Whiz Kid of The Week: Meganne Weissenfels

Name, Age: Meganne Weissenfels, 17.

School: Coronado High School, senior. 

Accomplishments: Meganne, a two-sport athlete, was recently named by ESPN's high school site as No. 10 on the list of the nation's 25 top prep goalies in girls lacrosse. She has committed to play the sport at Fresno State.

Key to Awesomeness: Meganne is playing for the girls basketball season for the fourth year, but her main sport is lacrosse. She plays the game year-round – in the spring for her school and also for clubs and in tournaments and camps on the East Coast.

She has come very far since the beginning when friends urged her to try the sport and she showed up for practice with a lacrosse stick fashioned for boys, not girls. Catching up wasn't hard for her.

“Everytime she stepped out on the field, season after season, she has improved so much,” said Jessica Battle, her current lacrosse coach, who has known her since middle school.

But sports is in Meganne's blood. Her father, a captain who graduated from the Naval Academy, rode the bobsled in the 1992 Olympics. Her mother was a basketball and softball player. Her three little brothers play football, baseball and soccer, though she has failed thus far in her efforts to convert them to lacrosse.

She cannot get enough of games, in fact. She serves as the football team's water girl and wraps players' ankles and shoulders, nice preparation for the career she'd like to pursue – she plans to study sports kinesiology at Fresno. When she's not practicing or studying for her Advanced Placement and honors classes, she watches her brothers' games.

“Sports are my fun,” she said.

Meganne wasn't formally notified of her national ranking. She found out on Facebook when a friend congratulated her and had to supply the ESPN link. 

“I did jump a little bit,” she said. “It's really exciting.”

Next up: Meganne will continue with the basketball team, which is 4-2 and plays Mount Miguel at a Dec. 14 tournament. Lacrosse begins in the spring; the Islanders won the Div. II championship last year.

 

Youngsters and teens selected as Whiz Kids receive a prize package from Loews Coronado Bay Resort, including a luncheon and an afternoon at the resort. To nominate a Whiz Kid, send the student's name, age, grade and a list of accomplishments to coronado@patch.com. Only Coronado residents are eligible.