Bryce Laskey and Rachel Roscoe are not only Division I recruits, but tremendous students as well.
For their success in both athletics and academics, Laskey and Roscoe have been selected to represent their school as the winter representatives in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete program.
Laskey, a guard on the basketball team, has scored 1,579 points in his career as of Feb. 6, and is leading the WPIAL in scoring this season at 33.8 points per game. The son of George Laskey and Donna Hensh signed with Saint Francis University prior to the season.
“In about middle school, my dad had been saying that I had some things that you can’t really teach, basketball wise, and if I just worked hard at it, hopefully I could end up going to school for free,” Laskey said.
Laskey’s shooting form is one of the best around, but the brother of Harison Laskey, Jake and Nathaniel Hensh, and Jake and Jordan Sanzone, admitted that he didn’t wake up one day a tremendous shooter.
“My brother is three years older than me, so when I was in preschool, I was doing shooting lessons with him in Morgantown,” Laskey said. “All throughout elementary and middle school, I was going down to Morgantown probably once a week to do shooting lessons, so I wasn’t born a shooter. It was through hard work.”
Harison played golf at Laurel Highlands, and is now a junior at Mercyhurst, while George played golf at Allegheny. Bryce played golf in elementary school, and also played football until sixth grade, but eventually settled on basketball.
“We have always been a sports family,” Laskey said. “I think if people look at me today, they would still probably think I was a golfer before a basketball player.”
Laskey, who holds a 3.9 GPA, has played varsity all four years for Coach Rick Hauger, and he believes if the Mustangs put it together, they will be a force in the playoffs. Laurel Highlands has qualified for the playoffs all four years Laskey has been on the team.
“I really didn’t play much as a freshman, but we did make the playoffs,” Laskey said. “My greatest sports moment was beating Highlands in the playoffs last year. When we play a good overall team game, I think we can stay with pretty much anybody in the WPIAL.”
Laskey, who cites his dad as his greatest influence as an athlete, hopes to play professional basketball overseas, but knows that nothing is guaranteed, and his family is always there to keep him in check.
“My entire family always tries to humble me,” Laskey said. “I also think with social media it helps me stay grounded because I can have a 40-point game, and then I look on there and kids all over the country played better than I did, so that keeps me humble, but I’m not really that type of person,”
Laskey will miss high school basketball season and being familiar with everyone in school and around town, but he is ready for the challenge of playing Division I basketball and keeping his grades up in college.
“My family has always instilled in me to do well in school because basketball is not going to last forever, even if I am fortunate enough to play as a professional,” Laskey said. “I try to get my homework done before our games. I feel like you just learn how to balance everything because you have to.”
Roscoe is the daughter of Jason and Renee Roscoe, and holds a 3.6 GPA while swimming at a high level for Fillies coach Ed Yauger.
Roscoe, who started swimming when she was eight, teamed with Gwyneth Hamilton, Lexie Kostelnik and Kristen Bane to finish eighth in the 200 medley relay last season at the WPIAL Championships. Kostelnik and Bane have graduated.
Roscoe, who also swims in the 50 and 100 freestyle, has qualified for the WPIAL Championships this season in the 200 medley relay with Hamilton, Maria Mrosko and sister, Jenna Roscoe. She is close to breaking the school record in the 50 freestyle.
Rachel has qualified for the WPIALs in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and 200 and 400 freestyle relays. She will most likely compete in both individual events, as well as the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay at the WPIAL Championship on March 1 and 2 at University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
“The girls swimming here competes in Triple A, so it is harder for us to get anywhere,” Roscoe said. “I’ll try my best, but for the 200 medley, we are trying to make the national time again for YMCA.”
Roscoe’s parents were swimmers, and she got into swimming when the family lived in Ohio.
“We only did summer swim when we lived in Ohio,” Roscoe said. “When we moved here in sixth grade, that’s when we started with the YMCA. My mom and dad both swam when they were younger, so they got us into it and it just kind of stuck. We are always talking about swimming as a family.
“You have to have good technique to swim well. It is really just going to practice every day and working hard. It takes a lot to get into shape, but not a lot to get out of it.”
Roscoe has signed with Edinboro University where she will continue to swim. She will have a dual major in elementary and special education, and hopes to become a teacher.
“I really liked it a lot up there when I visited Edinboro,” Roscoe said. “My parents always wanted us to have good grades. They would get mad if we didn’t get good grades. I think it helps by not having down time. If I had down time, I think it would distract me a little bit.”
Roscoe will miss swimming in high school, and credits her family and friends as being her greatest influence as an athlete.