Three student-athletes standouts from the class of 2022 recently committed to colleges for their respective sports: Kai Leckszas for baseball, Andrew Hohlt for rowing, and Are’wynn Black for soccer. Each overcame many hurdles in order to earn the opportunity to play at the next level.  

Leckszas received numerous offers, but ultimately committed to continuing his baseball career at Georgetown University on September 3 because of the great campus and the “top-tier academics and baseball team.” 

Leckszas has played for Wilson baseball since he was a freshman and puts in about 20 hours of practice a week in order to continue perfecting his pitching and play. Outside of Wilson, Leckszas plays for an organization called The Gamers, where he is able to further hone his skills. He spent a large part of his summer travelling the country where he both visited potential colleges and sharpened his skills playing summer ball with The Gamers.

Throughout high school, maintaining the balance between schoolwork and baseball was challenging for Leckszas, but he was dedicated to his goal of playing at the college level, so he worked hard to manage the two. Ultimately, Leckszas realized that baseball and schoolwork were not separate things, instead that schoolwork was a huge factor in ensuring his baseball career continued past highschool.

In college, Leckszas is most excited to be “a part of a team” and “around the same guys for [his] whole college experience.” He is prepared to continue his love for the game at Georgetown and is willing to work towards playing professionally after college. While getting to the professional level is no easy task, Leckszas’s natural talent and work ethic have him on the right path.•

Star athlete and member of the Wilson crew team Andrew Hohlt announced his commitment to Cornell University on September 4. 

Hohlt said he is grateful for his mom, who helped him become a rower a few years back. He expressed how thrilled he was to find a sport that highlighted two of his assets—long legs and arms. He also values the synergy of the sport: each team member has the same job and objective, working collectively towards a common goal

On top of the 12 hours he practices with the Wilson crew team per week, Hohlt does an hour of post-practice extra meters. “I love putting my headphones in, going up to the erg room after practice or at my house and putting in a lot of extra volume, knowing I am going to try my very best to outwork every single person I’ll ever have to race,” Hohlt said. 

Hohlt is very focused both on the water and in the classroom and found deleting social media helped him balance school with crew, giving lots of extra time to stay on top of both.

He lives for the rewarding feeling he gets from “putting in the hard work,” affirming there is “no better feeling than winning after all the pain and time we’ve put in as a team and independently to get those results.”

Upon beginning his college search, Hohlt had a list of criteria he was looking for in schools, including strong academics, a competitive crew team, and supportive coaches and teammates in order to narrow down schools to consider.

Ultimately, Hohlt determined Cornell to be the right fit because of the coach, who he said “built a connection and cared about [him] as a person, not just an athletic recruit,” as well as “the guys on the team, who were like no other, very welcoming.” •

Are’wynn “Ari” Black is a tiger transfer who committed to Duquesne University for soccer on April 14. 

Black plays for Arlington Soccer Association along with Wilson’s varsity girls team, and uses any of the free time she has left for running. Black remarked that her love for the game comes from “the competitiveness and opportunity to show off all [her] hard work.”

During her recruitment process, Black said she searched for schools that “valued work ethic and took their programs seriously.” Meeting these standards was Duquesne, who matched her ambitions because of the equal opportunity of play. “There is no hierarchy within the team and the girls also get along really well,” Black said.

Black has struggled with injuries throughout her high school career, but has found ways to power through both mentally and physically, and believes the challenges have made her a better player. In balancing soccer with school, she has always prioritized her academics. “Developing good time management skills was important for me early on,” Black said. 

Looking towards the future, Black is most excited to play with girls across the country and the next level of competition, noting she is “definitely not opposed to making a career out of soccer.” 

Black is a strong voice on and off the field and says her passion for soccer stems from “the high level of competition both mentally and physically.”and says 

“A great player needs to be strong in both areas,” said Black. •