Upper Dublin’s Sowers staying busy

UPPER DUBLIN >> It’s been one thing after another for Upper Dublin High senior Michael Sowers.

Not content to be labeled one of the country’s best scholastic lacrosse players, Sowers became the unofficial owner of the American record for assists in a scholastic career recently when a number of publications listed him as the all-time leader.

But that hasn’t been the only topic of discussion around the Sowers dinner table recently.

An incident involving the Princeton lacrosse team, which saw head coach Chris Bates fired after allegedly throwing his shoulder into a player from Brown when the Tigers were playing the Bears, as that player was running to the sidelines, put Sowers’ commitment to attend Princeton in jeopardy.

And oh yes, what about the talk about Sowers’ enlarged spleen that caused him to miss the Cardinals’ football team’s District One championship game against North Penn?

Has he recovered well enough to lead the Cardinals into battle for a full season of lacrosse?

And last, but far from least, what about making the Under-19 National Lacrosse team, which will convene in Canada this July to play in a prestigious international tournament?

See, and you thought your life was hectic.

As for the assists record, Sowers said that as far as he knows, he is the national record holder.

“My grandpop really follows that stuff closer than I do,” Sowers said, “and I think it’s been confirmed.

“The cool thing about it is that you can’t get an assists record without people scoring goals, so it was more of a team record, which is really cool.”

As for the Princeton scandal, Sowers said it will not change his collegiate destination.

“I’m still going to Princeton,” Sowers said. “I lost Coach Bates, who is an incredible coach and an incredible man, but I’m going for the education, I’m going because it’s close to home and I’m going because it is a good lacrosse program.
“So when you put all of those things together, there’s no way I would change my commitment.”

As for the illness, Sowers said the problem with his spleen began with a bout with mononucleosis.

“I think it started when I was at Ohio State, and I got mono back in the fall,” Sowers recalled, “and when I got out on the football field, I knew it wasn’t something good. I couldn’t even swallow on Thanksgiving Day.

“Then I was told I couldn’t play football.”

Not one to run from a challenge, Sowers, along with his father Dave and his grandfather, immediately went into fix-it mode.

“I had to get my spleen back to normal,” he said. “I read everything I could about how to get better quickly. I read you had to eat green, leafy food, so I ate a whole bowl of spinach, It got ridiculous.”

But whatever it was, it worked.

Sowers missed the Cardinals’ District One championship win over North Penn, but was able to take the field for his and Upper Dublin’s final football game of the season, a 30-14 loss to Parkland in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals.

“We all were so happy that Michael was able to come back and play in his last game,” said Cardinals head coach Bret Stover. “I was happy for him. He loves to compete.”

“After the game Coach Sto (head coach Bret Stover) said it would have been horrible to miss my last game,” Sowers said.

As for the opportunity to play in the Under-19 national tournament, Sowers tried out in the midst of his bout with mono, so he was literally and figuratively sweating out the results, not knowing if his illness was holding him back.

“It was really cool,” he said after being selected. “It’s been a goal of mine since I first found out about it last fall.

“I made a lot of sacrifices, missed out on some things, including a family vacation. But I had a couple of coaches who worked with me and they really prepared me.

“I’m so grateful to them.”

The tournament, which takes place north of the border from July 7 through the 18th, will be the crowning achievement to a superb scholastic career.

And a very busy time in Sowers’ life.

Now there’s the matter of the Cardinals competing for what they’ve dreamed about since they were all in fourth grade.

“We’ve been playing together for so long,” Sowers said. “I know it’s kind of a cliche, but we’ve talked about going to Hershey (for the state finals) since sixth grade.

“We just have to keep getting better. I think part of our problem last year (when the team was upset in the second round of district play) was that we kept looking ahead instead of taking things as they came along. We have to focus on each game and try and get better every time we take the field.”

Until then, the busy young man will try and enjoy the final weeks of high school.

“I’m doing real well right now,” Sowers said. “I’m enjoying the last days of my senior year.”