What a difference a year makes. Last year, Nick Looney was a part-time player on the Verona High School baseball team. He lettered, but he did not start every game.
This season, Looney is the team’s starting left fielder and one of its most improved players. So improved, in fact, that this year he is the team’s leading hitter, batting .588 with three powerful home runs and 14 RBIs to his credit.
The speed that Looney put on over the fall on the Hillbilly soccer team (17-3-1 and semifinalist, North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1) is also serving him well on the diamond, where he is always a threat to steal a base. Looney is, by all accounts, one of the big reasons why the Maroon and White team is off to a 5-2 start and that is why he has been chosen by the Verona Sports Boosters as this week’s Senior Athlete of the Week.
Off the playing field, Looney serves on the youth advisory board for the youth group at Our Lady of the Lake, and participated in its building trip to New Orleans to repair damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. He also volunteered through Heroes & Cool Kids, the high school group that helps middle schoolers prepare for VHS. Looney is headed to American University in Washington, D.C. in the fall.
During the 2011-2012 school year, the Verona Sports Boosters will be recognizing a different senior athlete at Verona High School every week. The Boosters support male and female athletes in all VHS sports through a variety of fundraisers and recognition events.
